H1B NOIR – USCIS Notice of Intent to Revoke (even for Past Approvals)

USCIS can send a notice of intent to revoke (NOIR) even for H1B applications that were approved in the past.

The most common cause for NOIR is the USCIS’s suspicion about the validity of the H1B job.

Some examples:

• Misrepresentation: When your first lottery-selected H1B was approved for an in-house project for an IT consulting company.
• Violation:
  • If there was no payroll run for the H1B job starting Oct 1 after the F1 to H1B lottery was approved.
  • No H1B amendment was filed when there was a material change to the job.
• Fraud: You filed multiple H1B applications for the same H-1B job position through multiple employers. Basically, the same client and same job position through multiple employers.

It does not matter whether you are currently working for the same first H1B employer or not. The NOIR can be sent by USCIS if they think that your earlier H1B was approved in error or there was a violation of the information shared on the application form was wrong.

What is a Notice of Intent To Revoke?

Referring to Wikipedia and presenting the NOIR in layman’s language, NOIR is nothing but a denial of your H1B petition.

NOIR can be issued for any past H1B approvals which may or not be valid today. In essence, the old H1B which has already expired may also get a NOIR.

USCIS does give you a chance to prove why they should not revoke your H1B approval. If you and your employer can frame a strong response with the help of an attorney, it is possible that your NOIR is taken back by USCIS.

What Can Happen If you Get NOIR?

Getting a notice of intent to revoke your first H1B can have a serious effect on your current approved H1B as the initial cap count is now invalidated by USCIS.

Many people have received this NOIR even when their H1B was approved in the lottery starting from 2015 to today.

USCIS FDNS unit – Fraud Detection and National Security unit usually perform H1B site visits and ask if the first H1B approval was for an in-house project or not. FDNS unit usually goes back at least 5 years to check for H1B approvals.

Many people have shared that they received NOIR after the USCIS site visit as the inspecting officer reported that

• Earlier H1B petition was approved in error (i.e., it should not have been approved) due to an in-house project OR
• Inspector finds a change in your job details which makes the H1B unapprovable now.
• Issued NOIR as you did not file H1B amendment for new Job function – MSA change

Your approved H1B transfer will also be invalidated if the first lottery selected is revoked. You can no longer work for your current employer.

Example:

1. The H1B lottery application was approved for employer A in 2015. 
2. You filed an H1B transfer in 2017 and started working for employer B in 2017. 
3. You filed another H1B transfer to employer C in 2019 and have started working after H1B approval.

If you get a Notice of Intent to Revoke your first employer A’s H1B which has already expired in the past, and USCIS finally revokes it, you cannot work for your current employer C. 

You cannot even go back to work for employer B in this case even though their H1B might be valid at this time.

Hear what RN Law attorney Rahul Reddy has to say with respect to USCIS NOIR for H1B applications: Listen from time 1:24 to 4:15.

Time to Respond to NOIR

USCIS gives a specific time frame to respond to NOIR notice which is usually 30 days. If you do not respond within the allowed time, your H1B will be automatically revoked.

You can ask for extra time to respond if the documents requested would take more than the allowed time.

Your current H1B applications stay valid and you can keep working after the issuance of NOIR until the NOIR is finally implemented and H1B is revoked.

How to Respond to a NOIR?

You should answer each and every question asked in the NOIR letter by USCIS. Usually, the NOIR would ask to prove the

• H1B Specialty Occupation RFE
• Employer-Employee Relationship

You should submit documents related to your job preferably in addition to what you submitted in your first H1B application.

Make sure that you do not make the mistake of writing vague job descriptions as happened in this H1B QA Analyst job which was ultimately denied by USCIS.

RFE vs NOIR vs NOID

RFE (Request for Evidence) is different than NOIR.

RFE and NOID (Notice of intent to Deny) are issued for currently pending H1B applications that have not yet received any results.

NOIR is issued for H1B applications that have already been approved in past.

Form 221g NOIR – US Embassy

Your H1B petition can also get a NOIR if the US embassy visa officer thinks that you are not eligible for H1B even after USCIS has approved your petition.

• This has been reported by one of our guests who got the form 221g NOIR after the H1B interview at the Mumbai consulate even when he was working full time with a US employer.

• Another H1B worker got a Notice of intent issued by the Mumbai US embassy after working in the US for more than 6 years and multiple extension approvals by USCIS.

FAQ

NOIR Appeals

Sample appeal rejected by AAO office in one case where the IT consultant was issued NOIR:

Source: USCIS NOIR