New Asylee - Advice please!!

Question for Gilbert, et. al. - what\'s my current immigration status?

Thanks, Gilbert, for that response. I am filling in my I-765 Employment Authorization Document right now. I gather it can be filled in by hand, right? I\'ve got a question, though, that I hope you, or others, can answer. What should I write as my "current immigration status"? Is it still "H1-B1" as I am not an asylee yet? Or should I describe myself as an "asylum applicant"? If it is "asylum applicant", is there any "code" (say c8, for instance) that I need to write under "Current Immigration Status"? Any and advice welcomed. Thanks.
 
Danc00

Of course the form can be filled out by hand. Make sure to write legibly.

I really do not think the status question is that important. The INS officer knows who you are and can pull up all the info from the computer system. I would write asylum applicant (recommended for approval)because it is a more accurate description than your H1-BI status.

Have you been fingerprinted yet?
 
hey alanpero

the letter says that i am qualified for everything (EAD,RTD,GC..), so i guess it should be the final approval.
by the way, DOES ANYONE GET ENGLAND VISA BEFORE? i wonder if they accept RTD.
thx lots!!!
 
Still awaiting fingerprint notice ...

No, not fingerprinted yet. I only received my "recommended approval" about a week and a half ago. I did call the asylum office handling my case, and was told that the fingerprint notice would take about 6 weeks from that date. After the fingerprints are sent in, the gal told me that it would take 6 months (max) for the clearance to come through. So I am still waiting for the fingerprint notice. Thanks for the advice on filling my current immigrant status - yeah, asylum applicant would be more appropriate, I guess.
 
EAD Sent - Now, the long road to GC begins ...

I\'ve just submitted my I-765 form for my EAD last week. I know that aylees do not need EAD to work, but I\'m not at that stage yet, although I\'ve got "recommended approval". Getting my EAD would free me from the conditions of my H1-B1, and I should be getting the EAD within 30 days, if I read the INS instructions correctly. Final approval for my asylee status would take any 7 months for me, I calculated. From reading all your posts here, I gather that it is a very long process for an asylee to get a GC. I\'ve been thinking of getting the GC through employment. Can anyone please advise why it is quicker to get a GC through employment for an asylee, as compared to a H1-B1 visa holder, for instance? Does being an asylee provides the asylee with "special status" so that he can get a GC faster if he did it through the employment process? All advice are welcomed, thanks.
 
No Title

Neither H1-B1 status nor asylee status has anything to do on earth with the employment-based immigration.

Anyone (including those outside the United States)who has a willing an employer sponsor is eligible.
 
No Title

Dance00:The only reason an employment-based GC is faster is because the Visa Bulletin for that category is all current. This means that there are immigrant visa numbers immediately available for applicants, which is not the case for asylees or most family-based categories. In other words, you do not get faster processing because of asylee status. It applies to anyone applying under that category.
If you can get it through employment--do go ahead. If not, I\'m convinced that eventually the Asylee Adjusment Cap will be repealed sometime this year perhaps.
 
Thanks for that piece of advice, noid ... sure hope ya right!!

Thanks for that piece of advice, noid ... sure hope ya right!! I\'ve read on a few occasions here that getting an employment-based GC may be faster, but I\'ve been entirely clear why. Yeah, their visa numbers are current so that should be the case. I believe I can get an employment-based GC, but it\'s gonna cost maybe $4.5K, or $5K to get it, so it\'s not cheap. Sure hope you\'re right about the repeal of the Asylee Adjustment Cap. I want to believe that also. Are you basing your confidence on the recent "mandamus" lawsuit brought by asylees against the INS, for mismanagement and not using all the number allocated per year?? Or do you know something??
 
No Title

Danc00: The short answer to your question is no. The Asylee Adjustment lawsuit has nothing to do with it. It has everything to with the intent of Congress when the Act was passed and then revised sometime in the 80\'s.(It\'s been a while since I looked at the legislative history)
The old cap was of 5,000 Adjustments a year,and they raised it to cope with the rising number of asylum grants. They haven\'t touched the cap since. Congress intended for every asylee to become a permanent resident one year after the asylum grant, but due to either the sheer number of new grants or the expanding legal definition of persecution, the cap is just inadequate. Other than that, I\'m somewhat surprised no one has ever brought an equal protection challenge of section 209(b)--be it "facial" or "as applied". Refugees have no such cap and once permanent residence is granted, their adjustment date is their date of entry in the U.S. and not just the one year backdate from the actual date of adjustment given to asylees. In other words, if a refugee has been waiting five years for INS to process permanent residence, once granted they\'d automatically be eligible for naturalization.(not so for asylees) Does this violate the equal protection clause of the U.S. Constitution? The answer is MAYBE. As for everything in law, there\'s never a straight answer. But in general, courts don\'t like declaring laws unconstitutional, trying this would be an uphill battle which is probably why no one has tried it yet. But we will never know until someone tries. The only thing asylees have going for them is the fact that there are no caps for asylum grants in a given year(except for the coercive population control basis)but even for that INS has a way around it. Refugee admission on the other hand is determined by the executive branch(i.e. the president) every year. I think for fiscal 2002, the cap is set at 70,000. Bottom line, the Asylee cap makes no sense and it has got to go either by legal challenge or by a simple amendment of the text. Well, this was probably longer an answer than you cared for. Sorry. Good luck and hang in there!!!
 
Question about Asylee with GC - Do Travel Restrictions Still Apply??

I\'ve got a question that\'s need nagging me for some time now, and I\'m not really sure what the answer it. Say, an asylee get his GC (finally!!). Do travel restrictions from INS still apply, esp. when traveling back to his home country from which he has claimed persecution? And on what travel document does he travel out of the US with? I\'m thinking that he won\'t have his original "national" passport anymore, and he obviously won\'t have a US passport, either? This is kinda troubling me, and I hope someone can help sort out this confusion. Thanks, all.
 
GC PROCESS

Granted asylum in 1996
received GC march 2002
GC was back dated one year
01/04/01
I thought the GC should have been back dated to the
year my asylum was approved 1996.
Did INS make a mistake on the approval date of 01/04/01.
Can anything be done to correct the problem.
 
Test 100 and Otoka

Test100, here\'s a message that was meant for you and otoka but apparently you missed it. Here it is again:

Attention former asylees(New GC holder) Test100 and the others (NaturalizationTime Credit )
Posted By: noid 5/10/02 5:29 PM
(#29 of 29)
Test100: By now you probably heard of the Asylum adjustment lawsuit by the American Immigration Law Foundation(AILF).
But did you know that they are also looking at getting former asylees time credit toward naturalization? What this means is that they would get the INS to backdate your GC to one year before the date you were interviewed.In your case May 1998 since you were interviewed in May 1999. The more people complain the greater the likelihood of success.
If you or anyone else is interested, I\'ll tell you who to contact about this. Congratulations for the GC.
 
Backdate of Green card

Noid,thanks for the information
I\'am very interested,please send me the information
on who to contact.
 
No Title

Simple answer to your question: if you can afford $5K apply under Labor Cert and do not want to wait 5yrs + then go ahead and apply I-485 under the Labor Cert.
  Right now it takes minimum 5 years to process an asylum I-485.
 
Fingerprints taken on yesterday 05/21 ... what\'s next?

Hi everyone. I had my fingerprints taken yesterday at the local INS office. I got my fingerprint notice on 05/20. It took about 1-1/2 months from the receipt of my asylum application "recommended approval" letter to the receipt of my fingerprint notice, but I did have to prod INS a little by sending a letter to their "status checker". Thanks for the advice, guys. What\'s next? I hear some people say that it will take 6 months to get the fingerprints cleared, but the INS office was saying something like 3 months. What can I expect? Do I get a letter from INS when my fingerprints clear, telling me to go ahead with the filing Form I-485. More advice, please. Thanks.
 
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