puneet_gcard
Registered Users (C)
Friends. Here is my complete Green Card story.
I came to US in aug 98 on a J1 visa from Switzerland with a diploma in Hotel Mgt. As soon as I reached here i realized that I was subject to the 2 year Home residency rule. My visa was expiring in dec 99. Then I had to go home for 2 yrs.
After a lot of hard work I figured out that I could avoid that if I was somehow able to get a J1 Waiver. The waiver was were very hard to get at that time since I was not really an exceptional ability person. I had come to USA with high hopes of making a career in Hotel Management. But soon I realized that no Hotel Mgt employers were willing to do H1's. I tried like crazy but nothing worked out. Moreover even if I found a job, since I did not have the J1 waiver, I will not get the approval.
I hired the best J1 waiver lawyer in US (after doing a lot of research) and started the process in April 99. For the first 5 mths I did not hear anything about my case. It was even worse than the 485 waiting. Me and my wife had pretty much lost all hope and packed our bags to go back home. Finally in Dec 15, I heard that the waiver has been granted so I immediately called my lawyer to file for a Change of Status to F1. We were able to do that in the last week (in order to maintain my status) and I started college in Jan 2000 with the receipt notice.
At that time my thinking was that a job in IT will lead to a great future in this country. Hotel Mgt will not get me anywhere. But times were hard. Me and my wife had no work permit. I could not even work on campus as my F1 was not approved. We took a student loan to somehow see thru college. But luck was not with us. 6 months passed and I never heard anything about my F1 visa approva;. Then in Jul 2000 I heard that an RFE had been sent.
But we waited for 1 month and never got the RFE mail. I used to call Nebraska everyday but nothing seemed to help. I even talked to an INS officer who called me back and told me that RFE was sent again. But I still did not get it. It was so frustrating and I had lost all hope. And this was during my exams periods. Finally one day in Jul I heard the the case was approved. Maybe God was with us finally.
Then I continued college and completed my degree in Computer Science in Jul 2001 with good grades. I got a perfect GPA of 4.0 in all the courses which I did here. Now I started Job search and for 3 mths I could find nothing. Because I had no experience. Then Finally I got an interview with a Fortune 500 and was able to get hired. Since I had EAD they hired me right away (which was again good luck as they wanted to judge my performance before sponsoring me). After 4 mths of good performance I asked my boss to file my H1. They did that and I got approval in Jan 2002.
The very next day after approval, I told my boss that I would like to start with the Green Card process. She was amazed as I just got the H1 approval yesterday. But somehow I convinced her. This proved to be a very crucial decision as if I had waited even for a month longer, I would still be stuck in the Labor Stage.
But As soon as I started the process, the rules changed in my company that all Labor Certifications will be stopped because the economy was bad and it was a hiring freeze. There was a danger of lay off any day. For 3 mths nothing happened and I gave up on the Green card dream. I just wanted to keep my job as the IT market was terrible.
Again luck dawned on me and one fine day I received an email from my company lawyer that all the advertising had been done and my labor certification will be the last batch of RIR's which my company will do. I COULD NOT BELIVE MY LUCK. Behind the scenes my lawyer had done all this ground work. She said I had to send her the signed papers before end of the week to make it in that last batch. I rushed it immediately and sent her everything by overnight mail.
Then my LC got filed in Apr 2002. Since I was in Chicago I got approval in 4 mths. But after that my case was sitting at the foregn national office for almost 3 months. And nobody was filing the next stage due to tight budgets. Again luck dawned on me and the INS came up with the concurrent filing rule. But my company was not willing to spend the extra money unless my boss got the ok from the Vice President. I volunteered to spend out of my pocket but since it was a big company they had rules and were not willing to bend them. I did not want to lose 6 mths and spoke to my boss. Again I convinced her and Because I was a good performer she got the approval for me from the VP and my company did the concurrent filing. Then the long 2 year wait of I-485 started which ended yesterday with the approval.
Life has been a struggle since Day 1 here, but God has been with us always. Because a lot of my colleagues have still not started the GC process. My company has been on a hiring freeze for 1 year. The only option is to go the NON RIR route which takes 3 years just to get labor approval. I was the last batch of RIR's.
Also a lot of my earlier friends who came like me on J1 visa have all gone back to their home countries. I was perhaps the only one to somehow survive that storm and get the J1 waiver. During all this time we could never really go back to India as we were told that we would need stamping and there was a risk there. I dont have the F1 and H1 visa stamps. Just the approval notices. Finally now we can plan a trip back home. I am sure a lot must have changed in India and we just cant wait to get back there.
There have been frustrations all along but I have always had a NEVER GIVE UP attitude. I was not willing to lose that easy without a fight. Even when I had to find a job here in the US from Switzerland (but that story can be saved for another rainy day). This is a great country and I seriously believe that the future is good here. It has still not sunk in that we have got the Green Card and I guess it will take some time.
I wish you all the best of luck and believe me. You will all get approval. You have reached so far that there is no turning back now. It is just a question of when.
Regards
Puneet.
RD Oct 15, 2002
ND Oct 31, 2002
FP1 Dec 5, 2002
FP2 Jul 15, 2004
RFE Aug 16, 2004
RFE response recd Sep 9, 2004
LUD Changed every business day till approval
Approval Date Sep 15, 2004
I came to US in aug 98 on a J1 visa from Switzerland with a diploma in Hotel Mgt. As soon as I reached here i realized that I was subject to the 2 year Home residency rule. My visa was expiring in dec 99. Then I had to go home for 2 yrs.
After a lot of hard work I figured out that I could avoid that if I was somehow able to get a J1 Waiver. The waiver was were very hard to get at that time since I was not really an exceptional ability person. I had come to USA with high hopes of making a career in Hotel Management. But soon I realized that no Hotel Mgt employers were willing to do H1's. I tried like crazy but nothing worked out. Moreover even if I found a job, since I did not have the J1 waiver, I will not get the approval.
I hired the best J1 waiver lawyer in US (after doing a lot of research) and started the process in April 99. For the first 5 mths I did not hear anything about my case. It was even worse than the 485 waiting. Me and my wife had pretty much lost all hope and packed our bags to go back home. Finally in Dec 15, I heard that the waiver has been granted so I immediately called my lawyer to file for a Change of Status to F1. We were able to do that in the last week (in order to maintain my status) and I started college in Jan 2000 with the receipt notice.
At that time my thinking was that a job in IT will lead to a great future in this country. Hotel Mgt will not get me anywhere. But times were hard. Me and my wife had no work permit. I could not even work on campus as my F1 was not approved. We took a student loan to somehow see thru college. But luck was not with us. 6 months passed and I never heard anything about my F1 visa approva;. Then in Jul 2000 I heard that an RFE had been sent.
But we waited for 1 month and never got the RFE mail. I used to call Nebraska everyday but nothing seemed to help. I even talked to an INS officer who called me back and told me that RFE was sent again. But I still did not get it. It was so frustrating and I had lost all hope. And this was during my exams periods. Finally one day in Jul I heard the the case was approved. Maybe God was with us finally.
Then I continued college and completed my degree in Computer Science in Jul 2001 with good grades. I got a perfect GPA of 4.0 in all the courses which I did here. Now I started Job search and for 3 mths I could find nothing. Because I had no experience. Then Finally I got an interview with a Fortune 500 and was able to get hired. Since I had EAD they hired me right away (which was again good luck as they wanted to judge my performance before sponsoring me). After 4 mths of good performance I asked my boss to file my H1. They did that and I got approval in Jan 2002.
The very next day after approval, I told my boss that I would like to start with the Green Card process. She was amazed as I just got the H1 approval yesterday. But somehow I convinced her. This proved to be a very crucial decision as if I had waited even for a month longer, I would still be stuck in the Labor Stage.
But As soon as I started the process, the rules changed in my company that all Labor Certifications will be stopped because the economy was bad and it was a hiring freeze. There was a danger of lay off any day. For 3 mths nothing happened and I gave up on the Green card dream. I just wanted to keep my job as the IT market was terrible.
Again luck dawned on me and one fine day I received an email from my company lawyer that all the advertising had been done and my labor certification will be the last batch of RIR's which my company will do. I COULD NOT BELIVE MY LUCK. Behind the scenes my lawyer had done all this ground work. She said I had to send her the signed papers before end of the week to make it in that last batch. I rushed it immediately and sent her everything by overnight mail.
Then my LC got filed in Apr 2002. Since I was in Chicago I got approval in 4 mths. But after that my case was sitting at the foregn national office for almost 3 months. And nobody was filing the next stage due to tight budgets. Again luck dawned on me and the INS came up with the concurrent filing rule. But my company was not willing to spend the extra money unless my boss got the ok from the Vice President. I volunteered to spend out of my pocket but since it was a big company they had rules and were not willing to bend them. I did not want to lose 6 mths and spoke to my boss. Again I convinced her and Because I was a good performer she got the approval for me from the VP and my company did the concurrent filing. Then the long 2 year wait of I-485 started which ended yesterday with the approval.
Life has been a struggle since Day 1 here, but God has been with us always. Because a lot of my colleagues have still not started the GC process. My company has been on a hiring freeze for 1 year. The only option is to go the NON RIR route which takes 3 years just to get labor approval. I was the last batch of RIR's.
Also a lot of my earlier friends who came like me on J1 visa have all gone back to their home countries. I was perhaps the only one to somehow survive that storm and get the J1 waiver. During all this time we could never really go back to India as we were told that we would need stamping and there was a risk there. I dont have the F1 and H1 visa stamps. Just the approval notices. Finally now we can plan a trip back home. I am sure a lot must have changed in India and we just cant wait to get back there.
There have been frustrations all along but I have always had a NEVER GIVE UP attitude. I was not willing to lose that easy without a fight. Even when I had to find a job here in the US from Switzerland (but that story can be saved for another rainy day). This is a great country and I seriously believe that the future is good here. It has still not sunk in that we have got the Green Card and I guess it will take some time.
I wish you all the best of luck and believe me. You will all get approval. You have reached so far that there is no turning back now. It is just a question of when.
Regards
Puneet.
RD Oct 15, 2002
ND Oct 31, 2002
FP1 Dec 5, 2002
FP2 Jul 15, 2004
RFE Aug 16, 2004
RFE response recd Sep 9, 2004
LUD Changed every business day till approval
Approval Date Sep 15, 2004
Last edited by a moderator:
