Gurus please help...

H

haraputta

Registered Users (C)
I have a situation. My I-140 just got approved and I am ready to file my I-485 but here is my situation. I have worked in US illegally on two occasions, Sept. 96 to Dec. 96 and from Aug. 2000 to Nov. 2000. I have violated my status twice. But fortunately I was able to regain my H-1B status after both occasions and was able to leave USA and come back successfully. I am currently on H-1b since Nov. 2000.

My question arises when I fill out form G-325A \'The Biographic Information\' where INS asks for residential addresses for the past 5 years and employment history for the last 5 years. Should I go ahead and confess to INS about my illegal employments or should I just mention my legal employments and let INS figure out the gaps between the legal employments.

I am covered by Section 245(i). My attorney asked me to select one of the two following options.

1. Confess everything right upfront, file I-485 Supplement A, and pay
$1000.00

2. Do not tell INS about illegal employments upfront, but at the same time do not lie and try to cover up the gaps between legal employments. Let INS figure out the problem. Wait for their RFE, if they generate one about THE issue and at that moment admit that I worked illegally for those two occasions. File I-485A and pay $1000.00

I am very confused, which option to choose? what are the pros and cons of it.

If I choose the first option? will it make my application processing go smoothly or will it be an incentive for INS to find more minor problems with my application as the obvious problems will already by identified by me.

What if I choose the second option? Will it be concealment of the facts as I fail to mention the complete history of my employment for the past five years?

I am inclined to go with the second option, since I left the country (USA) and came back successfully, it resets all the previous violations. Also, by choosing the second option, I am giving it a shot, what if INS does not catch the problem and issues me a simple RFE (such as employment letter) and in case, they do catch the problem, I can always use 245(i).

Please Help.
 
No Title

You will be better off to pay 1000.00 now since you knew every single detail of the consequences. You know much better than other.
 
No Title

First, talk to a lawyer. (Or check the regulations at least).
In MY opinion if you were out of status for less then 180 days,
than you don\'t have to do anything about it.
CHECK if it\'s true.
If it\'s not, or you worked for longer 180 days (after you sum up both occasions), then REPORT it in the right form.
Again if you really violated the rule (180d), report it, pay what ever it is ($1,000), and don\'t worry about it -- it won\'t affect your case (IMO).
If you withhold this (possible) violation from INS, then you need to worry, cause this cause the real grounds for denying your case.
(when you cheat the INS, denial is pretty much automatic)
Check with the attorney.
Hope it helps,
Radek
 
Thanks Michael C and Radek

I really appreciate your help. My question is that I am not trying to cheat when I withhold my illegal employment. I am just waiting for them to inquire me. I am not lying to them I am just not giving them the complete picture.

Once they ask for that missing part in my employment history, won\'t I be able to give them the required information at that moment?

I am willing to $1000.00 by all means. It is just that I want to make sure that my case does not get complicated by admitting all the violations I made in my past.

Looking forward for replies.

Thanks.
 
No Title

Radek,
Thanks for your kind reply. I think you are right. Honesty is always the best policy.

245(i) was extended to April 30, 2001 with the inclusion of the requirement that one has to prove his/her presence in USA on Dec. 21, 2000.

245(i), I think, is yet extended to another year or so, not sure about the length of extension.

Thanks again.
 
You\'ll have to answer the question in the end

1.
245(i) applies to cases before Jan 14, 1998, but thanks to AC21
passed last fall, if you had filed for the labor certification, or I-140 before April 30, 2001 you can still use it.
(edited after I read you posting: yes, I think they extended it even more)
2.
They ask this question specifically in
I-485 Supplement A, Part 2, Question 8), so you WILL HAVE TO ANSWER it eventually, and you don\'t want to lie.
 
How about the employers?

I\'ve heard employers get penalized badly when INS finds out unauthorized employments.

I actually have the same kind of problem. I started working for my present employer before the EAD from the practical training program came through. Unexpectedly took forever and it turned out to be about 195 days of illegal work. While I was waiting for EAD, I filed for H1-B, so I got H1-B only 10 days after the EAD was issued.

I\'m not hesitating to pay $1000 of penalty. But I\'m concered about my company getting penalized. They haven\'t found out the fact that I wasn\'t a legally authorized worker at that time. ( I didn\'t know either. Because my school I-20 says "recommened to work from the date of xx/xx/xx. I waited until that day to start working.) Since I\'m still working for them and \'d like to continue working for them, I don\'t want them to find out the fact or get penalized for violation. If this happens I wouldn\'t be about to work for them any longer.

When I report that to INS, they\'ll certainly know that the company violated the law and penalize them. ......... I\'m so worried. Do you know any thing about it?? ( By the way, I\'m going to file for Green Card through marriage. )

thank you
 
Angee..

In my opinion, don\'t disclose the name of the employers and just admit that you were out of status at times. Pay the penalty and be done with it. INS tends to forgive and forget a lot once you admit that you were illegal at occasions and stop investigating more about the details of it.

check your private message though.

Thanks.
 
I\'m still confused

Thank you for your opinion. I\'d really love to pay for whatever they tell me to.... But what I heard about the penalty with I-485(A) is for out-of-status cases. I was told that I wasn\'t out of status. I worked without authorization. So when I answer the questions on the form (A) sincerely, I go to "Do not go file this Form". They don\'t even let me pay for it. Does that mean they just go to my employer and penalize them? I can\'t lie about my employer. I\'ve been paying taxes since the day I started working for them. It\'s not difficult for them to find... I\'m just so paranoid...

Thanks
ang
 
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