did your employer say that they would reimburse you for this?
i have a couple of friends (ex-colleagues) who went through a similar
route (with different consulting companies), where they had to give a
"share" with the total cost of their H1B. My friends are all in the US
now, and the companies seem to be legitimate, as well as the job posts.
I guess from the companies' POV, or at least, giving the benefit of the
doubt, it would seem like they just need their own safety net with you
-- like are you just using them to get your initial H1, and then easily
you'd be jumping ship when you're in the US? I was able to talk to a
director of a company with this practice and he says there's a risk as
well to them, because there are apparently some people who "use"
willing employers to be their sponsors, have them pay the fees, and
then the employee leaves the soonest possible time to transfer to
another employer (2 months?).
I guess investment-wise (on you and your H1), the company wouldn't have
been able to get their ROI on that since you didn't stay with them long
enough. --- so asking the employee for a share of the fees (to be
reimbursed to you in full, during your tenure with them, say in 6
months) is probably a derivative of an employment bond with them.
Of course, I wouldn't know if this is COMPLETELY LEGAL or if there are
loopholes there somewhere.
Now if they didn't really say they'd reimburse you, errr.... you could
probably ask. hehe. :)
Good luck! :)
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