Got Green Card. Need to change job

No Title

Our company is very small and there are only 2 people who are going through the GC process - me and my co-worker. The INS rep. called the number from the I-140, which was our main #. She didn\'t ask any personal questions that couldn\'t be answered, didn\'t want to talk to HR either, simply asked the receptionist to transfer her to my co-worker. He answered the call and later told me that she introduced herself and told him that she is calling to verify that he still works with the company. The call was very brief. He talked about it for days. I think it happened in early December. Hope this answers your question.
 
Ivy2000 - Thanks but when?

Ivy2000 - thanks for the reponse. However you did not mention:

1. When your coworker received the call, i.e. how long after the stamping and how long before the physical card came in?

2. Which was the service center?

It is very strange to hear of such a call from INS, though. Normally they don\'t go out of the way to ascertain such a point, but with INS anything may be possible.
 
There was never a mention of six month period

Why is everyone fixated on the 6-month period? I read through the document, and what an excellent one that is. It simply illustrates a point stating six months as an example, it could have been 5 or even 7 months. The author simply points out the fact that with every passing day after you get the coveted PR status, your deparature from the sponsoring company loses steam of an "intention of fraud". If INS ever wants to persue the case, say after 6 months, they will have to establish that you had the intention to join the new company before your case was approved and you simply waited till it was approved. And how do they know that? Perhaps by unearthing some email you might have sent to the new company several months ago. So just because you left your sponsoring company 6 months after the GC does not mean that you will be ok; you will actually be in deep waters. On the other hand, say you emailed your new employer one month after the approval and your actual joining happened T+6 months. It simply means you did not have the abandonment intention when your case ws approved but later you changed your mind. INS will have a lesser case against you. Now say that it happens T+6 months for your email and T+7 months when you actually join. Does it mean that you will be ok? Hardly. It merely means INS will have an even weaker case against you. The point is you can leave your company ten years after your GC is approved, but INS can easily draw up a case against you stating that you did not fulfill your promise of maintaining a long-term relationship with your sponsor. However, it\'s case will be very weak after ten years as opposed to, say, six months. So six months is NOT a threshold value of anything and it certainly does not help to count it from Approval Date, Stamping Date or Physical card Receipt Date? When push comes to shove, if INS actually brings a case of fraud against you, all you need to know is

1. With every passing day since the approval date, your case would be stronger.
2. The more you account for a reason for the switch, economic being the most important one, the better it is. If you switch with no percetible increase in salary, your case is weak.
3. Most important, no matter how strong your case is, it\'s a battle between lawyers. Face the facts, America is about litigations and sonner or later you have to face it to realize the American dream.

However, two points still unclear still are:

1. As per AC21 law, you can switch companies BEFORE the approval (after 180 days of notice date) and still will be ok, but you can\'t justify the necessity to switch AFTER the approval process. IT seeems plain unfair to me and I am sure with a good lawyer this can be beaten.

2. Is your case going to be stronger if you are with the sponsoring company a long time BEFORE the approval and switch immediately after the approval?
 
No Title

Well, business or no, they called. For your information, while I was on H1-B, INS called me once as well, about 7 months after I got it. How did I know? He told me who he was. Besides, I think they are the ones who decide whose business that is.
 
No Title

I don\'t think he has the card yet. The call came in at the end of November (don\'t remember exactly when); our service center is in Vermont
 
No Title

Actually one can leave the company any time If they like as long
as the employer would not inform the INS of their immediate
departure.
 
No Title

Well, it seems that you can never leave the sponsoring company with out apprehending any problem. To be honest with, the qs. of intent is also a big thing, because no employer will take the resignation as note of good intent, especially, if you are earning for them or you are doing value addition to them. So, is it the bootomline that you can quit the sponsoring employer unless
1. you are laid off/fired.
2. become citizen.
?
 
Another point of view

When an employment based GC process is started both the employer and the employee
state their intent to work togheter for long time (unspecified). If the INS could punish an employye and revoke the GC
of someone who quits the company after getting it what will you say about the employer intent if the company
lays off the employee immediately after he gets the GC. Is this a fraud or only immigrants could perform
fraud from INS point of view? Also if you join a company in good faith and your employer is lying you about the GC, doing nothing about it to keep you work there or is a jackass, will the INS give you a GC because the employer commited a fraud to you?
 
Q for Ivy

Don\'t get me wrong, I completely believe that the INS called you guys.

My question is why would the INS call, since almost nobody else has heard of this. Was your company in the news e.g. Enron, or had it filed for bankruptcy, or had it been pulled up by the INS in the past for immigration fraud etc.? Had it filed a lawsuit against INS ever?

Can you detect any reason why you guys were the exceptions, not the rule?
 
No clue

My only guess is that maybe after Sept. 11 they changed the procedures... My company is a think tank and USAID darling - never had any problems with the law, our president is a former chief of the Export/Import Bank, and it never filed suits or was sued. For that matter, it never petitioned for GC before - me and my co-workers are the first and only people they ever sponsored. So to answer your question - I have no idea.
 
permanent residency cancellation

Did anybody ever saw/heard of a GC being cancelled? On the INS web site you can read a bunch of administrative decisions on GC/visas cases being rejected before approval. I cannot find anywhere hints to GCs being cancelled after approval.

In the golden 90s people used to leave the sponsoring company weeks after being approved. If this law was enforced you would expect to see at least some paper trails.
 
I agree with Proactive...

I have never heard of a single case where GC holder was sent a notice or got PR cancelled even if he/she left after 2-3 months. Also not heard of any employer sending in a complaint to INS and INS taking action.

Yes, I heard of cases where there were some questions asked while filing N-400 after 5 yrs of PR. But if proper papers were kept , it was resolved.

I would suggest that if we can check around in friends/co-employees , maybe some real information would be gathered.

Thanks
 
No Title

I also support you in this view. I know a number of persons who changed jobs within month, year they have no problem. Even some of them got citizenship also.
 
PROACTIVE AND OTHERS

I saw this discussion abt leaving the company.
If one is planning to go to school within 6 months of getting the GC would that still be a problem?
 
No Title

Everyone has conveniently ignored an important question:

Do you count X number of months from the approval date or
stamping date?

This is not addressed in the above document. It just says
"newly arrived employment based immigrant". Well, when are
you considered a new Immigrant - after I485 approval or
after getting a stamp on your passport?

Any gurus out there...

TIA,
Mitr
 
It is different in AOS and CP.

For CP it is the POE(passport stamp) and the same day is reflected as Approval date and GC is valid for 10 yrs from that day. 100% sure!!.

For AOS , it can be I-485 approval date and I feel most of the time it would be put on the passport also. Not very sure...!!!

Thanks
RJ
 
No Title

Please re-read this excellent posting earlier in the thread.

Alex Norman 12/26/01 10:51pm

I find it interesting how people take a long time to understand unpleasant truths.
 
No Title

It simply tells you never switch job, however bad your sponsor is, however bad your pay is - it does not matter. Your sponsor may lay off you, may fire you, may exploit you extensively, may give you demotion, may give you good piece of decrement, still you must not show any intent to leave them.
 
No Title

Thanks JoeF!

Thats the answer I was looking for. Do you have a link
to any document to validate this.

TIA,
Mitr
 
No Title

Each one has to reach his/her own conclusions, take his/her decisions and live their life accordingly.

Your post outlines one of the extreme interpretation. Posting about your intent to leave your employer in a public forum, before even getting your GC is at some other extreme.

Personally I take a more moderate view both in my opinions and actions.

Some questions have complicated answers and life is not fair. Of course you can do something about it. At the right moment.
 
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