Can an Approved I-140 be Revoked /cancelled by a company, after the Employee has left

[gop999]

I have been a silent listener of this great forum for a past few months and have admired the various gurus in the forum and their knowledge on different aspects of GC and related topics.

I need some help from all the gurus out there. I have searched the forum and found too many conflicting answers and hence positing my query here :

Here is my situation: EB2- I , Priority Date: 03/31/2011 and have completed 6 years on H1B. I 140 approved is greater than 365 days and hence got 3 years extension valid till 2015.

As the Priority date is waaay behind, I'm contemplating to switch jobs. From being a IC (individual Contributor)to a Manager/sup. My I140 also states the SEC code to be a IC skill set.
My questions are there of :

1. If I find a new job, can i change my H1B to the new company with the current I 797 valid till 2015?

2. Can the new company start my GC using the same Priority date as earlier?

3. What are the pit falls should i be aware of, in my situation ? are there any inherent risk in jumping the company?

Thanks in advance.!

[qesehmk]

gop welcome to forum. It does make sense in your case to not wait and switch jobs to further career.

Career progression is absolutely fine. It is easier to prove in the same employer in the same job. It will be tough with a different employer.

If your new employer sponsors you a GC, it really doesn't matter for you to think about continuity of prior GC because your date will be portable anyway. And looks like you do have validation till 2015 within which hopefully all of this can be wrapped up.

I have been a silent listener of this great forum for a past few months and have admired the various gurus in the forum and their knowledge on different aspects of GC and related topics.

I need some help from all the gurus out there. I have searched the forum and found too many conflicting answers and hence positing my query here :

Here is my situation: EB2- I , Priority Date: 03/31/2011 and have completed 6 years on H1B. I 140 approved is greater than 365 days and hence got 3 years extension valid till 2015.

As the Priority date is waaay behind, I'm contemplating to switch jobs. From being a IC (individual Contributor)to a Manager/sup. My I140 also states the SEC code to be a IC skill set.
My questions are there of :

1. If I find a new job, can i change my H1B to the new company with the current I 797 valid till 2015?

2. Can the new company start my GC using the same Priority date as earlier?

3. What are the pit falls should i be aware of, in my situation ? are there any inherent risk in jumping the company?

Thanks in advance.!

[gop999]

Thanks qesehmk for the reply , I do understand there are some risks involved in jumping to a new company. But what i wanted to know is how do i minimize that risk?

By that I mean

1. I should join the Company "B" only when my H1B transfer is approved.
2. Company B may insists that filing is OK enough for me to start working for them, but there is a risk involved if there is a RFE on the transfer.

Is there any other precaution, i need to be aware of while transferring to company B?

Thanks in advance

gop welcome to forum. It does make sense in your case to not wait and switch jobs to further career.

Career progression is absolutely fine. It is easier to prove in the same employer in the same job. It will be tough with a different employer.

If your new employer sponsors you a GC, it really doesn't matter for you to think about continuity of prior GC because your date will be portable anyway. And looks like you do have validation till 2015 within which hopefully all of this can be wrapped up.

[qesehmk]

The most important thing is clearly to have work authorization - either EAD or H1B approved for that company.

Then the question is how can you preserve your GC or at least port it.

Preserving GC would require AC21 which you can do only if your 485 is pending for more than 180 days and 140 is approved. I don't think that's your case.

So the next best thing for you seem to be to port. IT would mean your new company sponsoring you a new GC but then during 485 stage, the USCIS will pick up the old PD from your current approved 140. This way your total time to GC won't be affected while you do a career step up.

Thanks qesehmk for the reply , I do understand there are some risks involved in jumping to a new company. But what i wanted to know is how do i minimize that risk?

By that I mean

1. I should join the Company "B" only when my H1B transfer is approved.
2. Company B may insists that filing is OK enough for me to start working for them, but there is a risk involved if there is a RFE on the transfer.

Is there any other precaution, i need to be aware of while transferring to company B?

Thanks in advance

[gop999]

Thanks a ton qesehmk.! Appreciate you taking time to respond.

Cheers

The most important thing is clearly to have work authorization - either EAD or H1B approved for that company.

Then the question is how can you preserve your GC or at least port it.

Preserving GC would require AC21 which you can do only if your 485 is pending for more than 180 days and 140 is approved. I don't think that's your case.

So the next best thing for you seem to be to port. IT would mean your new company sponsoring you a new GC but then during 485 stage, the USCIS will pick up the old PD from your current approved 140. This way your total time to GC won't be affected while you do a career step up.

[gop999]

Q or Other gurus here - One question which is doing rounds in my head is after 2 years of I140 approval, Is there a possibility if the company may withdraw/cancel my approved I140, once I leave them ?

[qesehmk]

Q or Other gurus here - One question which is doing rounds in my head is after 2 years of I140 approval, Is there a possibility if the company may withdraw/cancel my approved I140, once I leave them ?

They can do so anytime. But you are safe if all of the following is true.
A) you have filed 485
B) 180 days have been passed since A above
C) 140 is approved.

In such case the request to withdraw / cancel 140 doesn't mean much and the candidate can continue processing of 485.

p.s. - As per whether a company will really try to withdraw a 140 - my personal opinion is that unless the candidate and the company has some bad blood - the company will generally not try to withdraw 140 for the simple reason that it costs money to do anything through lawyer. So why spend money on something that is not beneficial to the company and law doesn't necessarily explicitely require you to.

[gop999]

Thanks Q for the Updates. My situation is as Follows:
On H1B 7th year, got 3 year extension last year, expires on year 2016.

1. I have not filed for 485.
2. 180 Day scenario is not applicable for me due #1.
3. 140 is approved.

My new company is filing my H1B transfer based on my approved I-140. and they say that I will get another 3 years from the current year. In such a scenario what is the significance of I140 in greater scheme of things ?

My questions are:
1. what is the consequence of I140 being revoked after i successfully transfer my H1-B to the new company?
2. What is the importance of I-140 apart from the fact that it allows my new employer to transfer my H1B.
3.I believe the whole PERM process will start again from scratch once i join the new company. PERM--> I140 --> 485 , at this stage I may be able to keep my priority date.

Can you please enlighten me... ?

[qesehmk]

gop - since you never were able to file 485, your approved 140 is not useful for AC21 which allows you green card continuity as well as EAD.

However it still gives you two key benefits:
1. It allows you to extend H1 (based on pending GC).
2. It allows you to retain PD.

Now #1 is an iffy. Your old employer must not revoke the 140 prior to H1 extension. If they do then your GC application ceases to exist and H1 can't be extended.

Your PD is however totally locked. So you can restart GC process and then on basis of that your H1 can later be extended. Good luck!

Thanks Q for the Updates. My situation is as Follows:
On H1B 7th year, got 3 year extension last year, expires on year 2016.

1. I have not filed for 485.
2. 180 Day scenario is not applicable for me due #1.
3. 140 is approved.

My new company is filing my H1B transfer based on my approved I-140. and they say that I will get another 3 years from the current year. In such a scenario what is the significance of I140 in greater scheme of things ?

My questions are:
1. what is the consequence of I140 being revoked after i successfully transfer my H1-B to the new company?
2. What is the importance of I-140 apart from the fact that it allows my new employer to transfer my H1B.
3.I believe the whole PERM process will start again from scratch once i join the new company. PERM--> I140 --> 485 , at this stage I may be able to keep my priority date.

Can you please enlighten me... ?