Any input, please !! I am darn desparate

AnuD

Registered Users (C)
Hi Folks

I am in desparate situation. 485 is filed in July 2002. Since Nov 2002 I am out of job i.e. now almost ten months. I had been working as a consultant/contractor for last five-six years and was never jobless. Once this 485 is filed, I am jobless :((...
My wife is not working :((((..

There is no support/backing from my employer. My health insurance is also from my pocket. My kid is 13 - in eighth grade.

Next point, which is obvious - thinking of going back to India.

1. In that case, what happens to my GC ?
2. Will it remain continued ?
3. What are the formalities involved/need to be done ?
4. What would be pros and cons of my decision to go back ?
5. Anyone in the same boat ?
6. Is there any better way out ?

Thanks in advance....
 
what's your ultimate goal?

to get GC and stay in US?

then you can not go back. you should try to find a similar job to use AC21 to continue your GC.
 
Don't give up - evaluate your options

sorry to hear about your situation - there are plenty more like you, so be brave ... when there is a will there is a way. The GC will be considered abandoned if you do not reply to RFE/NOID. Just leaving the country before approval is not cause for denial.

Here is what I think you can pull off :

1:
a) You are eligible for AC21 if you can show a future job in same/similar OCCUPATIONAL CLASSIFICATION.
b) You should be able to work out a deal with a desi contractor/bodyshopper with a US address and Indian operations for at least a future job. All you need is a letter and an intent to join them so the law is quite flexible there. You might be able to work in projects in India and US in the meanwhile. I am assuming you are in the computer field.

If all else fails there is still a chance that
1) you may be approved w/o RFE
or
2) Even if you don't have a job you still can reply to a RFE showing that you have enough resources to not be a public charge - this is probably a long shot after the new INS memo

This is not the end of the world - there are also opportunities in EU and some in Canada or Singapore. Also the economy is turning around, worst case you can go back to India and return on L1 in a year or so ... hopefully ....
 
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It is very sad to hear of your plight. Have a few friends who are situated similarly.

From what I heard, leaving the country without AP while awaiting 485 adjustment of status would constitute an abandonment of your 485. So you may want to rethink your decision about going back now. After all, you waited this long. If you put up with it for a few more months, you may come out good.

If you receive an RFE, you need to be able to answer it with a job offer. If you can work that out with your employer, you should be okay. There are a few employers who may be willing to do that quite easily.

Hang in there .

All the best !!!
 
Going to India is not a bad idea

If you could not find a job for the last 10 months, then there is some serious problem here. Either your skillset lost its sheen or the job market is too tight. If you goto India now, then your GC won't be affected if your Employer is going to co-operate with you.
Since GC is for future employment, you don't need to be in this country while GC processing goes. My advise is better gotto India now itself and look for a job there instead of allowing yourself to sit idle and fall under deep debt here. If you can't find any job in India for 4 or 5 months, then you can think of coming back. Now a days the job market is very good in india for experienced people like you.
 
Discuss

It's an interesting topic. Let's debate. I am interested to see what type of suggestions people give to this question.
 
Hello RAJA0719,

Hello RAJA0719,

A question on your input -
What do you mean by 'without AP' ? I do have AP. I have renewed my EAD and AP. So, just not using AP would be going without AP ?

and what is 'abondonment of 485' ? What happens if I do it ?
and how not to do it ?
 
AnuD:

If you have your AP then you can leave the country provided you respond to any RFE that may arise from processing your 485. So if you could have someone to process your mail in your absence, you should be all right.

All the best
 
You never know what's ahead of you. Good things maybe next in the pipe. Stay positive!

Here are my thoughts:
- find a similary job.
- going back to school?
- find any job to pay for the health insurance. INS did not ask for my REF, so you could get approved without REF. The approval may speed up due to fewer applicants.
- going back to India may not be a bad idea too.

We are in a bad economy. My current job is as shaky as anybody else's. Do feel too bad!
 
WEST MINISTER

You seem to be a kind of a guy who thinks that only he is correct and what rest of others say is always a sh*t. This is a debate / discussion. I give my opinion and you give yours. Genuine people will take the best suggestions. If i am in bench for even 6 months and if i run out of money, then i am 100% sure that i will goback to India. I advised the other person to consider going to india thinking that he might have almost run out of money (didn't he say that he is in desperate situation). Your suggestions should be practical. Things happen differently to different people. Just because some one waited for 1 year and then got 5 projects, does not mean that it's goig to happen for every one. Lastly, you must have understood my eagerness to see other people's views and suggestions on this topic because i
was the one who brought this thread back to front page. I know that i have given some advise which looks hard to digest ( i have given a lot of thought while posting my suggestion, but could not ask the other person to wait some more time when you do not know what's going to happen ). But i considered 10 months in bench as a very bad situation and i could not ask him to wait for more time(unless he has financial backing).
 
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Can't your wife get a job? She is not limited by AC21 and can work anywhere - supermarkets, Walmarts etc. At least you will have a health plan etc while looking for your next project. You have probably another six months before any kind of RFE may be issued so keep on trying... You may think of apllying for a low-level job not related to your skill-set in a company that has positions in your AC21 skill-set and try working your way up inside the company (create connections etc).

ND 2/20/02
2FP 8/15/03
 
my two cents.....

WEST MINISTER,

Looks like you are an eternal optimist. Some people, under a false spell of optimism, let everything go and end up naked. Then they call themselves Gandhi!!!!:D :D :D :D
Just a couple of cases of good luck do not prove anything, even by induction.
I agree with dsatish in his analysis.
The burn rate, of your money, here in the US is 45-50 ($1 = Rs. 45-50) times that of India. Especially if you are under debt, or are smoking away your hard earned savings on day to day expenses. I would not advise anybody with a family to stay in the US for more than 6 months with out a decent paying Job.
The equation for burn rate in India is : y = -x + c ( where c is your original savings)
So dy/dx is -1.
The equation for burn rate in US is : y = -45x + c ( where c is your original savings)
So dy/dx is -45.
Look at the steep slope that you have to climb in the US just to make ends meet. That would indeed be very difficult if you are without a job for a long time.
 
More explanation

Hi WEST MINISTER,
If you read the original post, the person has mentioned that he has decided to go to india and asked us what will happen to his GC process. He must have have taken this decision after taking all the factors into account. Now don't call his decision as sh*t. You don't know more about a person than himself (ofcourse you seem to think otherwise). I answered to his main question which is what will happen to his GC process.
More over, things are changing rapidly for IT developers here. It's getting increasingly harder for us and the reverse is happening in India. Six months back, i would have replied as harshly as you did to any one who suggested any one else to consider going back to india. Not any more. I have recently seen some of my relatives and friends going back to india after 6 yr completion here, and they are all very happy in india. That was the basis for my reply.
 
Re: WEST MINISTER

Originally posted by dsatish
You seem to be a kind of a guy who thinks that only he is correct and what rest of others say is always a sh*t. This is a debate / discussion. I give my opinion and you give yours. Genuine people will take the best suggestions. If i am in bench for even 6 months and if i run out of money, then i am 100% sure that i will goback to India. I advised the other person to consider going to india thinking that he might have almost run out of money (didn't he say that he is in desperate situation). Your suggestions should be practical. Things happen differently to different people. Just because some one waited for 1 year and then got 5 projects, does not mean that it's goig to happen for every one. Lastly, you must have understood my eagerness to see other people's views and suggestions on this topic because i
was the one who brought this thread back to front page. I know that i have given some advise which looks hard to digest ( i have given a lot of thought while posting my suggestion, but could not ask the other person to wait some more time when you do not know what's going to happen ). But i considered 10 months in bench as a very bad situation and i could not ask him to wait for more time(unless he has financial backing).

dsatish,

what are you talking about?. Did you see his previous posts?
This fellow is trying his best to stay in this country and ofcourse he is having AP, also renewed his EAD. So, he's more towards to his GC. I see only problem that he lost confidense. The moment he gets confidense he can be on track and can also give suggs to people like you. So, I didn't give any suggs but instead trying to boost his confidense through my post.
I know one must goback if they run out of money and don't get help from outside.
But few options always there to re-think of his decesions.
He can still get help from his friends/relatives for his job search/immediate needs. He can send his family back and get help from his family in India for atleast few months so that he can hear something about his case. Single fellow can manage his expenses until get job. Give some +ve ideas, that may helpful to him.

Don't give ideas for burning a body or thro in into rever.
Keep your ****shit ideas in your brain or drain.
 
Re: Re: WEST MINISTER

Originally posted by WEST MINISTER


Don't give ideas for burning a body or thro in into rever.
Keep your ****shit ideas in your brain or drain.

why don't you practise what you preach and give AnuD some job leads rather then venting your frustrations on DSatish ?
 
I know a friend who has $8000 in credit card debt and has a car for which he originally paid $34000. He was on bench for the last 10 months. If he sells his car now, he will get just $17000. He still has payments worth $19000 remaining on his car loan. His wife was in India for the last 4 months. He still regrets staying on bench for such a long time because he would not have accumulated the debt that he has. He even transferred money from India to pay for his medical expenses. According to him he would be very happy to go to India if he did not have debt. If he had gone to India before accumulating debt, he would have already started saving there. He has a job now, a six-month contract, but he will be repaying the debt that he has for the next 1 year. His current contract is only for 6 months. then he will come on bench again and start burning his savings. This cycle can get pretty vicious.
Whether to go back, or not, is an individual decision. It depends on how much you have saved and how rich you were originally. But the typical IT import in the US is mostly a middle class/ upper middle class guy who does not depend much on previous personal wealth.
I understand it is tough to go back after having made so many plans and having spent so much time here. But you can always come back. The market is bound to to recover at some point. If the market does not come back, all of us will have to go back anyways.
 
Re: More explanation

Originally posted by dsatish
Hi WEST MINISTER,
If you read the original post, the person has mentioned that he has decided to go to india and asked us what will happen to his GC process. He must have have taken this decision after taking all the factors into account. Now don't call his decision as sh*t. You don't know more about a person than himself (ofcourse you seem to think otherwise). I answered to his main question which is what will happen to his GC process.
More over, things are changing rapidly for IT developers here. It's getting increasingly harder for us and the reverse is happening in India. Six months back, i would have replied as harshly as you did to any one who suggested any one else to consider going back to india. Not any more. I have recently seen some of my relatives and friends going back to india after 6 yr completion here, and they are all very happy in india. That was the basis for my reply.

dsatish,
well, the decesion upto that fellow. Our views are just options for him to evaluate or take a final decesion.
One must consider or use all options before taking drastic step.
I know IT is now facing hard time. Going back to India may not solve his problem if he has no updated skills. There are millions available for work and facing tough competition. Ofcource they are enjoying only out-sourcing not sourcing. If they see turnaround here then they may run again. Then every one need GC at that point. Again back to basics. Waiting for several years and in the last stage if they don't have job then people like you may give ****shit ideas or may appreciate them to go back India again. A cyclic....story.
Is that what you expect?.

Let the people find their problems then only they can get solutions.
As I told, this guy only need some confidence back.
Then wherever he's he can solve his problems at own.

And once again now don't suggst IT people to go back as 6 months trial period is over and they may ask you jobs. THE HALL IS FULL.

Yes, this is the thesis.
 
hi folks ....

Hi folks,

Thanks a lot for all these discussions - I really appreciate it.
In fact, I have been going through all these points in my mind for last ten months.

Coming to my point, what I would really invite from all of you is what happens to GC, what is abondoned GC, what it means, what are minus points of it and how not to abondon GC.

venky73 asked where I am - well, I am in MA. I am in database, ERP. Will appreciate any leads for projects/openings/jobs ...

And once again, thanks a lot to all of you, folks.

AnuD
 
Re: hi folks ....

If you want to stay in US and are finding it hard to find a job, find a university and enrol in it with your wife. Most universities will have campus jobs. I know lot of indian/chinese guys who are actually doing quite well working in the campus.Once again it is your decision my friend.


DSATISH , You are becoming too arrogant. Learn to restrain yourself when giving suggestions. The idea is to be positive and helpful and not boorish as you sound........... This is not Telegu Land and you are not Chandrababu............

Originally posted by AnuD
Hi folks,

Thanks a lot for all these discussions - I really appreciate it.
In fact, I have been going through all these points in my mind for last ten months.

Coming to my point, what I would really invite from all of you is what happens to GC, what is abondoned GC, what it means, what are minus points of it and how not to abondon GC.

venky73 asked where I am - well, I am in MA. I am in database, ERP. Will appreciate any leads for projects/openings/jobs ...

And once again, thanks a lot to all of you, folks.

AnuD
 
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