American spouse quit job after receiving I-130 & I-129F NOA1

[mtempelaar 190]

As I was recently put on the layoff list of my company (and thankfully saved from layoff 6 weeks later), I spoke with my lawyer about the fact that I may lose my job. He stated when I receive my AOS request I don't have to respond immediately if I don't have a job. There is a certain length of time you have to respond (I forget how many months but it was fairly long). If you don't respond by then your case is closed and you have to start from scratch. He stated that as long as I had a permanent job that had a salary above the required level at the time of submitting the AOS we should be fine. In looking at the I-134, it only asks where you are employed, not for how long. You supply 3 years tax returns, pay stubs and if necessary other documentation (bank statements, etc). There's just nothing there that asks if you have been at your job for 1 month or 30 years so I'm not understanding the poster above.

Edited June 16, 2014 by mtempelaar

[pushbrk 12,827]

As I was recently put on the layoff list of my company (and thankfully saved from layoff 6 weeks later), I spoke with my lawyer about the fact that I may lose my job. He stated when I receive my AOS request I don't have to respond immediately if I don't have a job. There is a certain length of time you have to respond (I forget how many months but it was fairly long). If you don't respond by then your case is closed and you have to start from scratch. He stated that as long as I had a permanent job that had a salary above the required level at the time of submitting the AOS we should be fine. In looking at the I-134, it only asks where you are employed, not for how long. You supply 3 years tax returns, pay stubs and if necessary other documentation (bank statements, etc). There's just nothing there that asks if you have been at your job for 1 month or 30 years so I'm not understanding the poster above.

You seem to understand the issue well, except the I-134 is not used for a CR1 or IR1 visa. You would submit an I-864, which also does not ask how long you have been employed at any given job.

HOWEVER, the Consular Officer can ask ANY question, AND when you list an employer different from the one shown on the G325a filed with your petition, this can prompt such a question. I think your attorney advised you correctly, so long as the period of unemployment would not be more than 5 or 6 months and there was good income and steady employment prior to the short period of unemployment.

These kinds of situations are exactly why I added the tag line in my signature.