san_selvan
New Member
Hi Rajiv & Team,
I am San and have been living in Bangalore for the last 10 years. Prior to that, I worked for a US-based consulting company from 2006 to 2011, which initiated the EB2 Greencard processing in 2010. Both my labor and I-140 were approved in the same year. However, in 2011, I moved to India for personal reasons and converted my GC processing to Consular processing. Now, I want to return to the US for my child's education as they are currently studying in Bangalore. A few months ago, I received a letter from the Mumbai consulate stating that my case is ready for a Consular interview. However, my sponsoring employer has closed down their business in the US, so I haven't scheduled the consular appointment yet. (I understand that there might be a time limit, and if I don't take action within that period, the consulate will cancel my immigration visa.)
At the beginning of this year, another consulting firm from the US approached me with an H1B offer based on my approved I-140. I filed the H1B application and attended the interview, but it has been stuck in Administrative processing (221g) for the last 3 months.
Now, I find myself in a difficult situation and believe I have the following options (Please correct me if I'm wrong):
Thank you, San
I am San and have been living in Bangalore for the last 10 years. Prior to that, I worked for a US-based consulting company from 2006 to 2011, which initiated the EB2 Greencard processing in 2010. Both my labor and I-140 were approved in the same year. However, in 2011, I moved to India for personal reasons and converted my GC processing to Consular processing. Now, I want to return to the US for my child's education as they are currently studying in Bangalore. A few months ago, I received a letter from the Mumbai consulate stating that my case is ready for a Consular interview. However, my sponsoring employer has closed down their business in the US, so I haven't scheduled the consular appointment yet. (I understand that there might be a time limit, and if I don't take action within that period, the consulate will cancel my immigration visa.)
At the beginning of this year, another consulting firm from the US approached me with an H1B offer based on my approved I-140. I filed the H1B application and attended the interview, but it has been stuck in Administrative processing (221g) for the last 3 months.
Now, I find myself in a difficult situation and believe I have the following options (Please correct me if I'm wrong):
- Should I give it a try and attend the Immigration interview at the Mumbai Consulate? I can explain to them that my previous employer has gone out of business and share my new H1B offer. I would emphasize that I can easily find new employment opportunities and request the consular officer to approve my GC. However, my understanding is that if the consular officer denies my immigration visa, I won't have any recourse. Additionally, my I-140 and priority dates would be invalidated once the consular cancels the visa. In this scenario, I won't be able to apply with another employer or reuse the old priority dates for a new GC application once I enter the US on an H1B visa. Is my understanding correct?
- Alternatively, should I postpone the consular interview, proceed with the H1B process, and wait for the 221g administrative processing to be cleared? Once the H1B is approved and the administrative processing is resolved, I can then travel to the US using the H1B visa. At that point, I could consider using or porting my old priority dates to apply for a new GC application, taking into account the current priority date and proceed with the GC process.
Thank you, San