zgubi said:JW,
I saw in one of your later posts that you 'broke down' and went ahead and asked for your 7th year screenshot. I also have Fragomen as my law firm, and they are being so unhelpfull that it's almost ridiculous.
I don't know ANYTHING about my app (as far as I know, it could have fallen out of a truck on its way to Philly) and am eager to find out anything I can.
Fragomen paralegal said that they will ask for the proof for my 7th year extension soon (October). My PD was in late November, 2001.
Do you suggest I send an email to h1b7th... and try to obtain a screenshot? Is it possible to 'screw up' Fragomen when they ask for the screenshot? Will they use this email address at all or will they go different way to obtain the proof for my 7th year extension?
I never received my 45-day letter yet (obviously).
Thanks a lot for your response.
gcby2020 said:Guys,
For all the criticism we have levied against Philly, they seem to have done much better job than Dallas in the end. PBEC has tried real hard to stick to FIFO as compared to DBEC. Just watchin.. correct me if I am wrong. I think PBEC is very close to opening all the boxes and finishing partial data entry at least. Expect Dallas filers to be in lot more anguish than us.
Having said that I am in a similar emotional state as Rajel. I have been in this country for over ten years now. This whole process of getting a GC has taken a heavy toll on me and my wife to the extent that we dont want to live here anymore. At this point even if I get my GC my reaction is going to be so what. We have decided to move back to India for good. Am in the process of buying a house over there. A recent devastating illness has made me realise that staying so far away from our friends and families is not worth it. There is corruption/poverty/malaria/pollution and lot of other unpleasant things in India. But it is still my country. Over here I will be a second class citizen no matter what.
Sorry for the emotional spill over here. Sorry if I have offended any one. If I have it is entirely unintentional.
Peace..
xmmm said:Hi, guys.
My RIR LC for EB-3 was submitted on March 2002. Now, there is no fun waiting in the endless line.
Can any one give me some advises on the advantage and disadvantage if I submit new LC under PERM and target an EB-2? I have a master degree from a US college and at least 4 years experience in IT.
I don't know if I can get PERM in 3 months. But after that, can I file 140/485 if I file in EB-2?
Many thanks!!
LaborPains said:There is already talk that EB2 will get retrogressed by the end of this year or early next year. So even if your PERM comes through you may have to wait until your EB2 priority date becomes current again. Think about it.
zgubi said:JW,
I saw in one of your later posts that you 'broke down' and went ahead and asked for your 7th year screenshot. I also have Fragomen as my law firm, and they are being so unhelpfull that it's almost ridiculous.
I don't know ANYTHING about my app (as far as I know, it could have fallen out of a truck on its way to Philly) and am eager to find out anything I can.
Fragomen paralegal said that they will ask for the proof for my 7th year extension soon (October). My PD was in late November, 2001.
Do you suggest I send an email to h1b7th... and try to obtain a screenshot? Is it possible to 'screw up' Fragomen when they ask for the screenshot? Will they use this email address at all or will they go different way to obtain the proof for my 7th year extension?
I never received my 45-day letter yet (obviously).
Thanks a lot for your response.
xmmm said:Hi, guys.
My RIR LC for EB-3 was submitted on March 2002. Now, there is no fun waiting in the endless line.
Can any one give me some advises on the advantage and disadvantage if I submit new LC under PERM and target an EB-2? I have a master degree from a US college and at least 4 years experience in IT.
I don't know if I can get PERM in 3 months. But after that, can I file 140/485 if I file in EB-2?
Many thanks!!
The chance for DOL to get LC done around 04/06 is unknown. I might be impatient but see what happeded in the last 3 years. So many funny things slow down the process again and again. Everytime when it looks close, it stops.JustWatching said:My thoughts:
If you stay with current:
LC approved: April '06 (give or take three months)
I-140/I-485 approved: Dec '06 (Again I am estimating)
Under this scenario retrogression of EB-3 will most likely not affect you.
I am reading information on how to apply PERM. I hope it will need less 4 months to prepare it.JustWatching said:If you go with PERM:
Assuming you have not started to prepare PERM stuff:
Prepare for PERM - 4 months
Approval PERM: Feb '06
I-140 approval: August '06
Retrogression for Dec '05 cases - 2 years?
I-485 approval: Feb '08
EB-2 is given a specific number of visa numbers so I am not sure you can say it is "higher" priority.
Discuss the above scenario with your attorney and see what he has to say.
xmmm said:JustWatching, Thank you for replying. Here are my thoughts.
The chance for DOL to get LC done around 04/06 is unknown. I might be impatient but see what happeded in the last 3 years. So many funny things slow down the process again and again. Everytime when it looks close, it stops.
I don't know I-140/485 can be approved in 6 months now. I had thought it will take over a year or 2.
Why EB-3 retrogression will not affect me? My attorney said new quota will be released around September 15. But People with PERM will take many of them.
I am reading information on how to apply PERM. I hope it will need less 4 months to prepare it.
I have ignorance on Retrogression . If BCIS(?) adds quota to EB-3 in September 2005, will BCIS also add quota for EB-2?
Based on my understand for my case, taking PERM now has less uncertain factors. But I understand that I may take a little risk if DOL BEC processes old cases in a super fast way and I may loose my priority date and may get PERM denied.
Please correct me if there is anything wrong. Thank you all for reading and replying.
richshi said:per Jenny (my girlfriend's lawyer at Fragmon), she has started receiving Nov-Dec 2001 cases 45 day letter, but not my girlfriend's. She will inquire about the case with Phily Backlog Ctre if still no letter or approval by the end of Sept.
It bothers me about the html email letter you guys have been getting from Phily Backlog Ctre, instead of getting a real screenshot from their database. My take is that most likely your case has not been entered into system yet. On a less likely possibility, it could mean that the case will be adjudicated without even issuing 45 day letter. How do you assess the situation and what is your plan, just watching?
This sounds good.JustWatching said:USCIS has commited to process I-140/I-485 in six months by FY06 (ie September '06). Currently VSC is taking for the most part less than a year to process these steps and they continue to trend downward.
Thanks for explaining this. How about if I apply EB-2? EB-2 is still current, however people are talking about possible retrogression in December. Will USCIS refill EB-2 and EB-3 at the same time in October?JustWatching said:Here is how retrogression works. Let's say retrogression date assigned for EB-3 is June 2002. That means that anyone for EB-3 applying for PERM can't even apply for I-485 and therefore can not take the visa numbers. The only way PERM people are going to be able to take EB-3 visa numbers in October will be if the State Deparment puts visa numbers at CURRENT. I don't remember what retrogression was prior to EB-3 becoming unavailable but it was sometime in 2002. Any retrogression date prior to March '05 will preclude anyone with PERM to apply for I-485.
My employer finished at least one PERM recently. It was approved in 7 weeks.JustWatching said:As for PERM, the fastest you can do this is:
Day 1
Submit PW request I(hope you get this quick)
Begin advertising
Day 30 to Day 60 - waiting period , you need to wait thirty days between advertising and submitting application.
Day 61 - submit application
Has your employer requested an id at PERM site? Have they started to advertise? IF so, you are right you may be able to do this quicker. 60 days seems to be the shortest, add to that attorneys requiring payments, preparation of forms, etc.
xmmm said:Thanks for explaining this. How about if I apply EB-2? EB-2 is still current, however people are talking about possible retrogression in December. Will USCIS refill EB-2 and EB-3 at the same time in October?
LC_DEC said:BTW my lawyer is also exactly the same Jenny Nieves. My case is Dec/14/2001 from NY and no information yet on it RIR/EB2
JustWatching said:Here is how allocation works -
28.6% of total visa numbers available is allocated each fiscal year to EB-2 and the same amount to EB-2. However the State Deparment allocates them on a quarterly basis to make sure they last the whole year. On the last quarter they release all remaining visa numbers.
If any EB-1 numbers are not used they are passed on to for EB-2 to use. If any EB-2 or EB-1 are not used then they are passed on to EB-3. This tends to happen in the 4th Qtr of the fiscal year , ie July.
However due to the speed at which USCIS is processing it is unlikely that any EB categories will not be used to capacity.
Below is the statement made by the State Department in the September Bulletin. The October bulletin will be issued September 15.
D. EMPLOYMENT VISA AVAILABILITY DURING FY-2006
The backlog reduction efforts of both Citizenship and Immigration Services, and the Department of Labor continue to result in very heavy demand for Employment-based numbers. It is anticipated that the amount of such cases will be sufficient to use all available numbers in many categories. As a result cut-off dates in the Employment Third preference category will apply to the China, India, and Philippines chargeabilities beginning in October, and it is possible that Mexico may be added to this list. In addition, it is anticipated that heavy demand will require the establishment of a Third preference cut-off date on a Worldwide basis by December.
The amount of Employment demand for applicants from China and India is also likely to result in the oversubcription of the Employment First and Second preference categories for those chargeability areas. The establishment of such cut-off dates is expected to occur no later than December.
The level of demand in the Employment categories is expected to be far in excess of the annual limits, and once established, cut-off date movements are likely to be slow.
richshi said:How do you like this Jenny Nieves? Why everyone I know that has not received anything from Phily Backlog Center is represented by this Jenny?
By the way, JW, only a handful on this forum still receives letter in stead of screen shot. The vast majority (99%) gets some kind of screen shot.