Hi,

Please friends, suggest me.

I am currently employed to a company which does not know much about h1 sponsorship. When it offered me the job, I had told the employer that I am allowed to work only until 2008,May as my OPT would expire then. He had told me that the company would sponsor me. But they do not know that I will not be allowed to work for them from May till October even if they sponshor me on April. I did work for them from June until now. But now I am tensed thinking they might change their mind about sponsoring me for h1 if they know that I will not be allowed to work for them for 6 months. The employer regularly tells me to find out how they can sponshor me as it is a start up company and they do not know about sponshorships.

So friends, what do you think? Should I tell them the exact fact right now or should I wait until April (at the time when they  file h1 application for me)? Or should I tell them now about my situation clearly and if they tell that they will not sponshor, start looking for another job that offers to sponshor me for h1? I currently have a MS degree and work as Software Developer.

Thanks in Advance!

just curious which state u are working in ?? is it CA ?

i think the best way is to tell them exact situation and tell them its nothing hard and u can take care of the H1b visa.. and if they dont feel like paying say u will even hire the lawyer .. u can find any decent employment lawyer for like $1000 or $2000... and they can file for your h1b.. technically company shud do that but since u say they dont know anythign abt h1b. 

Another option is join a school that could sponsor you CPT from the period of May until October. I know many of my friends are doing that. If you go to a private university, they might give you full time CPT for that time period allowing you to work full time while your H1 is in process.

I think you should make it very clear to your empoloyer that you will be unable to work from sometime in May until the end of September even if you get H-1B. The sooner the better. If I were you, I would do it now, right this second!

If they already like you, then you shouldn't have that big of a problem. They will probably help you find alternatives. If they don't like you, then you will know it now, which gives you enough time to look for alternatives.

Your opt experies on May 2008 and you don't get your H1B(even if they sponshor you) until October 2008, then what are you going to do between that period. What would be your legal status in US? I think CIS asks this question when you apply for H1B. So changing employer maynot help you much in this situation. we had a simillar thred/discussion  in Sajha few months ago. It might help you little bit if you read that thred.

This is a common problem. The best thing would be to let your employer know about the situation ASAP and also propose a solution.

Here is one solution:

Join a school and work through school (May to September 2008). Ask your company to sign an employment contract with the school. Even though this contract is not a big deal, it is your job to convince your company about it. Since this period falls during the summer, you’ll be able to work full time (if in school’s payroll). The only period you won’t be able to work full time is the beginning of fall semester till the end of September (2 to 3 weeks or a month at most). Hope this helps.

 

Thanks friends for suggestions.

The company is willing to pay for my h1b...that is not the problem. But they do not know that I cannot work from May until October...they might be thinking that once they apply for my h1b, I can continue working for them. So that bothers me...what if they change their mind once they find this out? And then it might be very late for me to search for another employer on April itself....

And, I will not be out of status after May, I will still be in my dependent visa which I had previously and hence I still can stay in US.

Please guys, I am waiting for more of your suggestions.

 

 

tell the truth to your employer. sooner is better.

Just be honest and give them the real picture. I am sure they will be still interested to keep you. Best of Luck.