H-4 Harassment

P

palash

Registered Users (C)
Guys ,
I have an H1b visa. My wife first went for an H4 visa in Jan15th,04 and refused on 221g ( what’s 221g is here : http://usembassy.state.gov/vladivostok/wwwhvrefusals.html) , They want 2 docs:

· How many employees is on my company payroll & their work status(visa)
· Which are the cities I lived in US and what was I doing and my visa type at that time ( note: my first name is a Muslim name)

She went back with the requested docs around feb17th,04 and got another 221g , they now need :

“Please submit information demonstrating that INS is aware of the percentage of H1b employees employed by ACE {my employer) and evidence of their approval of these H1bs in light of this information “

This time ACE provided another list of all their employees and some receipt-number with INS ( guess these are case numbers). She again went to embassy on march17th,04 and got another 221g , they now saying :

“Please see the prior refusal and information request and provide requested information”*


Me, my other half and ACE are all confused as to what exactly US Embassy wants .
Even if any of ACE employee has violated his/her visa that should be none of my concern, I am not liable for that !

Any idea or suggestion ?
Can anyone point me to “the rights of an H1-b” ?


Many thanks .
Note : The H in “H1-b” stands for Harassment !

-Palash
 
Is your company a body - shop or is it a proper employer . I hope you understand what I mean here . If they or any of their employees have committed immigration infractions then the future employees like your's are bound to face problems.

They would never accept that they did anything wrong. I haev seen these kind of cases before .

Wish you the best
 
Thanks bhand11683 ,

I agree that they ( the company) will never tell that they have ever committed immigration infractions.

Also I know from prior records that US Embassy has reputation being incompetent , unFair & Bully.

Lets see .

-palash
 
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you should contact good lawyer and get the copy of all letters that the consulate gave it to your wife. same happened with a lady in Mumbai consulate and the H1b holder contcted NYC lawyer Cyrus Mehta ( www.cyrusmehta.com) he wrote to consulate and the lady got H4 stamped and is back in US.
 
palash,
lot of people are having similar issues.
Visit chennai_consulate groups on yahoo dot com for discussion , help etc
 
Thanks ginnu, That's my last resort .

Can you or other name few more good lawyers ?
Reasonable ? Quick ? You liked the service(s)?

This would be the first time I am hiring a lawyers & I swear its not going to be the last. Any how, for my case I got a quote around $800-$900 , does that sound right ??
 
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Here is the issue

After discussing with a lawyer , her eare the findings:


A regulation called "H-1B DEPENDENT EMPLOYERS" has been effective since January 19, 2000.

"myCompany" is an "H-1B dependent Employer" , since the information provided it shows that 119 out of 135
(88.1%) employees are H1-B nonimmigrants. Assuming that most of these employees are FTEs, provision C of
"12/20/00 INTERIM FINAL H-1B REGULATION" states:
".....at least 51 FTE employees and a number of H-1B employees equal to at least 15% of the employer’s FTE employees......"

Some of the H1-b's will be under exemption if they make more than 60,000 or have a Masters (or above) degree.

An H-1B dependent employer is obliged to meet 2 attestation for each hirings.

1. Displacement of U.S. workers: An H-1B dependent employer must attest that by hiring a H-1B worker, it is not displacing any U.S. worker for a similar position within 90 days before or after filing a H-1B petition.
2. Recruitment efforts: The H-1B dependent employer must also attest to making good faith attempts to recruit U.S. workers and offering prevailing wages for this position. When hiring an H-1B worker, it is important for employers to recognize the attendant responsibilities that they must shoulder. Although the requirements are not excessively burdensome, the employer is required to maintain some paperwork to demonstrate its compliance with the law. A clear understanding and fulfillment of these requirements will minimize possible civil penalties and ensure that the employer will be permitted to petition for future H- 1B workers.
 
Update:
A neighbour & friend of mine was kind enough to call the US Embassy to get the info as to what exactly they need. Over the phone they suggested to send the question in an email, so she did.

After about a week she got a responce from the embassy saying "until we have a G-28 form, demonstrating that you represent Ms. Zabin, we cannot disclose any information regarding this case to your"
The G-28 is a form for"Notice of Entry of Appearance
as Attorney or Representative " published by"U.S. Department of Justice/Immigration and Naturalization Service" .

A sample here : http://www.oalj.dol.gov/public/ina/refrnc/USDOJ_INS_G_28_Notice_of_Appearance.pdf

So here is where its at :
US Embassy did not respond when I called .
They showed my friend the highway .
Lets see what the lawyer can do.

_palash
 
G28 is a form for US attorney representation. It works with the consulate. we got a response from the consultae only after my US lawyer faxed and emailed the G28 to chennai
Thanks
 
I have an H1b visa. My wife first went for an H4 visa in Jan15th,04 and refused on 221g ( what’s 221g is here : http://usembassy.state.gov/vladivos...hvrefusals.html) , They want 2 docs:

· How many employees is on my company payroll & their work status(visa)
· Which are the cities I lived in US and what was I doing and my visa type at that time ( note: my first name is a Muslim name)
this type of question will arise only if your company has violated any labor or h1 laws or it here is a complaint or dol investigations are in progress
She went back with the requested docs around feb17th,04 and got another 221g , they now need :

“Please submit information demonstrating that INS is aware of the percentage of H1b employees employed by ACE {my employer) and evidence of their approval of these H1bs in light of this information “
this is the most stupid question by the consular office. it is ins who authorize the h1b petition. they will naturally have this information. are you sure that they were asking this information from you or you did not clearly understand the query.

heard it sometime back that similar company with the same starting name is blacklisted by ins. i am not sure if its the same or different company. do not post the name of the company or person in favor or bad taste.


This time ACE provided another list of all their employees and some receipt-number with INS ( guess these are case numbers). She again went to embassy on march17th,04 and got another 221g , they now saying :

“Please see the prior refusal and information request and provide requested information”*
your company has to work with their lawyer and send a formal letter to your consulate.

Me, my other half and ACE are all confused as to what exactly US Embassy wants .
Even if any of ACE employee has violated his/her visa that should be none of my concern, I am not liable for that ! agreed but if your employer as violated the h1 or labor law like non payment of salary or other abuses then unfortunately its the employee who also get affected. may be they are trying to prevent you from landing into trouble by joining violated employer. we cannot argue much with ins.

Any idea or suggestion ?
Can anyone point me to “the rights of an H1-b” ? you may try getting help from your local senators.


Many thanks .
Note : The H in “H1-b” stands for Harassment ! just harrassment? it should be more.
 
final chapter & samples

The US embassy finally issued my wife an H-4 visa ( I am tempted to say "had to").

Thinking that my case history will help others to free their loved ones from "US Embassy holding your loved ones hostage " situations, here is how it worked for me :

On April 21st,2004 I had the following things in my hand :

1. A response letter from the US embassy addressing the congressman explaining what was needed to review my Wife's H-4 case .

I had sent a letter to my local congressman (sample available)* saying I need help in getting a description from the US Embassy of Bangladesh stating what exactly they need to get convinced. The congressman sent my letter to the embassy , the embassy consul general responded (sample available)* with the document (a specific form ) that they need and the congressman forwarded it to me.


2. A letter from my Lawyer saying , the summary, the H-1b dependant employer law has expired so stop wasting our time . In case you are still wondering see the Labor Condition Application .

This letter (sample available)* was very well written by the Lawyer. He indicated in that letter that incase after reading this letter you (the embassy) change your mind please call her (my Wife) at blah-blah number to issue a visa. I have discussed with 3 different high-priced lawyers before hiring him and I am confident that he knew what he was doing and was the best man for the job.

3. The letter in section 1 mentioned that the embassy needed I-129. I gathered the following documents : LCA, I-129 , I-129a which is part of H1-B and was submitted on the very first day of visa interview in January 2004.


On that day (the 21st) I called my wife , explained the situation, faxed the docs to her and suggested that she revisits the embassy with the documents. She appeared at the embassy on the 23rd , they kept all the papers at the counter without any question and asked her to comeback next Thursday. She got the visa on that Thursday.


Other related notes:

Mrs. Hillary Clinton's (senator of NY) office failed to respond to my phone messages, fax and email messages. Her being a public-official and possibly the next presidential candidate I expected that she would at least be professional enough to formally inform me the reason why she can or can-not help. These are the same politicians who rallies for minority issues and human-rights issues when it only matches their vote-hunting interests.

I personally think the letter from the congressman to the embassy solved the issue.
So if possible try that first before you hire a lawyer. And by the way the, about my correspondence to the congressman , my lawyer wrote :
"20 years ago I was a visa officer answering these letters from Congressional offices. The entire process is usually an exercise in pretense rather than substance. Unfortunately, many people don't know about this and go to a Congressman thinking that it is the right approach. In practice, it almost always doesn't produce any results."
So it is up to you.

*Sample available:
Given that most of us are not familiar with the followings :

lawyer hiring letter ( you can use a G-28 form as well)
letter to your local congressman
sample of a lawyer's letter to a US Embassy

and I suffered as I had no guidence , I want to share these. Because of privacy issues I am loading these and other relevant docs at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/usconsulate_bd.Give me till Tuesday May 4th , 2004, then go to the "Files" section. Membership is open so just hit the group with a browser or a subscription email to usconsulate_bd@yahoogroups.com .

Thanks for all your support .
 
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Samples Uploaded

Uploaded samples in the "File" section are :

1. Congressman's Letter to me/US enbassy
2. US Embassy consul general's respoce to the congressman
3. Lawyer's letter to the US Embassy
4. My Letter to the congressman

In the "Link" section I put the website which will help you locate
your local congressman.


The URL of the group is :
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/usconsulate_bd/

Good luck.
And, thanks again for all your supports.

Palash :)
 
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