Changed employer right after filing I-485 (EBGC) - need advice on N-400

N

N400-Applicant

New Member
Hello gurus,
I feel like needing an advice in my situation. Here's the story:

I came to the US on H-1B visa sponsored by company A (consulting agency) and they placed me on contract (corp-to-corp) with company B. Later company A also sponsored my EBGC application and filed my LC, I-140, and I-485.

In June 2001 (start of a dotcom crisis) company B told me they cannot keep the contractors anymore and offered to switch to a permanent position with them. I refused at this time.
I-140 was approved in July 2001 and I-485 filed in August 2001 (Receipt Date).
Meanwhile company A was not able to find another contract for me, and they couldn't afford to pay for the bench time, so they advised me to accept the offer from company B. They were very friendly and promised not to withdraw the I-140. Company B still held to their offer. So later in August, facing survival problems for me and my family (spouse and child), I accepted it and initiated H-1B transfer.
At the time of H-1B transfer I notified the company B's lawyer that I have I-485 filed with another petitioner (I have a copy of this letter). To my knowledge though, they never filed a I-140 portability. H-1B was RD'ed in September 2001 (approved in November) and I started working for company B as a permanent employee.
It is important to note that I kept working in the similar position and had the same job responsibility, just switched from contractor to a permanent employee.

My I-485 was approved in August 2002. Before approval, there was an RFE requesting affidavit of support for family members. I sent employment verification letters from company B together with paystubs and W-2's showing that I work for company B, so INS was well aware that I work for another employer.
After receiving the Green Card, I kept working for company B for 2 more years, until they let me go due to massive layoff. There were never any gaps in my employment history.

Now I am going to apply for N-400 (based on 5 years passed) and I need an advice if my case is any risk. Please help. I would appreciate any and all opinions.
Thanks a lot in advance!
 
I am not expert but if your i-485 approval took more than 180 days you should be ok. (invoke ac21 for the comany B)
And you work with company B for more than 2 years so your intent to work with them is claerly probed.
Why are you concerned? You did not do anything against law.
You might want to check when ac21 was passed, but if ins knew back then that you switch employers you should be ok
 
I concur. Technically you were supposed to notify USCIS of your employment change, but practically nobody does, and I've not seen it cause a problem with natz. The AC21 180 day rule applies, and since your I-485 processing time was nearly 1 year, you will be fine.
 
if ins had any problem never notified you and approved you, plus you did work with company b and got laid off so it is not like you did not have intend to work with them
(I was laid off and the company gave me a letter, if asked show them any docs proving you were forced to leave work)
 
techbuyer77 said:
Why are you concerned? You did not do anything against law.
You might want to check when ac21 was passed, but if ins knew back then that you switch employers you should be ok
Click to expand...
Thank you. I have three specific concerns that I am afraid could be treated against me by the IO:
  1. I changed employers not only before my GC was approved, but also before 180 days of my I-485 processing had passed.
  2. I did not invoke the I-140 portability to transfer my EBGC process to Company B. My understanding is that I should have done that if I wanted to take advantage of AC-21, no?
  3. (The biggest one perhaps) I did not work for Company A at the moment of GC approval and after that.
Do you think I am still okay and there are no actual reasons to worry about? What would you advise to use as convincing arguments for the IO if they start asking these questions during the interview?
 
N400-Applicant said:
Thank you. I have three specific concerns that I am afraid could be treated against me by the IO:
  1. I changed employers not only before my GC was approved, but also before 180 days of my I-485 processing had passed.
  2. I did not invoke the I-140 portability to transfer my EBGC process to Company B. My understanding is that I should have done that if I wanted to take advantage of AC-21, no?
  3. (The biggest one perhaps) I did not work for Company A at the moment of GC approval and after that.
Do you think I am still okay and there are no actual reasons to worry about? What would you advise to use as convincing arguments for the IO if they start asking these questions during the interview?
Click to expand...

1. You can change employers any time during AOS, so long as your total I-485 processing time is longer than 180 days. You'll find a pretty good explanation of those rules over at http://www.murthy.com/news/UDac21qa.html

2. Did anybody? Certainly this hasn't been an issue with the (few) AC21 cases people have written about here.

3. You are covered under AC21, so it doesn't matter that you didn't work for Company A when your GC was finally approved.
 
Thank you very much Boatbod. So this means you think there's no risk at all in my case, right?
That's a relief.
Dear All, does everyone agree with Boatbod? I just want to eliminate even the slightest risk, because it is too important...
Which documents you would advise to take to the interview to solidify my position?
 
N400-Applicant said:
Thank you very much Boatbod. So this means you think there's no risk at all in my case, right?
That's a relief.
Dear All, does everyone agree with Boatbod? I just want to eliminate even the slightest risk, because it is too important...
Which documents you would advise to take to the interview to solidify my position?
Click to expand...

I absolutely agree with Boatbod and I believe you will get Citizenship approval quite easily. If you continued to work for the new employer with the same job title and job descriptions (as your labor petition), things are even better. I have tracked at least three recent employment related cases (totally similar to yours) on this Board, they all were approved right away during the interview itself (and only one of them had informed USCIS about the job change). This shows you the confidence that the Interviewing Officers had about the applicant and their job change situation. I will however, recommend that you take all the relevant documents that prove your clear 'intentions' to work for the petitioner but that the circumstances (about your job change) were beyond your control.

The disclaimer is that each Interviewing Officer is different, so is every interview experience


Relax and Good Luck,

KV7
 
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