I do believe you will need the EAD; a pending I-485 “only” provides lawful immigration status. But, a reasonable immigration lawyer should certainly know all of this!

I do believe also but my lawyers seems ok with the AC21 only ... thusy question here

The should not seem “OK” - they should and must know. Keep in mind - not having this squared can have very unfortunate consequences for you. Google around - it should certainly be possible to find this well-described somewhere.

I did search and I must admit it's not clear at all :)

AC21 is an interesting topic that doesn’t receive much attention on this forum of mainly venting😉

i am interested in this question too

yes I found a source (lawfirm blog) that says that it works for an L visa , and L is intra company so not very far from an E. but that's weird

Can you share link on here?

could not find back the one mentioning L visa (which are the closest)

I can’t see this being the case if you are looking to port to another employer - as being in L will be entirely dependent on working for the petitioning employer.

Are you aware of the coming rule changes re premium processing? I would probably focus my efforts - and hopes - there🙂

I know :) I would too, could be a bit late , not before spring right ?

Who knows - and it seems still unclear what additional categories will be covered.

I’m confused, so you are an E2 holder and have applied i140/1485 but neither approved yet? so you have been working for the e2 company so far but want to port to another company that’s not the company sponsoring your i140? is that correct?

yes

you cannot work for any other company other than the e2 company until you receive either the GC or an EAD. secondly if you try to port prior to the i140 being approved that part starts all over again. fellow e2 holder here with approved i140 waiting i485

not it the i140 has been pending for more than 180 days

@SB what if my friend received my green card after a year, then go for another job same position. is that a problem

@ben please check this I believe you are incorrect. As an e2 holder you cannot work for anyone else without an ead or gc. also if your i94 runs out you cannot work for the e2 company either until you get the ead

@duy anh le that’s fine

i94 is aligned on the end of our E2 next year so we are good from that point. and I tend to believe like you but it's far from being clear. seems like AC21 is not used a lot

@SB even he hasn’t worked for the sponsor for a day?

@ben the portability is really mainly used for H1b where they have had that for a while, they get sponsored to convert to GC and it takes so long they get another offer and the new company takes over.

that makes sense

@duy anh le ok I misunderstood I thought you meant they had been working for a year with the gc for one company and wanted to switch. if they just received their greencard but then immedialty want to switch it will likely be revoked. 6 months is the unwritten rule on switching without porting so just switching job.

SB so he should stay at the job at least 6 months. But if he gets laid off?

I think this is where you would have to prove lawful intent if it came up. this part I don’t know much about

Just to be clear - it is possible to port on an “approvable” but pending I-140

@The Fred E2 visa holders cannot work for any other company other than the E2 company until they have an ead or gc

@Ben - take a look at this:

yes this is H1B oriented

Does anyone has any visibility as the expansion of premium processing? I.e., could all EB-1 categories end up becoming included?

https://www.fragomen.com/insights/united-states-regulation-to-expand-uscis-premium-processing-program-under-federal-review.html it's in the plan but they can phase it in different steps. i765 seems to be the first one

Thanks, Ben. And just to recap: You seem to suggest that it is possible to port, after I-485 pending 180 days, on an approvable I-140 and without EAD - if in L status?

really clear article : https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/talent-acquisition/pages/ac21-hiring-candidates-green-card-process.aspx

Thanks - however, that makes it clear the requirement to have previously had an EAD. If you haven’t had one before then this doesn’t apply - and you won’t be able to work for the new employer until you have obtained it.

yes I think so too that's why I wonder why the lawyers say it's ok

@Ben it sounds to me like your lawyer maybe has mainly had experience with other types of work visa such as h1b and doesn’t realise the limitations of the E2 and that it doesn’t involve an ead. . I assume it’s the sponsoring companies lawyer so that would make sense that they have never dealt with E2 possibly. This process is stressful enough (especially E2 to GC!) without the lawyers not giving the right advice

yes I think they forgot the visa part, but yet it's immigration lawyers so they should know. I have been the E2 visa for 3 years now, my understanding is that the challenge is not on the fact the E2 is not dual intent but more on proving EB1C. I haven't read the i140 , maybe I should. also to get the occupational code