Got Approval but...

S

sshetty

New Member
Hi,

I switched jobs after finishing 180 days with my old employer. I joined another company and after finishing my finger printing, I got I-485 approval on Feb 3 2002. My lawyer (from the old company) says that since I and my new company did not notify INS of the change, the validity of my green card is not clear. Is this true ? Is there such a mandate with regards to 180 day rule ? Please let me know.
 
No Title

Your lawyer is very incompetent. since 180 days have elapsed since you applied for GC, you shouldn\'t notify INS of anything. You lawyer\'s point will be valid if you had your approval before the 180 days. You notify the INS after the 180 days if you\'ve been issued an RFE. so be careful and don\'t let your lawyer mess up your GC. enjoy and good luck
 
Could you post your details RD,ND Finger print?

Congrats on your green card. This is a free flow of ideas bulletin board, but everyone appreciates knowing a few of the relevant details from recently approved people.
More knowledgeable people will reply to your question, but from what I have read in a few messages it seems you shouldn\'t worry. At least most people don\'t notify of changes of address or company for fear of delaying the process. Depending on when the move/approval happens, some people notify of change of address at passport stamp day.
I doubt that anyone announces change of company after getting approval.
On a personal note, if you didn\'t want to worry about your company switch, you should have avoided changing company, unless it was an involuntary termination :) Now you\'ll worry for years to come that INS will knock at your door telling you that the GC was approved on incomplete application and it is revoked, I hope I\'m just joking. It seems that INS memo asks for a notification when the change of company takes place, but I am not sure if this is enforced.
Most likely you don\'t have anything to worry :) Enjoy.
 
No Title

Thank you all. Well to answer your question, it was involuntary. I risked being layed-off if I hadn\'t switched. Even then I wouldn\'t have switched, if the 180 day rule didn\'t take effect. Thank you all one more time.
 
180 day rule

the ac21 postability rule says

In cases where the INS fails to adjudicate the case for more than 180 days from filing an applicant should not be denied if he has changed jobs where the job is same or similar in nature

This brings questions up

question a) are they talking about 180 days from receipt date or notice date
ans. most of the attorneys have accepted receipt date

question b) what if applicant changes jobs before 180 days
ans. many cases have got green card if the applicant has changed jobs before 180 days and INS has failed to adjudicate the case before 180 days

question c) what if person changes location and moves to an entirely different state

ans. the applicant gets approval

question d) INS recommends that applicants inform INS when they change jobs.

ans. Yes, but it is not a rule, many people have not run into any issues regarding this. Not encountering such issues however does not mean that people would not have any problems in the future.
 
sitsit

sitsit

Please give us your details for tracking purposes
Mailing date of 485
receipt date of 485
ap date
fp date
ead date
message changes of avm
priority date
location
country

The above details help us update pcee\'s spreadsheet and are usefull for tracking purporses
 
Here is my 2c worth...

sitsit,

I don\'t think it\'s a problem because "You didn\'t notify INS about job change". On this board several people suggested that notifying INS is not a must!

But changing job could be a problem (even after 180 days), if you are not actually layed-off by your GC sponsering employer. If one is questioned by INS at any time then they need to prove that they had strong intent to work for that employer at the time of GC processing. Probably it is better to keep possible documentation from your earlier eimployer that you had risk of being layed-off when you switched job.

Goodluck
PCee
 
pcee

no pcee this is not correct
intent is not important at all
even if person wishes to leave employer or employer lays off employee

in both cases it is okay provided AC21 conditions are met

I have explained conditions in earlier post

check this out in Yahoo groups
AC21
 
sorry pcee I disagree - please read this post also

rsrgc "I-140 revoked ..." 2/5/02 2:20pm

my 2 cents
 
Let me try to explain why I think in this way...

rsrgc,

I don\'t know who is participating in the discussion at yahoogroups but here is what I know and advised by a very knowledgeable attorney.

Case1: Some one gets GC and the next day they go resign, packup and leave. The company gets pissed off and reports to INS saying that even though the GC job is there the employee had different intentions while GC processing was going on. In this cases most of the times INS will investigate and is highly possible that the GC may be revoked.

Now keeping AC21 aside to file for GC under employment based there must be a proper job and the applicant must have intent to take-up that job at least after GC approval. If not it is fraud.

Before AC21 if the applicant looses GC job then has to start GC process all over again. One thing indisputable at this time is with AC21 if some one looses job and if 180 days passed after filing I-485 then the applicant has to find a similar job if GC is not approved yet. In the absence of AC21 regulations, (I don\'t know what approach you take i.e. optimistic or pessimistic) I am not sure how INS will interpret AC21 w.r.t. Finding "if GC application is fraudulent" and how INS should investigate?

Now the question is what triggers INS investigation? Here are some I could think off..
1. As I mentioned above it is possible that the GC sponsoring employer could report to INS
2. When some one files for Citizenship.
3. If Company has some problems and company is being investigated and as part of it all its H1s GCs also gets investigated

- PCee
 
intent

there r two major aspects to this

a) U change jobs before gc approval
b) U change jobs after gc approval

in case a) This is covered by AC21 180 day portability rules
in case b) Before AC21 law it was clear that intent is very important

So to conclude in the case above he is covered by AC21 portability 180 day rule - He does not have to worry at all

Hope i have clarified the situation
 
Hi Guys, I did change jobs after 180 days

Here is my thinking that is supported by FDBL.

At the time of filing, the *intent* must be that
I will work for the sponsoring company and they
will hire me. However, after 180 days I got fired.

So, I do not believe (nor do FDBL) that my green
card is invalid, because my intent was always
to work for the sponsoring company.

I agree that when it comes time for citizenship
180 dayers could be in trouble. To overcome this,
I filed for a H1 transfer and joined the new company
on my H1-B not EAD card. As I filed my H1B transfer before
my last day at work at old company I was never
out of status. I think those that have a gap between
jobs when they were potentially out of status may be
in trouble.

Bongo
 
No Title

Bongo & rsrgc,

If some one is fired and 180 days passed after I-485 then that person is free to change jobs and no on disputes this point.

Now lets say the GC job is still there and some one want to change the job after 180 days and for that matter just after getting GC then one could get into trouble, and in the absence of AC21 regulations it is not clear at this point.

Some one pointed me to the following link.
http://immigration.about.com/library/weekly/aa012902b.htm
(Read Question #s 1, 4, 5)

Some related links..

Read this article (Updated 11/27/01: Obligation of Employment After Green Card) at following link...
http://www.immigration-law.com/Breaking News IV.html

Jim Mills "I-485 problem!!!" 2/5/02 10:00am
Jim M "Client Forcing to Join Before 180 Days.. What are the options I have." 1/18/02 11:19am
Jim M "180 Day Portability rule - Article from Current Issue of Carl Shusterman - Comments PLS" 12/20/01 11:07am

-PCee
 
180 day rule

Pcee - I do agree with you if person switches jobs before 180 day from rd it may or may not be a problem

but if person switches jobs after 180 days and before adjudication
there is definitely no problem - there is no case here - the laws are totally clear and there is no controversy whatsoever.

Intent is only considered if the person changes jobs after adjudication and that too if the person changes jobs during the time from adjudication to six months

so imagine person got green card approval on Jan 1 2002
and the danger period is from Jan 1 2002 to June 30 2002
in this period if person changes jobs he has to be very carefull that he has to request his company to clearly explain the reasons for his leaving. and the documents should show that it is due to the inability of the company (for example economic downturn and less business, company closes, change of technology) This is important because all this will be reviewed when his case comes up for naturalization (citizenship).

but if the person gets green card on Jan 1 2002 and changes any time after 6 months then intent is very difficult to prove.

The company or the INS can go after the person and prove \'intent\' that he never intended to work for the \'green card sponsoring company\' if the duration of employment is less than 6 months.

All said and done this is correct pre AC21 law

after AC21 law many people are not sure what happens if person gets green card and immediately changes jobs

We will come to know more after 4 years when many cases will come up for citizenship rulings. This is if INS fails to address this issue in any of the memos which it periodically issues.

Hope this clarifies the situation

People who have changed jobs into similar jobs after 180 days can be divided into the following categories

a) People who have kept quiet about job change and have been approved without rfe or interview
b) People who received rfe and responded mentioning ac21 law
c) people who have got interview and mentioned ac21 law

all above a,b,c cases have been approved without any problems

INS officers are totally clear about the AC21 law

The only cases which have problems are
people who change before 180 days and who have filed in CSC
People in VSC/NSC/TSC are not having a problem at all.
 
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