H Visa J1, H1B and AOS question please

[sandune]

3 months ago, my friend applied for a J1 waiver (J1 was held 10 years ago) in order to apply for H1b then AOS and GC. He sent his application for H1B before getting the waiver, and he got an RFE about address and pay scale but nothing about his J1 waiver and looks like the H1B will be approved. Now his employer is preapring to send an I-140 and all that stuff. Again, before waiver is secured. After I spoke with him, he got worried and wants his employer to slow down the process until all is recived.

His employer is not listening to him and they are moving ahead. He is very nervous about this but does not want to fight his employer in case he fires him. Now he is even more worried and wants to quit.

Any commenst would be very appreciated

 

[mafioso]

Most companies filing for such changes have good immigration attorneys working on the files…..He just need to contact HR and get the contacts for their legal team and talk to them about his situation. They would not go ahead if they feel there is a problem. The waiver is important but might be secured concurrently with the H1B visa. You can get the H1B visa without the getting the waiver. So, if he has informed them, he has nothing to worry about because they would take that into consideration……….it is their job and they do it every day. It also depends on the type of waiver they applied for (waiver are done jointly by USIA and DHS………the type and conditions matter. Some are virtually guaranteed if required by a government agency or related program or project even if you work for private sector. So the lawyers might have a certain degree of confidence and info you don't know. I would say, he should not worry if the company is aware of this. But he would not be approved for a green card if he never left the US to satisfy the conditions for the J visa except he has a waiver. It is smarter to wait for the waiver approval before applying for GC.. But sometimes, people get lucky without being caught on that. The waivers sometimes take up to 8 months to get from first day of process. The DHS usually uses just under 60 days to render a decision once they get the recommendation. The company might have some info you are not aware of………….their lawyer would not file if they are not sure he would get approved.