7th year H1B company move & success story

S

sleepless_in_IN

Registered Users (C)
I just wanted to share this with those who want to switch jobs in their 6th, 7th, 8th…years etc of H1B employment. This is to illustrate that it is possible (RISKY but possible) - IF the company you move to is very diligent in processing your application. Hope you can benefit from my experience.

Company A
• Filed RIR Labor in 8/2001, Indiana
• Application transferred to DBEC center in early 2005
• 7th year H1B started on 2/2006
• Received 45-day letter and replied in 3/2006
• Quit job and abandoned application 4/2006
• Started to work for Company B (completely different job/role) 5/2006


Company B
• Transferred H1B (like applying for a new H1B but not subject to quota)
• Remaining time on H1B till 2/2007 (can work for Company B till 2/2007 – cannot be renewed because no labor pending over a year – old labor does not qualify )
• Filed new labor and approved by 9/2006
• Filed for I-485/I-140/EAD/AP concurrently in 11/2006
• Received EAD one day before 7th year H1B expired (If I had not got it I could not work – but could have legally stayed in US till I got my EAD and resumed working then)
• Worked on EAD, Upgraded I-40 application – approved 2/2007
• I-485 Approved 4/2007 (finally after 6 years! :eek: )


Notes:
• No RFE’s
• I do not have specific dates/case #s to share with you – this is as much as granularity I can share - sorry.
• I wrote several letters to senators even Company A sent letters when my labor when to DBEC - no approval
• I still encourage you all to write letters and share your story - because the lawmakers are so far removed from this process that it's impossible for them to understand.



I wish everyone good luck, and I hope this endless wait ends for you all of you soon.
 
How Concurrent I-140/I-485 ?

Hey thats great ! I am also thinking the portability of I-140 option to a newer company to maintain my Priority date. I have a question for you.

One thing I did not understand from your details here is "Filed for I-485/I-140/EAD/AP concurrently in 11/2006". How did you file concurrent I-485/I-140 ? Because my understanding is that you can only file concurrent if your PD is current. So I assume either you ported your I-140 from older employer and achieved this or you filed under EB1 (with your experience of 6 years) which is current for any country.

Could you please clarify how are you able to file Concurrent I-140/I-485 ?

Thanks

sleepless_in_IN said:
I just wanted to share this with those who want to switch jobs in their 6th, 7th, 8th…years etc of H1B employment. This is to illustrate that it is possible (RISKY but possible) - IF the company you move to is very diligent in processing your application. Hope you can benefit from my experience.

Company A
• Filed RIR Labor in 8/2001, Indiana
• Application transferred to DBEC center in early 2005
• 7th year H1B started on 2/2006
• Received 45-day letter and replied in 3/2006
• Quit job and abandoned application 4/2006
• Started to work for Company B (completely different job/role) 5/2006


Company B
• Transferred H1B (like applying for a new H1B but not subject to quota)
• Remaining time on H1B till 2/2007 (can work for Company B till 2/2007 – cannot be renewed because no labor pending over a year – old labor does not qualify )
• Filed new labor and approved by 9/2006
• Filed for I-485/I-140/EAD/AP concurrently in 11/2006
• Received EAD one day before 7th year H1B expired (If I had not got it I could not work – but could have legally stayed in US till I got my EAD and resumed working then)
• Worked on EAD, Upgraded I-40 application – approved 2/2007
• I-485 Approved 4/2007 (finally after 6 years! :eek: )


Notes:
• No RFE’s
• I do not have specific dates/case #s to share with you – this is as much as granularity I can share - sorry.
• I wrote several letters to senators even Company A sent letters when my labor when to DBEC - no approval
• I still encourage you all to write letters and share your story - because the lawmakers are so far removed from this process that it's impossible for them to understand.



I wish everyone good luck, and I hope this endless wait ends for you all of you soon.
Click to expand...
 
sleepless_in_IN said:
If you look at the VISA Bulletin:
http://travel.state.gov/visa/frvi/bulletin/bulletin_3169.html

..you will find many PD are current or "C" under Employment based category.
I did not port I-140 - if you read my post you will see my labor was never approved and I re-started the whole process from scratch.
Click to expand...

Ya but all those "C"s are in April 2007 bulletin but as per your claim you Filed for I-485/I-140/EAD/AP concurrently in 11/2006. And in 11/2006 definately all those "C"s were not "C"s.:confused: So exactly under what EB category your file was pursued?
 
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sleepless_in_IN said:
If you look at the VISA Bulletin:
http://travel.state.gov/visa/frvi/bulletin/bulletin_3169.html

..you will find many PD are current or "C" under Employment based category.
I did not port I-140 - if you read my post you will see my labor was never approved and I re-started the whole process from scratch.
Click to expand...
Hi sleepless,
I am doing exactly what you did, with a small difference:
I was working with Company A and on 8th yr extension with them. After 3 years my RIR labor did get approved.
Just after that I recd an offer from Company B that was too good to pass up, (and also Company A was very slow in moving things along), so did not file I-140.

I am now at Company B, and they have transferred my H-1 and will begin Perm LC process soon. However, their attorneys say that if I am able to get a copy of the old approved labor (Forms ETA), then they can port my old PD to my new case.
Are you aware if this is true - I was under the impression that you can only port PDs after I-140 is approved.

In that case I am wondering how to get a copy of the Forms ETA, since my old HR will not fwd them to me, maybe I can call DOL directly? any idea if they will send the beneficiary a copy?
 
bharatpremi said:
Ya but all those "C"s are in April 2007 bulletin but as per your claim you Filed for I-485/I-140/EAD/AP concurrently in 11/2006. And in 11/2006 definately all those "C"s were not "C"s.:confused: So exactly under what EB category your file was pursued?
Click to expand...


Even in 11/06 those were "C"s See:
http://travel.state.gov/visa/frvi/bulletin/bulletin_3046.html


gcwhenever said:
I am now at Company B, and they have transferred my H-1 and will begin Perm LC process soon. However, their attorneys say that if I am able to get a copy of the old approved labor (Forms ETA), then they can port my old PD to my new case.
Are you aware if this is true - I was under the impression that you can only port PDs after I-140 is approved.

In that case I am wondering how to get a copy of the Forms ETA, since my old HR will not fwd them to me, maybe I can call DOL directly? any idea if they will send the beneficiary a copy?
Click to expand...

As far as I know you cannot port Labor PDs - (I could be wrong). As for the Labor approval itself - I don't know if you can get a copy from the DOL - the labor is OWNED by the sponsoring company (as far as I know) so DOL would probably not send it to you directly. If you used your own lawyer they may give you a copy?

But first you might want to confirm that you really can port Labor PDs before you go to any trouble.
 
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sleepless_in_IN said:
Even in 11/06 those were "C"s See:
http://travel.state.gov/visa/frvi/bulletin/bulletin_3046.html




As far as I know you cannot port Labor PDs - (I could be wrong). As for the Labor approval itself - I don't know if you can get a copy from the DOL - the labor is OWNED by the sponsoring company (as far as I know) so DOL would probably not send it to you directly. If you used your own lawyer they may give you a copy?

But first you might want to confirm that you really can port Labor PDs before you go to any trouble.
Click to expand...
my new attorneys said that there is a possibility to transfer PDs from approved LC only, rare but possible.

Unfortunately I called DOL and they will not send me a copy of the ETA forms - the lady said only the attorney can request them.
I dont think that my old employer will be using it as labor sub, but they still wont send me the forms.

So, back to the end of the line :(
But at least with perm LC and I-140 wont take so long this time
 
Change of employer under RIR

I do have a similar problem. Filed RIR in Sept 2001 - still pending in PBEC. My H1B expires in 6/07. Requested an extension based on old RIR and iis pending. In the meantime I have changed my employer to a new one - same position and same kind of company. They were the ones who filed for me the H1B extension for 7 yr based on old RIR for with my prior employer.
What is the best way to continue (change employer) under my old RIR and extend the status in the meantime under H1B?
Thx a lot for any info.
 
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