I'm having an unhappy experience with my previous employer now. I was hired last July and they said they will apply H1-b for me. I was on H4 then. They needed me right away so I started working before they filed my case. I thought it was not appropriate but I really needed a job then. Then they asked for all the paper works from me to file my H1 and I was told my case was filed in October. Before that, they said they need to get one quota from IRS or somewhere first. I did not see the receipt and did not hear anything about my case after that. The company lawyer was seldom in the office and I made the mistake not get the detailed information from him. Last week I was laid off and when I asked for my H1, I was told that the company lawyer is not working there any more and he remembered that he filed something to get the quota only and nothing else.
My question is:
Can I pressure them to finish my H1 case by letting them know that they hired someone illegally? Anyone know what’s the penalty for that? I have their w2 and I even filed tax with that this year. They put me in a very bad situation. I start to get interviews and they all said if I have an H1 now it’s easy to do a transfer and I can start to work in weeks, but they do not want to file a new one since H1 quota for this year has already been used up and need to wait long time for next years.
What do you guys think I should do? Is it possible fight with them to get my H1 and does it worth the effort?
Any inputs are highly appriatiated.