H1b married to US Citizen, changing jobs

tonischumacher

New Member
Hi,

First of all, I have been working under H1b visa in San Francisco, CA since 2008 (Expires 09/11).
A week ago me and my US citizen girlfriend got married after dating for 15 months. Right after marriage we filed all our documents via our attorney for GC. As of yesterday I got a new job offer and accepted it. Right after I gave my 2 weeks notice to my current company, my last day at work will be Nov 22, 2010. And my first day at the new company will be Dec 6, 2010. My current company said after my last day at work they will contact their immigration lawyer to drop my H1b, which is understandable. But now my question is, can I start working for the new company without receiving my work card, but only the receipt of application? How should I approach this situation?
Should I mention this to my new company? Or should I just leave it as is because I do know when I fill the I-9 form they don't turn that in to USCIS, they just have it on their file for "what if" purposes, what if USCIS visits the office asks about me, which is super unlikely...

I asked this to my lawyer, and he said by Dec 6 I will be receiving my application receipt and companies usually don't care about if I actually have the work card as long as they know it's being processed.

I need your advice.

Thank you,

Toni
 
If your new employer doesn't worry about it neither should you. Also, it is ICE that audits I-9's NOT USCIS and they don'y talk about it either. The question to ask is if your new employer uses E-verify and if they have got the ok about you already. Don't bring it up to them. They don't have to use E-verify. Even if they do and they get a warning about you, you have time to resolve it. The EAD should be OK'd by then. Don't worry over nothing. Wait for a problem to arise before worrying. It will get resolved in the end. Spouses of USC's get a bunch of "breaks" under immigration laws.
 
If your new employer doesn't worry about it neither should you. Also, it is ICE that audits I-9's NOT USCIS and they don'y talk about it either. The question to ask is if your new employer uses E-verify and if they have got the ok about you already. Don't bring it up to them. They don't have to use E-verify. Even if they do and they get a warning about you, you have time to resolve it. The EAD should be OK'd by then. Don't worry over nothing. Wait for a problem to arise before worrying. It will get resolved in the end. Spouses of USC's get a bunch of "breaks" under immigration laws.

Thank you very much... *Deep breath* :)
 
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