Status of pending 485 - Urgent

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nervewreck

Registered Users (C)
All,

My friend's 485 was filed on August 15th, 2007. He got a notice from his employer on friday that he will be let go. He is still not sure about the effective date when his employment will be terminated.

The questions he has are:

1. What will be status of his 485 that is currently pending and has been filed by his employer? Will he lose all of it (140 approved already)

2. Feb 15 is when he would have qualified for AC 21, since there is high likelihood that he will not make it to that date, what options does he have to ensure that he remains in status? (probably H1 needs to be active and valid, correct?)

Please advise.
 
nervewreck said:
My friend's 485What will be status of his 485 that is currently pending and has been filed by his employer? Will he lose all of it (140 approved already)
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He will remain in valid status until the I-485 is approved or denied. He should work to find a new job ASAP.

2. Feb 15 is when he would have qualified for AC 21, since there is high likelihood that he will not make it to that date, what options does he have to ensure that he remains in status? (probably H1 needs to be active and valid, correct?)
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He does not need an H1; he remains in valid status so long as the I-485 is pending. So long as the I-140 isn't revoked in the next 72 hours, he'll be fine.
 
Your friend already completed 180 days since I-485 RD on Feb 11. Assuming the I-140 is not revoked before that he is just fine.
 
Thanks TRC and ITM,
Yea, seems like he is fine. By the time they finished the internal steps (return of equipment, severence package, etc) It took them few days, and someone I think did confirm that they realize that the 180 day period is right around the corner, so they will not do anything with his immigration docs...

Thanks again on his behalf.
 
Your friend does need to keep a couple of things in mind.

To work, he does need to either apply for new H1 (he can work immediately after employer sends application), or he needs to use his EAD, if he has one. He can't just work.

And to keep his I-485 viable (thru AC21), at some point -- before USCIS comes asking -- he needs to find a new sponsor that will offer him a same or similar job as was sponsored on his PERM and/or I-140.

It would thus be a good practice to have as much info about that I-140 (and PERM if applicable) in his possession for future reference.
 
To Work

To work with a H1-B, he can't start immediatelly after the application is sent. If it is a new H1B, he has to wait until it is approved. If it is a transfer, he still has to wait until he has the receipt.

To work with EAD, I believe he has to send a job change application to notify somebody for his GC. That's after he finds a new job.
 
TheRealCanadian said:
No. He does not need to notify anybody.
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Regardless of whether he is using an H1B or an EAD to hold to the pending 485 , he SHOULD notify USCIS to comply with AC21.

The notification should have a letter from the new employer to the USCIS stating role and position similar to the current job.

The letter from applicant should state that he would be continuing with the new employer after his 485 approval.

No one REALLY says you have to do this, but if you dont then USCIS might issue NOID if they are unaware of change in employment past filing of 485
 
aaifor said:
No one REALLY says you have to do this, but if you dont then USCIS might issue NOID if they are unaware of change in employment past filing of 485
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Actually, USCIS may issue an NOID no matter what you do. I've never seen any consistent evidence that proactive notification does anything for AC21.
 
aaifor said:
Regardless of whether he is using an H1B or an EAD to hold to the pending 485 , he SHOULD notify USCIS to comply with AC21.
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There is no such thing in the law to proactively notify USCIS about EAD using. Some lawyers advise to do that but it's no more than an advice.
 
voldemarv said:
There is no such thing in the law to proactively notify USCIS about EAD using. Some lawyers advise to do that but it's no more than an advice.
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Speaking from personal experience:

I switched jobs while transferring H1

And sent notification to USCIS that i was doing it per AC21...with lawyers letter----per USCIS memo etc...

Got a green card without any RFE/NOID or even an interview in 2007.

Of course one case is not indicative of the process...

As always with USCIS YMMV
 
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