EAD Approved -Not using and Staying on H1b scenario

[Eb2_Dec07]

Guys ,

Just wanted to share some thoughts that a friend who works for a large organization got advice from their immi attorneys . Apparently as a typical behavior most of us with EADs tend not to use EAD and keep H1b active as a fall back in case of 485 denial. But they were advised that there is no such fall back on H1B if 485 is denied . If 485 is denied and only denied if there are really complicated and multiple violations or major issues with 140 , if that happens even the H1B is also impacted and invalidated and there is no such safety in H1 . Infact it is better to use EAD and if you are eligible for H1 in case of problems you can also reapply for H1B.

Any thoughts ..sorry to post this here but thought it was important since GC approval will now wait for sometime.

[Pedro Gonzales]

Guys ,

Just wanted to share some thoughts that a friend who works for a large organization got advice from their immi attorneys . Apparently as a typical behavior most of us with EADs tend not to use EAD and keep H1b active as a fall back in case of 485 denial. But they were advised that there is no such fall back on H1B if 485 is denied . If 485 is denied and only denied if there are really complicated and multiple violations or major issues with 140 , if that happens even the H1B is also impacted and invalidated and there is no such safety in H1 . Infact it is better to use EAD and if you are eligible for H1 in case of problems you can also reapply for H1B.

Any thoughts ..sorry to post this here but thought it was important since GC approval will now wait for sometime.

I chose to not get my 3 year H1B extension stamped during my last trip to India and to instead use my EAD/AP. I did this against the advice of my lawyer. My reasons were as follows:
a) I intend to use the AC21 provision in the next few months to switch jobs in any case. I will not let my career and dreams languish for the Green card any more than I need to.
b) If my 485 were to be denied for any reason, I can not stomach another 3 to 5 year wait (depending on whether HR3012 passes or not). I would rather return to India now and if I want to return to the US in the future, I'll do so in 17 years when my daughter sponsors me.
c) I can't take more than 2 weeks of vacation at a time, so I wasn't going to waste 3 days cutting circles around the US consulate at Breach Candy.
d) I consider my lawyer a nitwit (she took 2 weeks to review and send in my I485 application - a complete one I might add as i had filled all the forms out myself; and then she sent it in by snail-mail so it reached on the 29th of the month, four weeks later than it should have) so much like Costanza decided that he would be best served by doing the exact opposite of what his judgement told him to do, I have decided to do the opposite of anything my lawyer advises me to do.

[Eb2_Dec07]

Pedro ...well put ..funny ...don't mean to make light of your situation...I think you did a right thing . I'm also kinda awaiting for that offer you can't resist that's worthwhile to give up H1B ... if not I'm also looking for C2C consulting options and if something longterm works out I''ll take a leap with EAD. Been fulltime past 3 yrs nothing bad but not flexible ..getting vacation approved for over 2 weeks is a big deal ...my gut is if I can hold on to a contract for 7 months I make more than I do in a FT .


I chose to not get my 3 year H1B extension stamped during my last trip to India and to instead use my EAD/AP. I did this against the advice of my lawyer. My reasons were as follows:
a) I intend to use the AC21 provision in the next few months to switch jobs in any case. I will not let my career and dreams languish for the Green card any more than I need to.
b) If my 485 were to be denied for any reason, I can not stomach another 3 to 5 year wait (depending on whether HR3012 passes or not). I would rather return to India now and if I want to return to the US in the future, I'll do so in 17 years when my daughter sponsors me.
c) I can't take more than 2 weeks of vacation at a time, so I wasn't going to waste 3 days cutting circles around the US consulate at Breach Candy.
d) I consider my lawyer a nitwit (she took 2 weeks to review and send in my I485 application - a complete one I might add as i had filled all the forms out myself; and then she sent it in by snail-mail so it reached on the 29th of the month, four weeks later than it should have) so much like Costanza decided that he would be best served by doing the exact opposite of what his judgement told him to do, I have decided to do the opposite of anything my lawyer advises me to do.