Layoffs after Labor Certified - Please help answer my queries.

texancanadian

Registered Users (C)
My company just announced major layoffs. This is the first round and Thank God I havent been informed yet about my being laid off, but there are other rounds so who knows. Here is my situation.

7th year of H1, EB3 India, PD August 2001. Labor recently certified in October 2005, I 140 filed Nov 2005. Spouse on H4. Here are some of my questions. Would appreciate a response.

1) In case I get laid off in 7th yr of H1 what are my choices apart from leaving the country. Can I look for another job and do H1 transfer ?

2) Even if I stay in my firm, will the layoffs affect my chances of Green card. Note: my labor has already been certified. I know it may create problems for collegues who still have labor pending, but will it affect my case ?

3) My wife is currently in school studying for a Schedule A occupation. If I get laid off how easy would it be for her to change to F1 so she can complete her course. If I have filed I 140, can she still change to F1. Can I change over to F2 (dependent).

4) Is it true once I 140 is approved, then even if I get laid off and apply for another labor in the future my PD can always be maintained.

5) If I return back to school on F1, do you think OPT is also given after finishing an associates degree. I already have a masters but may want to get an associates degree in a healthcare related field (healthcare and education seem to be only fields in US consistently stable and strong).

Thanks and hoping for the best.
 
Just Curious

Do you work at Dell by any chance ?
I heard they announced layoffs recently and put on a hiring freeze.
 
If you clear 140 before you get layed off, you can get 3 years h1b extensions in any company (ie h1b transfer), keep a copy of all your documents.

If you think you will be layed off before that you can get yearly extensions on h1b in any company using your existing labor filing papers.

Market is good and will absorb you somewhere. You might have to move. So you will not have immediate problem. But it is a good for you to have a foresight and analyse what you want to do.

About f1 etc... I am not 100% sure. The best thing in this situation is have a paid consultation with a lawyer.

For what it is worth, seeking a higher education is very advisable.
 
Hey Man

1)If your 140 is approved, the PD is yours. Pls keep a copy of 140.
You can get H1 extensions in 3 years in any company.

2)If you have a copy of LC filed and even if ur 140 is not applied you can get h1 extensions in any company based on the LC filed in 2001.

3)Not sure about F1 and F2

4)Once your LC is cleared, Layoffs of other workers wont effect you

5)Even if your LC is pending, and NON - PERM , you should be OK. But you will face problems in PERM
 
Ask your wife to contact her international student center IMMEDIATELY and get her on an F1. That way God forbid if she gets laid off, you can switch to F2. The international student center can guide her thru it very easily.

Try ur best to get ur I-140 approved. Once that is done, u can swtich jobs, and although u have to reapply everything all over again, u keep ur PD
 
if you have masters, why did you file EB3

you would be safe to look for EB2 PERM and port your PD as soon as the 140 is approved. Are you RB?
texancanadian said:
My company just announced major layoffs. This is the first round and Thank God I havent been informed yet about my being laid off, but there are other rounds so who knows. Here is my situation.

7th year of H1, EB3 India, PD August 2001. Labor recently certified in October 2005, I 140 filed Nov 2005. Spouse on H4. Here are some of my questions. Would appreciate a response.

1) In case I get laid off in 7th yr of H1 what are my choices apart from leaving the country. Can I look for another job and do H1 transfer ?

2) Even if I stay in my firm, will the layoffs affect my chances of Green card. Note: my labor has already been certified. I know it may create problems for collegues who still have labor pending, but will it affect my case ?

3) My wife is currently in school studying for a Schedule A occupation. If I get laid off how easy would it be for her to change to F1 so she can complete her course. If I have filed I 140, can she still change to F1. Can I change over to F2 (dependent).

4) Is it true once I 140 is approved, then even if I get laid off and apply for another labor in the future my PD can always be maintained.

5) If I return back to school on F1, do you think OPT is also given after finishing an associates degree. I already have a masters but may want to get an associates degree in a healthcare related field (healthcare and education seem to be only fields in US consistently stable and strong).

Thanks and hoping for the best.
 
Guys, I have my 140 approved in May'2004. EAD is valid and I-485 file date is July'2003. If I change jobs now, will it cause any issues with my I-485 approval?
 
cowboy, you can safely change jobs if you have 485 filed and crossed 180 days and your 140 is also approved.
 
help -- need clarifications!!!

friends,

i am in a similar position, but a bit worst. my 140 is approved, but i can't even file for 485 at the moment due to retrogression. it looks like my position may be elimated very soon.

1-i saw someone mentioned that even if layed off, it's possible to file for a 3 year h1b in any other company with the 140. is that true even if i have not applied for 485 yet? or is it possible only if it has been more than 180 days since i filed for 485?

2-since 140 is approved, is the pd mine to keep even if i haven't applied for 485?

3-if i can apply in another company, does the job has to be the same as described in my LC?

4-if laid off, how long do i have to find another job without being out of status?

thanks in advance for any clarifications!!!


chanduv23 said:
cowboy, you can safely change jobs if you have 485 filed and crossed 180 days and your 140 is also approved.
 
foret1,
As your 140 is cleared, you can get a h1b transfer and you will get h1b in 3 year extensions. You can also keep your priority date. You have to apply for a new labor through perm, and go through the process again. Advantage is that if you have an old PD, you can use that for filing 485 once your new perm labor is cleared.
If you are in IT, jobs are there plenty and you can easily get a h1b transfer.
Hope this info helps
 
foret1,
Between layoffs and finding new jobs, generally a month or a month and a half is OK, sometimes 2 is also OK. Some companies may fuss about having the latest paystub but INS is generally OK but deals thesethings on a case to case basis. Be sure you do not cross 180 days without paystub that will pose a big problem if you are going for stamping, generally if you do not have paystubs for more than 3 months atmost what INS does is they do not give you a new i 94 along with your approval petition. So you will have to forcefully travel out of country for the stamp. But they do not do that for all cases though.
The best thing would be to immediately get h1b transferred to a desi consulting company. You will definitely get contract jobs, once you get settled with paystubs, start looking for another job again.
 
Not sure but may be an option

I have heard some ppl talk about that once your labour is approved then you can use that labour even if you move to different company. the ppl i know hv 2 instances where this was done. Did you explore about this option?
 
Lucky4me, I have heard that too, I think there are certain factors like, same kind of work, same work location etc... but I have not seen anyone go through it. I have not seen big lawyers talking about it. My previous company's lawyer was USABAL, they are extremely professional lawyers and most of the information I share with you all is from them. In fact when I got layed off when my 6th year on h1b started, they were very professional and helped me with all options and documents like labor filing papers so that I can get extensions etc.... But they never mentioned about labor portability. You can definitely have a paid consultation with them or with Khanna or with Murthy.
Exploring other options is advisable than labor portability
 
thanks much chanduv23!!


chanduv23 said:
foret1,
Between layoffs and finding new jobs, generally a month or a month and a half is OK, sometimes 2 is also OK. Some companies may fuss about having the latest paystub but INS is generally OK but deals thesethings on a case to case basis. Be sure you do not cross 180 days without paystub that will pose a big problem if you are going for stamping, generally if you do not have paystubs for more than 3 months atmost what INS does is they do not give you a new i 94 along with your approval petition. So you will have to forcefully travel out of country for the stamp. But they do not do that for all cases though.
The best thing would be to immediately get h1b transferred to a desi consulting company. You will definitely get contract jobs, once you get settled with paystubs, start looking for another job again.
 
No issues. But you have to make sure that you are moving into a similar job. USCIS sometimes rejects I 485s if it thinks that you moved to a completely different line from the one your labor was certified.
 
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