1. Working for the company on EAD while simultaneously applying for a new H-1B would not create any risks for green card application
A reader asks:
I work for a non-profit organization that had a hiring freeze until the end of March this year, when they decided to keep me. Before that, my new H-1B (valid until 2028) was lost because of the hiring freeze. Now my current H-1B will expires at the end of August. My employer is concerned that using the I-485 EAD card to work might create risks for them. They are giving me only a three-month limit – if the new H-1B isn’t approved or the green card is denied within those three months, they will be terminated my employment. The company’s immigration management department was laid off, so no one there knows the risks. My question: Will working on the EAD while simultaneously applying for a new H-1B create any risk to my green card application?
Alan Lee Esq. answers,
Although you have presented a complicated fact situation, the quick answer is that working for the company on EAD while simultaneously applying for a new H-1B would not create any risks for your green card application. This is assuming that the organization has sponsored you for employment-based immigration and that the new H1B petition that is planned for filing is not inconsistent with the representations on the immigrant visa petition.