5 ms·

because h1b visas require you to stay employed (you have like 30 days before they deport you) and they require you to keep the same job title throughout the who

by joshAg 13y ago

because h1b visas require you to stay employed (you have like 30 days before they deport you) and they require you to keep the same job title throughout the whole greencard process or your waiting period starts over.

g0lden 13y ago
So if you were to get a promotion at your current job, the entire process would essentially start over? Why is that?
- hpagey 13y ago
  no it won't. According to my understanding this is what happens a) if you have applied for 485 and it has been 6 months since you applied you invoke AC21 and you are done. b) if you have not applied for 485, your new company will have to reapply for 1-140 and labor for the new position but you do not lose your place in the queue as your PD is ported from your previous application.
- joshAg 13y ago
  it depends on the promotion. the ac21 stipulates "New employment must be the 'same or similar' occupational classification". According to my coworkers, that means they can't get promoted to management from dev/qa. http://immigrationroad.com/green-card/ac21-portability-change-jobs.php http://immigrationroad.com/green-card/ac21-portability-chang...
lttlrck 13y ago
Thats not completely true. I've been promoted while still on H1B and had a pay rise. The procedures need to be followed. Position and pay can also change in preparation for GC, this is quite normal.
hpagey 13y ago
The later part of the above statement is an incorrect. You can change a job while your green card is being processed provided, a) You have applied for your 485. b) Its been 180 days since you have applied for it. This process is called invoking AC21. In my opinion and experience H1B candidates are paid on par with other candidates. I saw no salary discrimination at least with decent and reputed companies. I agree H1b is exploited by some companies but those are typically consulting or outsourcing companies.
- smartician 13y ago
  Unfortunately, the bottleneck usually is the period until your priority date becomes current and you can actually submit form I-485. Processing the I-485 normally only takes a few months, unless it gets stuck in the FBI background check somehow.
- joshAg 13y ago
  thanks for the update. i was just going on what my h1b coworkers have told me. unfortunately, i can no longer edit or delete my original post, so i hope everyone reads your reply. as for payment versus greencard/citizens versus h1b's, it depends on the company. I know some companies that do pay the same for both, but I can name at least 5 'reputable' (or at least, large, household name) companies that my coworkers told me had different, lower pay scales for the h1b workers that they actively avoided working for, even after getting a greencard. But since i've not worked for one directly (as far as i know anyway), i'm not going to name names.
- joshAg 13y ago
  I did some more research after leaving my last comment, and the part i was talking about was "New employment must be the 'same or similar' occupational classification," [1] which according to my coworkers means you can't switch amongst QA engineer, dev/software engineer, and manager. The dev <-> QA switch probably isn't very common, but dev/qa -> management is apparently an issue, since green-cards for Indians with a masters take roughly a decade of waiting on an h1b to get (again, this is according to my coworkers, not something i have direct experience with). [1]: http://immigrationroad.com/green-card/ac21-portability-change-jobs.php http://immigrationroad.com/green-card/ac21-portability-chang...
  - smartician 13y ago
    Note that all this only applies to those whose priority dates became current due to the USCIS fiasco of July 2007, and filed I-485 at that time. Everyone who started the GC process later and is waiting for their PD to become current cannot invoke AC21. Frustrating! From the page you linked: "Hundreds of thousands of people were able to file I-485 applications under the July Visa Bulletin of 2007"
zobzu 13y ago
h1b requires you to stay employed at the same company. There are some exceptions to change company but its a complicated process. You need 5 years in the US to be granted a green card. h1b are valid 3 years. Generally you need 2 h1b to get a green card (of course you start the process much before the h1b ends) if you are in a gc and you stop working in the us for a certain amount of time (i forgot, but its not longer than a year), then you start over and the gc is terminated (you need a h1b again) For citizen, its 10 years. h1b specifies AFAIR that once you're unemployed you have to leave the country immediately without citing numbers albeit 30 days sounds reasonable.

by joshAg 13y ago

g0lden 13y ago

So if you were to get a promotion at your current job, the entire process would essentially start over? Why is that?

hpagey 13y ago
no it won't. According to my understanding this is what happens a) if you have applied for 485 and it has been 6 months since you applied you invoke AC21 and you are done. b) if you have not applied for 485, your new company will have to reapply for 1-140 and labor for the new position but you do not lose your place in the queue as your PD is ported from your previous application.
joshAg 13y ago
it depends on the promotion. the ac21 stipulates "New employment must be the 'same or similar' occupational classification". According to my coworkers, that means they can't get promoted to management from dev/qa. http://immigrationroad.com/green-card/ac21-portability-change-jobs.php http://immigrationroad.com/green-card/ac21-portability-chang...

lttlrck 13y ago

Thats not completely true. I've been promoted while still on H1B and had a pay rise. The procedures need to be followed. Position and pay can also change in preparation for GC, this is quite normal.

hpagey 13y ago

The later part of the above statement is an incorrect. You can change a job while your green card is being processed provided, a) You have applied for your 485. b) Its been 180 days since you have applied for it. This process is called invoking AC21. In my opinion and experience H1B candidates are paid on par with other candidates. I saw no salary discrimination at least with decent and reputed companies. I agree H1b is exploited by some companies but those are typically consulting or outsourcing companies.

smartician 13y ago
Unfortunately, the bottleneck usually is the period until your priority date becomes current and you can actually submit form I-485. Processing the I-485 normally only takes a few months, unless it gets stuck in the FBI background check somehow.
joshAg 13y ago
thanks for the update. i was just going on what my h1b coworkers have told me. unfortunately, i can no longer edit or delete my original post, so i hope everyone reads your reply. as for payment versus greencard/citizens versus h1b's, it depends on the company. I know some companies that do pay the same for both, but I can name at least 5 'reputable' (or at least, large, household name) companies that my coworkers told me had different, lower pay scales for the h1b workers that they actively avoided working for, even after getting a greencard. But since i've not worked for one directly (as far as i know anyway), i'm not going to name names.
joshAg 13y ago
I did some more research after leaving my last comment, and the part i was talking about was "New employment must be the 'same or similar' occupational classification," [1] which according to my coworkers means you can't switch amongst QA engineer, dev/software engineer, and manager. The dev <-> QA switch probably isn't very common, but dev/qa -> management is apparently an issue, since green-cards for Indians with a masters take roughly a decade of waiting on an h1b to get (again, this is according to my coworkers, not something i have direct experience with). [1]: http://immigrationroad.com/green-card/ac21-portability-change-jobs.php http://immigrationroad.com/green-card/ac21-portability-chang...
- smartician 13y ago
  Note that all this only applies to those whose priority dates became current due to the USCIS fiasco of July 2007, and filed I-485 at that time. Everyone who started the GC process later and is waiting for their PD to become current cannot invoke AC21. Frustrating! From the page you linked: "Hundreds of thousands of people were able to file I-485 applications under the July Visa Bulletin of 2007"

zobzu 13y ago

h1b requires you to stay employed at the same company. There are some exceptions to change company but its a complicated process. You need 5 years in the US to be granted a green card. h1b are valid 3 years. Generally you need 2 h1b to get a green card (of course you start the process much before the h1b ends) if you are in a gc and you stop working in the us for a certain amount of time (i forgot, but its not longer than a year), then you start over and the gc is terminated (you need a h1b again) For citizen, its 10 years. h1b specifies AFAIR that once you're unemployed you have to leave the country immediately without citing numbers albeit 30 days sounds reasonable.