Green Card and past violations

[guestusa1]

Are all past immigration violations forgotten once the green card is approved?
If the INS finds out at a later date about unauthorized employment while
applying for the GC, will they revoke the GC?

Most important question - If the GC is revoked, what happens to the earnings
during the period of stay here. Is the person allowed to take it or will the INS/IRS seize the bank accounts?

[guestusa1]

Thanks for the quick response. So the IRS can only come after me for the
tax I owe and the penalties and will not go after my earnings.

Is there a way I can now square this off with the INS? It has been four years
so I dont know if it's too late. I don;t want to work here in fear of the INS
coming after my GC

Thanks

[hadron]

It is probably easier to get even with the IRS than the INS. You might be able to file an amended tax return and pay up the taxes you owe. Otoh, if it is more than 4 years ago, the IRS is unlikely to go after you in the first place.

If the IRS audits you for some reason and finds documentation that you actually earned more money than you declared, they go after what they think you owe them (tax+interest+fine). In some cases, this can approach the amount of earnings, but they don't seize your earnings per-se.

The INS on the other hand is just interested in whether you followed their rules or not. If they find that you didn't, they can in fact rescind immigration benefits they granted you. They have no legal authority (at least that I know of) to seize the assets of anyone.

If you adjust under one of the amnesty programs (245i) they don't care about your past minor misdeeds as long as they don't reach the threshold of outright criminal behaviour.

(Look at Schwarzenegger. When he ran for governator, some opponents dug out some stuff that indicated that he worked for Golds Gym while he was here on a visitors visa in 1971. The INS issued a statement that they didn't care when they gave him his GC in the seventies, and that they don't care now.)

[guestusa1]

Thanks for all the responses. I have not been able to get any response from any other message boards. This is the situation -

I did not use 245(i) when applying for AOS. Before I got my H1B I was in the US for a few months on B1. I left the country, got my H1B and came back in. After I came back in, I was paid allowance for the period I was on B1 (about 12,000).
Now if accepting that allowance is equivalent to unauthorized employment,
I am not sure if it makes my previous stay on B1 invalid or the terms of stay
on H1B, after I came back in, violated since I actually accepted the payment while I was on H1B.

If I am considered to have violated my H1B status, then I had no stauts while applying for AOS and consequently my GC can be revoked. Or is it equivalent
to my having violated my B1 status in retrospect?

I dont want this to affect my long term prospects. should I give up my GC,
and come back with a new H1B?

[Jharkhandi]

Revoking GC is not easy. USCIS will not even bother to find out what have you done!Pay your taxes and be happy.

[guestusa1]

I have got very good advice from this message board and thanks once again for that. There is just one clarification -

>The allowance that you were paid even though it was received while on h-1 >did you receive it from the h-1 employer?

The allowance I was paid was from the same company I came back to with the H1B. The paperwork just said allowance for period A to B (about four months). There is no mention of reimbursement or anything. The $12K works
out to about $100/day. This was in addition to the accomodation they gave me. It seems like a lot to me. I had no intention of avoiding tax on it. I just didnt know how to report the income so I returned the amount the next year(2001). That fact will however not show up in the accounts because 2000's accounts still show "allowance".

There is no other documentation showing I worked or anything of that sort. I was actually employed by a company in India who had a contract with the company in the US.

[hadron]

How did you receive that payment ? (cash/check/added to your direct deposit ?)

Did it show up on your W2 ?

Did they give you a 1099 for it ?


I don't think there is any papertrail to link the payment to your unlawful employment during the B1 stay. Call it a recruitment bonus.

Your best bet is probably to talk to a CPA, file an amended tax return, pay the back taxes+interest and forget about it. If the IRS has questions, you can weasel out that you didn't know that this bonus payment was taxable and that the moment you found out you decided to pay up.....

[Jharkhandi]

Originally Posted by guestusa1

I have got very good advice from this message board and thanks once again for that. There is just one clarification -

>The allowance that you were paid even though it was received while on h-1 >did you receive it from the h-1 employer?

The allowance I was paid was from the same company I came back to with the H1B. The paperwork just said allowance for period A to B (about four months). There is no mention of reimbursement or anything. The $12K works
out to about $100/day. This was in addition to the accomodation they gave me. It seems like a lot to me. I had no intention of avoiding tax on it. I just didnt know how to report the income so I returned the amount the next year(2001). That fact will however not show up in the accounts because 2000's accounts still show "allowance".

There is no other documentation showing I worked or anything of that sort. I was actually employed by a company in India who had a contract with the company in the US.

Don't worry. You are fine from GC's point of view - you got money as allowance while you were on H1b visa.

[guestusa1]

It was a check that mentioned "allowance for period A to B" and this period
was the time i was on B1 - this is the document link. There was no W2 or 1099 form.

I cannot claim it was a sign on bonus because the pay slip says allowance
for the period i was on B1. So even though I paid it back the next year, it does appear as payment during my B1 period. That is what troubles me.

Thanks for all the advice.

[hadron]

I think I have lost you here..

[guestusa1]

These are the details
06/2000 to 10/2000 - B1
10/2000 came back with H1B
10/2000 was paid allowance about $12k for period 06/2000 to 10/2000 (excluding the H1B time). No W2 or 1099.
04/2001 returned the 12k

I checked with my company acct. The payment in 2000 is still allowance
so I dont know how they account for the fact I returned it the next year. I asked them to change it to show it as a loan but since it is 4 years now, they dont think anything can be done to the records of 2000.

Is it ok that I returned the amount the next year?

Thanks

[daJudge]

party on, stop crying. You have nothing to worry, be bold, keep your head high.

[rani4001]

need help. we had a misdeameanor and maximum panelty was some $ fine and no jail time. instead of paying fine and taking conviction on record, we got out taking middle road of community program (no contest) and completed in 1 month. records are sealed and case dismissed.
DO WE NEED AN ATTORNEY REPRESENTATION DURING AN INTERVIEW OR IT WILL BE SAFE TO GO ON OUR OWN? WOULD ANYONE PLEASE LET US KNOW ASAP.

rani4001

[litmu]

Originally Posted by rani4001

need help. we had a misdeameanor and maximum panelty was some $ fine and no jail time. instead of paying fine and taking conviction on record, we got out taking middle road of community program (no contest) and completed in 1 month. records are sealed and case dismissed.
DO WE NEED AN ATTORNEY REPRESENTATION DURING AN INTERVIEW OR IT WILL BE SAFE TO GO ON OUR OWN? WOULD ANYONE PLEASE LET US KNOW ASAP.

rani4001

Well, you do need to take certain steps. It will not be safe to go on your own. Without clear understanding of the offence, within the context of your case, which your Attorney could help, and you may think you have, but could cost you regrets later.

[Immg-Jock]

Originally Posted by rani4001

need help. we had a misdeameanor and maximum panelty was some $ fine and no jail time. instead of paying fine and taking conviction on record, we got out taking middle road of community program (no contest) and completed in 1 month. records are sealed and case dismissed.
DO WE NEED AN ATTORNEY REPRESENTATION DURING AN INTERVIEW OR IT WILL BE SAFE TO GO ON OUR OWN? WOULD ANYONE PLEASE LET US KNOW ASAP.

rani4001

Immigration policy is meant to throw out crooks and thugs who commit crime. If you commited crime, it would be best that you move to some country like Canada that is not very strict. Here is the US, people who respect law of the land are welcomed with open arms and those that are crooks and thugs are thrown out. Hope this helps.



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A Great Nation chooses a Great Leader. Bush 51%. Kerry 48%.

[wik]

A Great Nation chooses a Great Leader. Bush 51%. Kerry 48%.

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