Out of curiosity, I don’t have a green card EAD yet. But a few questions on this.
What is the grace period in terms of company layoffs? (when on green card EAD)
In h1b, we know it’s 60 days and that compels everyone to find some job but maybe not the right job during unprecedented times.
I knew that after 180 days, on green card EAD you can do any job and be without one. Just confirming how can the USA let people stay without having a job on green card EAD?
Can someone leave for India for a good chunk of time to take care of parents back home and resume green card EAD when we want to come back. This is especially important if the road from green card EAD to Green card is some decades-long process since we still have the country cap.
In h1b we need a company sponsor to resume the remaining period of h1b left, how does the green card EAD process work? since it is not tied to the employer anymore?
Any resources on the advantages and disadvantages of jumping into EAD/AP vs staying on h1b would be helpful.
But interested in the above two important scenarios.
Thanks, @anil_am22 for your response in advance.
You are allowed to stay in the US based on pending i485.
EAD can be used to work but if you decide to not work, then you will find it difficult to prove in i485 interview that you intend to work after getting green card.
You get AP only for an year and should return to the US within that time. If you don’t, then you won’t be able to return easily or without any other valid visa type.
I guess one must keep doing a similar job to prove the case in the i485 interview? what about entrepreneurship efforts? (not necessarily in the same industry).
So, once you get AP you cannot stay for more than one year outside the USA, is that the minimum threshold?
Is it not detrimental to people who hold Australia and Canada PRs? Looks like if you enter into AP, and then decide to leave the USA for those countries. The Option to come back at a certain point in life is permanently closed. Rather, Staying in h1b, looks like a viable option until PD is current where one has the flexibility to exercise other PR options.
It is always better to hold on to the job till you actually get a GC even though you can start a business if you use the i485 EAD.
You can leave the US for Canada/Australia but then your pending i485 might be abandoned.
In that case, you can file the GC application at US embassy as and when your PD date is current in Final action chart.
But, in that case also, you will need a valid job offer from a US employer in same or similar position since it is an employment based GC.
So, the crux of the matter is that you can abandon i485 but your GC can still be achieved using DS260 immigrant visa application at US embassy.
I assume the candidate has to find an employer who will re-do all the GC steps from outside the country. Not sure if employers are willing to file for GC directly without the intermediate step of h1b(which is not possible after abandoning EAD/AP)