AC21 Question

[GCFreak]

I had a question using AC21. I have been in my current role for 4.5 years. Following are the details of my current GC status :

I-140 filed on Dec 16 2002 with TSC (not approved yet)
I-485 filed April 12 2003.
EAD/AP approved July 2003.

I am looking at changing roles to a more senior position with a different team/geographic location with the same employer. However I am expecting salary to go up significantly. I am consistently being told by the immigration attorney that this move will cause problems with the green card process and the entire process will have to be restarted. I have the following questions :

1. If I wait for I-140 to be approved, does this move put me in any kind of risk if I end up using AOS portability?
2. What would be the correct procedure to use AC21 in this situation?
3. Would there be any other alternatives for me in case AC21 is risky for this move?

Thanks

 

[sb_tiger]

For AC21 the job should be similar. Slightly more senior would quite easily get categorized as similar. Salary increase should not impact. There is a general opinion that salary increase or decrease should not matter. But siginificant change sometimes may be derived to mean a different job- so one needs to be careful.

If you are planning to do all your change with the same employer-then AC21 etc may not come into the picture at all. The only situation something like that becomes relevant is - if there is an RFE. Then your employer should give title/description etc as mentioned in the LC. The employer if he doing your GC is obligated to do that- irespective of the fact that your current job may be different. Remember GC is about future job not your past or current.

HTH

 

[sb_tiger]

The whole issue of current job , future job sounds confusing and contradictory in some ways- but that is the way it is.
You may start as a programmer so your compnay files LC as programmer but after 4 years (typical time for GC)- you would have got a couple of promotions and lets say become a project lead and your salary has correspondingly increased. The company can not anticipate higher salary/title and file LC as project lead- too much guess work involved. So the company files LC as programmer- but you may have become a project lead by the time GC came- that should not surprise anyone including BCIS. So the company can not demote you or decrease your salary- after GC.
On the other hand sometimes you and/or your company does not do well and your salary goes down.
BCIS does understand/recognize these realities and does not fuss over it.
HTH