CASE: H-1B Change of Employer
PETITIONER: Fashion Retailer Company
BENEFICIARY: Filipina Textile Product Designer
LOCATION: New York, NY
Our client is a nationwide fashion retailer headquartered in New York City. They contacted our office in late September 2013 to seek assistance from our office for their foreign employee. The beneficiary is from the Philippines and she obtained her Bachelor’s degree in fashion design and marketing. The proffered position for the Beneficiary is textile product developer/designer which we argued qualifies as a specialty occupation
The foreign beneficiary in this case already had her H-1B from her previous employer which was in a similar industry. Her H-1B status was not yet expired, and she wanted to extend her H-1B status on a change of employer basis.
After retention, our office promptly filed the H-1B visa petition with various supporting documents on November 5, 2013 via regular processing. Since this petition was based on a change of employer, this petition was exempt from the annual cap of the H-1B. Thus, we could file prior to April 1, 2014. There were no Requests for Evidence during the processing of the H-1B. Eventually, our client’s H-1B Petition was approved on February 13, 2014. Now the Beneficiary can work for her Petitioner-Employer as an H-1B visa holder and she can work there for the next three years.