Ash

Hello there,

I currently work with a small firm (about 30 employees) on a H1-B
visa. My employer is just about to file my documents for Green Card
Labor Certification.

I am currently considering one of two career moves: One, going full
time to school for an MBA (which will take 2 years), or working with
smaller tech startups (which may not agree to process a Green Card for
me).

Can my current employer continue to process my Green Card for me even
after I left the firm, either for studies or to join other firms? If
yes, will I have to rejoin the firm at any stage of the GC processing?

Thanks.

Ian-Mstm

> Hello there,
>
> I currently work with a small firm (about 30 employees) on a H1-B
> visa. My employer is just about to file my documents for Green Card
> Labor Certification.
>
> I am currently considering one of two career moves: One, going full
> time to school for an MBA (which will take 2 years), or working with
> smaller tech startups (which may not agree to process a Green Card for
> me).
>
> Can my current employer continue to process my Green Card for me even
> after I left the firm, either for studies or to join other firms? If
> yes, will I have to rejoin the firm at any stage of the GC processing?
>
> Thanks.

While they are not obligated to, your current employer could continue
the GC process... but why would they want to? It would be a waste of
their time, money, and resources. Since there is no guarantee that you
would rejoin their firm, my guess is they will simply cancel the process
and leave you to fend for yourself.



You know you'll need an F-1 visa to go to school, right? As soon as you
stop working for your H-1B sponsor, you'll be out of status.



Before working for another employer, you'll need a new H-1B visa... and
the employer can not now apply until April 2008 for work starting in
October 2008.

Ian

Lilyella

> While they are not obligated to, your current employer could continue
> the GC process... but why would they want to? It would be a waste of
> their time, money, and resources. Since there is no guarantee that you
> would rejoin their firm, my guess is they will simply cancel the
> process and leave you to fend for yourself.
>
>
>
> You know you'll need an F-1 visa to go to school, right? As soon as
> you stop working for your H-1B sponsor, you'll be out of status.
>
>
>
> Before working for another employer, you'll need a new H-1B visa...
> and the employer can not now apply until April 2008 for work starting
> in October 2008.
>
> Ian

And something to bear in mind there, is that getting an F-1 visa with a
green card application would be problematic, as F-1 is strictly non
immigrant intent.





Switching an H-1B from one employer to another doesn't count in
the quota.

Ash

On Sep 15, 2:00 pm, ian-mstm <member2...@nomx.britishexpats.com>
wrote:
> > Hello there,
>
> > I currently work with a small firm (about 30 employees) on a H1-B
> > visa. My employer is just about to file my documents for Green Card
> > Labor Certification.
>
> > I am currently considering one of two career moves: One, going full
> > time to school for an MBA (which will take 2 years), or working with
> > smaller tech startups (which may not agree to process a Green Card for
> > me).
>
> > Can my current employer continue to process my Green Card for me even
> > after I left the firm, either for studies or to join other firms? If
> > yes, will I have to rejoin the firm at any stage of the GC processing?
>
> > Thanks.
>
> While they are not obligated to, your current employer could continue
> the GC process... but why would they want to? It would be a waste of
> their time, money, and resources. Since there is no guarantee that you
> would rejoin their firm, my guess is they will simply cancel the process
> and leave you to fend for yourself.
>
> You know you'll need an F-1 visa to go to school, right? As soon as you
> stop working for your H-1B sponsor, you'll be out of status.
>
> Before working for another employer, you'll need a new H-1B visa... and
> the employer can not now apply until April 2008 for work starting in
> October 2008.
>
> Ian
>
> --
> Posted viahttp://britishexpats.com- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

Thank you both for your reply.

Assuming the case that my current employer is willing to help in
whatever way he can, and that I change jobs to a different employer,
can the current employer continue to process my green card ? If yes,
am I required to rejoin his firm at any stage of the Green Card
processing?

J. J. Farrell

On Sep 18, 5:21 pm, ash <ashb...@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Sep 15, 2:00 pm, ian-mstm <member2...@nomx.britishexpats.com>
> wrote:
>
> Assuming the case that my current employer is willing to help in
> whatever way he can, and that I change jobs to a different employer,
> can the current employer continue to process my green card ? If yes,
> am I required to rejoin his firm at any stage of the Green Card
> processing?

An employment-based Green Card is for a particular job with a
particular company. The basic expectation is that you will start (or
continue) working in that job for that company when the Green Card is
approved, and you're expected to stay "permanently" in that job. It's
the meaning of "permanently" which makes things interesting. It's
usually taken to mean that you should behave the same as a typical USA
citizen who takes up a new "permanent" job - you can reasonably move
on to a different job after some time, commonly taken to be 6 months.
The AC21 act made this a little more explicit when it clarified that
if the GC has not yet been adjudicated 6 months after one of the
application stages (I think it's filing the I-140 but I'm not sure)
then the applicant can change jobs without affecting the application
and without needing to go back to the original job when the GC is
approved.

So, very imprecisely stated: it should be your intention to take up
the specified job at the time of filing the paperwork; 6 months later
you're allowed to decide you want to work somewhere else instead
without affecting the application.

I'm not a lawyer, and the rules in this area are complicated with
several sets of guidance issued by USCIS. I'd strongly recommend
talking to an immigration attorney with experience in this area about
exactly what you plan to do. Bottom line is that you do not always
have to take up the job to lawfully get the Green Card, but I don't
know for sure how this fits in with your particular situation.