Can We settle on These Bases?

[Rsur]

Dear Rajiv,

Whatever the outcome of this, I thank you for taking the trouble to alleviate the suffering of people like me caught up in a bureaucratic nightmare.

Compared to my attorney, who has milked a handsome fee yet makes a huge issue of even my smallest query, you are indeed a breath of fresh supportive air. I am sure you will be rewarded for this and I promise to make my contribution when the time comes.

I pray that you have the very best of health and happiness. If there are a few more customer minded lawyers like you I am sure we would never have had to see this day of interminable unaccountable delays.

Once again, a million thanks and more power to you.

 

[jhonyrk]

Re: Re: Re: GOOD DISCUSSION

Cinta
Your total approach is great but i feel we should take into consideration the practical difficulties.I feel we should have long term and short term goals.
1.Short term goal - To acheive 8 point by Rajiv ASAP
2. Long term - Your total approach.

Let us get something on the plate first and breath some fresh air .If we mingle everything at one time - there may be practical difficulties and ofcourse the great rajiv is there to help all of us if he feels it will be genuine request.These are my feelings.Hope you will agree

Originally posted by cinta
Let me explain what "total approach" means to me:

Administrative backlogs:

1: LC stage, even though it is the Department of Labor - Regional or State or federal.
2: I-140 stage Concurrent or not.
3: I-485 stage.
4: Plastic cards delays.
5: Citizenship applicants.

Different groups of people are either suffering or have suffered in one of the above stages. The proposal addresses only some of these groups.

 

[dtrxc]

Recommendations....?

Thanks you for the initiative Mr. Khanna, you are doing an excellent job.

I have 2 questions with recommendations:

1. If CIS doesn't have the power, CIS should recommend the Congress to change the law.

Question:

•Would we have to provide the timeframe for CIS to recommend to Congress? They may take their time.

•What are your estimates of the passage from recommendation to Congress approval? Will it end up being another tussle especially in an election year???

2. Regarding Point # 4.
Once the I-485 has been pending for 180 days, the applicants should receive a conditional approval of the green card, there being no further evidence of employment required, evidenced by a stamp on the passport valid for 5 years, subject to revocation only on security grounds . This “conditional” approval would carry with it all rights and privileges of Lawful Permanent Residence (green card), including commencement of the time required for naturalization.

Question:

Could we include a line ‘the I-140 & I-485 receipt’ should be considered as sufficient proof for stamping the passport? This would eliminate any additional steps that may propose would save us time and money too. As pointed out earlier any further steps it would take at least 6 month from the day they say ‘Yes’ assuming 100 IIOs per center and each officer approves 20 cases per day and 22 days per month. We could say:

Once the I-485 has been pending for 180 days based on I-485 receipt date, the applicants should receive a conditional approval of the green card evidenced by a stamp on the passport valid for 5 years, subject to revocation only on security grounds.

Thanks.

 

[hopeIgetit]

Thanks Rajiv

All these 8 points are well thought, win or loose no problem , you made us proud and feel happy by knowing that there is person here who can fight for the community cause and that feeling gives us great happiness


May God Bless you Rajiv !!

 

[whats_in_name]

Thanks Mr. Khanna and other members for the hard work.

I want to suggest one additional point for the demand list,

INS/USCIS should instruct all Federal and State govt agencies (for example MVC/DMV) to recognize this type of conditional GC, so that bare minimum things like drivers license can be obtained with maximum allowed validity.

WIN

 

[PhillyJulyLC]

Re: Re: Re: GOOD DISCUSSION

Originally posted by cinta
Let me explain what "total approach" means to me:

Administrative backlogs:

1: LC stage, even though it is the Department of Labor - Regional or State or federal.
2: I-140 stage Concurrent or not.
3: I-485 stage.
4: Plastic cards delays.
5: Citizenship applicants.

Different groups of people are either suffering or have suffered in one of the above stages. The proposal addresses only some of these groups.

Thanks for the clarification. LC processing has been taking up to 24 months in some cases. It is certainly a great thing if the citizenship clock starts ticking on the priority date. I am sure Mr. Khanna has a better idea what is within the control of USCIS and is OK to ask for...Mr. Khanna, please clarify if possible.

 

[achyuth]

Should there be any mention of money in the settlement for all the mental agony and the amount the applicants spend for EAD and AP renewals?

 

[ar888]

Re: Re: Re: GOOD DISCUSSION

Originally posted by cinta
Let me explain what "total approach" means to me:

Administrative backlogs:

1: LC stage, even though it is the Department of Labor - Regional or State or federal.
2: I-140 stage Concurrent or not.
3: I-485 stage.
4: Plastic cards delays.
5: Citizenship applicants.

Different groups of people are either suffering or have suffered in one of the above stages. The proposal addresses only some of these groups.

I agree with Cinta, the points by Rajiv are well thought of (THANK YOU RAJIV, as always). But, if we have a chance of presenting our demands, we should cover all the groups.

Basically, we are asking them to issue conditional GC after a wait period of 6 months, but we should also consider the people, who are already waiting for more than 2 years to get the 485 approved. We should include 'citizenship clock should be started from the 181st day of 485' (to take care of the guys who are aleardy waiting).

 

[timesa]

well thought out 8 points

Thanks Rajiv,
I believe these are well thought out points. If we could able to negotiate point #2 and point #4 that would remove most of the suffering. We shouldn't be pushing more than 8 points outlined, otherwise it is unreasonable at this stage.

-timesa

 

[Rajiv S. Khanna]

Re: Re: Re: Re: GOOD DISCUSSION

Originally posted by ar888
I agree with Cinta, the points by Rajiv are well thought of (THANK YOU RAJIV, as always). But, if we have a chance of presenting our demands, we should cover all the groups.

Basically, we are asking them to issue conditional GC after a wait period of 6 months, but we should also consider the people, who are already waiting for more than 2 years to get the 485 approved. We should include 'citizenship clock should be started from the 181st day of 485' (to take care of the guys who are aleardy waiting).

Point 4 covers those people. Not to worry.

 

[Rajiv S. Khanna]

Originally posted by frantic
Should there be any mention of money in the settlement for all the mental agony and the amount the applicants spend for EAD and AP renewals?

No money. That is not usually available against he govt, except in very limited circumstances.

 

[Rajiv S. Khanna]

Re: Re: Re: Re: GOOD DISCUSSION

Originally posted by PhillyJulyLC
Thanks for the clarification. LC processing has been taking up to 24 months in some cases. It is certainly a great thing if the citizenship clock starts ticking on the priority date. I am sure Mr. Khanna has a better idea what is within the control of USCIS and is OK to ask for...Mr. Khanna, please clarify if possible.

Only Congress can do that.

 

[Rajiv S. Khanna]

Re: Re: can we settle on ..

Originally posted by suman_ojha

4. Once the I-485 has been pending for 180 days, the applicants should receive a conditional approval of the green card evidenced by a stamp on the passport valid for 5 years, subject to revocation only on security grounds;
------------------------------------------------------------

My thoughts on #4 is that we need to be very clear what that "conditional approval" would mean. It could, in my view, mean one or more of the following:
[a] no need for EAD/AP or it could mean no need for annual renewal of EAD/AP.
Will this also allow one to change jobs without AC21 ? What happens to AC21 then since it is presently used (with lots of conditions) to change jobs 180 days of I-485?
[c] Would the State residency conditions automatically apply?

Also please note that point above does not automatically follow from point [a]. They are mutually exclusive and should be mentioned explicitly.

Since we have 8 different points that we plan to present, I am damm sure that there would be heavy bargaining from across the table, so it would help us to decide the priority on them and make sure we sing in chorus.
Not discounting the need for addressing all the 8 points raised here, I would still say #4 (if it provides all the benefits of GC) would be ONE that we should fight to death, for.

Keep these thoughts handy. We will flesh out the details later.

 

[Rajiv S. Khanna]

Originally posted by dipc
Thank You Mr. Khanna for whatever you are doing for the community.

I have a little suggestion to make regarding Item#4, which nevertheless seems to be the only panacea for this ailment.

The recently concluded fiasco a.k.a. ‘NSEERS’ had a provision that excepted the ‘parolees’ from registering- apparently considering these individuals as non risk entities (no disrespect meant please) as they were already inspected within the recent past.

As I can make out there are great many amongst us who have used the ‘Parole’ in the recent past too– can we not enforce the same logic to grant them the ultimate relief instead of the Interim one. This stem from a feeling that sort of Legality/Background Checks are always performed while in the secondary inspection waiting to be paroled in.

Regards
DC

So how would you draft that? Show me some language that I can work on.

 

[sg_rg2]

questions?

Mr. Khanna,

First of all thank you for this initiative. They ignored our past petitions through this community or individual efforts by affected people. But once you filed the lawsuit, they have to take notice and prepare a response (or defense).

Personally, I like all your points. It is certainly a comprehensive settlement. However, I am bit surprised that in the
proposed settlement you have 3 out of 8 conditions referring to I140-related problems. Wasn't this case about the pending backlog in adjudicating I485 applications?

I am worried that if they promise to accept Condition #1 (Premium Processing of I140), they will put more resources there. You might say "that is their problem". But we all know how finite these resources can be. It is a proven fact now that Premium Processing of H1B applications have contributed to current I140 and I485 backlogs. So I don't see how premium processing of I140 will be helpful in getting us the GC faster. IMHO it will create more backlog in the I485 adjudication process.

I believe that efficient processing of I485 is key to reducing the overall backlog. You can think about it as a highway with three road-blocks and no exit between them. If the cars that are at the front of this jam (third road-block/I485) cannot move there is no way one can help the cars in the middle of the jam (second road-block/I140). They might clear the second hurdle but will still get stuck behind others in the third one. In this system I cannot even fathom the misery suffered by the cars at the first road block i.e., Labor Certification cases. To clear the mess you have to give higher priority in removing the third and final road-block first i.e., the I485 cases.

sg_rg2 (RD 08/01, ND 09/01, FP 01/03, Waiting for approval)

 

[Rajiv S. Khanna]

Re: Recommendations....?

Originally posted by dtrxc
Thanks you for the initiative Mr. Khanna, you are doing an excellent job.

I have 2 questions with recommendations:

1. If CIS doesn't have the power, CIS should recommend the Congress to change the law.

Question:

•Would we have to provide the timeframe for CIS to recommend to Congress? They may take their time.

+++++++++++++++++++That is a black well. CIS can never gurantee any times.

•What are your estimates of the passage from recommendation to Congress approval? Will it end up being another tussle especially in an election year???

+++++++++++++++++++++A month to ...never.

2. Regarding Point # 4.
Once the I-485 has been pending for 180 days, the applicants should receive a conditional approval of the green card, there being no further evidence of employment required, evidenced by a stamp on the passport valid for 5 years, subject to revocation only on security grounds . This “conditional” approval would carry with it all rights and privileges of Lawful Permanent Residence (green card), including commencement of the time required for naturalization.

Question:

Could we include a line ‘the I-140 & I-485 receipt’ should be considered as sufficient proof for stamping the passport? This would eliminate any additional steps that may propose would save us time and money too. As pointed out earlier any further steps it would take at least 6 month from the day they say ‘Yes’ assuming 100 IIOs per center and each officer approves 20 cases per day and 22 days per month. We could say:


++++++++++++++++++++What if someone cannot get these documents form the employer or has lost them? Too replcae them, the 824 would take a year. I say they have the info on their computers. I should just be asked to present my ID (passport, etc.), that is it.

Once the I-485 has been pending for 180 days based on I-485 receipt date, the applicants should receive a conditional approval of the green card evidenced by a stamp on the passport valid for 5 years, subject to revocation only on security grounds.

Thanks.

 

[cinta]

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: GOOD DISCUSSION

Originally posted by operations
Only Congress can do that.

Rajiv, thanks. However could we relay this to Congress through the proposed settlement??

CITIZENSHIP EXPLAINED:
Why Become A Citizen?
by Gregory Siskind
Green card holders in this country receive most of the rights of US citizens and in the day-to-day life of permanent residents there are not too many differences than with their citizen counterparts. For example, green card holders can typically live in the US as long as they like and then can work for almost every kind of employer. So why bother with getting citizenship? Well, there are a number of good reasons to consider getting naturalized.

Here are ten reasons that stand out:


Patriotism and Voting - If you are making American your permanent home and want to fully participate in the American democracy, becoming a citizen is vital. With rare exceptions, only citizens in this country can vote. And voting is the most basic way to effect change in the way the country is run.

Retaining residency- The only way to guarantee you will forever have the right to remain in the US is to naturalize. Permanent residents are always at risk of losing their green cards if they spend long periods of time outside the US. Since 9/11, this has become a more serious problem and more and more people are losing their residency status because they are deemed by port of entry officers as having abandoned their permanent residency in the US.

Deportation - If one is ever convicted of a crime - and not necessarily a very serious crime - there is a risk of being deported. Once you become a citizen, with rare exceptions, you retain your citizenship even if you run into criminal problems.

Government benefits - Generally speaking, permanent residents have access to the same public benefits as citizens. However, in recent years, there has been more and more talk of making certain kinds of public benefits only available to citizens. The only way to ensure that this will not ever be a problem is to naturalize.

Immigration for family members - US citizens receive priority treatment when it comes to bringing in family members. Citizens over 21 years of age can sponsor family members without waiting on a queue for a visa to become available. The same is true for spouses of US citizens and minor children of US citizens. US citizens can also sponsor adult children and siblings, though the waits in these categories can be a few to several years. Green card holders, on the other hand, cannot sponsor parents or siblings. And the wait to bring in children and spouses are much longer than for citizens.

Federal jobs - Certain types of jobs with government agencies require US citizenship. This is particularly true for jobs in the energy and defense sectors.

Running for office - Many types of elected positions in this country require the officeholder to be a US citizen.

Tax consequences - US citizens and permanent residents are not always treated the same for tax purposes. This is particularly true for estate taxes.

Federal grants- While many federal grants are available to permanent residents, more and more are only available to US citizen applicants.

Political contributions - While green card holders can legally donate money to campaigns if they are residing in the US, it is not clear that green card holders residing abroad - even temporarily - can do so. This point was the subject of a political scandal involving donations by wealthy Indonesians to the Clinton presidential campaign.

 

[Rajiv S. Khanna]

Originally posted by whats_in_name
Thanks Mr. Khanna and other members for the hard work.

I want to suggest one additional point for the demand list,

INS/USCIS should instruct all Federal and State govt agencies (for example MVC/DMV) to recognize this type of conditional GC, so that bare minimum things like drivers license can be obtained with maximum allowed validity.

WIN

When you have a green card stamp, that should ne enough, but we can add this in the contract a a further detail.

 

[PhillyJulyLC]

Re: Re: Re: can we settle on ..

I would call the proposed GC after 180 days of I-485 filing an "interim GC" rather than a conditional GC. It'd work like an interim EAD does (of course not valid for 1 but 5 years). The security check can hardly be catergorized as a condition, as in any case even you are natralized, if found a national threat (say, a terrorist), you'd lose what you have. So this interim GC works exact like a plastic card nowadays. Correct me if I am wrong...

 

[Rajiv S. Khanna]

Re: Time Frame for implementing the settlement

Originally posted by Permanand
I agree with the settlement framework...the only thing that I would like to add is that there should be a time frame specified within the settlement as to when USCIS will implement these changes.
How about something adding with "immediate effect" to all the settlement points that Mr. Khanna has listed...and adding a that all pending employment based applications will be beneficiary of this settlement and that there is no cut off date or anything like that

Done. Thank you.