Gurus Please HELP : I140 After company aqquired

[duggils1]

To all the Gurus in this forum -
You're doing a great job. Your input to this forum is very much appreciated.

Here's my situation:

LC Substitution Case(Also have a 3yr old pending LC with the same company. They finally gave me an approved LC)

I-140 ND 04/26/04

Company aquired by a bigger company effective 05/01/04. Paychecks bear new company name starting 6/1.

I-485 ND 06/01/04 (was not notified about the merger until after I filed 485)
Spent all 6+ years with the same company.

Now, since my company has been aqquired by another company while my I-140 is still pending,do I need to file an I-140 amendment?
Or should I simply wait for an RFE and then tell INS about the aqquisition?
In general, what would be your advise and what are my chances?
I beleive the aquisition is a "Successor in Interest" kind of a deal because the company lawyers said no changes needed for H1.

Thank you guys in advance.

-Dug

 

[Jharkhandi]

To all the Gurus in this forum -
You're doing a great job. Your input to this forum is very much appreciated.

Here's my situation:

LC Substitution Case(Also have a 3yr old pending LC with the same company. They finally gave me an approved LC)

I-140 ND 04/26/04

Company aquired by a bigger company effective 05/01/04. Paychecks bear new company name starting 6/1.

I-485 ND 06/01/04 (was not notified about the merger until after I filed 485)
Spent all 6+ years with the same company.

Now, since my company has been aqquired by another company while my I-140 is still pending,do I need to file an I-140 amendment?
Or should I simply wait for an RFE and then tell INS about the aqquisition?
In general, what would be your advise and what are my chances?
I beleive the aquisition is a "Successor in Interest" kind of a deal because the company lawyers said no changes needed for H1.

Thank you guys in advance.

-Dug

File 140-amendment - do not wait for RFE.

 

[duggils1]

Jharkhandi,
Thank you very much responding to my PM so quickly.

Why do you say I file an amendment right away.
I was talking to my lawyer this morning. He is not my company lawyer and he is very competent.

He says amendments are not advisable if they can be avoided.
He says a lot of times INS fails to connect them correctly.
He says, if we get a RFE then we'll file amendment along with the rebuttal.
If I-140 does get approved witout RFE, then there will be 2 options
- 1) use AC21 or 2) file an amendment then (this option will add another 6+ months to the process).

Also, he said to use AC21 it is best to pass 180 days AFTER the 140 is approved, NOT from the date 485 is filed. His reasoning was AC21 came before the concurrent filing ruling. So 180 days from the ND of 485 was based on the assumption that 140 was already approved. I think he is being overly cautious here.

But, let's say 140 is approved with out RFE by Nov'04 by which time I'll have completed 180 days from I485 ND. Won't I be eligible for AC21 should ther be a problem. If on the other hand, we do get a RFE and submit the merger details at that time, I think this would be the best case scenario.

PS :Lawyer said he was kinda hoping to get a RFE in my case so that everything will fall in its place. What are the chances of getting RFE (LC Sub) if we didn't submit company tax returns for 2003 because they weren't filed at that time?

 

[Jharkhandi]

Jharkhandi,
Thank you very much responding to my PM so quickly.

Why do you say I file an amendment right away.
I was talking to my lawyer this morning. He is not my company lawyer and he is very competent.

He says amendments are not advisable if they can be avoided.
He says a lot of times INS fails to connect them correctly.
He says, if we get a RFE then we'll file amendment along with the rebuttal.
If I-140 does get approved witout RFE, then there will be 2 options
- 1) use AC21 or 2) file an amendment then (this option will add another 6+ months to the process).

Also, he said to use AC21 it is best to pass 180 days AFTER the 140 is approved, NOT from the date 485 is filed. His reasoning was AC21 came before the concurrent filing ruling. So 180 days from the ND of 485 was based on the assumption that 140 was already approved. I think he is being overly cautious here.

But, let's say 140 is approved with out RFE by Nov'04 by which time I'll have completed 180 days from I485 ND. Won't I be eligible for AC21 should ther be a problem. If on the other hand, we do get a RFE and submit the merger details at that time, I think this would be the best case scenario.

PS :Lawyer said he was kinda hoping to get a RFE in my case so that everything will fall in its place. What are the chances of getting RFE (LC Sub) if we didn't submit company tax returns for 2003 because they weren't filed at that time?

There is no correct or incorrect answer on this issue. What I told you is usual way of doing things. You may prefer not to be pro-active on the issue and may or may not get RFE. Since it is just a month that you have applied for 140, you will lose less time if you file amendment - compared to getting RFE and responding. You would like to check with people who were forced to file amendment after 140 approvals - esp when they wanted to go for CP at a later stage. This was you are closing all options of CP even if you want to do so at a later stage. Also why would USCIS fail to note amendments? Ask your lawyer has he ever filed amendment in his life? He is not competent - he sounds one. You get a new case number with amendments.

Now if you do not use AC-21 you will end up loosing 6-12 months on 140 more. If you are planning to use AC-21 and suppose you get interview for 485 and you are asked to show when were you with your sponsor - think how would you defend it! You will need documents to prove aquisition. Do you think they will give it to you then? Also please confirm if it is merger or aquisition - if it is merger then lawyer needs to work to prove H1b is valid(your first post) - same goes for underlying LC for 140 and 485.

I am clueless what is logistics of such interpretation of AC-21 by your lawyer.