Getting a copy of our own filed I-140?

F

FutureRide

Registered Users (C)
Can someone who has filed his/her I-140 petition help me on this. My lawyer filed my I-140 petition two weeks ago, but when I asked for a copy of what they filed they refused to provide me a copy. Their reason was, "We don\'t share 1-140 petition to foreign national employees as it contains sensitive company financial information" Is this normal? Did you guys get a copy of you I-140 petition from your lawyers?
For my other old petitions (i.e. LCA, H1-b, LC), they had been providing me with a copy. That\'s why I think this one is weird.

Please advise.

Thanks.

FutureRide
 
No Title

You have every right to get a copy and you should keep it. Period. At the most he can ask to get a written approval from your employer.
 
No Title

Thanks New Delhi CP for your advise. Do you know if we\'d need a copy of filed I-140 petition when we do the interview for CP?
 
No Title

NO.... the company/lawyer are under no obligation to give you a copy. I am in the same situation as you. If your company is a private enterprise they are under no obligation to reveal their financials to you!
 
What did you get then?

Arun, what did you get then from your lawyer/employer? Because my understanding is, we need to show your filed petition when you do your CP interview, don\'t we?
 
The I-140 belongs to the company.

They are not obligated to give any of it to you. They will give you a copy of the approval notice when it is issued if the position is still available. The can also withdraw the job offer at this point and you would be forced to start the GC process all over again, beginning with Labor Certification (if necessary). The attorney is correct not to give you the documents without the client\'s (company\'s) consent.

Jim
 
No Title

I claim no knowledge to CP in particular since I personally have opted for AOS. As Jim states (as did my lawyer advice me similarly), we will be given a copy of the I-140 if the company still has the position open
 
Employer must provide I-140 petition information to the employee (benificiary)

Hi All,

Though, the employer is the petitioner, he/she has an obligation to reveal the contents of the I-140 petition to the employee. In I-140 petition process, generally there will be a "covering letter" along with a list of supporting documents (of course, Official I-140 form is one among them).

In the cover letter, employer makes some statements about the skill sets of employee and how it will be useful to him/her (and to do so employer needs the consent of the employee too). Therefore, employee has every right to get the info about a petition in which he/she is involved.

Conversely, employer has right to withhold the information that need not be revealed to the employee.

Solution: Employer provides a copy of I-140 petition, excluding some sensitive information, to the employee.
 
Where does this supposed obligation arise from?

The employee does not need to sign the I-140. Please reveal the source of this obligation that you state exists.

Jim
 
Hi Jim

It is a simple logic.

I-140 petition is for a specified "employee (beneficiary)", therefore, employee consent is obvious, and therefore employee becomes a party to such a petition, indirectly. Employee/beneficiary has the right to know what is filed to INS (or any organization) utilizing\' his/her name and employment, at least to confirm himself/herself that the contents of the petition are actually represent the facts.

Hypothetical Case: An employer may file a petition for an employee, but that employee can invalidate such petition by writing to INS.
 
No Title

Well if everything that is logical took preceedence over the legal system as it exists, this whole process wouldn\'t be so painstakingly long! I will refrain from getting into anymore counter arguments. My assertation was simply based on my personal experience and FAQs on websites by "prominent" immigration lawyers including "word-of-mouth" from my own lawyer. In any case it does not seem a big deal to me whether or not I know what the I140 petition contained unless there is misrepresentation of some kind. And that is simply an issue of trust.

Thanks,
 
I see your point and it logically makes sense, but this is INS we\'re talking about

If the employee withholds information then the petition would likely be denied but that does not somehow obligate the employer to provide anything to the employee. I imagine the employee could get some information (maybe) through a Freedom of Information Act Request but that is a different matter and goes to the goverment\'s obligations. Clearly, the employer must have the employee\'s cooperation, just like the employee must have the employer\'s cooperation at the I-485 stage, but that doesn\'t mean that the employer is required to provide the documents. It may be nice, it may even be a good idea, but the employer is not "required" to provide this to the employee at this point. Later, yes. But not while the I-140 is pending.

The employee actually has to sign the Labor Certification but once approved other employee\'s can be substituted under certain circumstances. Clearly, even signature of the EAT-750B doesn\'t provide any rights there, why should it on the I-140?

Jim
 
Employer cannot conceal info from employee.. that\'s simple.

Hi,

I work for a large company (American/international) where green card processing has been streamlined. The copies of by H1-B petitions (second one was an extension) were delivered to me by mail (by my company). It is the same case with LC and I-140.

When I asked about it, I was told that the employer MUST provide a copy of petition to employee (beneficiary) and they just follow the law.
 
Conflict Resolution 101: Position vs. Interest

FutureRide, why do you need the I-140 filing?

1. Technically, I-140 is owned by the petitioner, not beneficiary. Your employer wants to hire someone like you, and has petitioned the INS for an immigrant visa. It does not belong to you.

2. Many firms will be happy to share I-140, however, they are not obliged. In fact, many large firms won\'t even share the receipt number (EAC/LIN/CSC/...) with you, because of the agreements that they have with the law firms.

3. If you need a particular document for some part of the process, including I-140 application, the firm will provide it to you when you need it.

4. If you need it for tracking purposes, check with your firm. If they do not have a tracking procedure in place (you-> HR-> lawyer -> HR -> you), they will share the information directly with you.

Bottom line, instead of establishing a position ("Mongo wants I-140"), you have to clarify your interest ("Mongo needs it because..."). Perhaps there is another way to meet your interest.
 
"Follow The Law"

y-man wrote:

"When I asked about it, I was told that the employer MUST provide a copy of petition to employee (beneficiary) and they just follow the law."

And pray, what law might that be?

I am really curious. And so is a very large firm, and an equally large law firm :)
 
H-1\'s yes

Not LCs and I-140s. Your company has a good policy and I see no reason why a company would not provide copies (particularly for publically traded companies where the information is available to anyone anyway) but that does not mean it\'s a requirement. It\'s your company\'s policy and nothing more. If you want to argue the point further provide a reference to the Code of Federal Regulations, statutes, INS memos, or other official documents and we\'ll discuss it further. Even an cite to an attorney website stating this would be ok.

But, to put the matter to rest, I\'ll provide the following and hopefully end the discussion. It\'s in the FAQ\'s of this website!

    Q159 I will greately appreciate if you can tell me following: I changed job last month and previous employer is posseeing my approved I-140. According to new law are they bound to give me my I-140 if ask them to do so. How can I get my I-140 from them ?
    A159 They are NOT bound to give it. It is the employer\'s property. [Index] [Compiled by Law Offices of Rajiv S Khanna]

The emphasis above is in the original text provided by Law Offices of Rajiv S Khanna.

Jim
 
Thanks everyone!

First of all, I want to thank every one for their feedbacks.

The reason why I asked because this is the first time that my lawyer (paid by employer) has refused to give me a copy of my own petition. I had many petitions filed (done by the same lawyer) and they had alway been giving me copies of those petitions (i.e. LCA, H-1B, and LC)from start to end with no arguments. I thought that excuse of "sensitive company financial information" was kind a lame one even though we\'re still a private-owned company. I, myself, know and have full access to all the financial information for my company.

So, I thought this is weird comparing to my previous cases. That\'s why I posted the question, because I\'m curious to know from all of you who have filed before.

Furthermore, I just thought that we as the beneficiary has the right to know what information that got put on the I-140 form. You know sometimes, your employer or lawyer can play "games" with us and therfore can be tricky :)
 
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