Jack opened his mailbox and, to his delight, discovered that his green card had arrived at last. His long immigration struggle was over. Now that he no longer had to think about getting his paperwork processed, he could now start thinking about his  new rights as a lawful permanent resident of the United States.

One of the first thoughts to cross his mind was that he was now free to change jobs - or was he? Jack had read quite a few articles on the Internet and was genuinely confused on this subject. Some people wrote that he had to stay with his employer for two more years. Others wrote that he could leave immediately. Jack didn't know what to think.

Jack consulted our office and we counseled him as follows: Because of the AC21 legislation, we believe that it is pretty clear that an employment based green card applicant may leave his or her employer six months after filing for adjustment of status. People who consular process, may leave after they return to the US with an immigrant visa.

The AC21 legislation clarified that employment based immigrants may change jobs and/or employers, provided two conditions have been met. First, they must wait at least 180 days following their application for adjustment of status. Second, they must remain in the same or similar occupational classification. As long as these two criteria are met, EB applicants are free to change jobs.

Congress appears more concerned with making sure that an EB applicant remains in the same or similar occupational classification than they are interested in requiring the applicant to stay with the sponsoring employer. This makes sense. In order for a PERM to be approved, the employer must demostrate that there is a shortage of qualified workers in a particular occupational classification. While it makes no sense to tie a green card holder to a specific employer, it does make sense to expect them to work in the same or similar occupational classification for which they were granted PERM certification.

We advised Jack that he could change jobs whenever he wished. If he wanted to change careers, however, he would need to establish a good reason for making the switch. The government has no problem with people changing careers, but they do have a problem with someone represented that they are going to work in a certified shortage occupaton, and then immediately changing into another occupation.

Jack explained that since his PERM was certified several years ago, his field started suffering very high unemployment. His sponsoring employer notified him that there would be layoffs in the near future.

We advised him that high unemployment in his field constituted an excellent reason for changing careers. He told us that he planned to quit his job, go back to school, and then move into a new career. We advised him to document the rate of unemployment in his field so that if he is ever questioned about his career change (such as in the context of a naturalization interview), he would have objective evidence to back up his statements.