Can employer force employee to use EAD instead of renewing H1B?and few MTR Questions

[Winner]

Guys and Gals,
I heard this from immigrant coworkers in my company (Consulting company with 1000+ consultants in USA, 15000+ all over the world), I’m hearing that employees are forced to us EAD instead of renewing H1B visa. Funny part here is, they did not pay for filing I485, all expenses including medical were paid by the employee.

Now they say that they will reimburse EAD filing expense and trying to force employees to use EAD once H1B expires.

Questions:

Is this legal?
Is it a common practice?

Assuming it’s legal and employees have no other choice other than using EAD, I’ve couple more questions.

If for some reason, I485 is denied and you challenge the decision using MTR, will you still be legal status if the MTR process takes several months?

Is there a limit on how many times you can challenge USCIS decision? If they reject your application 10 times and you know the reason they rejected each time is incorrect, do you get to challenge them if you have enough evidence that your application was rejected incorrectly?

Thanks for your time.

[vin13]

The employer has to make sure all their employees are legal. For that they may ask the employee to use EAD. they are not obligated to sponsor H1-B.

[axp817]

Originally Posted by Winner

Is this legal?

Yes.

Is it a common practice?

Apparently.

If for some reason, I485 is denied and you challenge the decision using MTR, will you still be legal status if the MTR process takes several months?

Yes, and you can also work on the EAD, unless the 485 denial notice specifically states that the EAD is also revoked/denied/rendered invalid, in which case, you can't use the EAD to work, but you are still okay to be in the country.

Is there a limit on how many times you can challenge USCIS decision? If they reject your application 10 times and you know the reason they rejected each time is incorrect, do you get to challenge them if you have enough evidence that your application was rejected incorrectly?

Chances of a 485 application being denied multiple times due to the same reason are bleak, although if it does happen (wrongful denial of course), or if it is denied multiple times, but due to a different reason each time, my understanding is that you can keep challenging/appealing the decision.

Good luck.

[pappu]

This might help
http://immigrationvoice.org/forum/sh...ad.php?t=24545 (Continue to work on H1B or Switch to EAD?)

[wikipedia_fan]

Originally Posted by Winner

Guys and Gals,
I heard this from immigrant coworkers in my company (Consulting company with 1000+ consultants in USA, 15000+ all over the world), I’m hearing that employees are forced to us EAD instead of renewing H1B visa. Funny part here is, they did not pay for filing I485, all expenses including medical were paid by the employee.

Now they say that they will reimburse EAD filing expense and trying to force employees to use EAD once H1B expires.

Questions:

Is this legal?
Is it a common practice?

Assuming it’s legal and employees have no other choice other than using EAD, I’ve couple more questions.

If for some reason, I485 is denied and you challenge the decision using MTR, will you still be legal status if the MTR process takes several months?

Is there a limit on how many times you can challenge USCIS decision? If they reject your application 10 times and you know the reason they rejected each time is incorrect, do you get to challenge them if you have enough evidence that your application was rejected incorrectly?

Thanks for your time.

If you are past 180 days after filing 485 and 140 approved, nothing stops you from looking for employment elsewhere.
It all depends on your comfort levels - if you want to stick with this employer - you may - does not matter if it is h1b or EAD. If you want to move, you can.

a 140 revoke triggers a 485 denial - some officers do not go through the AC21 process and immediately issue a denial notice.

The law states that you have the right to file for MTR if you think there are facts ignored by the officer.

It all depends on the timing of denial. If during the denial you are out of country - there is no way to do MTR so it depends on luck too.

Working after an erroneous denial is an ambiguous call. The law allows you to file for an MTR, so why not just keep working?

Usually upto 180 days of stay without status is covered by 245K, but as of this date, there has not been any RFEs for status because one filed MTR and waited.

Please talk to an experienced immigration Attorney and they can explain all this stuff.

[Winner]

Thanks everyone.

I remember that some of the states requires you to have a vaild visa (or other proof of legal staus) for more than 2.5/3 years and only then they can get a drivers licence? If you have this information, kindly share that information.

[bookmarkmaster]

Hi,

Iam trying to explain my employer that it's ok to hire employees with EAD. For some reason they prefer GC or Citizen only. I referred them to the Discrimination clause on I-9 form. Then they told me about their problems hiring EAD.

1) If the Employee is hired on a valid EAD and later during the course of employment the EAD expired, there is no system in place for them to check back with the employee if (s)he has renewed it in a timely manner.

2) If such an employee that has not renewed their EAD and continued their employment beyond expiration without notifying the employer, the company is worried that they may be legally liable for harboring employees with illegal statuses.


Please help me understand if their concerns are valid and if not what is the remedy.

[chanduv23]

Originally Posted by bookmarkmaster

Hi,

Iam trying to explain my employer that it's ok to hire employees with EAD. For some reason they prefer GC or Citizen only. I referred them to the Discrimination clause on I-9 form. Then they told me about their problems hiring EAD.

1) If the Employee is hired on a valid EAD and later during the course of employment the EAD expired, there is no system in place for them to check back with the employee if (s)he has renewed it in a timely manner.

2) If such an employee that has not renewed their EAD and continued their employment beyond expiration without notifying the employer, the company is worried that they may be legally liable for harboring employees with illegal statuses.


Please help me understand if their concerns are valid and if not what is the remedy.

Working on EAD has never been a problem. But I did hear from some hiring managers that they have concerns about constant renewals and other issues associated like RFE etc.. and thats why they avoid hiring people on EAD - this is like very few people who are misinformed.

Usually some employers ask - have you switched after 180 days of filing 485 just to make sure there is no problem.

Company need not harbor illegal employees, they can do what it takes to keep the employee employed.

[rockstart]

With so many auidts being done on companies with high numbers of H1B employees. It kind of helps the employer if the employees move to EAD status that will reduce the percentage of people on H1 drastically and put then under the radar.