I don't know what to say other than to agree with you: This was awful behavior on the part of your prospective employer.
I have no facts but I can ask more questions: How do the H1B rules work? If you had been working for the company for a single week before they fired you, would your legal status be different than it is now? Or would you have had to be there a month? A year? More than a year?
Many startups are on the verge of going broke. ;) It kind of goes with the territory. And it's not as if a company that is about to go broke always sends out clear signals of that. Generally you find out in a big hurry. Like when your employer shocks you by suddenly reneging on a deal that you both spent a lot of time making.
It would seem, then, that startups might be especially risky for visa applicants. Though much depends on the details of the immigration process. I'm sure many people around here know those details very well, however.
H1-B becomes invalid if the company fires you. It would have been worse if he'd already got here, but knowing how much effort goes into moving countries (particularly to the US), that is a very small consolation.
Some consolation, in that case, according to Wikipedia: "if the employer should dismiss the employee, the company is liable for any reasonable costs associated with relocation back to the employee's last foreign residence"
Reasonable costs here appears to mean "a plane ticket home", and appears to only apply if the former employee elects to return home; in particular, the first page of Google results will tell you that the company isn't responsible for moving the former employee's property (which is the real relo expense).
I have no facts but I can ask more questions: How do the H1B rules work? If you had been working for the company for a single week before they fired you, would your legal status be different than it is now? Or would you have had to be there a month? A year? More than a year?
Many startups are on the verge of going broke. ;) It kind of goes with the territory. And it's not as if a company that is about to go broke always sends out clear signals of that. Generally you find out in a big hurry. Like when your employer shocks you by suddenly reneging on a deal that you both spent a lot of time making.
It would seem, then, that startups might be especially risky for visa applicants. Though much depends on the details of the immigration process. I'm sure many people around here know those details very well, however.