H1B Transfer to new Employer while previous H1B Transfer is still pending

Question

I have my original H-1B Visa with Employer A which is valid until December 2015. I transferred my H-1B from Employer A to Employer B on January 10, 2015, and the transfer is still pending. I began working with Employer B from January 15, 2015, upon receiving the H-1B Receipt Notice. I now have a new employment offer from Employer C, who offered me a better pay package. Employer C filed for another H-1B transfer on February 15, 2015. I started working with Employer C on February 20, 2015. Does Employer C’s petition approval depend on Employer B’s petition?

Answer

• H-1B portability provisions permit the foreign national to begin working at Employer B the day the petition is “filed” although the processing might continue for another two to three months.
• H-1B Portability is permitted only if you never engaged in unauthorized employment. Since you already were working at Employer B at the time transfer to Employer C was filed, the employment must be authorized, which means that portability to Employer C depends on the approval of Employer B’s portability petition.
• So, if Employer B’s H-1B transfer is denied, your employment with Employer B would be deemed unauthorized, and hence, transfer to Employer C would be denied.