Need help on possible un-authorized employment and aos interview

[meetleo09]

Hello friends,

I could use some help on my case here. Greatly appreciate your time on this !

Here is the background:

Aug 2004 to Aug 2009 - I was on L1-B with a top 10 giants of IT industry.

June 2009 - Since my 5 years on L1-B was going to be done soon, company applied for H1-B.

Aug 2009 - My L1-B got expired.

Dec 2009 - My H1-B got approved.

Nov 2011 - went back to India after completing my 6 years term.

Jan 2013 - Got my fresh L1-A approved

May 2013 - I came back to US on L1-A

Jan 2016 - Got my L1-A extension approved

Oct 2016 - my Green card was filed.

Present - I-140 is approved and waiting for the I-485 interview

While trying to prepare for the interviews, I came across some questions on the forums. One of the questions were to look at the dates of the past visa approvals. So, just to make sure , I looked at all my previous approvals. And that is when I noticed that though my H1-B was filed in June 2009, it did not get approved till Dec 2009. And meanwhile my L1-B got expired. I had no idea about this at that time and my company's attorney's did not notify me either. So, I was working as usual and continued after my H1-B approval. So, I was working between Aug 2009 and Dec 2009 with a H1-B application pending status. A total of 4 months.

Now that I have realized about this , I have few questions if you could help me please:

1. For the Yes/No questions on I-485 form, I have answered all "No" at the time of filing as I was not even aware of this situation. I have no intentions of mis-stating the fact during interview and would like to mention it. But my question is would this be considered as un-authorized employment ? Should I say I'm not sure of this but mentioning it ?

2. Also, after doing some research, looks like there is an exemption based on INA 245(k) and my case seems to be falling into this. Below is the link I was referring to. Am I correct in assuming so ?

https://www.uscis.gov/policymanual/HTML/PolicyManual-Volume7-PartB-Chapter8.html

3. Also, in the same link above, for counting the Un-authorized days , the policy says , "the period while the applicant had a pending application for extension of nonimmigrant status or change of nonimmigrant status, if USCIS ultimately approved the application, its not counted towards the 180 days". Which is again true in my case. So does this mean that it was not an Un-authorized employment ? (Please check the section E, Point # 4 under "Special Considerations" in the above link. )

Kindly request you to help me out here. I know I need an attorney help. But trying to see how much I can research and gather before I go for a consultation. Please advise.

[newacct]

Hello friends,

I could use some help on my case here. Greatly appreciate your time on this !

Here is the background:

Aug 2004 to Aug 2009 - I was on L1-B with a top 10 giants of IT industry.

June 2009 - Since my 5 years on L1-B was going to be done soon, company applied for H1-B.

Aug 2009 - My L1-B got expired.

Dec 2009 - My H1-B got approved.

Nov 2011 - went back to India after completing my 6 years term.

Jan 2013 - Got my fresh L1-A approved

May 2013 - I came back to US on L1-A

Jan 2016 - Got my L1-A extension approved

Oct 2016 - my Green card was filed.

Present - I-140 is approved and waiting for the I-485 interview

While trying to prepare for the interviews, I came across some questions on the forums. One of the questions were to look at the dates of the past visa approvals. So, just to make sure , I looked at all my previous approvals. And that is when I noticed that though my H1-B was filed in June 2009, it did not get approved till Dec 2009. And meanwhile my L1-B got expired. I had no idea about this at that time and my company's attorney's did not notify me either. So, I was working as usual and continued after my H1-B approval. So, I was working between Aug 2009 and Dec 2009 with a H1-B application pending status. A total of 4 months.

Now that I have realized about this , I have few questions if you could help me please:

1. For the Yes/No questions on I-485 form, I have answered all "No" at the time of filing as I was not even aware of this situation. I have no intentions of mis-stating the fact during interview and would like to mention it. But my question is would this be considered as un-authorized employment ? Should I say I'm not sure of this but mentioning it ?

Yes, you should mention in the interview that you answered the question incorrectly. I believe it was unauthorized employment. Someone doing Extension of Status in H1b or L1 can work for 240 days after the previous status ends, but you were doing a Change of Status, so that didn't apply. Be truthful. It can't hurt you.

2. Also, after doing some research, looks like there is an exemption based on INA 245(k) and my case seems to be falling into this. Below is the link I was referring to. Am I correct in assuming so ?

https://www.uscis.gov/policymanual/H...-Chapter8.html

Yes, you are in an employment-based category, so 245(k) applies, which means past out of status and unauthorized employment don't matter as long as you haven't been out of status or working illegally for 180 days since the most recent admission; and these things were before your most recent admission so it doesn't matter.

3. Also, in the same link above, for counting the Un-authorized days , the policy says , "the period while the applicant had a pending application for extension of nonimmigrant status or change of nonimmigrant status, if USCIS ultimately approved the application, its not counted towards the 180 days". Which is again true in my case. So does this mean that it was not an Un-authorized employment ? (Please check the section E, Point # 4 under "Special Considerations" in the above link. )

No. This is probably talking about out of status, but not about unauthorized employment.

[meetleo09]

Yes, you should mention in the interview that you answered the question incorrectly. I believe it was unauthorized employment. Someone doing Extension of Status in H1b or L1 can work for 240 days after the previous status ends, but you were doing a Change of Status, so that didn't apply. Be truthful. It can't hurt you.


Yes, you are in an employment-based category, so 245(k) applies, which means past out of status and unauthorized employment don't matter as long as you haven't been out of status or working illegally for 180 days since the most recent admission; and these things were before your most recent admission so it doesn't matter.


No. This is probably talking about out of status, but not about unauthorized employment.

Thank you for the response.

When I checked with my company's attorney, they are saying its not an issue as the H1 was filed well within time. I'm really confused now. Any further thoughts ? Please advise.