Hello All
It is a little late; however I would like to share my I140 ordeal with all of you. I am hoping this will add to the rich knowledge base that this site has on the I140. Before I start I want to THANK "United Nations" who has been an invaluable help and support to me during this last one year starting when my I140 was first denied.
The relevant Dates about my I140/I485 concurrent cases are
1. LC AD September 2003
2. I140/I485/EAd/AP RD September 2003
3. AP AD December 2003
4. EAD AD Jan 2003
5. I140 RFE July 2004 to show ability to pay
6. I140 response sent August 2004 with Tax returns, Bank statement and CPA review.
7. I140/I485 denied September August 2004 due to inability to pay.
8. I290A (Motion to reopen) RD August 2004.
This motion to reopen included the following:
- Audited financial statements from priority date to current
- Bank statements from priority date to current
- Letter from accountant on Cash Vs. Accrual Basis
Subsequently the case was reopened on September 23rd 2004. At this juncture most people including myself thought the case would be approved. However we were in for an unexpected painful roller cost ride.
On October 15th 2004, we received a letter from the USCIS; essentially an exact duplicate denial letter. Most immigration lawyers (including AILA liaison) we (myself and our attorney) asked did not know what to make of it. Their comment was "I think they have messed up your case".
Nonetheless my attorney sent them another I290A with this new denial and attached the reopened notice of action we received when the case was re-opened. Subsequently except for some LUD changes nothing happened. We were also in touch with our local senator's and the CIS ombudsman's Office to help for a quick resolution to the matter.
CIS Ombudsman's Office
----------------------
We sent an email and a letter to this office explaining our case. We received a response acknowledging receipt and asking us to look for a response in the
next 45 days. Upon 45 days being elapsed another letter was sent to them. A response was received after one year stating the case is under active
consideration.
Senator's Office
----------------
The first response was our case is being actively worked on and would be decided in the next 45 days. Upon 45 days being elapsed, the next response was we
should received a response in the next 30 days. Upon 30 days being elapsed, the next response was another 60 days. We were later on told that the file has been LOST.
Furthermore we also tried renewing thr EAD as follows:
(Sequence continued from above)
9. EAD renewal RD September 2004
10. EAD renewal denied November 2004
11. EAD - I290A (motion to reopen) RD November 2004
Finally on February 10th, 2005 we received a new denial letter for the reopened case. This denial letter literally had just 4 lines in it stating the case has
been denied due to insufficient documentation and I290B (appeal) could be filed however the EAD renewal petition that was earlier denied was reopened.
(Sequence continued from above)
12. EAD reopened February 2005
At this point, our options were either to file I290B and renew my H-1B (valid through out the I140/I485 process) or file a new petition. We decided to file a new petition and give it one last chance. The dates for the new I140/I485 concurrent filing are
(Sequence continued from above)
12. I140/I485/EAD/AP RD March 2005
13. AP AD April 2005
14. EAD AD April 2005
15. I140 RFE July 2005
This I140 REF stated as follows:
" Your audited financial statements states, your
Net income == ********
Assets == ********
Liabilities == ********
Interestingly however, the tax returns you submitted with the earlier case that was denied were far less than the numbers shown above. Because of this discrepancy your audited financial statements does not seem to be legitimate. Please comment."
In order to counter this RFE we did the following:
- Got a letter from my current CPA explaining the difference and how cash vs. accrual works in accounting.
- Got a letter from another CPA ("United Nations") objectively analyzing my returns and my audited statements
- Amended returns from priority date to current. These amendments showed numbers on CASH as well as accrual basis.
I must ADD here that the above strategy was suggested by United Nations and rightly so. The RFE response was filed as follows:
(Sequence continued from above)
16. I140 RFE response filed August 31st 2005
17. I140 AD October 12th, 2005.
Finally we got the approval. But as you all you can imagine it was one PAINFULL roller costar ride, with too many surprises. However I THANK United Nations for his help and support during this time. I know without him it would NOT have been possible.
If any of you have any question please feel free to post it here and I will try to reply them
Sincerely,
Ricky
It is a little late; however I would like to share my I140 ordeal with all of you. I am hoping this will add to the rich knowledge base that this site has on the I140. Before I start I want to THANK "United Nations" who has been an invaluable help and support to me during this last one year starting when my I140 was first denied.
The relevant Dates about my I140/I485 concurrent cases are
1. LC AD September 2003
2. I140/I485/EAd/AP RD September 2003
3. AP AD December 2003
4. EAD AD Jan 2003
5. I140 RFE July 2004 to show ability to pay
6. I140 response sent August 2004 with Tax returns, Bank statement and CPA review.
7. I140/I485 denied September August 2004 due to inability to pay.
8. I290A (Motion to reopen) RD August 2004.
This motion to reopen included the following:
- Audited financial statements from priority date to current
- Bank statements from priority date to current
- Letter from accountant on Cash Vs. Accrual Basis
Subsequently the case was reopened on September 23rd 2004. At this juncture most people including myself thought the case would be approved. However we were in for an unexpected painful roller cost ride.
On October 15th 2004, we received a letter from the USCIS; essentially an exact duplicate denial letter. Most immigration lawyers (including AILA liaison) we (myself and our attorney) asked did not know what to make of it. Their comment was "I think they have messed up your case".
Nonetheless my attorney sent them another I290A with this new denial and attached the reopened notice of action we received when the case was re-opened. Subsequently except for some LUD changes nothing happened. We were also in touch with our local senator's and the CIS ombudsman's Office to help for a quick resolution to the matter.
CIS Ombudsman's Office
----------------------
We sent an email and a letter to this office explaining our case. We received a response acknowledging receipt and asking us to look for a response in the
next 45 days. Upon 45 days being elapsed another letter was sent to them. A response was received after one year stating the case is under active
consideration.
Senator's Office
----------------
The first response was our case is being actively worked on and would be decided in the next 45 days. Upon 45 days being elapsed, the next response was we
should received a response in the next 30 days. Upon 30 days being elapsed, the next response was another 60 days. We were later on told that the file has been LOST.
Furthermore we also tried renewing thr EAD as follows:
(Sequence continued from above)
9. EAD renewal RD September 2004
10. EAD renewal denied November 2004
11. EAD - I290A (motion to reopen) RD November 2004
Finally on February 10th, 2005 we received a new denial letter for the reopened case. This denial letter literally had just 4 lines in it stating the case has
been denied due to insufficient documentation and I290B (appeal) could be filed however the EAD renewal petition that was earlier denied was reopened.
(Sequence continued from above)
12. EAD reopened February 2005
At this point, our options were either to file I290B and renew my H-1B (valid through out the I140/I485 process) or file a new petition. We decided to file a new petition and give it one last chance. The dates for the new I140/I485 concurrent filing are
(Sequence continued from above)
12. I140/I485/EAD/AP RD March 2005
13. AP AD April 2005
14. EAD AD April 2005
15. I140 RFE July 2005
This I140 REF stated as follows:
" Your audited financial statements states, your
Net income == ********
Assets == ********
Liabilities == ********
Interestingly however, the tax returns you submitted with the earlier case that was denied were far less than the numbers shown above. Because of this discrepancy your audited financial statements does not seem to be legitimate. Please comment."
In order to counter this RFE we did the following:
- Got a letter from my current CPA explaining the difference and how cash vs. accrual works in accounting.
- Got a letter from another CPA ("United Nations") objectively analyzing my returns and my audited statements
- Amended returns from priority date to current. These amendments showed numbers on CASH as well as accrual basis.
I must ADD here that the above strategy was suggested by United Nations and rightly so. The RFE response was filed as follows:
(Sequence continued from above)
16. I140 RFE response filed August 31st 2005
17. I140 AD October 12th, 2005.
Finally we got the approval. But as you all you can imagine it was one PAINFULL roller costar ride, with too many surprises. However I THANK United Nations for his help and support during this time. I know without him it would NOT have been possible.
If any of you have any question please feel free to post it here and I will try to reply them
Sincerely,
Ricky