Can I accept contract-to-hire position? Please help tricky situation

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eppo_varum_enGC

Registered Users (C)
I am eligible for AC21 job transfer. I was working for my GC sponserd employer more than three years. I did not had an intension of leaving them before 485 approval. Unfortunatly, with a big surprise, without a notice, I was laid-off, due to the fact that they are downsizing the engineering division. They gave me a big rise just 4 months back with relocation.

Any way, I was not prepared for this shock. I am trying another oppurtunity now. As I am in aerospace material industry, most of the good job offers reqires "U.S person status - GC holder/citizenship". Therefore it is difficult for me to get same or similar job offer immediatly. Luckily, one company is asking me work on full time contract, after 6 months they may consider for permanent with benefits. Now they are asking me fill w-9 form. I do not know what is the purpose of this form, Also I do not know whether it is right or wrong to accept this offer with respect to AC21/485.

Appreciate, if some one thros light. Thanks
 
eppo_varum_enGC said:
I am eligible for AC21 job transfer. I was working for my GC sponserd employer more than three years. I did not had an intension of leaving them before 485 approval. Unfortunatly, with a big surprise, without a notice, I was laid-off, due to the fact that they are downsizing the engineering division. They gave me a big rise just 4 months back with relocation.

Any way, I was not prepared for this shock. I am trying another oppurtunity now. As I am in aerospace material industry, most of the good job offers reqires "U.S person status - GC holder/citizenship". Therefore it is difficult for me to get same or similar job offer immediatly. Luckily, one company is asking me work on full time contract, after 6 months they may consider for permanent with benefits. Now they are asking me fill w-9 form. I do not know what is the purpose of this form, Also I do not know whether it is right or wrong to accept this offer with respect to AC21/485.

Appreciate, if some one thros light. Thanks
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Sorry to know about the layoff but contract to hire does not work for AC21. You would need to supply a permanent job offer with similar/same job duties from the new company when you are filing AC21.

You can do onething, if this is the only job you have at this time don't file the AC21 now, tell the new company HR that you would need to join permenant down the road if INS asks for a fulltime job proof through an RFE and at that time the company has to give you a permenant job letter with similar or same job duties. However, as per the law you are supposed to inform INS as soon as possible and not wait for the RFE.

Since your old company may not revoke I140, you can take the risk of waiting for an RFE to file AC21.
 
Thanks for your quick answer. My question is, Can I accept that contract-offer by filing W-9? Can I work with EAD in this position?. Their real intension is to hire me permanantly, but not now. They may provide job offer letter in case of any RFE, which I doubt.
 
eppo_varum_enGC said:
Thanks for your quick answer. My question is, Can I accept that contract-offer by filing W-9? Can I work with EAD in this position?. Their real intension is to hire me permanantly, but not now. They may provide job offer letter in case of any RFE, which I doubt.
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I think they are talking about I-9, if you have an EAD, yes, you can use that in the I-9. The company will keep a record of I-9, you don't need to do anything for I-9 except that you give them EAD's WAC/LIN.. number and expiration date. If their real intention is to hire you permanently after six months, they should verbally agree to take you permanent in case there is an RFE and also agree for a letter at that time. You should talk to them now about such a situation in future.

You should also ask them for taking you fulltime before 6 months so that you can do AC21 as soon as possible. Just make sure that your old company does not revoke I-140 and inform INS about the layoff.
 
indian_gc_ocean said:
I think they are talking about I-9, if you have an EAD, yes, you can use that in the I-9. The company will keep a record of I-9, you don't need to do anything for I-9 except that you give them EAD's WAC/LIN.. number and expiration date. If their real intention is to hire you permanently after six months, they should verbally agree to take you permanent in case there is an RFE and also agree for a letter at that time. You should talk to them now about such a situation in future.

You should also ask them for taking you fulltime before 6 months so that you can do AC21 as soon as possible. Just make sure that your old company does not revoke I-140 and inform INS about the layoff.
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No, they are talking about W9, request for tax payer identification. If you fill I-9 then it is a fulltime employee. If you file W9, it is a contract employee.
 
eppo_varum_enGC said:
No, they are talking about W9, request for tax payer identification. If you fill I-9 then it is a fulltime employee. If you file W9, it is a contract employee.
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As far as AC21 is concerned you cannot have contract jobs, so w-9 and ac21 don't go together. I know I-9 is maintained in company records (not to inform INS), since you are assuming w-9 is similar to I-9, just findout more about w-9.

I know some guys who around 2003-2004, when labor was difficult pass in many states, filed eb3 from Kansas, Iowa... through desi body shoppers and got their EADs in an year time. These guys are using EADs almost like greencards, just take any contract they like with any employer and keep extending EADs every years. Until recently no questions were asked during EAD renewals. Recently, NSC started sending Employement Verification letters to almost everyone whose I-485 is pending. So, it is upto the individual to use EAD in w-9 but remember questions can be asked anytime.
 
Own company???

I also heard someone started their own company and worked as employee for the company. All you need for AC21 is similar job. Please check with lawyer.
 
you should be fine

In my case, I changed my company twice and informed INS (filed AC-21) once,

since you old company does not reovoke i-140, I would suggest take this offer and do not file AC-21 it could be that when pickup your case (in six months), you might be an employee, also, they may not simply bother to send you and RFE and approve the GC

if you volunteer to file AC-21 that might trigger un-necessary RFE, if you ask a lawyer, he might suggest you to file AC21 as he could fetch some fees from you.

so take it easy and accept the job offer,
 
With EAD you can legally do any legitimate job a company will pay you to do ... truck driver, waiter, whatever.

The issue is that for AC21 you are supposed to have a "same or similar" kind of job as what was filed with your labor. If you take a job that is NOT same or similar, without also having a job that IS same or similar, it is the equivalent of being unemployed for AC21 purpose. But if you have a side job in addition to an AC21-qualified job, they won't care about your side job.

So take the contract job, because it would be no worse than being unemployed (assuming you're not taking on the expense of relocation to take the contract job). Then while you have the contract, look for a regular full time one. If you get an offer, tell the company you're contracting with about it and bargain with them to change your status to regular full-time. If they don't, then leave and take the other offer.

But don't get your hopes up too high with the contract-to-hire position, unless you know they have a history of hiring people at the end of the contracts. Many companies use it as a way to get short-term contractors while only paying employee-level wages, and have nearly zero intention of hiring you at the end of the contract. Just use it as a way to pay the bills while you look for something else.

Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer, this is not legal advice, see an attorney if you want more certainty about your specific situation.
 
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