My conversation with USCIS Lawyer

Re: Re: Re: Re: Precedent?

Edison,

Thank you so much for reply! np..we will fight our own and will win!!!






Originally posted by Edison
WE (ImmigrationPortal CORE action team) approached AILF, AILA and various other Immigration support organization, no one really bothered to support us, everyone is busy with their prior commitments to legalize the illegal immigrants or other immigration issue, no one cares about legal immigrants especially EB based immigrants.
 
Re: Re: Re: Re: Precedent?

I think, since lot of EB I-485 applicants have their own company's lawyer, they don't want to join this lawsuit even though they would like to support.

Originally posted by Edison
We have to stand up and fight for our rights. Lot of EB I-485 applicants have the fear of backlash. I have a question for all of them : We all are suffering a lot due to the huge backlog of immigration benefits application at CIS. Can they trouble us anything more than this?????
There is no difference between the current non-immigrants waiting in the immigration queue and the chained bonded laborers/ slaves who were brought to USA 200 years back.

You are not doing anything illegal you are fighting for your rights.
 
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Precedent?

This is not completely true. It's your right to file complaint, unless the company explicitly says no in your contract. There are company whose business is involved with goverment, so they may prohbit any conflict. Otherwise even you filed 485 through company, but you still have rights to file complain through another lawyer. For what I know you can file several 485 applications simultaneously. Rajiv may have more comments on this.

Originally posted by feb6361
I think, since lot of EB I-485 applicants have their own company's lawyer, they don't want to join this lawsuit even though they would like to support.
 
Whole Process of obtaining permanent residency revolves around the JOB with current employer who filed GC for the applicant. Whats applicant status if they take 6 /8 years to make decision on I-485 ? Considering on average

18 to 24 months for labour
18 to 24 months for I-140
24 to 48 months for I-485

Howmany times an applicant have to pay for EADs and APs ? How practical for a person career hanging in the sky for 6 to 8 years ? Not just firms/ countries can go bankrupt for economic flutuations in the span of 6 to 8 years

An Applicant/individual skill is not responsible for Company financial situation still, applicant status is in jeopardy if company makes loss/bankrupts. Applicant still have the best jobs out there for his/her hard work to stand by all the downturn economy but, he/she can't take the job and have to leave the country killing long waiting dreams. I did see those people leaving the country and pray not to be one of them.

I can challenge to get the best job out there in the market, people wanted me but they can't hire and i can't be hired...

What a pity situation of GC Applicants paying millions of taxes every year. Mexicans who come here for cheap labor are 1000 times better than Hi-tech labor. They do not pay much and use all the possible goverment provided resources.

I hate it but, can't leave this country until dream/hope comes TRUE OR it gets killed when employer files for Chapter-11 :(
 
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And justice for all

Wow! Quite a discussion! My 2 cents:

1. First, and foremost: NO to the idea of the premium processing for I-485.. The CIS is a bottomless pit and will gladly take any amout of money without giving much in return. Quite likely, having a PP fee might remedy the backlog problem for a short while, but it'll come back with a vengeance should more and more applicants decide to exercise the option (haven't we learned anything from the PP for I-129 fiasco)?

2. Another observation.. Currently, we have a peculiar situation when the CIS workings create different classes of immigrants (or, seekers of immigration benefits, to be precise).. The overall picture is almost Orwellian: all animals are equal but some are more so than others.. Those EBGC folks are eligible for USC only after 5 years; those, obtaining it through a marriage-based GC need only wait for 3; for parolees the countdown begins the moment they arrive to the US soil (even though their GC's may arrive years after stepping off the plane)..

Having a temp. stamp in the passport after, let's say 6 monts of I-485 processing would be the closest analogy to the "conditional" GC that happy foreign-born spouses of USC enjoy.. Of course, such a card would need to be converted to the permanent one once all the clearances are received (just like the lovebirds receive their permament I-551 after 2 years if the marriage it was based on is still intact).. That, at least, would bring some uniformity in doling out the immigration benefits.. I, personally, would favor the other scenario, when the citizenship clock starts ticking the moment one's I-485 is filed (just like for the parolees).. That'd be the true justice for all.. However, it's probably the Congress that needs to authorize such changes, not the CIS.
 
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Precedent?

Originally posted by hidden_dragon
This is not completely true. It's your right to file complaint, unless the company explicitly says no in your contract. There are company whose business is involved with goverment, so they may prohbit any conflict. Otherwise even you filed 485 through company, but you still have rights to file complain through another lawyer. For what I know you can file several 485 applications simultaneously. Rajiv may have more comments on this.

A policy restricting a general class action would be illegal. You are seeking quicker decision - nothing else. That does not in any way interfere with anyone. There is also no problem or conflict even if you work with the govt. These are all myths.
 
Good points.

Stripped, sreddy88,

Very good points. It is obvious that USCIS has treated us unfavorably for too long. We should use the lawsuit and any upcoming meetings/discussions for justice for all. From 2001 to today's applicants and the future ones. opportunities like this may not come in a long time. Be encouraged by the recent decision of another judge in the Asylum appicants' case. We are no less important than these people.
As recent as a few days ago, USCIS Director does not get it. (from usis web page - testimony)

In the area of customer service, we have:
o Initiated on-line features that allow customers to file and pay for our a number of our commonly
used applications, as well as offering individual case status updates;
o Established the Office of Citizenship to develop and implement public outreach and educational
initiatives that better prepare immigrants for their rights and responsibilities;
o Improved access to information by establishing a toll-free, bilingual National Customer Service
Center help line (800-375-5283); and
o Reduced the lines at a number of offices with the highest customer volume, such as New York,
Miami and Los Angeles.
In the area of backlog reduction, we have:
o Created a Backlog Reduction Team to identify immediate changes to speed up adjudication
processes as well as to revise implementation plans;
o Eliminated the backlog of applications for Certificate of Citizenship on Behalf of an Adopted Child
with a program that proactively provides parents the certificate without application and without
fee.

Noted that the backlog is solved for Adopted Children: WE DO NOT EVEN QUALIFY FOR THAT!

As I said earlier, besides the repetition of EAD and AP and the I-140/I-485 portability AC-21 issues, we need to be asking for a clear path to Citizenship. This priority date should be from the time the applicant makes the decision for immigrant status...is it from LC submission?? Only this will truly somewhat remedy the damage..

Wrt the Congress, we should be careful as there are already laws in the books (the ones the lawsuit is based on) as well as the DHS Act which in various sections states the length of an application and the backlog reduction (Section 458). What happened? Nothing; things got worse.

Wrt the resources/money, it is true that even if US CIS was awarded with millions of dollars, they lack the infrastructure and mandate to execute any plan. I have read that even hiring more adjudicators (their union news) has a backlog problem, due to the need for security clearance; they need to wait for a year.

There is also too much secrecy, no accountability, no transparancy, no public's right to know...
 
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All,

I am going off topic, but it can be proved for a fact that when your employer knows that you have filed for Labor, I-140, AoS; you start getting step motherly treatment.

Secondly, because of the delays in processing, you are screwed if you want to become a citizen.

Thirdly, this is my example. My wife has a Master's. Since I am a H1B, she is on a H4 and cannot work. Even if she wants to go to school, she cannot. We have to pay "Out of State" tuition and sometimes "International" tuition fees. Waiting for her greencard so that she can either go to school or start working is killing her career.

Can we also ask such that H4 Visa/L-2 Visa is automatically treated as a work visa.
 
Re: Good points.

Originally posted by cinta
There is also too much secrecy, no accountability, no transparancy, no public's right to know...

u are absolutely right about that. if only some top person at uscis has some sense then they would realize that just approving one 485 eliminates approx 4 extra applications (on average en employment based gc will have spouse gc and maybe a child, so that will save atleast 2 eads and 2aps, every year. for 2 years that is 8 extra apps).

they just want boast their numbers that say processed xxx million immigration benefit petitions blah blah blah.

we need to prove once and for all that "delaying a petition is not going to improve security", infact as soon as a person files 485 they should take FP and decide on whether he is criminal/terrorist etc, and if he has an underlying approved 140, medical, etc in order just approve it. hope the respectful govt. lawyer(s) read these posts and advise them on that.

if they work properly, they can eliminate this backlog in 3 months. heres how:

we take the interview at local application center approach.

with 130 application support centers, processing say 10 interviews per day per officer (give 30 mins per interview this is like 5 hours for interviewing and remaining 3 hours for wrapping up stuff for that day, assuming they work 8 hours per day) - they can approve approx 20 to 25 gcs per day per officer (each interview will clear 2 gcs assuming marriage & children if any). if a center has >1 officer it is even better.

we have 130*25 gcs per day = 3250 gcs per day. this is just with 1 officer in a application support center. big cities may have like 2 or 3 officers so it is even better.

so in 70 working days (3 months) they can approve 70*3000 = ~200,000 gcs (conservative estimate)

so with proper plan they can do it. it is just that they don't want to do it.
 
LET THE SUFFERING END

Hi All,
I'd like to express my thanks to Mr. Rajeev Khanna and
his team, and all my dear pals who have been pouring
out their heart and mind on the BIG ISSUE.

I entered US in 1998 and My labor was filed in December 2001 and my state labor is yet to be approved. I've been stuck with my company for more than 5 years now. My earnings is not enough to support my family here and in India.
THE DAMAGE HAS BEEN DONE ALREADY. THE IMMIGRATION
SYSTEM IN US IS BASICALLY PLAYING WITH THE HUMANITARIAN
RIGHTS OF US INDIANS. WHO IS THERE TO ASK THESE PEOPLE.
DO THEY SUFFER AS WE SUFFER?
I BEG ALL OF YOU TO UNITE TOGETHER AND FIGHT THIS
ATTROCITY.

SOMETHING MUST BE DONE TO THE PORTABILITY CLAUSE.
I'VE READ ABOUT PEOPLE'S SUGGESTIONS TO START THE
COUNTDOWN FROM I-140/I485 FILING, BUT THINK OF ALL
THOSE PEOPLE WHOSE LABOR HAS BEEN PENDING FOR YEARS.
THIS IS NOT FAIR AND SOMETHING OUGHT TO BE DONE ABOUT
THIS.

A REFORMATION OF THE IMMIGRATION LAWS IS ABSOLUTELY
NECESSARY. THERE ARE PROCESSES AND PROCEDURES WHICH
ARE MEANINGLESS AND PEOPLE ARE PUT TO A LOF OF SUFFERING.

NO ONE IS HAPPY WITH THE WAY THINGS ARE. IS THERE A SINGLE
PERSON. NONE.

I IMPLORE MR. RAJEEV KHANNA TO FIGHT AGAINST THIS
ATTROCITY WHICH HAS BEEN DEPRIVING ALL INDIANS OF
THEIR PEACE AND HAPPINESS.

Regards
 
Re: LET THE SUFFERING END

Originally posted by naturale2003
Hi All,
I'd like to express my thanks to Mr. Rajeev Khanna and
his team, and all my dear pals who have been pouring
out their heart and mind on the BIG ISSUE.

I entered US in 1998 and My labor was filed in December 2001 and my state labor is yet to be approved. I've been stuck with my company for more than 5 years now. My earnings is not enough to support my family here and in India.
THE DAMAGE HAS BEEN DONE ALREADY. THE IMMIGRATION
SYSTEM IN US IS BASICALLY PLAYING WITH THE HUMANITARIAN
RIGHTS OF US INDIANS. WHO IS THERE TO ASK THESE PEOPLE.
DO THEY SUFFER AS WE SUFFER?
I BEG ALL OF YOU TO UNITE TOGETHER AND FIGHT THIS
ATTROCITY.

SOMETHING MUST BE DONE TO THE PORTABILITY CLAUSE.
I'VE READ ABOUT PEOPLE'S SUGGESTIONS TO START THE
COUNTDOWN FROM I-140/I485 FILING, BUT THINK OF ALL
THOSE PEOPLE WHOSE LABOR HAS BEEN PENDING FOR YEARS.
THIS IS NOT FAIR AND SOMETHING OUGHT TO BE DONE ABOUT
THIS.

A REFORMATION OF THE IMMIGRATION LAWS IS ABSOLUTELY
NECESSARY. THERE ARE PROCESSES AND PROCEDURES WHICH
ARE MEANINGLESS AND PEOPLE ARE PUT TO A LOF OF SUFFERING.

NO ONE IS HAPPY WITH THE WAY THINGS ARE. IS THERE A SINGLE
PERSON. NONE.

I IMPLORE MR. RAJEEV KHANNA TO FIGHT AGAINST THIS
ATTROCITY WHICH HAS BEEN DEPRIVING ALL INDIANS OF
THEIR PEACE AND HAPPINESS.

Regards


You do have a point. That is why I proposed the LC filing date as a potential compromise for future Citizenship to cover all the injustice, one you (we) get your GC. This does not even cover all the H1-B years before, but it draws the line since you declare your immigrant intention.
 
Re: LET THE SUFFERING END

Originally posted by naturale2003
Hi All,
I'd like to express my thanks to Mr. Rajeev Khanna and
his team, and all my dear pals who have been pouring
out their heart and mind on the BIG ISSUE.

I entered US in 1998 and My labor was filed in December 2001 and my state labor is yet to be approved. I've been stuck with my company for more than 5 years now. My earnings is not enough to support my family here and in India.
THE DAMAGE HAS BEEN DONE ALREADY. THE IMMIGRATION
SYSTEM IN US IS BASICALLY PLAYING WITH THE HUMANITARIAN
RIGHTS OF US INDIANS. WHO IS THERE TO ASK THESE PEOPLE.
DO THEY SUFFER AS WE SUFFER?
I BEG ALL OF YOU TO UNITE TOGETHER AND FIGHT THIS
ATTROCITY.

SOMETHING MUST BE DONE TO THE PORTABILITY CLAUSE.
I'VE READ ABOUT PEOPLE'S SUGGESTIONS TO START THE
COUNTDOWN FROM I-140/I485 FILING, BUT THINK OF ALL
THOSE PEOPLE WHOSE LABOR HAS BEEN PENDING FOR YEARS.
THIS IS NOT FAIR AND SOMETHING OUGHT TO BE DONE ABOUT
THIS.

A REFORMATION OF THE IMMIGRATION LAWS IS ABSOLUTELY
NECESSARY. THERE ARE PROCESSES AND PROCEDURES WHICH
ARE MEANINGLESS AND PEOPLE ARE PUT TO A LOF OF SUFFERING.

NO ONE IS HAPPY WITH THE WAY THINGS ARE. IS THERE A SINGLE
PERSON. NONE.

I IMPLORE MR. RAJEEV KHANNA TO FIGHT AGAINST THIS
ATTROCITY WHICH HAS BEEN DEPRIVING ALL INDIANS OF
THEIR PEACE AND HAPPINESS.

Regards


Hang in there. We are all working towards the same end (not just for Indians - for all members of our immigrant community - no matter from which country).
 
Thanks Rajiv for your time and help.

Is it possible for you to update us regarding the process....or what is your plan for moving farword... I know one thing that we gave BCIS one more month to respond...thats all. is there anything more we should know or should we just wait as we move along?

Sorry if I am asking too much or something you dont want to discuss here on the forum....I guess I just cant wait anymore and want to hear some good news :)
 
Originally posted by Kanadian
Thanks Rajiv for your time and help.

Is it possible for you to update us regarding the process....or what is your plan for moving farword... I know one thing that we gave BCIS one more month to respond...thats all. is there anything more we should know or should we just wait as we move along?

Sorry if I am asking too much or something you dont want to discuss here on the forum....I guess I just cant wait anymore and want to hear some good news :)

Rajiv,
If I could add something: The recent Minessota federal district judge decision about the asylees: Does it have any positive effect?
Does it set any precedence (legal)?

This judge even questioned the renewal of EAD!
What do you think?

Thanks.
 
WILREAD THIS. I HOPE TO SEE THIS L BE HAPPEN TO OURS TOO

Ngwanyia v. Ashcroft- Judge finds Treatment of Asylees “National Embarrassment”
2/12/2004

The American Immigration Law Foundation hails the ruling of a federal judge today, condemning the former Immigration and Naturalization Service for “widespread,” “egregious” and “plainly harmful” violations of law that “constitute nothing short of a national embarrassment.” The judge ruled in a national class action filed on behalf of more than a 150,000 asylees in the United States filed by the American Immigration Law Foundation in Washington, D.C., the Massachusetts Law Reform Institute in Boston, and the law firm Dorsey and Whitney in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The case is Ngwanyia v. Ashcroft, No. 02-502(RHK/AJB) (D. Minnesota).

The case was brought on behalf of immigrants who were granted asylum in the United States but who are waiting in a long queue to become lawful permanent residents of the United States (to obtain “green cards.”) Plaintiffs successfully argued that over the last decade, the INS -- now known as the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services within the Department of Homeland Security -- unlawfully failed to adjust the status of almost 22,000 asylees through simple mismanagement. The INS’s failures lengthened the individuals’ wait before they can become U.S. citizens and extended the waiting list for all asylees in the queue by more than two years.

U.S. District Judge Richard H. Kyle, of the District Court of Minnesota, today ordered the government to adjust the status of nearly 22,000 waiting asylees now that plaintiffs have uncovered the INS’s past failures.

In his order issued today, Judge Kyle also railed against the INS’s “Kafkaesque” procedures for asylees to obtain work permits. He held that the defendants improperly required individual asylees to reapply for a work permit every year at a cost of $120. Months of delay and mounds of unnecessary paperwork resulted. The law requires the government to grant a work permit automatically and to keep it valid as long as an asylee remains an asylee: “not a minute shorter, and not a minute longer” the Judge held.

Judge Kyle condemned the INS for their “one-law-for-for-Tuesdays-and-another-law-for-Wednesdays” mismanagement, including practices that varied office-by-office and day-by-day. He criticized a liberalized but “stealth” policy regarding work permits, as a policy announced for the litigation but never communicated to anyone in the field.

“We are gratified that the judge saw the issues as we did,” said Nadine Wettstein, Director of the Legal Action Center for the American Immigration Law Foundation. This decision will help thousands of hardworking people to stabilize and improve their lives and sends a clear message to the USCIS that they are accountable to the public.”
 
Re: Re: LET THE SUFFERING END

Originally posted by naturale2003
...
I'VE READ ABOUT PEOPLE'S SUGGESTIONS TO START THE
COUNTDOWN FROM I-140/I485 FILING, BUT THINK OF ALL
THOSE PEOPLE WHOSE LABOR HAS BEEN PENDING FOR YEARS.
THIS IS NOT FAIR AND SOMETHING OUGHT TO BE DONE ABOUT
THIS.
...

Originally posted by cinta
You do have a point. That is why I proposed the LC filing date as a potential compromise for future Citizenship to cover all the injustice, one you (we) get your GC. This does not even cover all the H1-B years before, but it draws the line since you declare your immigrant intention.
Hi, naturale2003 and cinta;
I believe your point is right.
Can you help me to make an amendment of INA ?
http://boards.immigration.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=113020#post692942
I'd like to start contacting Congressional members as soon as possible once it being prepared.
-kashmir
 
Re: Re: Re: LET THE SUFFERING END

Originally posted by kashmir
Hi, naturale2003 and cinta;
I believe your point is right.
Can you help me to make an amendment of INA ?
http://boards.immigration.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=113020#post692942
I'd like to start contacting Congressional members as soon as possible once it being prepared.
-kashmir

kashmir,

You have my help anytime. Let us see what Rajiv says wrt the Lawsuit first; it is a legitimate request.
 
We will be completeing 2 month on Feb 22nd. But based on Govt counsel and Rajiv conversation , they asked for another 30 days. Does it mean from the day of call or from 22nd Feb????

Per Rajiv last post, communication channels are open . Hoping for something to happen.

Thanks
 
I-485 Litigation response ..

If the interim relief sought through the meeting does not blurr the focus on the bigger picture of I-485 back breaking backlog, then it is definitely a great effort.
1. Elimination of repeat EAD, Advance Parole and Fingerprinting; 2. counting the I-485 portability from the I-485/I-140 filing rather than from the I-140 approval, etc.

The above two (as mentioned in Rajiv's mail) are the obvious ones.
3. Besides we should also press for an AC21 with no restriction on keeping the job profile the same etc.. This is a real back breaker since people are stuck to a company and a job and cannot move their career forward when the opportunity passes them by. If this flexibility could be obtained, then, coupled with the two factors above, the major pain-points could be considered addressed.
The above 3 if granted could serve the long term purpose of the people better than "backlog clearance" which, if it happens would be a one time "event" (as it happened in 1999 I guess) and then will slip back to the regular pattern !!
This is not to suggest that we should not press for backlog clearance, but the above three in themselves have the potential to ease most of the pain and should be presented thus, if someone is listening.

thanks again to Rajiv & Co.
Suman
 
Originally posted by cinta
Rajiv,
If I could add something: The recent Minessota federal district judge decision about the asylees: Does it have any positive effect?
Does it set any precedence (legal)?

This judge even questioned the renewal of EAD!
What do you think?

Thanks.


It helps. The law and the facts are different, but it helps.
 
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