Hi guys
I am under EB1 - Outstanding Researcher category. My I-140 is yet to be approved [hoping to get it approved within a couple of
weeks. I had an RFE and it was replied (Dec 01 2003)]. I got laid off a couple of months back and I got already a job in another
company involved in Research. Earlier when I applied for my I-140, I remember submitting a document that there are at least three employees doing R & D in the company (in our company there were around more than 40 Ph.Ds).
In the present job offer I got, there are only about 7 employees and out of which 5 are involved in R & D (with only one Ph.D).
If I include myself, it will be 2 Ph.Ds. My question is that is there any problem if I join a company where there are less than 3 Ph.Ds?
My question is difficult for my attorney to answer since there is no specific guidance on this point. However, he was able to speak with a government representative on Monday at a conference. He stated that at the moment the Immigration Service is taking a broad and liberal view on the term "same or similar job". This view looks only at the job itself and does not look at the company when analyzing whether a transfer to a new employer is satisfactory under the provisions of AC 21. Under this
view, the number of researchers at the company is irrelevant.
However, the representative also stated that this liberal view is
currently under review and that a stricter view may be articulated in official regulations sometime in the future. He did not know when this rule would be published.
So he advised that accepting this offer comes with some level of risk and mentioned that the law is not clearer on this point.
Any input on this from you guys?
Sekar
Boston
I am under EB1 - Outstanding Researcher category. My I-140 is yet to be approved [hoping to get it approved within a couple of
weeks. I had an RFE and it was replied (Dec 01 2003)]. I got laid off a couple of months back and I got already a job in another
company involved in Research. Earlier when I applied for my I-140, I remember submitting a document that there are at least three employees doing R & D in the company (in our company there were around more than 40 Ph.Ds).
In the present job offer I got, there are only about 7 employees and out of which 5 are involved in R & D (with only one Ph.D).
If I include myself, it will be 2 Ph.Ds. My question is that is there any problem if I join a company where there are less than 3 Ph.Ds?
My question is difficult for my attorney to answer since there is no specific guidance on this point. However, he was able to speak with a government representative on Monday at a conference. He stated that at the moment the Immigration Service is taking a broad and liberal view on the term "same or similar job". This view looks only at the job itself and does not look at the company when analyzing whether a transfer to a new employer is satisfactory under the provisions of AC 21. Under this
view, the number of researchers at the company is irrelevant.
However, the representative also stated that this liberal view is
currently under review and that a stricter view may be articulated in official regulations sometime in the future. He did not know when this rule would be published.
So he advised that accepting this offer comes with some level of risk and mentioned that the law is not clearer on this point.
Any input on this from you guys?
Sekar
Boston