6th Year Employer Move

[khanx66]

Hi,

I am not sure if that's the correct place to post this question, but here is my situation:

- Not from India/China/Phillipines.
- H1 expires in August 2009. So I'm at my 6th year of H1 now.
- EB3 Labor Certification Applied in July 2008 at Texas Processing Center. Lawyer says "Still Pending".
- Current company is going through a merger and likely to have layoffs in 3 months.
- Another company is likely to make an offer and position qualifies for EB2.

Now, here are my questions:
- First of all, is this a normal wait time for LC at Texas?
- Can I still move to another company, apply EB2 LC from scratch and don't have to leave the country? If so, what would be the process to make sure I don't become out of status?

Thanks in advance for your thoughts and replies...

[meridiani.planum]

Originally Posted by khanx66

Hi,

I am not sure if that's the correct place to post this question, but here is my situation:

- Not from India/China/Phillipines.
- H1 expires in August 2009. So I'm at my 6th year of H1 now.
- EB3 Labor Certification Applied in July 2008 at Texas Processing Center. Lawyer says "Still Pending".
- Current company is going through a merger and likely to have layoffs in 3 months.
- Another company is likely to make an offer and position qualifies for EB2.

Now, here are my questions:
- First of all, is this a normal wait time for LC at Texas?
- Can I still move to another company, apply EB2 LC from scratch and don't have to leave the country? If so, what would be the process to make sure I don't become out of status?

Thanks in advance for your thoughts and replies...

You can file an EB2-LC from another company and then concurrent file I-140/485 to stay in status.The catch there is your new LC will need to be approved by August 09. I know in NSC some LCs have taken >9months, so there is that much of a risk there...

However if you are worried you'll be impactedby layoffs it might be more risky to stick around to this company as say in march next year if you are affected by layoffs, even if your LC has come through you will be in trouble (you cant file 485 as presumably you wont be current, and your LC is not old enough to extend your H1).

[little_willy]

If you decide to move to the new company, see if you could recapture lost time on H-1B outside the country. Depending upon how long you stayed outside the country, this may give you some buffer. This should be done at the time of applying for H-1B through the new company, specifically ask the attorneys to request for lost time.

[khanx66]

Thanks a lot for sharing your thoughts guys. I appreciate it.

I think I'll look for a job, but chances me getting a job that the employer supports green card, applies LC EB2 and I140/I485 quickly seems kind of slim these days because of the economy. But you never know...

Best of luck to all of us...