U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services regional media manager Marie Therese Sebrechts told Variety, “The CW-1, as we advised, includes continued employment if the worker is in legal status and has a CW-1 petition filed prior to Nov. 28 to continue working. No Employment Authorization Document or EAD is required for CW-1 continued employment in this situation, while awaiting adjudication of the I-129CW.”
Sebrechts said USCIS established a special procedure for H-1B and other nonimmigrant employment-based categories because there was no provision for continuing employment, thus the need for parole and an EAD for continued employment while awaiting adjudication of the I-129.
According to USCIS, “Parole and work authorization must be current for you to remain legally in the CNMI and continue working while awaiting a decision on your H-1B or other nonimmigrant employment-based petition. Without parole and work authorization, a foreign worker is unable to work and must leave the CNMI and wait for a decision outside the United States.”
To be eligible for continuing employment, a foreign worker must be legally present in the CNMI; working prior to November 28, 2011 with a valid permit; and have an employer who files an I-129 for him/her prior to November 28, 2011.
Russian and Chinese visitors who have been paroled into the United States solely as tourists are not eligible to work.
Sebrechts told Variety that there are no specific guidelines on caregivers.
“USCIS will consider granting parole for urgent humanitarian reasons, including compelling medical or special needs situations, when the existing foreign caregivers have worked for the same disabled or special needs individual prior to November 28, 2011.”
For more information on CW-1 and H-1B petitions and other immigration issues, go to www.uscis.gov.
