Experience through petitioning employer?

[yann]

Hello all!

After following the forum these days, I find many gurus (GC applicants as well as lawyers) are saying that the work experience gained through current employer usually doesn't count.

I'm in no way doubting the authority that all these experienced helpers spoke with. But I am worried.. So I'm cross-posting a question I asked in the NJ thread.

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I understand here many users are in the IT consulting business and have had years of work experience from previous jobs.

Many fresh foreign graduates from American colleges acquired their permanent residency through the labor certification channel back in gold old 2000 (like a few friends of mine, started their application in 2000 or very early 2001 in CA and NJ soon after graduation and got their GC stamped early last year). Maybe the economic situation has since changed, but I wonder if any law overseeing the certification process has also changed.

If the law has not changed a bit, then if workers without prior work experience can get their LC's certified in 2000/2001 through their first employers, they should still be able to do it today with their first companies. Of course, with current economic situation considered, the process is certainly more difficult. However, I don't understand why in 2002/2003, the YEARS of experience acquired through the first and current employer, we formerly 'fresh' graduates cannot apply for the LC simply because this is their first company?
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Comments please.. Thanks a lot!

 

[Jim Mills]

Let's say a person joins a company right out of college as a Software Engineer. If the person works for the sponsor for 2 years and then wants to apply for an LC the company will have 2 options and there are problems with both.

OPTION 1:

File for a Software Engineer. The person will NOT be able to use the 2 years experience with the company. Since the person did not have any experience when s/he joined the company in this position, it cannot be truthfully stated that 2 years of experience is a minimum requirement for the position. Applying for a person with no experience is difficult now. When there is no experience required, DOL normally requires the company to recruit on a college campus. This presented no problem 3 years ago but now you would get hundreds of applications from qualified candidates.

OPTION 2:

Attempt to use the experience with the sponsoring employer. This is so fact sensitive that it really cannot be addressed in this forum. There are lots of cases out there about this and it seems that the standard is not entirely clear. There is no real "bright line" that separates approved cases from denied cases. It can be done but you need to plan the process very carefully and there is still always a chance of denial for these type of cases. I avoid it if there is a choice.