PD for Substitute labor
well, I chked on the link for murthy.com that's given above but I cudn't see anywhere where it specifies anything regarding substitute labor. Can anyone make it clear what is the priority date for substitute labor ? like in my case, it's a substitute labor and I have filed for my I-485/I140 concurrent on April-14-2003. In my I140 approval notice my PD is listed as April 30,2001. According to visa bulletin the cut off date is Jan 2002. I am still wating for my I-485 approval. This is so confusing..I do not know if since it's a substitute labor my PD is April-2001 or since I've filed for my I-140/I-485 using substitute labor it is April-2003. Pls. help..me understand this.
wait a second..however, I just found out this from Murthy chat.
Chat User : Hi, Muthyji. What is the priority date for a case using substitute labor? Is it the priority date of the original labor or the date of the I-140?
Attorney Murthy : Although, generally by law, the USCIS is supposed to give the date of the new I-140 filing, we have seen that they have been granting the PD from the original LC given for an earlier employee. So, although it may be possible to take advantage, the USCIS position is that their error does not guarantee the new substituted person may take advantage of something not allowed under law. So be prepared, even if the case has been filed, that it may not get approved if the USCIS realizes its error!
so there you go!!
and this too..
11/01/2004: Substitution of Labor Certification Beneficiary Alien and Priority Date
• Potential retrogression of the visa numbers in January 2005 brings back the issue of priority date on the spotlight. Under the immigration rule, the alien beneficiary "retains" the priority date once the labor certification is approved "and" I-140 petition is approved. Accordingly, unless the I-140 is revoked or the labor certification application is revoked, this specific alien retains the priority date established by the labor certification application. The same alien thus retains the priority date even if the alien starts a new labor certification application with the same employer or another employer. The concept of priority date is thus "alien-based" and the specific alien carries with him or her the priority date.
The priority date is not only "alien-based" but also limited to a specific alien and cannot be transferred to another alien. Consequently, an alien who files I-140 petition as the substituting beneficiary of an approved labor certification application takes over the approved labor certification application but not priority date. Accordingly, an alien who files I-140 petition as a substituting alien establishes his/her priority date at the time of filing of his/her I-140 petition and not on the date of filing of alien labor certification application by the employer on behalf of the original alien beneficiary who is substituted. The regulation specifically states that a priority date is not transferrable to another alien.
