Employer change/ "good faith"

[nairsaab]

Hi,
This might be a repeated question but anyways:
Is it ok to change employer 2/3 months timeframe after
GC?

Immihelp states following:
In today's dynamic market, many people want to know how long does an employee who receives employment based greencard needs to work for the same employer after getting he greencard. There is no precise answer to this question. The law say that if the employeeleft within 2 years, the employee has burden to prove that he/she accepted the job offer in good faith and didn't intend to leave at the time of accepting permanent residentship. If it is more than 2 years, the burden comes to INS to prove that. The theory behind greencard
through offer of employment is that an employee is accepting a job on a "permanent" basis. But "permanent" obviously does not mean for ever as it does not make sense. But it also does not mean that the person leaves the company the day he/she gets green card. Each case
would be different depending upon employee-employer
relationship. But in general, staying with the same company for about 6 months to 1 year should be enough indication of permanency. "Permanent" means that, at the time the employee becomes a lawful permanent resident, neither the employer nor the employee have any plans to change the employment relationship
described in the labor certification or I-140 petition. If you leave too soon, INS may claim that you did not intend to take the job up on a "permanent" basis. If the employer(or even a jealous co-worker)is
dissatisfied with yourself leaving too soon, they can file a complaint with INS and INS may either take any action or not depending upon the circumstances. INS also may find about yourself leaving too soon while later applying for Citizenship or petitioning for relatives.

[abu lafya]

You will be taking a risk

I know others that did the same.

Please also note that for citizenship you need to list your employment for the PAST 5 years.
This means that if you do not list your current employer or next employer (you need to list start date), then INS will not easily know you left early, only if they request this information specifically.

[ck721]

If you wait for 6 years and apply for Citizenship, don't you avoid the question about when you left your GC employer. There have to be ways to finesse the "5 years of experience" question.

Also, I think if you can show some material change in the "employment situation" after you get your GC, you should be safe. As it is all about "state of mind", you can use "layoffs/mergers/new company strategy" or other things to explain why you changed your mind after getting the GC.

Anyone know a case, when someone got asked about "leaving too soon" when getting naturalized.

Finally my lawyer, said that as long as you came back from CP and joined your employer you are fine, and that is the statement that I swore to at the consulate too.

[ck721]

As more people will get 485 approvals, people question what their obligations are under the law.
Without doubt, Green Card does not mean one will become a permanent slave to the employer. Then what is their obligation?
There is no hard and fast rule on the question. It is basically the issue of "intent" of the employer and alien employee. For instance, if the employer sponsored green card with no intention to keep him/her indefinitely, employer was commiting "fraud." The same is true if the alien employee applies for green card with no intention to work for the employer indefinitely. It all boils down to question of "real intent" which is a "state of mind" that can be established by either a direct evidence or circumstantial evidence.
If one starts going into the open market to look for a permanent job with another employer and intends to move to the second employer as soon as the green card is granted through the current employer, it should be a classific example of fraud. Should the INS obtain such evidence, the INS may start cancellation proceeding. Additionally, if one quits the job as soon as one gets the green card approval, it will be construed as reflection of the state of mind of the alien that he/she did not have any intention to work for the employer. There are two relevant analogies on the required period of employment. DOL defines permanent employment as the one that lasts for a year or longer. On the other hand, in the nonimmigrant context, both the INS and the DOS adopt so-called the rule of presumption of misrepresentation in case an alien enters the U.S. on a certain type of visa and within 60 days attempts to change the status to other nonimmigrant visa or immigrant status. However, when it comes to presumption of certain state of mind, no court will accept one year period of time as the basis of determining one's state of mind. It is a close call, but unless there is a clear and direct evidence that the alien had such state of mind, it should be much less period than one year and definitely more than two or three months.
If an alien loses the job as soon as he/she gets the green card because of the factors which are beyond their control, the alien will be in good shape. For instance, if the alien is terminated by the employer within one week for whatever reasons, he/she will be in good shape. If the company shuts down in a few days, the alien will be in good shape, even though there is a question of employer having committed a misrepresentation as to the issue of continuing existence of permanent job at the time of INS approving the green card.
Please do not assume that even if one commits such a wrongdoing, one will permanently escape the net. In various occasions in the future, including naturalization application or immigrant petition for family members, it may haunt and throw another opportunity for the INS to review his/her immigration history. Wise persons will not form a "preconceived intent" to use the employer for the sole purpose of obtaining green card and immediately abandone that employer as soon as his/her scheme is achieved. Please remember that inasmuch as such state of mind was not formed at the time of obtaining the green card, but certain circumstanstances have developed afterwards, one is in good shape. Time of intent and time of act will be critically important when such legal tangle develops.

[abu lafya]

My lawyer said to another GC applicant that she may leave after getting one paycheck from her company.
So she did.
I know of several other that did similarly.

Also remember that even now I don't think INS have the capacity to check back when did every or any immigrant left their sponsor. Direct evidance to this fact is that they don't ask for this information when you apply for citizenship (they ask last 5 years, which may not indicate when you left your sponsor).
In addition, INS rules constantly change as well as immigration laws. They most probably be totally different in 5-6 years, especially in light of the recent right to change employers while on AOS.

Last, since the law is vague enough, you need to take advantage of this fact and create the right situation for you to switch with the right reasons (if this is your wish). After all the evil that you had to accept, waiting for years for something which should take weeks, having to stick with your employer even if that made no sense to you, your family or the US economy, etc. Switch in a manner that will cannot be disputed later.