Once I 485 gets approved, is there any rule that employee needs to be with the sponsoring company for ceratin time? Can s/he leave the company within a month and join another company? Greatly appreciate your help. I could talk to my lawyer but he works for the current company.

I think you can leave the company six months after the approval of I-140.  I am not a lawyer though.

Congratulations to you!

To get precise nformation on this consult an attorney. Good Luck to you.

Congrat someone!

u should stay with the same company for six months.

BTW, how long did u wait to get ur I-485? How about labor certificate? I've just started to work on my PERM (EB2). Appreciate if you could share ur experience.

There is no hard and fast rule about it. I had checked this with different lawyers and every lawyer had different opinion. Some said you can leave anytime you want, some said 3 months and some 6 months. One thing is for sure, nothing will affect your immigrant status once your I-485 is approved. You are a free bird. The only thing that might happen is that when you apply for citizenship, they might ask you about why did you leave the company that applied for your greencard. This is a very slim chance. I have not met a single person, who have experienced this.

Think it this way, if USCIS allows people to invoke AC 21 in the middle of their process (... means leave the company that applied for your PERM, I-140 and I-485 and join another company), why would they not allow you to leave the company after your I-485 is approved?

If you have anykind of contractual obligation then that's a whole different story. Otherwise you should be free to choose any company you want.

Enjoy your freedom.

Congratulations!

One thing I am sure is that you can be charged for a fraud case from the employer if you leave too early. The employer might file a fraud case telling that you joined them just to get a green card and although you showed an intention to work with the employer permanently your action couldn't verify it. So, this is the thing that might happen if you leave early. But, if they fire you then it's on their head to prove that they intended to employ you permanently. So, if you are in bench and they are not paying you... go ahead and join another company since you can always say that the employer was not able to pay you .!!

Thanks All. I got different answers from different perople as I got here. I can not talk to the same lawyer as he belong to the same company. I have been continuously emplyed by the current company so I dont have any reason to show against them. Its just better opportunities out there in the market.

To answer another question, I had to wait less than two months to get 485 approved and 3 months for labor.

Thanks all for your suggestions and congrtulations.

I think you can leave the company six months after the approval of I-140. 

Is this a scenario where I 140 gets approved, but I 485 is pending? What is  I 140 and I 485 get approved the same day? Thanks again.

I have a question about I-485 filing:

What will you write in the VISA number section of the form I-485 if you have an expired visa but an extension permit to the end of 2010?

Thanks

No One really cares.........Enjoy your greencard when it comes! Trust me.

simple answer is there is no restriction as to when you can leave. you can leave anytime. its a free country and you are not an indentured servent and don't have any legal obligation to stay.

does this departure impact your green card process? that should be of concern.

this depends on where you are in your process. if i-140 is filed and approved then you can leave provided that your i-485 has been filed and its been 180 days since the filing. [ but you would need a sponsor to continue your case]. [ legally speaking, your new sponsor need to file a continuation of sponsorship with USCIS]

if you already got the green card then obviously.. there is no impact in the process right? process been adjudicated. so it does not matter.