Got Green last week, likely to get fired in 2 weeks.

[chinx]

On 7/15/2011 I got my GC.

It seems that I might get fired from my current job in a couple of weeks.

Currently I have the option of resigning.

I personally prefer the route of walking-out by giving my resignation.

However, I am not sure how it would affect me at the time of citizenship, as it may seem that I left the company as soon as I got my GC.

On other hand, waiting for the axe (of being fired) to fall is not a good feeling.

Any thoughts on should I resign or wait for firing as far as immigration issues are concerned?

How do government agencies (USCIS or employment bureau) come to know whether one was fired or resigned?

[pontevecchio]

Do not resign. Let them lay you off.

[tusharvk]

sorry to hear. I think your top priority is to get a new job.

whether to wait or leave before is upto you.

The worry abt citizenship is secondary at this point.

[venkatann]

if you want to be smoothly naturalized, DON'T QUIT. you should be fine - time would heal. dont worry. dont take it personal.

[Belle]

That's right, do not resign. If you are laid off, you will probably get severance. Also, start your job search now - it is easier to look while still employed. That should help with the uneasiness of your situation.

[Shurap1]

Originally posted by Chinx:

On 7/15/2011 I got my GC.

It seems that I might get fired from my current job in a couple of weeks.

Currently I have the option of resigning.

I personally prefer the route of walking-out by giving my resignation.

However, I am not sure how it would affect me at the time of citizenship, as it may seem that I left the company as soon as I got my GC.

On other hand, waiting for the axe (of being fired) to fall is not a good feeling.

Any thoughts on should I resign or wait for firing as far as immigration issues are concerned?

How do government agencies (USCIS or employment bureau) come to know whether one was fired or resigned?

Just to clear, it is a layoff and not employment termination for any other reasons correct?

In case of layoffs you are fine. Wait till employer lays you off as you will also get (most likely) some sort of package which you don't want to miss :)

I have been through this and that too in Oct 2008 when market was worst. It was extremely painful but that package too off lot of burdon from me. Now you should be able to find new job very quickly esp. when you have GC.

[yourstruly]

I saw in a chat transcript by attorney murthy that one of her clients had their green card cancelled that very day that she was answering questions in the chat, because the client wasn't working for the GC sponsoring employer.

I also once asked attorney murthy in a chat if GC will be cancelled if we don't quit voluntarily, but get laid off or fired. She replied that GC won't be cancelled, but we should keep evidence that it wasn't our fault to leave the company. We can then show the evidence to USCIS when we apply for naturalization (citizenship) down the line, say after 5 years.

Hope this helps. Whether you want to risk your career by having the record that you got fired, or risk your GC and citizenship by quitting voluntarily is entirely your call. I don't think even an attorney can help you choose.

[Belle]

"Whether you want to risk your career by having the record that you got fired"

Puh-leese. There is fired, and there is fired. Being laid off is fine. Almost everyone in the US got laid off once. Even if one has poor performance and gets laid off becuase of it, it is no big deal - the company will only confirm that you worked for them. There is of course being discharged for a cause, which is totally different, but you have to step into some deep $hit to be fired like that - you have to have a really bad violation of company's policy and probably several laws. I am sure, he is in the first group.

If not sure, read a good book called "Corporate Confidential".

[thesun]

Most important questions are a) how sure are you? and b) is it a 'lay off' (i.e, your job is NOT the only one coming under the axe) or are you just being fired? If it is not a lay off, keep in mind that you might have some explaining to do with prospective recruiters. My 2 cents would be to try to work with your current employer if it is not a lay off or if it is a lay off but the job situation in your area is bleak and you are not quite ready to move for your new job (spouse's employment, home ownership, etc).

If you decide to 'work it out' for whatever reason, see if you can offer to take a reasonable pay cut at least temporarily and if it is NOT a 'lay off', try to come up with your own 'corrective plan' with clear goals (for example a well thought out plan to improve performance, etc) and see if you can offer to even go on a voluntary probation for, say, six months.

Bottom-line, in my opinion is, sometimes it is OK to put yourself at a disadvantage for the short term, provided any new employment that your find after six months is on your own terms. And, IMHO, the basic requirements to get there are, a) not being desperate for a job, b) projecting oneself as a very strong candidate for a prospective job with very little holes in one's resume that needs patching up with explanations.

Hope that helps.

[chinx]

Thanks everyone for the replies, they are very helpful.

[chinx]

To Add more context,

(1) This is _not_ a layoff. This is _firing_ (as my job position is not getting eliminated).

(2) The reason for firing is Poor Performance. Being in bottom 10% of 20/70/10 performance curve. (more info on performance curve http://www.bnet.com/article/what-is-forced-ranking/59306)

(3) I am very(rather extremely) confident of getting another Job, infact it is least of my worry at this stage.

(4) Also severace and/or unempolyment benefits are _not_ my priority.

(5) My priority right now is just to know (and minimize) the impact on my Citizenship prospect, and hence the question below.

My questions are:

(a) How would USCIS know at the time of granting the Citizenship that I was fired (in contrast to me resigning)?

Is it required that my employer notify employment office about the reason for termination?

I know that my employer never discloses the reason for termination to another prospective employer. My employer just notifies

that person X was working for us from date A to date B.

But I am not sure what information would my employer pass on to the employment office.

(b) I am suspecting that there is no way for the USCIS to distinguish between 2 scenarios where

(i) one is fired because of poor peformance.

(ii) one resigns voluntarily.

Can someone prove or disprove this proposition?

(If above is true, I would rather resign immediately then going through this pain of them firing me.)

It would be great if someone can throw light on Questions (a)&(b) above.

Thanks in advance.

[pontevecchio]

A better idea is to discuss your situation with your Lawyer.

[thesun]

Thanks for the added contextual info... your questions and concerns are clearer now. I'm not sure how USCIS gets notified; hopefully the experts can answer that. It's very likely that I'm stating the obvious here, but make sure employer gives you a 'termination' letter and keep it safe till you get your citizenship. Unfortunately, it is not really the kind of memory you want to preserve; I might personally consider shredding it myself the moment I find a new job.