Am I advised wrongly by lawyer?

[can_card]

My lawyer has advised me to use EAD at the end of my 6th year H1B, as it is cost effective. I obeyed his advise. I have started using EAD, once my 6th year H1B expired, as my 140 was approved and 485 was pending more than a year, at that time. I was confident to give up H1B, as my employer is not a consulting firm and I am the first GC beneficiary in my company.

Most peoples are saying to maintain H1B till 485 approval. Most law firms are adviseing to have H1B backup. Am I wrongly advised by my lawyer? If so, is it possile to file a H1B now to change status from AOS to H1B (3 year exten due to retrogression)? Is it advisable? or I am worrying too much? Howmuch it cost (just filing fee)?

How many of in this forum just rely on EAD w/o H1B backup?

 

[TheRealCanadian]

Most peoples are saying to maintain H1B till 485 approval. Most law firms are adviseing to have H1B backup. Am I wrongly advised by my lawyer?

The I-140 is approved, and unless you have some reason to believe your I-485 will be denied (out of status, etc. etc.) then you appear to be getting sensible advice from your attorney.

It will cost several thousand dollars in filing and legal fees to get an H-1B. The most likely scenario for your I-485 to be denied is if you get laid off and cannot get a new job via AC21; in such a scenario the H-1B would do nothing for you.

 

[Cheekoo]

The information you shared with us. ... You should be ok .. I dont see any point to worry at this stage. Keep working and you will get your GC in due course.

 

[GreenCardVirus]

Most peoples are saying to maintain H1B till 485 approval. Most law firms are adviseing to have H1B backup. Am I wrongly advised by my lawyer? If so, is it possile to file a H1B now to change status from AOS to H1B (3 year exten due to retrogression)? Is it advisable? or I am worrying too much? Howmuch it cost (just filing fee)?

Easier answer first. Yes, if you are still working for the same employer or your 140 is still approved and not revoked, you can get a H1 extension but the only problem is that you will not get an I94 attached to it. In that case, to get back on to H1 properly, you have to go abroad, get a H1 visa and reenter on that Visa.

Coming to the diffucult part, did your lawyer advise you wrongly? Though opinion changes from person to person, and also lawyer to lawyer, I think it was not a good idea to rely solely on EAD for work.

If your company is paying for EAD and Advance Parole to the lawyer (most big companies do), they the lawyer advised you based on what is most profitable to him/her. EAD and AP are "practically" valid for 9-11 months only. They issue an EAD/AP extension for 12 months from the date of approval, not from the date of expiry of those documents. So, if you apply for EAD/AP before 3 months expiry date and your approval comes in a month, then your old EAD/AP were effectively valid for 10 months.

When you are travelling on AP in the proximity of its expiry date, it is very risky because of some stupid technicalities. Example, suppose you leave before 4 week before your current AP expires while an application for a new one is pending. After 3 weeks of your exit, your new AP gets approved and someone mails the copies to you aborad, you still have to come before the expiry of the old AP.

Approval of new AP/EAD can be delayed beyond the expiry dates of the old one's. In that case you can't work or travel. Too bad.

As mentioned by Cheeko and RealCanadian, there are issues with 485 Denial. If you are picked to be unlucky #1 for a 485 denial, there are a whole slew of problems you can encounter if you don't have a H1 backup.

By the way, I am planning to travel in near future on AP. My 485 was once denied and I am not sure what happens if they do it again (even if their mistake) while I am out.