Switching Job and Travel on B1/B2 while waiting for H1B lottery results

Question

Good afternoon and best wishes to all who help in this forum :)

Here is my situation:

1. I currently work for Company AAA in my home country.

2. I was interviewed by Company BBB last February 2017, signed a contract with them, and they have sponsored my H1B visa 2018 application. I believe the H1B lottery has taken place last April 11, 2017 but results are yet to start coming out (being on the regular pool I expect that news if I got selected come until mid-June? And if selected it takes another 2 months to know if my case is approved - so wait until August?)

3. Now in my home a local Company CCC has a great job offer for me. And for the purpose of sharpening my skills I want to temporarily join this Company CCC.

My plan is: If my H1B is not selected and approved then I will stay for good at Company CCC. If otherwise, of course I go with H1B with Company BBB and will resign at Company CCC.

4. I have B1/B2 multiple entry Visa. Now if I join Company CCC, it is very possible that they will ask me to go to the US for 3 months on B1 (Business) Visa. Possible timeline will be early June until late August 2017.

I might be asked by Company CCC to travel to the US from June- August on B1/B2 Visa. Given this, below are my questions:

1. If Company CCC will ask me to travel to the US on B1/B2 Visa, assuming I got selected in the lottery. Will it affect my H1B application?

2. Given it is already April 29, 2017, and I am still awaiting for H1B lottery results. If I join Company CCC, will it have any effect on my H1B in case I get selected? Will the interviewer at the US consular office ask why I had a short stay at Company CCC?

3. If my H1B case is selected and approved, can I only take the H1B Visa interview in my home country? May I also request to take it while in the US assignment for CCC (assuming I am already being required by Company BBB)?

Thank you in advance.

Answer 1

I am not a CBP officer and I do not play one on television. I am just a random weirdo on the Internet.

With that said, the chief concern of the CBP officer at the border is answering this question: are you here to work illegaly? What will they see? That you have a workplace ready for you! And somehow you are here to be trained by a different company? It is not hard to arrive to the conclusion that different company is not really different, it's really the same company just, you know how this goes, subsidiaries etc. The CBP officer needs to construct a story right there and the most likely story will lead to your entry being denied. Whether the story is correct or not doesn't matter much at this point. They will also evaluate your ties to your home country and, well, you are ready to move to the USA for year(s) on a H1B. Also, if they conclude that B and C are the different companies then that's a strike against you because you are seemingly changing employers at a breakneck speed so it's not like you have a strong tie via your employers either. Whatever angle you are looking at, it's not a good one.

In other words: you need to prove somehow that you will not work illegally for your H1B sponsor while in the country and leave when your stay is up. How do you plan to do that? Pinkie swear?

This not, by far, a sure answer. But it's the logical one.