Can We settle on These Bases?
- Thread starter Rajiv S. Khanna
- Start date
Jharkhandi
Registered Users (C)
001,
Concurrent filing can take place only when immigrant visa is available. That means temp gc generated will have no problems in getting converted till concurrent filing is on.
Also 485 is AOS and number of 1.2 M(if so) includes input from EB as well as other modes of processings. Hope it helps.
Re: I guess the chance of settlement is dim.
How do we go around bringing publicity? TV ad's as some suggest, is a double edged sword and may cut the wrong way. There are a few petition drives, but mostly targetted towards particular case type (V visa, reduce 485 backlogs), Could one of the more experienced forum members come up with a general petition which - while still talks about 485/140 cases, can be sent by all of the forum members. For example I am still in LC stage, and if I sign a petition or send a letter on 485 to the congress members, it would mean nothing as the congress member cant even ask USCIS for my case status. But if the petition is a general petition towards reduction of 485 backlogs, LCers, Citizens and GC holders can send that to the congress member asking them to support/introduce some legislative action (which may come by due the lawsuit by immigration.com)
001
How do we go around bringing publicity? TV ad's as some suggest, is a double edged sword and may cut the wrong way. There are a few petition drives, but mostly targetted towards particular case type (V visa, reduce 485 backlogs), Could one of the more experienced forum members come up with a general petition which - while still talks about 485/140 cases, can be sent by all of the forum members. For example I am still in LC stage, and if I sign a petition or send a letter on 485 to the congress members, it would mean nothing as the congress member cant even ask USCIS for my case status. But if the petition is a general petition towards reduction of 485 backlogs, LCers, Citizens and GC holders can send that to the congress member asking them to support/introduce some legislative action (which may come by due the lawsuit by immigration.com)
001
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140_takes_4ever
Registered Users (C)
Re: conference call
CA, Pacific time zone. Can you please send out the conc call id?
dsatish,
CA, Pacific time zone. Can you please send out the conc call id?
sirlurkalot
New Member
Timeline
Rajiv and all,
I've been lurking here a lot over the last few months, and have nothing but admiration for your efforts.
One thing that struck me in the "settlement" proposal.
From reading the document many times over, it would appear as written that the timeline for Naturalization would only start once the "interim GC" was issued (some time in the future)... and not the many months and years since past, that would now be lost.
Shouldn't it be that the timeline should be started or "backdated" to the six months *after* the historical Filing date?
In an ideal world (no delays in processing - yeah, right!
) this would be the case anyway, so it's only as a result of the INS/BCIS/CIS delays that we are being hurt - and shouldn't the settlement bear this in mind?
Regards,
Rajiv and all,
I've been lurking here a lot over the last few months, and have nothing but admiration for your efforts.
One thing that struck me in the "settlement" proposal.
From reading the document many times over, it would appear as written that the timeline for Naturalization would only start once the "interim GC" was issued (some time in the future)... and not the many months and years since past, that would now be lost.
Shouldn't it be that the timeline should be started or "backdated" to the six months *after* the historical Filing date?
In an ideal world (no delays in processing - yeah, right!
) this would be the case anyway, so it's only as a result of the INS/BCIS/CIS delays that we are being hurt - and shouldn't the settlement bear this in mind?Regards,
Great Job
Dear Rajiv and others,
I am a silent observer in the forum and I have been watching the great work that you are doing for the community. I read all the posts and the arguements that are made and it is great to see thoughts flowing. And this really touches me greatly about how people are suffering at the hands of an inefficient bureaucratic organization. I have played my part (though a small one)today as me and one of my colleague went to a town meeting of Congressman Ron Kind of 3rd District of Wisconsin. We presented the petition and talked with him about the injustice being done. He was very cooperative and took the petition and directed us to his staff. I keep sending emails to the press as and when I have time. And you know what I believe we should pay Mr. Khanna back for this great service. Nowadays if anyone asks me for a good immigration lawyer the only person I recommend strongly is Rajiv.
Dear Rajiv and others,
I am a silent observer in the forum and I have been watching the great work that you are doing for the community. I read all the posts and the arguements that are made and it is great to see thoughts flowing. And this really touches me greatly about how people are suffering at the hands of an inefficient bureaucratic organization. I have played my part (though a small one)today as me and one of my colleague went to a town meeting of Congressman Ron Kind of 3rd District of Wisconsin. We presented the petition and talked with him about the injustice being done. He was very cooperative and took the petition and directed us to his staff. I keep sending emails to the press as and when I have time. And you know what I believe we should pay Mr. Khanna back for this great service. Nowadays if anyone asks me for a good immigration lawyer the only person I recommend strongly is Rajiv.
Conference call to discuss final PROPOSALS
I am having hard time in finalizing the timing for our conference call because some of the active members re from East Coast and some are from the West coast (and a few from inbetween ). I talked to Rajiv and he said that anytime from 3am to 7pm on any day is OK for him. If i make it at 12pm (noon) EST, then people from CST and PST timezones will have tough time attending it because it's a peak working hour for them. So i am thinking of making it in early morning.
How about 8am EST/ 7am CST/ 5am PST on wednesday ? We can change it by half an hour if majority feel so (but i strongly recommend this time).
All those interested, please let me know asap so that i will finalise the time. It's definitely going to be wednesday.
PS : Some people tried to send me Private Messages and they were bounced due to lack of space. I have deleted all my PM's. So i can receive PM now.
I am having hard time in finalizing the timing for our conference call because some of the active members re from East Coast and some are from the West coast (and a few from inbetween ). I talked to Rajiv and he said that anytime from 3am to 7pm on any day is OK for him. If i make it at 12pm (noon) EST, then people from CST and PST timezones will have tough time attending it because it's a peak working hour for them. So i am thinking of making it in early morning.
How about 8am EST/ 7am CST/ 5am PST on wednesday ? We can change it by half an hour if majority feel so (but i strongly recommend this time).
All those interested, please let me know asap so that i will finalise the time. It's definitely going to be wednesday.
PS : Some people tried to send me Private Messages and they were bounced due to lack of space. I have deleted all my PM's. So i can receive PM now.
Dear Mr. Rajiv & Core team,
The good news is that I got my 'Interim EAD' today from USCIS NC local office even before 90 days are not over and I live in GA. As per one of our member Omgv, I took chance today and they give us the EAD valid for 10 months, no question, no more paper asked just I-765 receipt and original application.
The reason I am posting this to make a note of non-uniform USCIS policy each service center has. See the different kind of treatment I got from Atlanta and NC local offices!!. Who is suffering?? It's a lot of pain!!. But, I am very glad that finally got my interim EAD and no need to be without pay for 2 weeks!!
Please let me know, whatever help you all needed from me any time. I will be more than happy to contribute whatever you need from me (time/money/etc.).
Dsatish, Please count me also in for the CC if you can, Area Code 678, Atlanta, MSC
P.S. I am also in touch with the senator Saxby Chambliss office (Chairman of Immigration, Border Security and Citizenship committee). I will try my best to meet him personally and make him aware of our case.
The good news is that I got my 'Interim EAD' today from USCIS NC local office even before 90 days are not over and I live in GA. As per one of our member Omgv, I took chance today and they give us the EAD valid for 10 months, no question, no more paper asked just I-765 receipt and original application.
The reason I am posting this to make a note of non-uniform USCIS policy each service center has. See the different kind of treatment I got from Atlanta and NC local offices!!. Who is suffering?? It's a lot of pain!!. But, I am very glad that finally got my interim EAD and no need to be without pay for 2 weeks!!
Please let me know, whatever help you all needed from me any time. I will be more than happy to contribute whatever you need from me (time/money/etc.).
Dsatish, Please count me also in for the CC if you can, Area Code 678, Atlanta, MSC
P.S. I am also in touch with the senator Saxby Chambliss office (Chairman of Immigration, Border Security and Citizenship committee). I will try my best to meet him personally and make him aware of our case.
PROPOSALS
Some of my thoughts on the Proposals :
1) It's better to drop the word "conditional" GC.It will create more problems. Let us ask for immediate I-551 stamping for every one who is waiting for more than 1 yr and whose security check is cleared(i know we are all along talking about 6 months, but a talk of 1 yr should be a strategic one because it sounds more convincing and it makes BCIS very difficult to refuse because they can't ask us to wait any more). The Green card should be issued automatically (as is the current practice) within 6 to 8 weeks of stamping. This proposal broadly means that BCIS should immediately publish a Memo to all its district offices with appropriate directions. In future if they need any clarifications from us regarding the documentation, then they can always call us and if they find anything wrong, they can take action. They should treat every one as not guilty unless otherwise found
2) They should promise to bring the I140 processing time to 6 months. The ombudsman should be the arbitrar between the two parties (bcis versus us) to see that bcis implements it's promise.
I140 premium processing looks like a good idea but there may be some cons to it (bcis may delay other works including normal I140. They may introduce premium processing for every type of application whereby making it a big scam). This premium processing idea is a SCAM. Otherwise how can any one believe that the world's richest country don't have money to process immigrant applications (that too after collecting fees from us
)
Some of my thoughts on the Proposals :
1) It's better to drop the word "conditional" GC.It will create more problems. Let us ask for immediate I-551 stamping for every one who is waiting for more than 1 yr and whose security check is cleared(i know we are all along talking about 6 months, but a talk of 1 yr should be a strategic one because it sounds more convincing and it makes BCIS very difficult to refuse because they can't ask us to wait any more). The Green card should be issued automatically (as is the current practice) within 6 to 8 weeks of stamping. This proposal broadly means that BCIS should immediately publish a Memo to all its district offices with appropriate directions. In future if they need any clarifications from us regarding the documentation, then they can always call us and if they find anything wrong, they can take action. They should treat every one as not guilty unless otherwise found
2) They should promise to bring the I140 processing time to 6 months. The ombudsman should be the arbitrar between the two parties (bcis versus us) to see that bcis implements it's promise.
I140 premium processing looks like a good idea but there may be some cons to it (bcis may delay other works including normal I140. They may introduce premium processing for every type of application whereby making it a big scam). This premium processing idea is a SCAM. Otherwise how can any one believe that the world's richest country don't have money to process immigrant applications (that too after collecting fees from us
)Re: PROPOSALS
dsatish,
That is my first suggestion of change for the settlement proposal, (you can see it in the first page of this thread) but Rajiv thinks it is not specific enough. May be its not some thing thats feasible, otherwise Rajiv would have removed that "conditional" key word.
Rajiv's response.
dsatish,
That is my first suggestion of change for the settlement proposal, (you can see it in the first page of this thread) but Rajiv thinks it is not specific enough. May be its not some thing thats feasible, otherwise Rajiv would have removed that "conditional" key word.
Rajiv's response.
hidden_dragon
Registered Users (C)
Re: PROPOSALS
That was my suggestion too. I will rey to attend the teleconference (please post the number). In case I can't, you have my support. My thought was to ask for separating GC from security check, not abandoning the check. let them take how ever long they need, but not at our cost. Anything temperary now will make us suffer for the "permanent" later.
The implementation and how to implement is a decision of DHS, they can decide, i believe, that give out the GC but continue on security check, without congress remaking laws. Granting GC doesn't provide any immunity of penalty once someone is found as a threat.
Bottom line, 6 months for stamp, another six months after for permanent GC (i.e. permanent GC after a year) seems a reasonable request - again we are not asking them to give up or "slow down" (lol) the security check!
That was my suggestion too. I will rey to attend the teleconference (please post the number). In case I can't, you have my support. My thought was to ask for separating GC from security check, not abandoning the check. let them take how ever long they need, but not at our cost. Anything temperary now will make us suffer for the "permanent" later.
The implementation and how to implement is a decision of DHS, they can decide, i believe, that give out the GC but continue on security check, without congress remaking laws. Granting GC doesn't provide any immunity of penalty once someone is found as a threat.
Bottom line, 6 months for stamp, another six months after for permanent GC (i.e. permanent GC after a year) seems a reasonable request - again we are not asking them to give up or "slow down" (lol) the security check!
Originally posted by dsatish
Some of my thoughts on the Proposals :
1) It's better to drop the word "conditional" GC.It will create more problems. Let us ask for immediate I-551 stamping for every one who is waiting for more than 1 yr and whose security check is cleared(i know we are all along talking about 6 months, but a talk of 1 yr should be a strategic one because it sounds more convincing and it makes BCIS very difficult to refuse because they can't ask us to wait any more). The Green card should be issued automatically (as is the current practice) within 6 to 8 weeks of stamping. This proposal broadly means that BCIS should immediately publish a Memo to all its district offices with appropriate directions. In future if they need any clarifications from us regarding the documentation, then they can always call us and if they find anything wrong, they can take action. They should treat every one as not guilty unless otherwise found
2) They should promise to bring the I140 processing time to 6 months. The ombudsman should be the arbitrar between the two parties (bcis versus us) to see that bcis implements it's promise.
I140 premium processing looks like a good idea but there may be some cons to it (bcis may delay other works including normal I140. They may introduce premium processing for every type of application whereby making it a big scam). This premium processing idea is a SCAM. Otherwise how can any one believe that the world's richest country don't have money to process immigrant applications (that too after collecting fees from us
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485 lawsuit
As part of the 485 application one can file the EAD also to work. My wife is waiting past 4 months to get EAD to work. All this is due to the inefficiency of USCIS. They take fees from us and still don't deliver the basic right to work and make a living. I think hardships of this sort should be highlighted in the lawsuit wherever appropriate.
As part of the 485 application one can file the EAD also to work. My wife is waiting past 4 months to get EAD to work. All this is due to the inefficiency of USCIS. They take fees from us and still don't deliver the basic right to work and make a living. I think hardships of this sort should be highlighted in the lawsuit wherever appropriate.
Re: Re: PROPOSALS
RK,
I am hopeful that the Brainstorm session will result in some changes to the current proposals. People goto Brainstorm sessions with strong arguments, but with open minds. So i am confident that we can convince Rajiv about changing the wording or proposal. Let us see what every one says and let us decide final proposals in the conference call. Be sure to login to the meeting at 5am California time on wednesday. The conference call number is same as the we used last time for core team meeting. I will send this number to some people here by private message. Nobody need to tell his name in the conference call. They can simply tell their user-id or they simply don't need to tell the user-name also. I hope that cinta, edison,jharkhandi,functionalert,ramss,140_4ever,feb6361,lca_001,shsa etc will join the meeting.
RK,
I am hopeful that the Brainstorm session will result in some changes to the current proposals. People goto Brainstorm sessions with strong arguments, but with open minds. So i am confident that we can convince Rajiv about changing the wording or proposal. Let us see what every one says and let us decide final proposals in the conference call. Be sure to login to the meeting at 5am California time on wednesday. The conference call number is same as the we used last time for core team meeting. I will send this number to some people here by private message. Nobody need to tell his name in the conference call. They can simply tell their user-id or they simply don't need to tell the user-name also. I hope that cinta, edison,jharkhandi,functionalert,ramss,140_4ever,feb6361,lca_001,shsa etc will join the meeting.
Jharkhandi
Registered Users (C)
Re: PROPOSALS
dsatish,
I think 1 year is really a good idea. However time is the main factor behind the whole issue, and negotiation maybe possible based on time. I would leave it upto you people to define it as part of strategy as to how much flexibility be allowed. Also dropping conditional should be part of same strategy. How much time versus the idea to drop conditional clause - should be clear to core team/Rajiv. See we need to understand that elections are coming and issues will surely crop up. One way or other we should make use of election timings. We are at a very nice juncture and may be able to use it to our benefit.
Besides I am in favor of early formation of non-profit organization. There are citizen who have roots in India and like places. They are just not united. We can provide them a direction and they can help us in achieving goals for the whole community. There problem is that they are not politically aware and our is that we do not have power. Both of us need one thing - unity. For this we can contact local radio stations(I know one in NJ which maybe interested in running our ad if convinced properly.) This if done in time can make Indian community a force in USA - that is what I would dream of.
Originally posted by dsatish
Some of my thoughts on the Proposals :
1) It's better to drop the word "conditional" GC.It will create more problems. Let us ask for immediate I-551 stamping for every one who is waiting for more than 1 yr and whose security check is cleared(i know we are all along talking about 6 months, but a talk of 1 yr should be a strategic one because it sounds more convincing and it makes BCIS very difficult to refuse because they can't ask us to wait any more). The Green card should be issued automatically (as is the current practice) within 6 to 8 weeks of stamping. This proposal broadly means that BCIS should immediately publish a Memo to all its district offices with appropriate directions. In future if they need any clarifications from us regarding the documentation, then they can always call us and if they find anything wrong, they can take action. They should treat every one as not guilty unless otherwise found
2) They should promise to bring the I140 processing time to 6 months. The ombudsman should be the arbitrar between the two parties (bcis versus us) to see that bcis implements it's promise.
I140 premium processing looks like a good idea but there may be some cons to it (bcis may delay other works including normal I140. They may introduce premium processing for every type of application whereby making it a big scam). This premium processing idea is a SCAM. Otherwise how can any one believe that the world's richest country don't have money to process immigrant applications (that too after collecting fees from us
dsatish,
I think 1 year is really a good idea. However time is the main factor behind the whole issue, and negotiation maybe possible based on time. I would leave it upto you people to define it as part of strategy as to how much flexibility be allowed. Also dropping conditional should be part of same strategy. How much time versus the idea to drop conditional clause - should be clear to core team/Rajiv. See we need to understand that elections are coming and issues will surely crop up. One way or other we should make use of election timings. We are at a very nice juncture and may be able to use it to our benefit.
Besides I am in favor of early formation of non-profit organization. There are citizen who have roots in India and like places. They are just not united. We can provide them a direction and they can help us in achieving goals for the whole community. There problem is that they are not politically aware and our is that we do not have power. Both of us need one thing - unity. For this we can contact local radio stations(I know one in NJ which maybe interested in running our ad if convinced properly.) This if done in time can make Indian community a force in USA - that is what I would dream of.
Jharkhandi
Registered Users (C)
Sent pm dsatish.
PROPOSALS
I would like to suggest a minor change to my earlier proposal. After 1 yr of waiting, every one must be allowed to goto a district office, show all the original documents for I485 and get the stamping done. This should be true for all the people, EVEN THOSE WHO ARE WAITING FOR SECURITY CLERANCE. Otherwise bcis will give this excuse to delay things to as many people as possible. Those people will be held up for life. This security check is also a SCAM to delay things. After 9/11 all the security agencies are working full time on catching the terrorists and why do bcis need separate check for I485 applicants ? Have the security agencies not checked on us till now ? Bottom line is : If we are rogues, security agencies know it already. If the security agencies have no complaint against us, then we are good. Everybody is presumed innocent unless otherwise found. This is the fundamental change we want in BCIS.
I would like to suggest a minor change to my earlier proposal. After 1 yr of waiting, every one must be allowed to goto a district office, show all the original documents for I485 and get the stamping done. This should be true for all the people, EVEN THOSE WHO ARE WAITING FOR SECURITY CLERANCE. Otherwise bcis will give this excuse to delay things to as many people as possible. Those people will be held up for life. This security check is also a SCAM to delay things. After 9/11 all the security agencies are working full time on catching the terrorists and why do bcis need separate check for I485 applicants ? Have the security agencies not checked on us till now ? Bottom line is : If we are rogues, security agencies know it already. If the security agencies have no complaint against us, then we are good. Everybody is presumed innocent unless otherwise found. This is the fundamental change we want in BCIS.
#1 important thing
Just to clarify, the #1 most important thing for me is to be FREE again as soon as possible, as in 3 months vs another year, so I can change employers, start a business, go back to school, etc...
Whether this comes as an interim or conditional or plain GC or whatever form we can agree with USCIS - even just make sure USCIS will not issue employment RFE after 6 months of I-485 and will only focus on background check, is not as important to me as the knowledge I can have a life again.
In the negotiations and congressmen awareness actions, we probably also want to stress that this is important for the American economy as well (employers can promote us and "use" us better, thus getting a better value, we can start businesses and create jobs, etc...), not just for us.
Also, starting the Citizenship clock 6 months after filing I-485 is very important, since I can't see any reason why we should also be victims of 9/11 - there were enough victims already.
As for the TV ADs vs lobbying, I would rather finance lobbying, as with the current unemployement (even though lower than in many countries), the "average" american tends to think we are taking jobs away and won't care too much about our difficulties - even though my American friends have a hard time believing me when I explain I cannot change jobs.
Lobbying though, as far as I can see, is what could really help us in the long run.
Just my 2 cents.
Thank you to Rajiv and to all on this forum, it feels good to see I am not suffering alone - although it would feel much better if none of us was suffering !!!!!!
Have a great conf call, and a great negotiation with USCIS.
Just to clarify, the #1 most important thing for me is to be FREE again as soon as possible, as in 3 months vs another year, so I can change employers, start a business, go back to school, etc...
Whether this comes as an interim or conditional or plain GC or whatever form we can agree with USCIS - even just make sure USCIS will not issue employment RFE after 6 months of I-485 and will only focus on background check, is not as important to me as the knowledge I can have a life again.
In the negotiations and congressmen awareness actions, we probably also want to stress that this is important for the American economy as well (employers can promote us and "use" us better, thus getting a better value, we can start businesses and create jobs, etc...), not just for us.
Also, starting the Citizenship clock 6 months after filing I-485 is very important, since I can't see any reason why we should also be victims of 9/11 - there were enough victims already.
As for the TV ADs vs lobbying, I would rather finance lobbying, as with the current unemployement (even though lower than in many countries), the "average" american tends to think we are taking jobs away and won't care too much about our difficulties - even though my American friends have a hard time believing me when I explain I cannot change jobs.
Lobbying though, as far as I can see, is what could really help us in the long run.
Just my 2 cents.
Thank you to Rajiv and to all on this forum, it feels good to see I am not suffering alone - although it would feel much better if none of us was suffering !!!!!!
Have a great conf call, and a great negotiation with USCIS.
Re: #1 important thing
You might be right, but for whatever its worth, I would suggest not to discout advertisement so quickly.
However, in advertising we don't have to say that INS is not adjudicating cases of legal residents thereby causing tremendous hardship to them.
Instead, we could point out how screwed up the current immigration system is by making the following points:
1. Illegal immigration problem, the human issues that it brings forth, and the security issues that it poses.
2. The massive delays of USCIS and how they cause major problems to those who are legal.
Then say something like this can only be fixed by reform of immigration system in this country.
The point is that we would bring the issue of "reform of immigration system" to the forfront through advertising without saying anything that is related to jobs etc.
The message would be taken well and it would (hopefully) have a positive impact.
The immigration system in this country is screwed up for everyone and thats all we need to point out in print or tv advertisments.
You might be right, but for whatever its worth, I would suggest not to discout advertisement so quickly.
However, in advertising we don't have to say that INS is not adjudicating cases of legal residents thereby causing tremendous hardship to them.
Instead, we could point out how screwed up the current immigration system is by making the following points:
1. Illegal immigration problem, the human issues that it brings forth, and the security issues that it poses.
2. The massive delays of USCIS and how they cause major problems to those who are legal.
Then say something like this can only be fixed by reform of immigration system in this country.
The point is that we would bring the issue of "reform of immigration system" to the forfront through advertising without saying anything that is related to jobs etc.
The message would be taken well and it would (hopefully) have a positive impact.
The immigration system in this country is screwed up for everyone and thats all we need to point out in print or tv advertisments.
Re: Re: #1 important thing
It is not as if all the USCIS mismanagement is a new phenomenon. The immigration service has historically been inefficient, sometimes corrupt and mismanaged. However from what I hear backlogs have never been as bad as they are now.
On top of all this, the American public in general has become less welcoming of immigration. Changing the opinions of all of these people through TV or print advertisements would be enormously expensive and difficult.
I believe we should make use of the internet to get our message out. The spam laws haven't been passed yet, so there is no restriction on sending unsolicited email to people a la Dean. If we are formally raising money, then it may also be more cost efficient to just challenge immigration policies, in-state tuition policies, etc in the courts. I think the only reason many of these policies haven't been challenged is because people are afraid of the cost and hassle involved. Our fund raising can help defray the legal costs and the hassle factor will also be reduced if we are organized.
It is not as if all the USCIS mismanagement is a new phenomenon. The immigration service has historically been inefficient, sometimes corrupt and mismanaged. However from what I hear backlogs have never been as bad as they are now.
On top of all this, the American public in general has become less welcoming of immigration. Changing the opinions of all of these people through TV or print advertisements would be enormously expensive and difficult.
I believe we should make use of the internet to get our message out. The spam laws haven't been passed yet, so there is no restriction on sending unsolicited email to people a la Dean
. If we are formally raising money, then it may also be more cost efficient to just challenge immigration policies, in-state tuition policies, etc in the courts. I think the only reason many of these policies haven't been challenged is because people are afraid of the cost and hassle involved. Our fund raising can help defray the legal costs and the hassle factor will also be reduced if we are organized.