Hello there-
I came to the States 11 years ago with a J1 visa for graduate studies. After completing my degree in 2008, I found an employment at a small university as an assistant professor. When I was hired, my J1 (sevis 2019) had an expiration date of March 25, 2010. My contract started on July 1st, 2008. Within the first week of my employment, I expressed my intent to get a Green Card both to the Human Resources and the Law office contracted by the university to take care of my visa application. I was told that first I need to obtain an H1 visa prior to filling a petition for a GC.
I obtained the waiver for foreign residence requirement on February 2nd, 2010 and the petition for H1B was submitted on March 12th. I immediately contacted with the law office again and requested that we should start the GC process. I didn't receive any response from them. I sent several emails, left several messages, and even personally went to their office only to be told that they were not available. This situation continued until May 2010. On May, I contacted the office of the Legal counsel at the university and informed the director that the law office does not return my calls. I was told that they were waiting for the Dean's approval (I don't know why?). Couple of days passed finally I went to the Dean and told him to approve the attorney's request. Finally on June 24th, I received a request for a meeting. I was told that there is a problem.
In the meeting, the lawyer told me that I am not eligible for GC because I was hired more than 18 months ago. He also mentioned that he didn't even realized this fact until he looked at my file; that this is an ongoing problem and other international faculty also went through this. The only way for me to apply for a GC would be getting re-hired for my position (that would reset the 18 month requirement). Needless to say I was devastated. Finally I went through the whole hiring process again and was one of the finalists but at the end they hired somebody else. Now, as you can imagine, I am really upset.
Even though my intent to file for GC was clear from day one, no one EVER informed me about this 18 months rule (or any other responsibility that I need to fulfill pertaining to my visa application). Not the university or the office of the legal counsel or the lawyers working on my case.
They waited until June 24, six months after the fact . I have been trying to contact with them for months they never returned my calls or emails. Yet they claim it was my responsibility to inform them.
In addition, I also learned that other faculty members who went through the same process (different departments) experienced different things. For example, I was told that the only way for me to apply for a GC is to resign from my tenure track position and become an adjunct faculty so I was forced to resign but I know for a fact that other faculty members were never asked to resign (and they all were rehired).
As a result of this, now I have to relocate my family to overseas. My wife lost her job back in August (can't work with a H2). We are probably going to have to short sale our house (or maybe lose it to the bank). We are going back as homeless and jobless. I really don't know how long it is going to take us to find a job.
And my employer refuses to even pay for plane tickets. I scheduled an appointment with an attorney next week but I would like to know if we have a right to sue the employer? Can I sue for some severance payment?
Any advice will greatly be appreciated.
I came to the States 11 years ago with a J1 visa for graduate studies. After completing my degree in 2008, I found an employment at a small university as an assistant professor. When I was hired, my J1 (sevis 2019) had an expiration date of March 25, 2010. My contract started on July 1st, 2008. Within the first week of my employment, I expressed my intent to get a Green Card both to the Human Resources and the Law office contracted by the university to take care of my visa application. I was told that first I need to obtain an H1 visa prior to filling a petition for a GC.
I obtained the waiver for foreign residence requirement on February 2nd, 2010 and the petition for H1B was submitted on March 12th. I immediately contacted with the law office again and requested that we should start the GC process. I didn't receive any response from them. I sent several emails, left several messages, and even personally went to their office only to be told that they were not available. This situation continued until May 2010. On May, I contacted the office of the Legal counsel at the university and informed the director that the law office does not return my calls. I was told that they were waiting for the Dean's approval (I don't know why?). Couple of days passed finally I went to the Dean and told him to approve the attorney's request. Finally on June 24th, I received a request for a meeting. I was told that there is a problem.
In the meeting, the lawyer told me that I am not eligible for GC because I was hired more than 18 months ago. He also mentioned that he didn't even realized this fact until he looked at my file; that this is an ongoing problem and other international faculty also went through this. The only way for me to apply for a GC would be getting re-hired for my position (that would reset the 18 month requirement). Needless to say I was devastated. Finally I went through the whole hiring process again and was one of the finalists but at the end they hired somebody else. Now, as you can imagine, I am really upset.
Even though my intent to file for GC was clear from day one, no one EVER informed me about this 18 months rule (or any other responsibility that I need to fulfill pertaining to my visa application). Not the university or the office of the legal counsel or the lawyers working on my case.
They waited until June 24, six months after the fact . I have been trying to contact with them for months they never returned my calls or emails. Yet they claim it was my responsibility to inform them.
In addition, I also learned that other faculty members who went through the same process (different departments) experienced different things. For example, I was told that the only way for me to apply for a GC is to resign from my tenure track position and become an adjunct faculty so I was forced to resign but I know for a fact that other faculty members were never asked to resign (and they all were rehired).
As a result of this, now I have to relocate my family to overseas. My wife lost her job back in August (can't work with a H2). We are probably going to have to short sale our house (or maybe lose it to the bank). We are going back as homeless and jobless. I really don't know how long it is going to take us to find a job.
And my employer refuses to even pay for plane tickets. I scheduled an appointment with an attorney next week but I would like to know if we have a right to sue the employer? Can I sue for some severance payment?
Any advice will greatly be appreciated.