Change of Employer after 180 days of filing I-485

[ssb1410]

Hi,

It has been more than 180 days since I filed my I-485. I have received my EAD / AP . Presently I am on bench & my employer is unable to pay me. I am being offered a perm. job with a diff employer. If I accept that , will my GC process get effected.

Secondly My 485 was filed at VSC. My new employer is based in Texas. Will the change of state/sc be a problem.

Lastly what documents do I need to make the change or what formalities do I have to complete. Can i retain my present Lawyer.

Thanks in advance.

 

[GC2003]

ssb1410,

Is your new salary higher or lower? I'm in a similar situation and just try to find out the solution.

Also, what did your current attorney say about the whole transfer thing?

- GC2003
ps: guess won't get GC in 2003

 

[gcard2002]

ssb1410

First thing you have to do is get a employment letter from your current employer which indicates that you are still with them, even after 180 days of filing I-485. Keep all the pay stubs from the time you filed I-485. If you want to avoid suspicion of your employer regarding the employement letter, tell that you are applying for some home financing or some car loan and the banks are verifying if you have a stable job for loan approval. The letter should indicate the dates of employement.

When I write down my advise here, I am assuming that the GC is sponsored by your current employer, not a prospective employer though it wouldn't make a difference whether it is current employer or prospective employer.

Coming to the point of moving to another city, I don't think it should be a problem at all. Make sure you notify INS of your new address. When you notify INS of your new adress, they might wonder about your job status. So, it's obvious that you notify them of your new employment as well under AC21 law. The important thing to note is that it is NOT mandatory to notify INS of your new employment but the INS guidelines says that it 'expects' to be notified. Make sure that your new job duties remains the same (not 100% matching required) and the salary is not varying too much from the current one. It is allowed to have variation in salary because different places has different cost of living. But if you are moving to a place where the cost of living is high compared to the one where u currently reside, INS expects that your salary is higher or equal to the one in the LC, but not less. If you are moving to a place with less cost of living, they would accept an equal or lesser salary but either way, the variation shouldn't be too much. You can go to DOL webpage to see the salary ranges for that title in that area.

Coming to the lawyer, the question is, is your current lawyer hired by you or is he/she a company lawyer. If you signed the G-28 form stating that the lawyer represents you, that means it is your lawyer. In that case, you can continue hiring their services even after change of employer (provided the new employer has no objection and doesn't insist on hiring their lawyer). If it is a company lawyer, then you have to hire your own lawyer after getting OK from new company.

PS: My personal opinion