Recording available for download for Aug 11 Conference Call

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monica1

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Recording available for download for August 11 Call, http://www.immigration.com/free-community-conference-calls



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Conference Dial-in: 1-712-432-3066
Conference Code: 531023
Topic: General Immigration Related Questions
Start Time: 1:55PM, EST
End Time: 3:20 PM, EST

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NOTE: This call does not mean that we have agreed to represent you or that there is an attorney-client relationship between us. This is merely a community service. You should discuss the specifics of your case with the attorney representing you.
 
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Hi Rajiv Ji,

Thanks a lot for your advices.

Here I have couple questions:
Q: H1b --> EAD (worked for few days on EAD) --> Incase If I want to go back to my same H1b employer, where my H1b is still active till 2012, Can I use the same H1?
Q: If my son is on AOS (not used EAD), can he go for F1 in future, without going out of country for stamping?

Regards,
Sai4gc.
 
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Background: I applied for immigration petition for my brother. His case was under AP from 2009 to 2011. In may of 2011, The embassy in Islamabad then contacted him and asked for him to submit his passport saying they are ready to move forward. The passports of my brother, his wife, and son were submitted to them via courier in May 2011. The consulate kept the passports and did nothing for four months.

My brother had to travel and held off for as long as possible. Out of exhaustion, we asked for the embassy to return the passport as of last week August 1st 2011. we told the consulate we would return the passport after his business his done. The embassy returned the passports, and I think at this point they have paused the case. They give limited information and do not entertain questions.

q1)The two questions I have: Have you seen situations where AP is done, embassy requests passports and holds it saying they are still processing. They requested passports saying they are ready to process, but then again a wait period. The AP took two years and per their statement is complete and now still wait!

q2)The second question, what should my brother do. Can we ask the embassy to continue their process and ask for passports when they are ready to stamp. This predicates a positive decision from their end. Or should we submit again and just play the waiting game.

Thank you in advance.
 
Re-entry permit from Canada

Hi Rajiv,

We have acquired Green card thru DV Lottery in Nov 2010. I am a resident of Canada. We are not ready to move yet to US and would like to apply for re-entry permit. I have the forms filled out. I had the following questions -

1. What do I do for the signature of my 11-month old son. Should me n my husband sign for him ? If so in which section of the form - where the applicant has to sign or representative?

2. Can I mail out the forms from Canada and go to US for biometrics when called? Or do we have to be physically present there when we mail?

3. My mailing address on I-131 is of a friend who lives in NJ. But we live in Toronto. So buffalo is closes for us. I assume the biometrics appointment will be scheduled in NJ. How do I change the location to a Buffalo address. Somewhere I can mention this on the form or call them once we get the biometrics appointment to change the location.

4. Is it required to expedite the application ? My 1 yr will expire in Nov 5, 2011 and I am planning to send out the application by Aug end.

Kindly advise
Thanks
 
Clarification Required Please EAD to first time H1

Hi Rajiv Ji,

I would require Clarification on the below mentioned Please !!!!!

I am here on an L2 visa and working on an EAD. I am planning to file a H1B this year. Here is my understanding on the process steps and a couple of questions in some steps, underlined. Can you please verify the correctness of my understanding and also answer these questions for me?

1. Upon filing for a H1B, your petition result will be available anytime between 60 and 90 days

2. Approved petitions are of 2 categories 797-A and 797-B. 797-A does NOT require you to travel out of the country to get ur H1B stamped. It can be done in US but for 797B we need to travel to our home country?

3. 797-B mandates you travel to your homeland for stampping ur visa. What is timeframe by when the stampping should be done?

4. Visa interview appointment can be booked online before our travel. Can this be done online before landing in India?

5. During the visa appointment, an interview would take place and the result is one of the following

a. Green slip - visa approved. stamped passport will be sent in 7 business days

b. Yellow slip - no decision for the time being. further investigation reqiured. might take anywhere between 30 and 90 days. Would the applicant's passport be handed before until the decision is made?

c. Pink slip - visa rejected.

Is this understanding correct?

Regards,
 
Travel on expired Advance Parol / refile 485

Dear Rajiv, In reference to the previous situation ( where in i traveled outside the country on an expired AP my mistake) you have advised me to refile a 485 petition and withdraw the previous petition upon the priority date becoming current.

I recently received the 485 approval confirmation from USCIS when i am just about refile my 485 petition. Could you please advise if there are any action items for me now, in addition to celebrating :) ?

thanks much.
 
Hi Rajiv ji,
Namaste. I came to USA in year 2001 on F-1 Visa. I went to my home country in May 2002 for about 2 months and entered back to USA in July 2002. Since 2002, I never left USA. I am now in valid H-1B Visa (going on 8th year of H-1B Visa).

I am planning to go to my home country for my marriage. I am also planning to go for
H-1B visa stamping in my home country.


(1) As I did not travel to my home country for about 10 years now, do you foresee any reason why H-1B visa should not be issued solely based on the time period I stayed in USA for 1o years without travelling outside USA? Kindly advice.

(2) Are there any legal grounds or law that could prevent Visa officer to grant me visa at US embassy just because I did not travel outside USA in the last 10 years or so? Please advice.

(3) Kindly advice me what is the best answer to give it Visa Officer when he/she asks me why I have not travelled outside USA for about 10 years? Please note that I did not go out of USA because I was concerned that my visa would be denied, but I can not wait anymore to see my parents, etc. Please help..

Thank you very much for your advice and help!
Ram.
 
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L1-B or H1-B?

Is L1-B visa preferable or H1-B?

I am a senior technical person working in a multinational company in India for over 6 years. Prior to that I worked in US for about 8 years on H1-B visa with different companies (not present employer), and before that I worked in India for a number of years.

My company wants me to transfer to the US headquarters. The company's lawyer has advised that L1 visas have been problematic with people coming from India, they recommend an H1B visa since it is more straight forward.

I do want to apply for green card after I transfer to India. Is it correct that L1 is problematic? Does having H1-B affect the green card processing?

Another question I have is about the process. The lawyer says the application can be made directly to the embassy in India and the processing will take 2 weeks. But my understanding is that the petition has to be filed in US both for L1-B and H1-B. Can you please clarify?

Thanks

I have also posted this to the "General L Visa and Related Issues" forum


EDIT: I am told that there have been a lot of rejection for L1-B from India recently. The attorney therefor recommends L1-A or H1-B. Can you please comment on whether there have indeed been such rejections?
 
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Rajiv ji,

Namasthe. I have a H1-B visa (stamped in my passport also) which is valid till Jun 2012. My dependents (Wife and Son) have valid H4 visa but not stamped in their passport. We applied for GC in July 2007 when the date was made current . We got EAD in Nov 2007. We have a valid EAD. We do not have Advance Parole. My priority date is July 14 2007 (EB-2). I work for US Bank as a full-time employee for more than 5 years now.

There is a family situation that I have to go to India on a 3 month trip starting Thanksgiving weekend. The plan is to have the H4 visa stamped for my wife and son in India during first week of December and return back here by Feb '12 mid.

My friends tell me that I should take "Advance Parole", otherwise I might have problem entering while coming back. Because there is slight chance that My GC may be approved while I am in India. If I apply for Advance Parole now I am not sure if I will get it in hand before I leave. I don't want to waste more than $1000 on Advance Parole (for 3 of us). Last time when we went to India in 2008, I applied Advance Parole well in Advance. But we only received for my wife and son. Mine was approved (got an email) but I never got it in hand. We went for Stamping and entered US in December 2008. Our visa was expiring in Jun 2009 then.

I need your advice on what would be best for me to do?
 
Hello Rajivji
First of all thanks a lot for your service to the immigrant community. After listening to your past recordings I have a tremendous regards for all the patience you have for listening to the similar or same questions from all of us time and again answering them each time.

My question today is as follows: As per the law two of the things every US immigrant alien is required to do but in many cases forget to do are 1. File AR-11 whenever one changes address
2. Carry their immigration papers with them all the time.
Are both of these technically deportable offence? If so is as such enforced by USCIS/ICE or treated as a simple misdemeanor.

Thank You.
 
Hi Rajiv,
I have some question to ask you. I m on H4 Visa and I m BHMS from India. I will be appearing for council of homeopathic certification exam in oct 2011 in USA. Currently I stay in MA , USA and i have a homeopath in MA who is ready to sponsor me for H1B visa so that I can work with her as a homeopath. But I looked on the visa website whch mentions
I need the licence to practice in USA. But this certification exam doesnt give me license but it is nationalized certificate. Can you tell me is it possible for me to get H1B visa based on this certificate if I have a sponsor ? otherwise wat else I need to do to get H1B visa?


Thank you.
 
Hello Sir
1 ) This is in regards to experience consideration for Green card application. I have an overlap in my experience letters from my first and second job. My first job according to the certificate is from Aug 2003-April 2004 and my second job experience is from March 2004 to March 2009. As you see there is a overlap in experience from march-April 2004 . The truth was that i signed up to join company B from March first onwards and for some reason i had to stay in company A for couple more months to complete the project (Both are genuinely good companies) but i was still considered enrolled in company B (They even paid my a salary for March 2004,as part of training) . Is this a cause of concern when i do a perm (under EB2) eventually ? Would they consider this as some sort of mis representation of facts since logically its really not possible to work for two companies (except under rare circumstances) ? Or would this be fine? Have you handled any such cases successfully?

2)An addition to that question is that even without considering my experience in Company A (stated above) , my total experience is close to 7 Years(Done Bachelors 4 year degree) . If this overlap can raise some suspicion ,can i simply ignore it ? It will be in my resume but i don't want to use that experience during my perm/140 stage? Is that possible ? I want to reiterate that i would really like to use it since it is from a good place and don't want to waste an opportunity if that can add strength to my case.

Any help is highly appreciated. Thanks
 
Hello Rajiv,
Thanks for this open forum.
I had spoken earlier on my H1b visa extension stamping in New delhi consulate being put in 221g and a letter from Embassy to USCIS on my visa/petition being possibly sent for revocation.
Then i transfer my H1b visa to another company and got a project directly with client..So its Employer- Client relation.
While appearing for visa interview in july'2011 for H1b visa, i again got 221g and all documents requested by VO are submitted. My passport was not returned back to me after visa interview which has happened to lot of other people.
My question- As i am not getting any update froim Embassy on timelines of result on my H1b visa
1) Can i request to get my passport back from consulate? Whats the process?
2) All my belongings are in US and is there a way i can request for tourist visa and settle my apartment and other liabilities in US?
3) Can i also apply for another H1b visa transfer as i have already got 2 times 221g this year?( while completing form DS160, there is a question that a person cannot appear for visa interview more than 2 times in a year and i guess though my visa was not rejected during first time but sent for revocation and same may happen again, is it possible to apply for another transfer of H1b)
4) Can i take any legal action as spoken earlier on US embassy or whoever on these delays which has costed me heavily interms of health & wealth?
5) Can i keep my GC application live from my old H1b employer and when my Priority date becomes current which should be in 2-3 months, i can apply for I485 and steps thereafter from India?(in case i am not able to get H1b visa)
Thanks for patiently reading my queries.
DD
 
Wife admitted in POE with H4 status, but my H1 invalid

Hello Rajiv,

Background: We were out of the country for a vacation, but our EB2 dates were current. So my wife came back on June5th. She was admitted without any issues on H4 status stamped on I94. She immediately applied for I485 using this I94. Meantime June15th, I got an email, when I was still out of the country that my GC has been approved and the online status says that on June5th a notice was sent about the approval. I came back on AP(my I485 was applied in July2007), and found the card and approval notice in my mailbox. The card says my status was approved on June1st and so did the lady I called in USCIS, whom I called to enquire on my status. My wife already recvd her 485, EAD and AP recpts and her status for now is AOS probably.

a) We are getting increasingly worried about how her case might be handled. When she entered US, neither did she nor did the CBP know about the underlying H1 being invalidated because of my approval. I had no clue too, till June15th. Now, did she enter 'unlawfully'. Will her AOS be fine? If it gets rejected, will her 'out of status' be backdated to June5th, or from the day it was denied, or the expiry on I94(1 yr, which inturn is questionable. The reason being we do not want to cross the 180 days mark. In such cases have you seen an RFE or interview being scheduled, so that we can present our case atleast with all the proof about being unintentional. I know about 245(k), but that's for people falling 'out of status'. But in her case is it considered 'unlawful entry'.

b) Second thing is, if the case goes really bad, and we have to go for follow to join, should I be applying for I-824, or should I just send the required documents to Chennai Consulate, along with a copy of my I-485 approval notice and Green Card, and ask them to open a case for her.

We are confused. We are thinking to wait it out and plan (b), should not be required, given the circumstances. Please advice.
 
AOS interview after accidental approval for another I-485
I had two I-485 pending one with previous employer and one with current employer. I went for interview for I-485 of current employer but IO approved I-485 from previous employer and withdrew one from current employer ( both had priority date current) .As I never intended to work for my previous employer (infact already resigned but during July fiasco my priority date became current and they anyway filed that I-485).

I requested USCIS to approve I-485 from current employer and indicated that they wrongly withdrew my I-485 without my consent. Now they re-opened it and calling me for interview again next month. What should I expect, if they approve my this I-485 then will they revoke my previous approval( on previous employers I-485)? they have not called my wife for interview neither they re-opened her derivative I-485 associated with current employer I-485.What will happen in this scenario, Is derivative I-485 is attached to corresponding I485 or its just attached to primary beneficiary? Is it OK for her keep her derivative GC based on previous employer I-485 while mine ( primary beneficiary ) will be on current employers I-485
 
Interfiling Question. EB3 10/2011 PD and EB2 07/2011 approved

Hello Rajiv,

My refiled EB3 I-140 is approved with Priority date of 10/2003 (India) and EB2 I-140 is approved with priority date of 07/2011. My initial EB3 I-140 denied and later appealed and it is still pending and company refiled it and after one year of processing it got approved recently.

My I-485 has been pending from 2007 onwards and I did not get any FP notice. My lawyer said that they are sending the interfiling letter and it will take 2 weeks to get the FP and two weeks to get the Green Card. Is that true? Who does the interfiling process work? Please provide some information.

Thank you so much.
 
Hello Rajivji
I work as a researcher in an university in academic H1B visa valid upto Jan 2013.Due to sudden financial constraint I will not be paid from September.I have been applying,got few and has been postponed indefinetly due to frozen jobs.I have few questions
1]if I get any other position within August I would be able to transfer my present visa without any problem?
2]is this possible anytime before 31st August?
3]some of my application results may come after 31st August too.Situation is not clear at this moment.How long can I stay in here (grace period?)?Do I have to request USCIS for more time?
4]I am planning to apply to change of status to B2 since I have relatives here.How long should I wait to make this decision?
5]can I change from B2 to H1B if I get some job offer?
Kindly let me know how long should I wait to proceed any step further?
Thanks
 
Dear Rajiv:

My question is related to the new USCIS announcements for entrepreneurs.

I have an advanced degree in business from a US university with over 15 years of experience. I'm presently working in India but have worked on an H1B in US for over two years. I'm in the process of starting up a new cleantech enterprise that can be potentially beneficial to US and also generate significant local employment.

My questions are:

a) Am I eligible to initiate an EB2 (with NIW waiver) petition as a prospective entrepreneur while continuing to reside in India?
b) Do I have to first come to US on an H1B startup visa before progressing to EB2 filing?

Kindly advise. Thanks for your help.
 
RE: Working under reentry permit for Green Card

Hello Rajiv,

Am a permanent resident since 5 + years. Relocating to India but keeping options open and have applied for Re-entry permit and have been fingerprinted. We have not yet received the reentry permit but are expected to pick it up from the consulate in India when ready. We are leaving in end of August. I was teaching at GMU and would like to continue working online from India in time to come, if legally permitted.

1. I have received an offer from GMU to work as a consultant for fall 2011 and spring 2012 to teach an online course. Can I teach online for the next six months?

2. After what specific period of time are we not permitted to work for US organizations while living outside of US on a greencard/reentry status. Thank you for your advise."

Thanks very much.

Moni
 
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