I got finally approved. My case wasn't quite simple and straightforward and at some points I was ready to give up but I made it through eventually. I found lots of helpful and supportive information on this forum so I'll share basic details of my case. Perhaps, someone will find it useful.
I was hired by a small Midwestern dotcom company back in 1999 and started on the GC process in the summer of 2001. LC was filed on April 8th, 2002. Things weren't very bright at the company but in August of 2002 they got exceptionally sour. My pay that wasn't particularly large even by Midwestern standards was cut by approximately 40% and I started packing when my LC suddenly got approved. Shortly the company disintegrated leaving a bunch of smaller enterprises in its wake. Let's say the old company was Company A dba Company B. The new company was Company C dba Company B. I was fired and rehired the same day. (BTW, the pink slip wasn't pink
) Fortunately, my salary was back to the amount stated in LC.
I140 was filed under Company B name but all my paystubs were bearing Company C name. To make it worse (I guess), I moved to another city in October 2003 and started working for another company, say Company D, that was related to Company C but there was no documentation to prove that.
The first RFE (May 24, 2004) was for employment verification. My lawyer requested a letter from my boss and W2's. I guess USCIS didn't like the fact that there were 4 different company names on W-2's (Company A changed its name quite a few times as well). So on October 13th I got another RFE on employment history. My lawyer wanted to send a proof that I had worked for the same company for over 180 days since I485 was filed. While my boss from the previous company was willing to help, he couldn't find any documents that would display direct relationship between Company A and Company C.
Now the interesting part. Due to the lack of such proof, the lawyer wrote USCIS a letter saying that since I currently have a similar job and my case has been pending for over 180 days, they have to approve it. She attached another employment letter that was more detailed (responsibilities, salary, etc.). Frankly speaking, I thought that it wouldn't work but it did.
I got fingerprinted for the second time on January 6th, 2005, and finally approved on January 27th. I think the approval decision was made on December 20th, 2004 when FP2 notice was generated on condition that my FP2 are fine. I checked the status on January 26th and LUD was still 12/20/2004. Then on January 28th, I got the approval email.
Conclusions:
1. Current salary doesn't really matter as long as your company says it will pay the specified salary once you are approved.
2. Hiring a lawyer helps. No way I could pull the whole thing myself.
3. If you leave for another company, try to keep a good relationship with your old company.
Good luck to everybody! You can make it!
Хай щастить!!!
P.S. my rupnet id is also pysar
I was hired by a small Midwestern dotcom company back in 1999 and started on the GC process in the summer of 2001. LC was filed on April 8th, 2002. Things weren't very bright at the company but in August of 2002 they got exceptionally sour. My pay that wasn't particularly large even by Midwestern standards was cut by approximately 40% and I started packing when my LC suddenly got approved. Shortly the company disintegrated leaving a bunch of smaller enterprises in its wake. Let's say the old company was Company A dba Company B. The new company was Company C dba Company B. I was fired and rehired the same day. (BTW, the pink slip wasn't pink
) Fortunately, my salary was back to the amount stated in LC.I140 was filed under Company B name but all my paystubs were bearing Company C name. To make it worse (I guess), I moved to another city in October 2003 and started working for another company, say Company D, that was related to Company C but there was no documentation to prove that.
The first RFE (May 24, 2004) was for employment verification. My lawyer requested a letter from my boss and W2's. I guess USCIS didn't like the fact that there were 4 different company names on W-2's (Company A changed its name quite a few times as well). So on October 13th I got another RFE on employment history. My lawyer wanted to send a proof that I had worked for the same company for over 180 days since I485 was filed. While my boss from the previous company was willing to help, he couldn't find any documents that would display direct relationship between Company A and Company C.
Now the interesting part. Due to the lack of such proof, the lawyer wrote USCIS a letter saying that since I currently have a similar job and my case has been pending for over 180 days, they have to approve it. She attached another employment letter that was more detailed (responsibilities, salary, etc.). Frankly speaking, I thought that it wouldn't work but it did.
I got fingerprinted for the second time on January 6th, 2005, and finally approved on January 27th. I think the approval decision was made on December 20th, 2004 when FP2 notice was generated on condition that my FP2 are fine. I checked the status on January 26th and LUD was still 12/20/2004. Then on January 28th, I got the approval email.
Conclusions:
1. Current salary doesn't really matter as long as your company says it will pay the specified salary once you are approved.
2. Hiring a lawyer helps. No way I could pull the whole thing myself.
3. If you leave for another company, try to keep a good relationship with your old company.
Good luck to everybody! You can make it!
Хай щастить!!!
P.S. my rupnet id is also pysar