Laid off during 140 and 485 pending

[chips_80]

Hello,

I am new to this portal. Can some one help me please. Here is my situation:

PD: 6/02
FP: 06/04
AP: 06/04
I140 and 485 concurrent filing ND: 04/04
LUD: 12/04

Recieved RFE during 140 "ability to pay" in 12/04 replied on 02/05. After a couple days from the time RFE was submitted got laid off(sucks but true). However the employer said he will continue with the GC process. H1 valid until 10/05 from the old employer.

I have an offer from a new company. They do not sponsor H1 though. Can I work on my EAD and wait till the 140 is approved and then file AC21 as 485 is more than 180 days.

Can some help me answering this question I would really appreciate it.

Thanks,

Chips

 

[pthreads]

I know a case exactly like yours. After submitting RFE he got laid off (employer assured him that 140 will not be withdrawn). At that time he was on EAD and 485 was pending for more than 180 days. Later his 140 got approved. His 485 is still pending and the lawyer has advised him not to bother with AC21 unless there is an RFE for the 485. Sending anything to CIS without them asking for it may delay your 485 processing and/or raise red flags.

I have used the same lawyer for my green card. And I got my passport stamped recently. I am now waiting for my plastic card.

So don't worry too much about AC21 etc.. Just find a similar job and you should be just fine.

 

[chips_80]

Thanks for the reply. yes the job is of similar nature. So I can work on my EAD. My EAD and AP expires 6/05, will I have a problem when renewing my EAD.

chips

 

[pthreads]

No. You should not have any problems for renewing your EAD and AP. When I had to renew mine I did it online. It is pretty straightforward. There is a post somewhere on the forum about EAD renewal. It is very useful. I just followed the instructions there. If you are not comfortable with this then get your lawyer to do it for you.

If you don't have one already then I strongly recommend that you get an immigration lawyer. Don't wait until there is an RFE for your 485 to search for a lawyer. At the stage at which you are the lawyer fees should be less than $500 (assuming there is no RFE and excluding fees for EAD and AP renewal) for the complete process.