Company A sponsored me for a green card. However I was laid off before the green card was approved. A month after the green card was approved, I was "hired" back as a contractor due to a hiring freeze imposed by HR. There was no direct employment with company A. Instead I had my own LLC company. Every week, my company sent a work report to a staffing company which in turn invoiced company A for the work I did and I got a check from the staffing company. Company A was the only customer and I worked there full time for 18 months. Part 6 section B of the form N400 asks for the name of the employer. Should I say I was "Self Employed" or should I say the something like “Contractor to Company A” to show that I did work exclusively for company A once my employment based green card was approved?
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Problems with Employer (Part 6 B of N400)
- Thread starter LC8860
- Start date
Jackolantern
Registered Users (C)
At the time your GC was approved, did you already have an offer from the staffing company? If yes, that should qualify under the "same or similar" criteria for AC21. If not, it means you were not eligible for the green card at the time it was adjudicated, and your GC could be revoked. If you're going to apply, make sure you apply after your 5-year anniversary so it will be more difficult to revoke your card.
First of all, thanks for the response.
I did not know the staffing company until my GC was approved and I was hired back by company A as a contractor. My GC was approved in May 2005 and I plan to apply for citizenship in June. It will have past the 5th anniversary.
I knew not having an employment relationship with the sponsoring company was going to be a problem. So I have kept records of email that I repeatedly asked to be hired back as an employee while I was working for company A as a contractor. And when I finally left the company some 18 months later, I got HR to give me a letter saying that I had rejoined the company as a contracting consultant. My understanding of the employment based GC is that it is a commitment from the sponsoring company to hire the foreign worker and it is a commitment from the foreign worker to work for the sponsoring company. I can demonstrate my readiness and willingness to work for company A. It wasn’t my fault that company A wouldn’t hire me back as an employee. I had no control over it. At least there was no fraud on my side of the deal.
Now, back to my original question, for those 18 months immediately after my GC was approved and I worked for company A as a contractor, should I say Self-Employed or should I say “Contracting Consultant to Company A” to Part 6B on N400?
I did not know the staffing company until my GC was approved and I was hired back by company A as a contractor. My GC was approved in May 2005 and I plan to apply for citizenship in June. It will have past the 5th anniversary.
I knew not having an employment relationship with the sponsoring company was going to be a problem. So I have kept records of email that I repeatedly asked to be hired back as an employee while I was working for company A as a contractor. And when I finally left the company some 18 months later, I got HR to give me a letter saying that I had rejoined the company as a contracting consultant. My understanding of the employment based GC is that it is a commitment from the sponsoring company to hire the foreign worker and it is a commitment from the foreign worker to work for the sponsoring company. I can demonstrate my readiness and willingness to work for company A. It wasn’t my fault that company A wouldn’t hire me back as an employee. I had no control over it. At least there was no fraud on my side of the deal.
Now, back to my original question, for those 18 months immediately after my GC was approved and I worked for company A as a contractor, should I say Self-Employed or should I say “Contracting Consultant to Company A” to Part 6B on N400?
sanjoseaug20
Registered Users (C)
You have to write the name of the company which sent you W2 unless you were truly self-employed. Saying anything else, and you are inviting scrutiny.
Whether it is your fault, or company's fault, AND whether it was planned like that or just happened like that - it is very hard to say. But once the officer notices something out of norm, they can ask questions, and in more cases than not, the email defense is not going to cut it. Your best defense at this time seems to be to avoid scrutiny.
Why don't you wait till Jan 2011 to file? In that case "last 5 years" will be clean and not too close to your GC. And if they happen to look at the last 5 year tax returns, there will not be any record of company "was it A?".
Whether it is your fault, or company's fault, AND whether it was planned like that or just happened like that - it is very hard to say. But once the officer notices something out of norm, they can ask questions, and in more cases than not, the email defense is not going to cut it. Your best defense at this time seems to be to avoid scrutiny.
Why don't you wait till Jan 2011 to file? In that case "last 5 years" will be clean and not too close to your GC. And if they happen to look at the last 5 year tax returns, there will not be any record of company "was it A?".