Employer keeping employee passport

[smas]

I have come accross a Jersey City based Contracting company who retains passports of prospective employees in India so that they cannot seek other such opportunities.
the passports are retained by their indian office .
they apply for the H1-B and return the passport to the employee only at the airport when he is flying to USA.

One of my friends signed a contract with this company .He later changed his mind as he got a good break in an Multinational company in india itself

Now this Company where our friend signed up a contract to work in USA , is not ready to release his passport saying , he has to pay up the fees they spent on his visa application where there is no such penalty clause in the contract.
the contract is on the US letter head and the dispute is in India

Our friend has not taken any reciept for retaining his passport .Makes the situation tough i guess.


Can somebody advise how to get his passport released in india ?



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[Attorney_Replogle]

Has your friend tried telephoning the State department and or the INS? Try that diplomatic channel first.

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Mark B. Replogle

 

[smas]

How does one contact US State dept or the INS

Any contact nos , address

this H1-B petion was filed from Vermont Center as the company is NJ based.

I believe that one has to go through an attorney.how much would it cost me ?

I also understand that INS is an overloaded organisation and my take months to look at the complaint

 

[Attorney_Replogle]

You can get the telephone numbers from the telephone book or an operator. As to how much an attorney would cost, I have no idea in your neck of the woods what they charge.

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Mark B. Replogle