Employment while I-751 is pending

[Paul W. 0]

My wife is Danish, and we filed the I-751 the first week we were eligible to do so. We received the receipt on April 26. We have not yet been contacted about the interview, though she has done her new Biometrics.

The first two lines of the letter are:

"Your conditional resident status is extended for one year. During the one-year extension you are authorized employment and travel."

Today, the HR woman for the company my wife is working for calls her up and says that her Employment Authorization has expired and that she needs to leave the premises. My wife has had this job for 1 year and a half. The woman told her that she needed to contact the USCIS office in San Francisco and that they could 'expedite' a new work authorization. We believe this is utter nonsense, and that this HR woman is probably working from an outdated set of rules. We would have to make an Infopass appointment and of course getting an actual person on the line at the USCIS master phone number is a torment worse than death.

Is anyone able to shed some definitive light on the subject? To me, the letter couldn't be any clearer, but I was wondering if anyone knows the rules for sure. To the best of my knowledge, the green card is the only form of employment authorization there is at this point in the process. My wife is quite distraught and embarrassed of course, and her co-workers are very angry (at the situation, not her) because she is performing some pretty essential tasks.

Thanks so much

Paul

Edited July 17, 2012 by Paul W.

[Justine+David 218]

The woman is on a power trip. Go straight up the chain of command because your wife has legal status as of the paper that says her PR card is extended for a year. She needs the letter AND the card, but she is legal.

Also, would consider suing for wrongful termination??

that really pisses me off that someone would do ####### like that.

current processing times for I-751 are like 10 months, which is WHY you need the letter.

[amykathleen2005 441]

No advice for you unfortunately but that is crazy!

[Paul W. 0]

The woman is on a power trip. Go straight up the chain of command because your wife has legal status as of the paper that says her PR card is extended for a year. She needs the letter AND the card, but she is legal.

Also, would consider suing for wrongful termination??

that really pisses me off that someone would do ####### like that.

current processing times for I-751 are like 10 months, which is WHY you need the letter.

Thanks very much for your reply. To clarify, the HR person wasn't 'firing' my wife, but saying that she couldn't come back to work until she had employment authorization. I'm pretty sure that the HR woman is not up to date on the rules, since there is no longer such a thing as a separate Employment Authorization card.

[Anh map 2,098]

My wife is Danish, and we filed the I-751 the first week we were eligible to do so. We received the receipt on April 26. We have not yet been contacted about the interview, though she has done her new Biometrics.

The first two lines of the letter are:

"Your conditional resident status is extended for one year. During the one-year extension you are authorized employment and travel."

Today, the HR woman for the company my wife is working for calls her up and says that her Employment Authorization has expired and that she needs to leave the premises. My wife has had this job for 1 year and a half. The woman told her that she needed to contact the USCIS office in San Francisco and that they could 'expedite' a new work authorization. We believe this is utter nonsense, and that this HR woman is probably working from an outdated set of rules. We would have to make an Infopass appointment and of course getting an actual person on the line at the USCIS master phone number is a torment worse than death.

Is anyone able to shed some definitive light on the subject? To me, the letter couldn't be any clearer, but I was wondering if anyone knows the rules for sure. To the best of my knowledge, the green card is the only form of employment authorization there is at this point in the process. My wife is quite distraught and embarrassed of course, and her co-workers are very angry (at the situation, not her) because she is performing some pretty essential tasks.

Thanks so much

Paul

Had a copy the extension letter been given to HR?

[rika60607 215]

If you want to avoid an argument with HR lady on a power trip (she is wrong, of course) - just go for the InfoPass and ask them to put I-551 stamp into her passport. That will be another document to show she's authorized to work. You could check with the HR monster to see if this stamp is in her list of "accepted" ways to verify LPR status.

[Paul W. 0]

Had a copy the extension letter been given to HR?

No, we had figured that they would be on top of the rules, since they knew she was on a green card. I am scanning the letter now and we're going to send it off in the morning.

[Paul W. 0]

If you want to avoid an argument with HR lady on a power trip (she is wrong, of course) - just go for the InfoPass and ask them to put I-551 stamp into her passport. That will be another document to show she's authorized to work. You could check with the HR monster to see if this stamp is in her list of "accepted" ways to verify LPR status.

Ok, thanks for the advice. That stamp is technically redundant though, yes? I'm hoping that a scan of the letter with the relevant sentences highlighted will do the trick. If not, we may have to go get that stamp.

Thanks again!

[Justine+David 218]

yeah, but you have to go make an appointment and they don't always give it. You are in the right, keep arguing and go up the chain until you talk to someone who has common sense and brains..

[Anh map 2,098]

No, we had figured that they would be on top of the rules, since they knew she was on a green card. I am scanning the letter now and we're going to send it off in the morning.

In HR's defense, it's not their role to know it. That being said, my guess is that your spouse supplying the documentation ought to give the HR person what they need.

The fines are big ($10k) for having ineligible employees. Sounds like they are trying to comply with the law.

[VanessaTony 3,567]

No, we had figured that they would be on top of the rules, since they knew she was on a green card. I am scanning the letter now and we're going to send it off in the morning.

Sorry but this is entirely your and your wifes fault. Yes it was embarassing but it's your wifes job to ensure she provides her employer (and any other people that need it) her information.

If neither of you presented the ORIGINAL letter to HR so they could make a copy in order to comply with the I-9 requirements then what do you expect? Yes the HR lady was wrong about what is required, but I'm sorry, it is NOT their job to know the ins and outs of every immigration situation. Some people going through this doesn't understand their own situations.

How is HR supposed to know that you complied with "the law" if you don't show them you did? Supply them with the letter and it should be fine.

Ok, thanks for the advice. That stamp is technically redundant though, yes? I'm hoping that a scan of the letter with the relevant sentences highlighted will do the trick. If not, we may have to go get that stamp.

Thanks again!

Redundant? Yes but some people are confused by the letter. The I-9 instructions for the employer DO list the ROC extension letter though. If it's still a problem you might want to refer the HR lady to those instructions.

[Paul W. 0]

Sorry but this is entirely your and your wifes fault. Yes it was embarassing but it's your wifes job to ensure she provides her employer (and any other people that need it) her information.

If neither of you presented the ORIGINAL letter to HR so they could make a copy in order to comply with the I-9 requirements then what do you expect? Yes the HR lady was wrong about what is required, but I'm sorry, it is NOT their job to know the ins and outs of every immigration situation. Some people going through this doesn't understand their own situations.

How is HR supposed to know that you complied with "the law" if you don't show them you did? Supply them with the letter and it should be fine.

Redundant? Yes but some people are confused by the letter. The I-9 instructions for the employer DO list the ROC extension letter though. If it's still a problem you might want to refer the HR lady to those instructions.

I think it's going to be resolved. I scanned the letter and sent it to her HR place. They didn't know that the green card was the employment authorization. The reason we assumed they would be on top of it is that she works at a Federal facility! She is not employed by the govt, but through this contractor. It seems like it's their job to know the procedures and deadlines of the Feds, and to be proactive with their employees. Of course we would have given the letter if asked, but we didn't know it was necessary. I hope that if someone else is is this status limbo, they can see this and know that they need to get on top of it early themselves.

Thanks for everyone who replied. We were obviously a little freaked out since it just happened, and it's nice to get some immediate feedback.

Paul

[VanessaTony 3,567]

I think it's going to be resolved. I scanned the letter and sent it to her HR place. They didn't know that the green card was the employment authorization. The reason we assumed they would be on top of it is that she works at a Federal facility! She is not employed by the govt, but through this contractor. It seems like it's their job to know the procedures and deadlines of the Feds, and to be proactive with their employees. Of course we would have given the letter if asked, but we didn't know it was necessary. I hope that if someone else is is this status limbo, they can see this and know that they need to get on top of it early themselves.

Thanks for everyone who replied. We were obviously a little freaked out since it just happened, and it's nice to get some immediate feedback.

Paul

They didn't know the GC was employment auth? lol that's hilarious. They obviously didn't know about the letter/extension either so wouldn't know to ask for it. I know my boss had no idea and in my field he should know I did the I-9 myself actually and just gave him copy docs and presented the original. It was funny 'cause he didn't look at the form I gave him and he said "I should probably get a copy of your letter" and I said "don't worry you have a copy there" and he looked down and said "excellent" and that was the end.

She will be fine. Embarrassed sure but it's a funny story now it's all sorted out

[milimelo 4,220]

Is there a reason why you would show your green card when drivers license and an unrestricted SS card would suffice? I never showed my green card when I started a job, only updated HR once I became a citizen.

[danvil101 0]

I was also working when my green card expired and 60days prior to that I was notified by the HR about my gc expiring soon. Since my only proof of legally working in the US was the receipt notice from USCIS, I provided her the copy of it and no questions asked, I'm still working right now.