AC21 Portability - L1A with I-140 and I-485 >180days

Dream On,

I assume the question to Ms Murthy was about the concurrent filing of I-140 and I-485 because I know people who used AC21 on L1A based I-140 and got the GC and
I'm in the same boat and my attorney who is in the bar member for last 20 years shares the same.

(If we have some client from Ms Murthy I request them to have it clarified from her for our benifit .....)

but as it is now it is sure about concurrent filing
 
My question is NOT about concurrent filing. My I-140 was approved at least 4 months before I submitted my I-485.

All I wanted to know is, as my I-140 is approved, and my I-485 has been in for more than 180 days, do I qualify ie does an L1A qualify or is it only for H1-Bs?
 
Originally posted by Dream On
An interesting post from Murthy's o8/25/03 chat :

Chat User : My visa is an L1A. I filed for a GC under EB1. Labor exempt. I-485 was filed over 180 days ago. Can I change employers?

Attorney Murthy : The BCIS has recently seemed to turn around on its position on these types of cases. Originally, they had mentioned that AC21 portability will apply to all employment-based cases. Now, they are saying it differently in AILA meetings. It seems unfair, since the purpose of AC21 was to ensure that the employee is able to switch employers and has the freedom of movement as if the person was a permanent resident if the BCIS takes longer than 180 days to process the I-485 case. Also, of course, the I-140 EB1 case should have been approved. Otherwise, there is a bigger risk of the entire case being denied, even under present AC21 interpretations. The safe course is not to switch employers until we hear one way or the other.
Click to expand...

Dream On, It was about your above post:



I checked this with a lawyer and a very able lawyer and as per him we should wait 180 days after filling the 485 but if some one laid off then ? it doesn't apply any way you have no control and you are eligible to live in US as long as the 485 pending..... the job is future job offer in case of L1A also, and in case of L1A the job fuctions are anyway so vast which makes switch very easy in case you need one........ but I still recomend to use your I-140 document and the letter from you company which states your duties and what the company is about as a benchmark.

but really would like to hear if some one can confirm from Ms Murthy as well.
 
I called almost 10 plus different lawyers and found they have different views most of them says that it should be no problem... and some says that LC was not done so the case should be rejected

Today I called the BCIS helpline and the lady there said the rule AC21 applies when:

if your I-140 or LC is done and the 485 is pending for more than 180 days. and if that is true that clears the both L1A problem and concurrent filing issue in case the LC is done.

but again the lady on the BCIS phone I don't know if she was absolutely right..... as I strongly beleive she was not a lawyer and she was reading this from some of her documents.


Did some one had any reasearch on it?
 
I'm on L-1A too. I-485 was over 24 months. I'm considering to leave my current employer who sponsored my I-140 approval. Is it really save to use AC21?

Thanks.

Huhu03
I-485 ND: 05/01/2002
FP: 04/13/2003
 
L1A AC21

Lot of talk going on about AC21 for L1As.
Spoke to an attorney and she says that there is greater amount of risk involved in this case than H1B AC21.
I didnt see a mandate on AC21 for L1As. In that case how safe is it to go for it.
Is there any one whose case was rejected coz they were not eligible to use AC21 since they belonged to the L1A cat. and didnt have a LC process.
 
URGENT AC-21/L1A Case

Hi,

I have an a good offer in hand..L1A/more than 180 days in 485.

I have spoken to a couple of attorneys and all of them say that so far there is no problem, but if INS comes back with a memo formalizing their opinion, then this case will be denied.

The funny thing is that none of the attorneys I spoke to (and I spoke to some good ones) has not seen an example of L1A with AC21.

Has anyone seen an L1A/485-AC21 case get rejected/accepted recently?

Please respond soon.

PB12
 
L1A - I140 approved & I-485 > 180 days

Guys,

I have been searching for the threads on L1A to I-140 and I-485 cases on job change. Finally i noticed your informaton exchange. My case is as under;
My attorney applied concurrently for I-140 & I-485 in Oct 2003. I got my EAD & TP 3 months back and i got my I-140 approval notice today. I never bothered to check the status on website but was happy to see the approval. My I-485 is penind more than 180 days.

Anyways, 2 days back, my boss told me that due the to non-availability of funds, he won't be able to run the show after say 30 days. I was shocked & started searching for threads where they talk about cases like mine on changing employment. Few months back my attorney (is one of the largest legal firm in DC area) told me that i can not change for 180 daysfrom the date of I-140 approval notice. As i never bothered to change the job, i never looked at the different options available. For last 2 days after going thru all ur discussions i realized that people talk about >180 days from I-485 pending date & not from the date of approval of I-140. My attorney was very confident when he said these words.

Also, i came to know that few months back we can apply for I-485 only after getting I-140 approval. That's why it was considered that people can change only after 180 days of I-485 application. Now, as we can concurrently file I-140 & I-485, the rule says that employee cannot change the job from the date of I-140 approval.

This immigration system sucks man!!! Please reply
 
AC21 does not exclude any specific category. It just states the new job should be 'similar'. So the issue is what kind of jobs are similar for L1. So the answer to the 'smilar' job should resolve the issue.
HTH
 
Just a quick update for people interested in this thread that my AC21 EB1(from L1A) case got approved. Also my layoff date was < 180 days.

The key is "similar job"
 
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