Interesting note in May Visa Bulletin

[techy2468]

UN,

Congrtas and enjoy ur after GC life ;-))
what do recommend to check and speed up on namecheck
Did you attempt to contact senator,congressmen etc..
is tthis all worth it?
Kindly advise

my approach about Name check process is:

wait atleast one year from the date of filing 485 (80% of cases gets approved by then)

if not approved then start being proactive (slow pace...dont beat yourself to get stressed too much) like contacting local congressman's office etc.

 

[bigbang2001]

techy where have you got the 1 year figure from ?

I hear numbers of 3 to 4 years. After BEC blackhole this is harder to digest.

my approach about Name check process is:

wait atleast one year from the date of filing 485 (80% of cases gets approved by then)

if not approved then start being proactive (slow pace...dont beat yourself to get stressed too much) like contacting local congressman's office etc.

 

[Jackolantern]

techy where have you got the 1 year figure from ?

I hear numbers of 3 to 4 years. After BEC blackhole this is harder to digest.

Usually the I-485 will be approved within a year of applying, once your priority date is current and if there is no intervening retrogression. If your PD remains current for a year and you're still not approved, time to contact your Congressman and Senator.

 

[StonedAnt]

Finally.....

It has been a long and desperate wait, but finally there is some movement. Now only if my company lawyer wouldn't take another month or two to prepare the documents and hurry up....
For those whose date is current, hope all goes well, and those who are still waiting, hang in there, I feel your pain and pray for your progress too.

A little background info on me. EB3, World, RIR, PD is Nov 2002. I-140 got approved earlier this year and currently on 7th year H1-B, have a 3 year extension application in progress. Even though my PD is in 2002, I have been waiting since 2000 as my company delayed the GC process...

I am not very familiar with the I485 process, so had a few simple questions:

1) When can I apply for the Advance Parole? I would like to travel and see my parents after a long time. Also, will this impact my H1-B?

2) When during the I485 process can I put in the name of my spouse? I am not married, but was considering if this is a good time to find someone from the old country....

3) Don't ask how or why, but if I get married to a USC instead, is it worth filing through that route along with company sponsorship?

These may sound like weird questions, but all this time for some reason I had been waiting to settle down after I got my GC, but now I feel like life is cruising away so fast.

If someone could please answer these simple questions for me, it would be much appreciated and if anyone has any questions from me on my experience, I would be more than glad to share any info.


Stoned!

 

[saras76]

They have no clue...

From May visa bulletin,

Unless there is a significant increase in Employment demand, it will be necessary to continue this rate of movement during the upcoming months. Such movement could be expanded to include other chargeability areas and preference categories.

Does other chargeability areas include India, China etc?

If it's, it's very interesting to see next few bulletins.

In the last bulletin they warned of further retrogression for most categories in the summer months, now they are saying that the dates may keep moving. This pretty much proves that they have no clue of what will actually happen.

Its useless to speculate all this stuff. Anyone can explain away pretty much any movement or lack there of.

Being EB3 India with a PD in Aug '01 I am hoping that ROW becomes current and EB3 India moves past my PD date atleast by next summer. It has already been 3.5 years since I filed my 485, hopefully it will be done before the 5th year anniversary.

cheers,

saras

 

[Jackolantern]

1) When can I apply for the Advance Parole?

At the same time or after your I-485.

I would like to travel and see my parents after a long time. Also, will this impact my H1-B?

I think using the Advance Parole (not merely having it approved) will negate your H-1B (there may be some exceptions). Then you will need EAD to continue to work. Don't use the AP if you can still use H-1B.

2) When during the I485 process can I put in the name of my spouse? I am not married, but was considering if this is a good time to find someone from the old country....

When your priority date is current. And there is a period after getting the GC when you can do "follow to join".

3) Don't ask how or why, but if I get married to a USC instead, is it worth filing through that route along with company sponsorship?

Continue with the company sponsorship if you've reached this far. GC through marriage isn't as easy as you think. For two years you only get a conditional green card, and they will interrogate the hell out of you both because their presumption is that it is a fraud marriage. They will ask for reams evidence to prove how you met each other and how you came to the point of marrying, and pry into the details of your relationship in ways that you don't want.

 

[indian_gc_ocean]

From May visa bulletin,

Unless there is a significant increase in Employment demand, it will be necessary to continue this rate of movement during the upcoming months. Such movement could be expanded to include other chargeability areas and preference categories.

Does other chargeability areas include India, China etc?

If it's, it's very interesting to see next few bulletins.

The folowing is from November 2005 bulletin
During FY-2006, due to anticipated heavy demand, the AC21 provisions are not expected to apply, and the amount of Employment numbers available to any single country will be subject to the 7% cap.

If they are not sure about the demand now, first thing they should do is, apply AC21 laws immediately(how many upcoming months are they going to watch). Obviously they have no idea what they are doing.

 

[ordinaria]

I think that one thing is true: they don't know what they are doing.
WHAT A MESS.

 

[saras76]

7% cap ..

The folowing is from November 2005 bulletin
During FY-2006, due to anticipated heavy demand, the AC21 provisions are not expected to apply, and the amount of Employment numbers available to any single country will be subject to the 7% cap.

If they are not sure about the demand now, first thing they should do is, apply AC21 laws immediately(how many upcoming months are they going to watch). Obviously they have no idea what they are doing.

indian_gc_ocean,

Your logic is valid. If the demand within EB3 ROW is indeed very low, they should immediately make it current and start applying AC-21. BUT, with thousands of cases still stuck in the BECs with no stats on category or nationality and PERM and premium 140 processing making the 485 filing stage much faster to get to, the DHS/USCIS will probably NEVER enact AC21 again.

The ONLY reason they have been able to "clean up" this system and make 6 month processing a reality is through severe retrogression that has then been used to disable AC-21. The DHS/USCIS are well aware that if AC-21 were to come back, they will again face tremendous pressure from the thousands of cases that will be ready for processing and all this "fake so called progress" that has enabled them to bring all Service Centers within the mandated 6 month of processing and advertise the fact that they have reduced backlogs by 50-60% (Retrogressed cases are not considered backlogged) will vanish.

We need to stop being gullible and think through this logically. There is no point in trying to make excuses (eg: the USCIS will always follow the rules, there is a legitimate reason for every move, there cannot be any other motive behind the current retrogression etc etc ..) for the current situation by denying certain very "obvious" facts. With so much coverage about government incompetence/corruption in every aspect of governance (katrina, iraq war, justice department scandals etc) how can we honestly believe that each and everything done by DHS/USCIS has a "valid reason" and there is no motive behind it. Of all the government agencies, the INS (now USCIS) has had the least amount of oversight and a government agency without oversight is a recipe for disaster. I am not claiming that certain categories are being targeted, I am just saying that rules are being exploited to meet an agenda and cover up incompetence. Obviously the victims will be the most populous categories (all EB3 categories). The current bulletin proves without doubt that either DHS/USCIS are playing games or they are totally incompetent.

As far as I can see, without immigration reform that adds more visas, AC-21 will probably NEVER be implemented again.

regards,

saras

 

[zarpot]

Big Time mess.

 

[ordinaria]

They LOVE not having visa number available - that way they can "pretend" to process all these applications through the BECs and brag about how short it takes to adjust status -- in the meantime 75% of the people are stuck waiting for visa availability.
AND they know that it doesn't matter how many people the process through the BECs because there are not enough visa numbers available.

The whole situation is RETARDED.

 

[Jackolantern]

2) When during the I485 process can I put in the name of my spouse? I am not married, but was considering if this is a good time to find someone from the old country....

There is an important consideration if you are thinking of bringing in a spouse after getting the green card ... you must be already married before the green card is approved in order to be eligible to do "follow to join". Otherwise you'll have to follow a longer process that takes about 5 years.

 

[StonedAnt]

Thanks Jack,

I just got handed a long list of documents that I need to produce for the I-485 application, some of which is from my student days and might be hard to find as it has been really long.

I appreciate your feedback which is really helpful. I wanted to ask about this "follow to join" section. Is this on the I485 form as I saw the section about spouse and children names only. Also, I am assuming that if one was to bring a spouse from abroad, then they too will go through the name and background check and hence increasing the possibility of prolonging the approval?

Hope your process, document collection, medicals etc are not giving you a hard time.


Stoned!

 

[Jackolantern]

I just got handed a long list of documents that I need to produce for the I-485 application, some of which is from my student days and might be hard to find as it has been really long.

I wonder what in the world they are asking about your student days, except your degree certificate and/or transcript. Are they asking about your I-20 and student ID and other unnecessary stuff like that?

For each document that is hard to produce, question your lawyer or employer (depending on who you interact with) in detail about why it is needed and whether it is really necessary for your situation. They like to go overboard and ask for everything under the sun, but when you press them they'll admit that some things aren't necessary or important. Sometimes too much information can hurt your case, as the more information USCIS has the more opportunity they have to find fault with something.

Depending on what your lawyer or employer is like, maybe they won't even entertain any questions about what is necessary and they'll just blindly say that everything on the list is required. If that happens, give them everything but the obscure documents that are too hard to obtain or too invasive of your privacy (but don't leave out the obvious mandatory ones like copies of your birth certificate and university degree), then they'll be forced to have some dialog with you about the omitted documents.

I appreciate your feedback which is really helpful. I wanted to ask about this "follow to join" section. Is this on the I485 form as I saw the section about spouse and children names only. Also, I am assuming that if one was to bring a spouse from abroad, then they too will go through the name and background check and hence increasing the possibility of prolonging the approval?

Follow to join is what you do shortly after your green card is approved, to bring a spouse who was married to you before green card approval but was not included on the I-485. I'm a single guy not seeking to marry anybody outside the US, so I don't know much about it. Another section on this web site would be more likely to have some answers for you.

Hope your process, document collection, medicals etc are not giving you a hard time.

I already did that a couple years ago (before retrogression hit EB3 ROW). Now it's just a matter of hoping things go smoothly starting next month when my priority date becomes current again.

 

[mariner555]

Thanks Jack,

I just got handed a long list of documents that I need to produce for the I-485 application, some of which is from my student days and might be hard to find as it has been really long.

I appreciate your feedback which is really helpful. I wanted to ask about this "follow to join" section. Is this on the I485 form as I saw the section about spouse and children names only. Also, I am assuming that if one was to bring a spouse from abroad, then they too will go through the name and background check and hence increasing the possibility of prolonging the approval?

Hope your process, document collection, medicals etc are not giving you a hard time.


Stoned!

if you have time, can you post the list of documents which have been asked ..

 

[techy2468]

Thanks Jack,

I just got handed a long list of documents that I need to produce for the I-485 application, some of which is from my student days and might be hard to find as it has been really long.

I appreciate your feedback which is really helpful. I wanted to ask about this "follow to join" section. Is this on the I485 form as I saw the section about spouse and children names only. Also, I am assuming that if one was to bring a spouse from abroad, then they too will go through the name and background check and hence increasing the possibility of prolonging the approval?

Hope your process, document collection, medicals etc are not giving you a hard time.


Stoned!

thats weird.......we filed our own 485.......and i dont remember having to search for very old documents..

all you need is documents to prove your legal status in usa...(F1, H1 papers).....passport copies....letter from employer.....I-140 approval...etc..

can you list what else they are asking from you??

 

[saras76]

I-20 is VERY IMPORTANT ...

Thanks Jack,

I just got handed a long list of documents that I need to produce for the I-485 application, some of which is from my student days and might be hard to find as it has been really long.

I appreciate your feedback which is really helpful. I wanted to ask about this "follow to join" section. Is this on the I485 form as I saw the section about spouse and children names only. Also, I am assuming that if one was to bring a spouse from abroad, then they too will go through the name and background check and hence increasing the possibility of prolonging the approval?

Hope your process, document collection, medicals etc are not giving you a hard time.


Stoned!

Stoned,

Although student documents such as I-20s (if you went to college in the US) are not on the official list of docs necessary to file your 485, it is very important to retain these documents because the USCIS loves to issue RFEs for these documents. Not everyone gets hit with RFEs but I have seen enough cases where they have come back requesting I-20s and even photo-copies of specific pages of the passport that has entry-exit stamps during a specific number of years. This type of RFE is called a "legal status" RFE and the USCIS puts the onus on the applicant to prove that he/she was in legal status during their entire stay in the US. The I-20 is used to verify legal status during student years.

Some law firms include extra forms such as I-20s in the original packet to aviod RFEs.

regards,

saras

 

[StonedAnt]

List

Well, I guess it is wrong of me to assume or expect any common sense or a pinch of intelligence from USCIS considering I have had numerous H1-B renewals, special registration(s) which included getting finger printed, RFEs on the special registration etc. Even though I should not be, but for some reason I still get alarmed on the fact that every single time an application is sent I must prove that I have been in full legal status from day one I set foot on US soil. How could I have even possibly thought that the immigration dept will give me credit for abiding the law this long and that I obviously would not jeapordize my status at this stage. I suppose after all this time my emotions should have been controlled so I may go bang a car down and yell "I am a machine!" (or however the dialogue goes in Terminator 3)...
Ok, I know, silly joke but give me credit for trying to maintain a sense of humour.
On a more serious note, my guess would be that some bad eggs in the past must have indeed ill-treated their status and hence we are now paying for their sins. Nevertheless, here is the list:

1-8 photos
2-Medical Exam
3-Bank Letter
4-3 years tax returns
5-4 months pay stubs
6-Employment Letter
7-Birth Certificate copy
8-Photocopies of all documents evidencing non-immigrant status
9-Copy of the most recent I94.

The tricky one is number 8 which asks for all I797 forms, I-20s, EADs etc.

Do you know how crispy and delicate an I-20 form gets after over 10 years in storage? Actually, it is the carbon copy as the original one is taken away at the airport on the first visit. I thought I saw some mold on it too, but later realized it was just the blotched ink that had spread around giving the illusion. Same for the old EADs, they're all scratched and hardly readable, anyone know where I can get them cleaned and polished?...


Peace.

Stoned!

 

[Jackolantern]

Were you living in the US continuously since you were in F-1 status? Meaning you went straight from F-1 to H-1 with little or no break in between?

In my case, upon graduation I left the US for a few years before returning with an H-1, so my company's lawyer agreed that going back to my times as a student was not necessary (except for proving that I have a degree) ... the only relevant periods of status to prove starts from my first H-1.

The bank letter is for showing that you won't be a "public charge." I argued that my salary was more than high enough to dismiss any concerns about being a public charge, without having to show any other assets, and the lawyer also accepted that.

 

[StonedAnt]

Yes....

It is true that I have been living in the US straight, non-stop ever since I entered a long time ago as a student. The funny thing is I have never lived anywhere else for so long continuously, not even my "home country" due to the nature of my parent's profession. And thus whenever I have gone back, I feel more of an alien there than here. But such are the ways of life....

And I am sure I am not the only one like this....am I?...


Stoned!