GRamesh, FYI,
AC 21 Change of Employer and Issue of Pending I-140 in Concurrent Filing
As people know, the USCIS released a memorandum on August 4, 2003 concerning the validity of I-140 under the AC 21 180-day rule. Among others, the memorandum stipulated that under the AC 21, the I-140 would remain valid if the I-485 applicant changes employment after 180 days of filing of I-485, no matter whether the employer withdraws the original I-140 petition.
Caveat: Where the I-140 is still pending in the I-140/I-485 concurrent filing after 180 days of filing of I-485, USCIS opined that the so-called Yates' memo of August 4, 2003 does not apply. This leaves a number of questions wide open in the concurrent filing where I-140 adjudication drags on. Obviously, the first question should be whether the I-485 applicant will be allowed to change employment after 180 days of filing when I-140 is still pending. The other question is whether the I-140 petition would remain valid, should the original employer withdraw the I-140 petition for the purpose of substitution of the employee.
Conservative view dictates that the answer could be "negative."
The USCIS said that it would release a separate memorandum on this issue. Until such separate memorandum is released, it may be prudent for the I-485 filers to take a extra precaution before they decide to jump to a new employer.
