Here's a tricky problem for you to chew on...

M

M.C.

New Member
I swear, there must be some grand conspiracy to make my life more difficult! Here's my situation for those interested in tackling tricky problems.

I am a consultant (employed by the company that has sponsored my I-140/I-485, working full time on the client site). The client likes me and they want to hire me, so I had been working with them to get me hired using AC21.

Well, all this has come to an end after I had received an email from USCIS informing me that my I-485 had been approved. That's an event worth celebrating, right?

"Not so fast", says the invisible man-in-black who must have been watching my case all this time. "Your client might have to let you go very soon due to a number of circumstances outside of your control". The entire thing couldn't have happened at a less appropriate time...

Result? The client company is pushing me to change jobs almost immediately after receiving my I-485 approval, or the position will be filled with someone else.

And here I am, hovering between Hell and Hades. :eek:

If I do change employers now, I get a nice job with a nice benefit package, a really, really nice salary increase, a shining career path before me because they know and like me well enough. On the other hand, this will make me very vulnerable to the USCIS's accusations of committing immigration fraud (this might happen soon, or it might happen when it finally comes to naturalization).

If I do not change jobs, my assignment at this client will end soon. The position will be filled with someone else and the client will not be able to hire me again for a very long time. In addition, my current consulting company will be forced to look for another assignment for me, and given the sorry state of the job market these days, I have a reasonable suspicion that they might have a problem finding another client. In this case I am probably going to be laid off rather soon after receiving my I-485 approval. Of course, by the time I am laid off, the client won't have any openings left anymore.

It looks like I am exposing myself to quite a bit of risk either way (that's a politically correct way to say "I am so screwed"), so I am trying to minimize the risk.

So... I would like to ask regulars of these forums for suggestions. Any idea what would be the safest way to act in this situation?

Thanks in advance,
M.C.
 
Here's my two cents. If you believe that your current employer would "tell on" you if you join the new employer now - either they said/suggested they would do so or they did it to someone in a smilar situation as yours - then I would say you 'd better stay. Even if they might let you go soon, you probably have to take it. You will find another employer who appreciates your talent and experience - maybe not as good as this client you are talking about but well sometimes we don't get the best. Otherwise I would go for it - the risk of being questioned when it comes to naturalization is minimal (I've almost never heard of such a thing) and ask yourself if you want to take that risk for something that good.
 
M.C. said:
I swear, there must be some grand conspiracy to make my life more difficult! Here's my situation for those interested in tackling tricky problems.

I am a consultant (employed by the company that has sponsored my I-140/I-485, working full time on the client site). The client likes me and they want to hire me, so I had been working with them to get me hired using AC21.

Well, all this has come to an end after I had received an email from USCIS informing me that my I-485 had been approved. That's an event worth celebrating, right?

"Not so fast", says the invisible man-in-black who must have been watching my case all this time. "Your client might have to let you go very soon due to a number of circumstances outside of your control". The entire thing couldn't have happened at a less appropriate time...

Result? The client company is pushing me to change jobs almost immediately after receiving my I-485 approval, or the position will be filled with someone else.

And here I am, hovering between Hell and Hades. :eek:

If I do change employers now, I get a nice job with a nice benefit package, a really, really nice salary increase, a shining career path before me because they know and like me well enough. On the other hand, this will make me very vulnerable to the USCIS's accusations of committing immigration fraud (this might happen soon, or it might happen when it finally comes to naturalization).

If I do not change jobs, my assignment at this client will end soon. The position will be filled with someone else and the client will not be able to hire me again for a very long time. In addition, my current consulting company will be forced to look for another assignment for me, and given the sorry state of the job market these days, I have a reasonable suspicion that they might have a problem finding another client. In this case I am probably going to be laid off rather soon after receiving my I-485 approval. Of course, by the time I am laid off, the client won't have any openings left anymore.

It looks like I am exposing myself to quite a bit of risk either way (that's a politically correct way to say "I am so screwed"), so I am trying to minimize the risk.

So... I would like to ask regulars of these forums for suggestions. Any idea what would be the safest way to act in this situation?

Thanks in advance,
M.C.
Click to expand...

Just collect the first pay check from your previous and take the offer. The uscis will not bother about you changing the employer. I am resiegning after 3 months i.e next monday.Dont worry about naturalization.
 
Just an idea:

How about requesting your current employer to fire you. Then, you wont have a job and you can get hired by your client. I heard some one was saying about this long time ago, when I was hesitant to use AC 21.

This is just an idea, may be try this.
 
M.C. said:
I swear, there must be some grand conspiracy to make my life more difficult! Here's my situation for those interested in tackling tricky problems.

I am a consultant (employed by the company that has sponsored my I-140/I-485, working full time on the client site). The client likes me and they want to hire me, so I had been working with them to get me hired using AC21.

Well, all this has come to an end after I had received an email from USCIS informing me that my I-485 had been approved. That's an event worth celebrating, right?

"Not so fast", says the invisible man-in-black who must have been watching my case all this time. "Your client might have to let you go very soon due to a number of circumstances outside of your control". The entire thing couldn't have happened at a less appropriate time...

Result? The client company is pushing me to change jobs almost immediately after receiving my I-485 approval, or the position will be filled with someone else.

And here I am, hovering between Hell and Hades. :eek:

If I do change employers now, I get a nice job with a nice benefit package, a really, really nice salary increase, a shining career path before me because they know and like me well enough. On the other hand, this will make me very vulnerable to the USCIS's accusations of committing immigration fraud (this might happen soon, or it might happen when it finally comes to naturalization).

If I do not change jobs, my assignment at this client will end soon. The position will be filled with someone else and the client will not be able to hire me again for a very long time. In addition, my current consulting company will be forced to look for another assignment for me, and given the sorry state of the job market these days, I have a reasonable suspicion that they might have a problem finding another client. In this case I am probably going to be laid off rather soon after receiving my I-485 approval. Of course, by the time I am laid off, the client won't have any openings left anymore.

It looks like I am exposing myself to quite a bit of risk either way (that's a politically correct way to say "I am so screwed"), so I am trying to minimize the risk.

So... I would like to ask regulars of these forums for suggestions. Any idea what would be the safest way to act in this situation?

Thanks in advance,
M.C.
Click to expand...

If I were in your situation, I would take the job at the client site.
 
Job change after getting GC is not that big of an issue as it looks actually. Never heard of any single case where a person has problem from USCIS after changing jobs (i.e in terms of his GC). RE : citizenship, i can't really comment but hey its at least 5-6 years aways and that a long long time. Take the bullet, join the client.
 
Take the offer

I would take the offer. Granted, if you can somehow get your employer to fire you, that would be great (maybe you can get into a bitter argument with your superior intentionally, or just request that they give you a pink slip).

But if you can't, I would still take the offer, and probably hire a lawyer to deal with this issue come naturalization. In America, it seems laws always have exceptions. A good career is much more important than many other things, including GC. I believe you can solve this issue anyway.

gashm
 
Do what your heart tells you :)

But just to be sure, I would document your reasoning behind the job move in great detail backed up with correspondences between the companies, names, numbers, etc.. so that in the event you are being questioned about it during your naturalization procedure you can prove you acted without fraudulent intentions.

Good luck !
 
It is amazing how many people advice you to quit because they are doing it too. I dont understand what they stand to gain if uscis launches enquiries against both of you. My $0.02:- I am in a very similar position. I recently consulted a lawyer and he advised me to hang on for 6 months. There is no law or hard number for this one. When it comes to proving that you had reasonable intent to continue, anything close to 6 months seems reasonable (I guess). I think Rajiv's opinion on this is also that 1 yr is perfect and < 4-5 months is too less. So its your call.
 
If I understand your situation correctly........then it's better to get laid off atleast you'll have the "letter" mentioning the termination of employment; that way you can prove your intention was to stay with the employer and you had to find new employment due to circumstances beyond your control.
 
bhoonbhu said:
If I understand your situation correctly........then it's better to get laid off
Click to expand...

How to get laid off ?? Any suggestions?? :D :D And what if CIS doubts employers intent because of termination???? :D :D
 
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This is just too much thinking

If your new job in the the same area of occupation and of the same or higher qualification you simply enjoy benefits of AC21.
CIS might hunt you if your old employer file a complaint, but they would succeed only incase your switch from computer science to selling pizza.
 
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