Help! Afraid to go to interview b/c employment question

N

ny11023

Registered Users (C)
Gurus,

I posted my situation before I submitted N400. I thought I gathered enough courage from reading some posts similar to my situation. But now that I'm going for fingerprints tomorrow and I'm reading some new interview posts here, they got me panick again.

I got my GC on 5/23/2001. I left at the end of that May. But so far I could only found a pay stub dated 5/15/01. Anyway. The reasons were that my company were moving my position to Hong Kong office. I couldn't possibly go as my hubby's job is here (they couldn't help relocate him as the company is small); and the same time my father fell ill (pretty seriously) back in my home country. So I left. I didn't work for a few years after that except that a few part time retail sales jobs in 2004. My GC sponsor didn't appear on my work history as it was more than 6 years ago. But my work history in past 5 years was relatively brief, which itself may not be a problem , but may call for extra attention.

Now that reading some fellow GC holders faced tough questioning under similar situations. I feel that I desperately need all your inputs:

1. Besides a 5/15/01 pay stub, I don't have any other documents from my sponsor. Shall I get any, if so, what? I'm thinking of get a company brochure to show the Hong Kong office. But I doubt it would help. I wasn't fired, or laidoff. So I don't have a pink slip to show.

2. As to my father's illness, I couldn't find med records dating back to 2001 (took by government, local practice), but I have one recently showing that he's in the late stage of cancer. Would that help?

3. I waited about 2 years between filed 485 to getting the formal GC. Would that help me a little under AC21? But I didn't work in the "similar" field after I left, in fact, I didn't work at all for a few years. How would that appear to IO? Someone mentioned that it didn't matter how long before one worked for the sponsor, it's how long after the GC. Do I give them enough reasons to revoke my GC?

4. If this would jeopardize my GC, I'd rather cancel the application. Would the same problem come back to haunt me in a few years? Would the cancellation itself raise the flag?

Please, please advise! Those in similar situations, please share your experience!
 
The GC is issued for future employment - so it is true that the time you work for the employer AFTER the GC is what is important.

1. You need to have worked for the GC employer after the GC.

or

2. AC-21, "similary job and position" at different employer.

Since you did neither 1 nor 2, it is really tough situation, and you need to consult a good attorney to see if you should cancel the case, and atleast keep your GC safe.
 
ny11023 said:
1. Besides a 5/15/01 pay stub, I don't have any other documents from my sponsor. Shall I get any, if so, what? I'm thinking of get a company brochure to show the Hong Kong office. But I doubt it would help. I wasn't fired, or laidoff. So I don't have a pink slip to show.
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Moving your position to a new location that is beyond reasonable commuting distance from the old job location is the equivalent of a layoff, even if they offered you a position at the new location and you were the one to refuse it. A different country would definitely be outside of that reasonable distance. Relocation often involves a heavy personal and financial burden, and you are not expected to relocate in order for it not to be a layoff.

You should get some proof that your position was moved to the new location. And an official company letter stating the time frame when you were employed. Also get some proof of your husband's income, to show that he was supporting you when you weren't employed. If you can't show how you were meeting your expenses during very long periods of unemployment, they begin to suspect you were making money from crime. Gather the documents and bring them to the interview, but don't show them unless you are hassled about your employment history.

I would advise you to contact an attorney before making the final decision to proceed with or cancel the application, but I don't think you're in bad shape if you can come up with the above evidence. What helps is that you did work for the sponsor for at least a day after the GC, you spent 2 years with them after filing the I-485, and it was their decision to move your position out of the country, not yours.

However, if you spent a long time (like over 6 months, either in one 6+ month trip or a total of over 6 months in multiple consecutive trips) in your home country when your father was ill, you might be rejected for a different reason (breaking continuous residence).
 
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Also, what is your husband's citizenship status? If he is a USC and you have been married to him for three years while he was a USC, it may make sense to cancel the current application and reapply on the basis of being a spouse of a USC. That would take some heat off of your employment situation, although the heat would then be placed on your marriage (possibly involving invasive interview questions to check whether the marriage was genuine).
 
Maybe I'm missing the point here, but it looks like you worked for your sponsor for at least a few days after getting your GC? (5/23/2001 thru 5/31/2001) That means AC21 does not apply, and as noted by others, it would be unreasonable to expect you to drop everything and move to HK.

I really don't think you'll have a problem, but if asked, simply tell the truth. You have done nothing wrong, and its up to USCIS to prove otherwise; The burden of proof rests with the applicant for the actual N-400 process, however the worst USCIS could do is deny your natz. Revoking your GC and starting removal proceedings would require USCIS to prove that you intended to obtain an EB GC fraudulently.
 
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ny11023,

1. Do you have a very strong reason to apply for citizenship?

2. If it is a question of "just wanted to finish all this immigration stuff", so later we will be free of all these things, I dunno if it is a strong enough reason to take any chances with your GC.

3. If you are 100% sure you wanna return to your home country thats different. But some people want citizenship - because they "may" sometime in future wanna do that. Nothing wrong with that, but in that case you in your specific case are taking chances...

Ultimately it is your choice, but I'd suggest you play it safe when it comes to your GC. Why take chances? (unless there are very strong reasons).
 
Left employer after 5 months of GC

I need some advice from you guys based on your experience.
I left the sponsoring employer after almost 5 months of GC.
I have my citizenship interview in feb next year.
I am little worried and just want to know if this will pose any problem.

Please advice.
 
I think it is pretty common for families to go from 2 faimily income to 1 family income for various reasons. The most common one being to take care of kids and take care of the family.
In your case, you quit your job to take care of your family i.e. you father. But unfortunately in the US, the kids taking care of the parents/grand parents is not common as is in some of the Asian countries.

Did you explore the option of your husband applying for naturalization at this time by himself ? He becomes the citizen now and you maintain LPR for another year or so.
You apply later on down the road. In such a case I doubt that they would ask any invasive questions about your marriage since you have proof that you were married from way before your GC was approved. It would be really silly if they do question you on your marriage, since your husband was the beneficiary of your AOS petition.
 
Folks, let me ask this question. By reading the above postings, I am inferring that AC21 is better than quitting right after getting GC ? Am I am getting it right ?
 
ny11023 said:
Jack, let me see if I understand you correctly. I should get a letter from sponsor saying that they offered to locate me to HK office? Can I just get a brochure with the company's HK office location on it?
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You want some proof that you were removed from your specific job as a result of the company's decision, either by outright job elimination or moving the job unreasonably far away. Brochure probably won't help ... all it shows is that the company has an office in HK, it says nothing about your specific job.

You can go into the interview without that proof, but then you'll have to hope the interviewer takes your word for it. Or that they don't ask about your employment history at all.

(I'm not sure if they'd put moving my position of HK though. My sponsor is a mid-sized conversative international company, and is extremely cautious on what they would put in writing in fear that it might come back to bite them.)
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They don't necessarily have to go into details about where the job was moved to, but they are supposed to make the distinction between you being fired for cause or removed from the job because of the position being eliminated (and for a US company, moving a job outside the US is equivalent to it being eliminated).

But what it seems like is that they didn't actually kick you out. I get the feeling that you left on your own after being notified of the imminent decision to move the job to HK. Is that the case?
 
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rembi said:
Folks, let me ask this question. By reading the above postings, I am inferring that AC21 is better than quitting right after getting GC ? Am I am getting it right ?
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No ... the idea is that after AC21, you should work for the new employer for some time after getting the GC.
 
Jackolantern said:
Did you have children after getting the GC? That would help a lot with explaining your periods of non-work.
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You don't have to explain periods of non-work. There is absolutely nothing in the N-400 which requires a person to be employed in order to be eligible for natz. The only issue here, is whether USCIS will ask difficult questions concerning the OP's quick departure from the sponsoring company, and more importantly, whether it could lead to GC revocation.

I still firmly believe there really isn't much likelihood of loosing the GC. Like I said before, USCIS would have to take the case before a judge and prove that the OP did something fraudulent. Such charges should be easy to rebut by providing evidence of the employer's desire to transfer the position overseas, and maybe medical records etc. Frankly, none of this is going to happen because there simply isn't enough evidence against the OP.

That said, were I in the OP's position, I'd probably be worried too, simple because its natural to be concerned about the unknown. I'd probably go to the interview and try to deal with any questions that came up at the time, and deal with an RFE afterwards if further docs were demanded. Most likely they won't be. Just be prepared to give a solid answer why you left your sponsor so soon after obtaining LPR.
 
boatbod said:
You don't have to explain periods of non-work.
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You may have to, if your GC was based on employment and the non-work started shortly after green card approval. And if you're not working you have to explain how you've been supporting yourself financially.
There is absolutely nothing in the N-400 which requires a person to be employed in order to be eligible for natz.
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But there is a definite expectation that you will be employed for an employment-based green card, and natz is an occasion when they may take the time to scrutinize the legitimacy of the green card.
 
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Jackolantern said:
But there is a definite expectation that you will be employed for an employment-based green card, and natz is an occasion when they may take the time to scrutinize the legitimacy of the green card.
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My GC was EB3 and I did have several long periods of unemployment during my 5yr waiting period. Admittedly this was not *immediately* after receipt of the GC, however it was unemployment for a little over a year, and then again for a couple of six-month periods. During the interview I wasn't asked one question about what I was doing or how I supported myself.

So, maybe you'll be asked, maybe you won't. It all depends on the IO.
 
Jackolantern said:
You may have to, if your GC was based on employment and the non-work started shortly after green card approval. And if you're not working you have to explain how you've been supporting yourself financially.
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The spouse being gainfully employed will explain that. Also, their tax returns filed over the past 5 years will explain their financial stability.
 
My take, in a perfect world where court systems were timely, USCIS would have probably have revoked the green card. The OP left her green card sponsor within days of getting her green card and could be considered that the OP had no intention of working for the green card sponsor. But as Boatbod said that USCIS might give you a tough time and probably delay things but approve neverthless. You could be just lucky and sail through too, more likely than not.
If you are the type who worries herself to death, I suggest (as Jack did) let your husband naturalize first and then even if some USCIS officer revokes your green card, you can file immediately as spouse of USC. However if your green card his revoked his basis for green card is also not valid as a derivative. So your application going after approval of your husband's green card is the prudent method forward. However it depends on you and your personality and in the end your luck of what type of IO you get for your interview.
 
Folks, This is my friend's story. He had a very similar situation.
He used to work for a consulting company who placed him at a large US company for almost 6 years. He started on H1B then the consulting company started his GC process - took 5+ years for it reach 485 stage and he applied for 485. After 8 months, the large US company told him that they are willing to absorb him as a regular employee into the same position he was working as a contractor. So he took the offer, changed employers into the same position (I think they call this AC21 or something like that). This all happend in 2001-2002. He applied for citizenship in Sep 2006, and went to interview in July 2007. (VSC, Newark). The IO asked him to show W2s and realized that my friend has changed employers mid-way during 485 process and asked for employment letters to show that he "switched" into a similar job. Luckily my friend had to go thru the same interview process during his 485. So he had all the needed documents ready to go. He got approved and finished his Oath (his wife too). I know this is a happy story , but I think if folks are prepared with the needed documentation to prove intent I think they should be OK.
 
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