Statement Of Work Is Affecting Indian Techies

Statement of Work is a document that is often used in project management roles. It is basically a detailed description of the project, the timelines, expected deliverables, location, scope and the activities one is required to do in order to provide services to the client.

It should also mention places where people will be required to be during the continuation of the project and any special requirements, as well as the payment and contact details.

The document is a very comprehensive and detailed description of the past and current work of an H-1B visa holder.

How SOW is a problem?

SOW interrupts with their ongoing work as it involves a lot of paperwork and going back and forth. Decades-old H-1B visa holders cannot leave their current employer at times either because their Green card is pending /or they feel well settled working for one client for many years. The client also wants to retain such employees who are very productive.

But recently these employees have to face the first hurdle during a change of employer, filing amendments, filing H-1B extensions, responding to RFE’s, etc… leading to documentation to prove the employer-employee relationship. And, these H1B employees have to reach various signing authorities/management teams who are unreachable at times to make sure they have long term assignment documentation in place.

In the process, there can be many hurdles.

1. The first hurdle can be when the client has industry policy to issue only short-term contractual agreement that too during a particular time frame.

2. If the settled employee’s H-1B extension time period falls during the end of these contractual agreements, it becomes very difficult to prove to USCIS that his project is ongoing as the dates on the contractual agreement (SOW and Master Service Agreement) are expiring soon.

3. Sometimes vendors do not agree to provide these documents due to the organization’s confidential information leak that makes H1B’s life more difficult.

In nowadays client Letter/SOWs/MSAs/221Gs…. etc decide the fate of the entire Green card backlog community, making them a scapegoat of this cumbersome documentation process.