I have received a new offer from a company, it has the following clause for green card: Within the first 3 months of your employment, the Company will file and sponsor your application for Permanent Residency. Employee agrees to reimburse the Company for all legal fees and expenses incurred, except those related to the PERM labor certification process, if employee voluntarily resigns or is terminated for cause prior to the completion of the permanent resident petition processing period. I would like to know if such a clause is standard for all company sponsoring green card. I further clarified it with the HR and they said: It is for the entire length until the green card is in hand. We can only recoup costs related to the I-140 and the I-485 process (if we have reached that point). Being from a backlogged country, I don't see getting green card anytime soon in future. Looking for advice, what clause normally company has on sponsoring green card, I heard its more like if you leave within 2 years of filing , only then you need to pay the company. UPDATE: Got off a call from Director, HR , they are changing the wording on the offer letter, basically it will say if you leave within 1 year of filing of i140 then you need to pay back. Thank you guys for the quick responses. UPDATED CLAUSE: Within the first 3 months of your employment, the Company will file and sponsor your application for Permanent Residency. Employee agrees to reimburse the Company for all legal fees and expenses incurred, except those related to the PERM labor certification process, if employee voluntarily resigns or is terminated for cause one year after the approval of the I-140.
Lol. That's cheap AF
I had similar clause. Even took it a bit further and had a grace period for “after the gc was completed”. Heard similar from others. Never thought too much about it. The total amount doesn’t add up to much (in my case at least) - nothing I wouldn’t expect to be covered easily in the sign-on bonus from a new employer if I did leave.
Ahh, didn’t read the details well enough. Yeah, my answer isn’t really relevant. Mine was for “after getting gc, pay back if you leave the first x months”
The process costs maybe 5k at least that’s about what they can claim at most. You can also make them prorate the amount to match the length of actual service. Don’t you think it’s worth the risk? I’d rescind an offer if a candidate tried to pushback on this clause
I’m pretty sure they can’t make you pay
Standard for the cheap companies. It’s a good deal too. You don’t have to “win” every time.
What’s the TC? Doing this will be the death of your career unless you are ok paying 15k-20k for “fees” they incurred. Did they ask to submit your original passport as well till you are employed with them? Stay away from any company that puts a clause to repay. Usually 6-12month wait period is normal but company pays 100%.
They updated the clause, I have posted it in the original post. It says 1 year after approval of i140 now. Does that looks ok ?
My company has a clause, we need to pay back for I-140 costs if we leave before we get GC. It is a pretty reputed company with a public IPO and revenue in billion dollars Note: Do not work at Intel.
Can you name the company ?
Name the company and shame it please. On the updated clause, even that doesn’t look straight. If they do everything right, to get I 140 without any rfes, it ll take around 2.5-3 years. So you need to stay with them a min of 4 years to escape that clause. Get the break up of legal fees and do basic math of how much you need to pay at end of each year assuming you are in different stages of processing and see if it is worth it.
Never heard of this, is this a legitimate company or consulting firm?
Its a legitimate Fortune 500 company (direct hire).
American Company?