Job Title Change after approved I-140, is new PERM required?

Hey Anil,

I have an approved I-140 in EB2 with my current employer with a PD of April 09, 2010. The SOC code used for my PERM is 15-1132.00 and all my extensions (3) with the current employer were with the same SOC code.

My job titles have been Senior Software Engineer, Senior Software Engineer II, Lead Software Engineer I.
Now my employer wants to change my title and position to a Technical Project Manager which has a different job description from my current role.

  1. Will this require an H-1B amendment and is there any way to avoid this? Can an amendment be filed and on what basis would it be since the I-140 is based off of a different SOC code.
  2. Will I need to redo the PERM with a different SOC code 15-1199.09? Can I even do this since I am way past the first 7 yrs of H-1B. My first H-1B was in 2005.
  3. If I find a different employer and transfer over with the same or different SOC code, will I be able to retain my PD?

Hi @dxs0154

I answered this same question earlier today here:

Thanks for your response Anil. I am however not clear on whether an H-1B amendment can be filed now, since I am past the first 7 year period on H-1B. From my understanding the H-1B extensions are based on an approved I-140 and if the SOC code is changing from the underlying I-140, can the H-1B be amended? I do have a 3 year H-1B extension that was recently approved for the original SOC code.

Also, is an H-1B amendment risky at this stage since my PD is relatively close? And on that same note, in your opinion, is April 09, 2010 PD considered close?

Thanks,
Deepak

You can file H1B amendment but you would need a new i140 as i have explained in my answer if you want to file i485 with new position.

I do not think that your PD date is close. It may take another couple of years to reach Apr 2010 with current speed.

Great, I was under the impression that after the first 7 yrs on H-1B, you can’t amend the SOC code mentioned in the case. If I do file an amendment with the same or different employer, will I be able to retain my priority date?

I’ve missed the PD being current once in 2011 and hope to not get caught in the same situation while I file PERM and the I-140 which might take an year to get approved.

You can port and retain the priority date.

Anil,

Lets say the S386 bill passes before the end of this year, do you think April 2010 PD will still be far from being current then? Any way to estimate how much time it would need from the bill being signed to implemented to my date being current. Trying to understand if I will have enough time to file amendment + perm + I-140 and not miss the date in case this passes.

Thanks,
Deepak

I have given my analysis on S386 news tracking page towards the end of article.