please help....my company relocated me to another state after 180 days

[pleasehelp1]

Please help....my question is basically whether or not I should transfer my file from one service center to another due to possibly temporary job transfer from one state to another within the same corporation, which occured after 180 days since the date on my I-485. Confusing.....? Well, I believe everything comes down to the definition of residence but let me elaborate...

Background
I am a Biomedical Engineer and have worked for a major medical device manufactuirer for last 5 years. I have a very clean case...I started off on H1b, and imediatelly after that i started labor cert process. Labor Cert and I-140 were approved, and I-485 was filed in TSC, with the receipt date of April 2002. According to the current projections for TSC, my case should be processed in April 2004. My company closed the Florida Facility (where I have been working since the day one) in November 2002, which happened after 180 days from the receipt date on my I-485. I was offered a same job in California by the same company and accepted the offer since I could not find a similar job in Florida under the present job marked conditions and on a such short notice.

I was told that i should transfer my file from TSC to CSC now but i also called TSC and was told by the INS mmigration Officers that i will loose all 9 months (Apr 02-Dec 02) if i transfer my file to CSC, since it is more than likely than the initial processing on my case did not start yet due to the huge backlog in TSC. So it looks like that if i transfer my file to CSC, i will be fine, but i will have to wait another two years to get the GC, and off course pray that they will not relocate me again of even lay me off like they did 500 my coworkers in November. By the way, the rumors of closure of CA facility are out there alraedy, and i just moved here. Now, that does not give you to much confindence that the file transfer is a good move, now does it ?

When I indicated to the immigration officers that this is a transfer of a temporary nature, and that I kept my FL driver's licence, my appartment (in other words my residence by THEIR definition "residence is where you pay your bills, you have your driver's licence etc, and not neccessarily where you work???"), I was told that I don't have to transfer my file. When I told them that i was advised to do it by my attorney, INS Offcier told me not to listen to attorneys.

Now we are getting to the definition of RESIDENCY. Currently, I am working in CA, and me and my girlfriend are leasing a "temporary place" here. However, what i consider my residence is still FL appartment that i share with my roomate. I am keeping my FL driver's license, my paychecks and my mail are comming to my FL address. The reason fo that is that i still don't know what to do in terns of transfering my file. I believe that i should consider all the options before i transfer it, because when i do it, i am stuck in CA for another two years.

So, here i am in a big dilemma. Since I expect my case to be processed in April 2004, and since I noticed that the job situation FL is getting better now and that i have a good chance of finding a similar job, i am thinking about waiting until summmer (that's when i am free to leave my company without paying back the relocation money), finding job in FL and being there untill I possibly get called for the interview. If i get called, i will be in FL (same geografical area and SC), I will have changed the employer after 180 days since the receipt date on my I-485, and the job will be in the same field. So the question for everybody on this forum is short: Will I be OK if i do that...? Any suggestions ? Would majority of people on the furum transfer the file to CA and wait another 2 years or rather consider this a temporary move and find the job in FL in summer and get GC much faster ?

 

[jaxen]

My opinion...

First off there are no correct answer(S) to your Question... Anyway I will attempt to give you my perspective.
All in all I see two contradicting conditions that is pulling you and your life apart.

1. TSC's processing time
2. Job Market in your area/speciality.

Everybody knows what the TSC's processing times are. This is not going to improve. With the introduction of the dept of Homeland Security, all the TSC IIOs, commissioner, mailroom contractors, Parking garage contractors,.., everybody is confident that their job, life is preserved for some more time than their counterparts from other service centers. I would do anything to get away from this hell hole (in order to get the GC).

You are the only one who can predict how far you can survive in this fluid job market. Be warned, dont rely on only one employer whether it is CA or FL. You should be up and ready to work with some other employer. After 180 days from RD, all you need is a job , not where. Freedom from TSC is worth the hassle of doing the transfer to another service center. I dont think it will take until Apl 2004 in CSC. You should get it sooner. Unless you find a stable but similar job somewhere else, it is not worth doing the transfer. If you can afford the dual apartment living etc. then you are better off sticking to finding another employer in FL. In the case of INS , it is always better not to rock the boat.
Once again, I would
1. Find a stable employer or make myself stably employable ( acquire experience in a speciality where there are only a few US citizens available)
2. Not rock the INS boat
in that order.
Good Luck

 

[pleasehelp1]

and what about Consular Processing then ??

jaxen. Thank you very much for your reply. One more question though.

Speaking of getting away from TSC, can I switch back to Consular Processing now in order to get my GC faster ?

One thing I didn't mention in first letter was that I first filed I-826 with the TSC in Jan 2002, with the intent to go for Consular Processing. Couple of months later I found out that my company will be closing the facility in FL, and my attorney suggested to me to file I-485 and abandon consular processing because that was the safer option then. An I-485 was filed in TSC, with the receipt date of April 2002. Somewhere in summer 2002 my attorney told me that he had received an RFE on I-826 indicating that they could not find my I-140 approval. Since, we already filed I-485, we never responded to RFE and considered I-826 dropped. My company finally closed the Florida in November after which they moved me to CA.

Question
I don't know if the response to RFE on I-824 would resume the CP process, and if it would, would I have any problems getting my GC in the consulate given the fact that I changed the state. I also don't know if the location and 180 days come into play in cased of Consular Processing as they do in case of I-485 ?

If something goes wrong in the consulate I have the an approved H1b petition which is valid until 2005 but that was approved for FL location, not CA location where I am now, so I gues I could not use it.