Rajivji - thank you very much for the service you provide to the community. I have a detailed question below and am happy to consult privately with your firm but thought I would put it out there in the forum as well for high level answers.
Immigration status: currently in 7th year of H1B, EB2 petition, I140 approved with priority date November 2014 (> 180 days).
Question 1: Job title change
Employer (Company A) is rolling out project manager designation and corresponding career path. Currently employed in engineer designation that encompasses project manager duties as well. Same job description as in petition for permanent residency and H1B can be used for current role in the manner it is performed right now.
Since my job duty is more aligned with project manager track, would the change in title from engineer to project manager trigger an H1B amendment?
Would this same change in job title require a new labor/PERM process? If not, what is the impact of title change, if any, on green card process and what are the steps, if any, that would need to be taken?
Question 2: Job duty change
The project manager track and role can be expanded from current job duties to include additional job duties.
How is percent change in job duties (eg. greater or less than 50%) determined? Based on number of new bullet items job duty list, number of distinct duties (some are trivial, some not)?
What is the threshold in job duty change (% change or other criteria) that would trigger an H1B amendment? Similarly, what is the threshold in job duty change for new labor/PERM?
Question 3: Promotions
Job duties of current role were written to be broad enough to cover duties of next level up. Similar to question 1, if job title changes from engineer to, say, senior engineer, (or project manager to senior project manager) would this change in title but no change in job duties (just higher salary) trigger either an H1B amendment or trigger a new labor/PERM?
Suppose qualifications submitted in job description for Labor/PERM for senior engineer (or project manager) is Masters degree + 5 years and what is required for senior engineer (or senior project manager) is Masters degree + 10 years, would it be possible to use the experience gained at the current employer (company A) for the senior level position?
If not, under what circumstances can I use the experience gained at the current employer to meet qualifying criteria for the senior level position? I read somewhere that if there is a change of greater than 50% in job duties, that would allow for utilization of experience gained at Company A for promotion within company A, with the condition that it may trigger H1B amendment and new labor/PERM and employer is ok with that? Is that true?
Question 4: RIN 1615-AC05
Does the proposed regulation how it reads in it's current draft form allow promotions in same-similar category prior to I485 + 180 days without need for H1B amendment or new Labor/PERM? When I read the draft, I did not see any benefit for internal promotions prior to I485 + 180 days.
Thank you,
ONP.