RECORDING available for download for Aug 13 Conference Call

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monica1

monica1

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

Please note that a few questions that were not answered in this call will be covered in the next call on Aug 27.
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Topic: General Immigration Related Questions
Start Time: 1:55PM, EST
End Time: 3:20 PM, EST
Next call Date: Aug 13, 09
Conference Access Number: 1-785-686-1324
Conference Passcode: 552855

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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F1OPT- H1b approved - F1OPT

Hello Rajiv,

Thanks for taking my question. I am currently working for employer A on OPT which expires on December 2009. I got my H1b approved for FY2010 through another employer B. But I want to continue my employment with employer A since I have a decent job. I have some questions, please advise me.

1. My H1b got approved as a Change of Status with an I 94 and hence starts from Oct 1 2009. If I cancel my H1b this year will there be any problems if I apply for H1b later? Can i reinstate to my F1 status if I can cancel the H1b petition since I did not use it at all.

2. Can I get my F1 OPT extended for another 17 months with/without cancelling the current H1b petition. What will happen to the H1b petition if my OPT extension is approved.

3. Can i work with the employer B after some time if my H1b petition is not cancelled.

I want to continue of F1 since there would be no problems with the employment and also its convenient. Please let me know what should I do. Thanks for the community service that you do.
 
Hello Rajivji,

Thanks for your service.

This questions is regarding one of my near relative/cousin, she and her son is on H4 status, her husband is troubling her verymuch and asking her to get money from her brother and relatives, its kind of domestic voilence and dowry thing.

Question is if, she wants to take divorce, what will be her status ? Is there any way she can live here. Because, her father also expired, she got old mother and brother in India, They can't help much. When her father was alive, he gave lot of money as dowry for her marriage. Even for coming here, her mother gave money for flight tickets too.

Please provide your advice.

Thanks in advance,
Sai.
 
Travel on AP but continue working on H1

Dear Rajiv,

Thanks a lot for your community service.

My wife is travelling to India next week, but currently she is working on H1 and her H1 is extended to till 2011 but her visa H1 visa on her passport got expired last year and she do have her AP, since her trip is very shot, she is not in a postion to go for H1 stamping in India.

the question is:

Can she travel to US using her AP but continue working on H1 for her same employer? without using her EAD.

Thanks,
rharan
 
Hi Rajiv, my 140 was approved a couple of months back. I am on H1 and the salary is a little less then the Proferred Wage determined during PERM and 140.
My Attorney mentioned that the Employer should demonstrate "ability to pay" proferred wage (as established by Tax Return etc) but need not be paying it as of PD date.

However, from some forums I am seeing that some approved 140 are being reopened for "ability to pay" and denied.

I wanted to confirm with you the law regarding "ability to pay". Should the H1 employee be paid the proferred wage at time of PD or is it sufficient if the employer has the ability to pay that wage but not neccessarily paying it at that point ?

I have a second question. I understand at some point I may need to submit/show my original documents (degrees, birth certificate etc.) . All my documents are laminated and I read somewhere that laminated documents are not accepted by CIS. Can you please confirm if this is true ?


Thanks a lot in advance
 
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Question about H1B Holder working in a different City

Hello Rajiv,

I am currently a H1B holder working for a company in New York City. My husband found a job in Ohio, so we are moving to Ohio soon. I do not want to quit my job and my company allows me to work remotely. The thing is after I move to Ohio, I will be a resident there right? but the company I am working for is in NYC. Is it legal for a h1b holder? if not, is there any way i can make it legal?

Thank you so much for your help!!
 
Travel when NIW pending and h4 opening non profit

Thanks a lot for this opportunity!

I have a H1 and my wife has H4. I am a physician at a VA and I will be applying for NIW for physicians this Fall. I just completed my 3-year waiver requirement at the VA and renewed my H1 for 3 more years, but I have 2 more years to go in order to complete my NIW and then apply for the green card.

1) We will file I-140, I-485, EAD and AP. Once the paperwork is filed and pending, can we still travel on our H1 and H4?

2) As long as I don't use EAD (as long as I don't work for another employer), am I considered to be on H1 status?

3) My wife wants to open a non-profit private school with other people but she would manage it. She would like to incorporate the non-profit now in order to apply for funding and get the whole thing started. However, the school will not open before August 2011. Can she manage a non-profit on a H4 status, before obtaining her EAD, given that she will not get paid or receive any money?

Thank you!
 
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EAD follow-up after switching to F-1 status

Hi Rajiv -- I'd written to you earlier about getting the F-1 although I'd filed the 485 petition etc.

My question now is this -- I'd applied for an EAD (since the previous EAD had expired although I had a valid H1-B) back in April. USCIS has still not sent me an approval or denial notice. Multiple calls to the 1-800 number resulted in their telling me that it's been approved (back in April) and that the card is under production but they can't do anything to speed up the process (apparently because the card is under production and the case is no longer pending according to them!). I was going to take an INFOPASS appointment as well to get an interim EAD for what it's worth but the folks at the national service center told me that in my situation (since it's supposedly been approved) that would likely not work either.

I have now switched to F-1 status (entered the US on an F-1).

I don't really care any more about the EAD but I'm worried that the pending application may have some effect on any other applications that I file later.

So, what should I do now? Should I call up USCIS and tell them that since I've changed my status, they should send me a notice to close my case either which way (i.e., deny it or approve it but just send me an official notice to the effect?)? Or should I just wait to see what happens?

My concern with the latter course of action is that they will just not do anything with my case and it's going to be pending endlessly.

Any advice would be hugely appreciated!

Thanks a lot.
 
H1B extension and Green card

Hi Rajiv

I have a couple of questions regarding my Spouse Status

He is on H1B and his H1B 6th year is getting expired next year Sep.

The questions I have is

1. H1B extension beyond 6 years, what is the rule behind leaving country
a) does the candidate has to leave the country at any cost or can he be on other status(H4) and stay in the country for 1 year on H4 and then reapply for H1B for next 6 year period ?

2. Can an employer file for H1B extension beyond 6th year based on other employers I-140 approval and 140 appeal. what documents are needed as proof from previous employer in that case to file H1B extension beyond 6th year?

3. what is the rule behind filing GC before completing 5 years of H1B stay? is that for first GC labor filing only or for any subsequent labor filings from any employer?

4. My spouse's I-140 from previous employer is on appeal. Now he is not working for that employer. The previous employer dint withdraw the application. Can we hire any other attorney to proceed futher(for ex: to check the status of the appeal, to reopen I-485).
If yes what documents we need from previous employer.

5. If having a own house have any advantage (or) preference for Green card?

Please help us as my spouse is completing his 6 year of H1B next year.

Thanks
 
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Hello Rajiv,

Thank you for the excellent service. I have 2 questions.

1- I received my green card last year from employer A, I was working with employer B at the time on H1B, I quiet my job with employer B and joined employer A but kept working part time with employer B. 3 months into the employment employer A terminated my employment due to lay offs. I continued to work for employer B for few weeks after which I got a job with employer C with whom I am employed now, But I still work part time some where else employer D. It worries me a little bit that my employment with employer A was for a short period and I worked part time for employer B.

2- I was looking at the old statuses of my cases and noticed that one of my H1B approved petition had "We reopened this I129 PETITION FOR A NONIMMIGRANT WORKER on January 11, 2008, and are now reviewing our earlier decision. We also mailed you a notice describing the next steps in the process" (I left this company Nov 11, 2007)

I did not receive any notice from USCIS. This was an application for extension of my H1B which was approved but after the approval I filed for transfer and once the transfer application was approved I joined the new employer. Can this be the old employer notifying USCIS that I left the company. Do I need to worry about this. I have all paystubs and w2 I was employed with this company for over 4 years. should I just wait until USCIS sends something in the mail or be proactive and find out whats going on.
 
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Leave of Absence - I-485 Pending

Thanks in advance for answering this and a great community service.

My question is regarding 'Leave of absence - I-485 pending'. I have a pending 485 (filed in July 07) with a priority date of April 02 (EB3) and currently working on H1B entering my tenth year in 2010. I have read and listened to your answers previously regarding this topic. I am planning to go out of country in Sept 2010 for a long period (May be a year or more). I will make sure to have H1 (expiring in Oct 2010), EAD, AP and H4 renewed for me and my wife before leaving.

Your post on your web site says as long as you have 'GOOD' answers to certain questions, you should be fine. I have following responses ready in case of RFE and I am not sure if they are considered as 'good'. Can you comment on my following proposed responses:

1) Whether or not the job will be still available and permanent ? - Yes, my employer will testify it with a employment letter.
2) Why I am taking a Break ? - It would be ten years I will be working on H1B and just wanted to take a long break to catch up with family and friends. I definitely need this long break to revive myself.
3) Who will work in my absence ? - I will complete all my existing projects before taking leave of absence and the company will put on hold any new projects until I come back.
4) Are you terminating relationship with your employer ? - No, I have a very healthy relationship with my employer and worked for this employer for almost 7 years out of 10.


* What other questions I can expect from USCIS in case a RFE originates regarding my 'leave of Absence'

Just to add a note I work as ERP consultant in higher education and the tool that I use does not have much skilled available people in market. I am not aware of even a single H1B holder using this tool and skill set. I hope that justifies ‘Employer keeping my Job Active’ question
 
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Last year, I moved to India on a company transfer (to take care of family health). I entered the US several times over the past year staying briefly. I want to move back to US, by the end of the year.

I have a GC (5+ years) and have stayed with the same company.

If I quit my job, will I have any issues at the POE? So far, the questions have been "where do you work?", "how long have you been out of the country?".
 
Hi,

I applied for I 130 and I485 concurrently back in Nov 2006.
Was interviewed and informed that they are still waiting on my name check.
Was informed by the congressman's rep and officer at local office that background check have been cleared.
Was re-fingerprinted in April2009 and heard nothing after that.
Wrote letters to all authorties but received nothing conclusive back. (outside agency or case is under review and other excuses)

Questions

1. What is the best option for me to do at this point to expediate my case?
2. I am traveling outside USA on AP and will be back in USA before one day of expiration of AP. Can this be problem at port of entry?
 
Immigration records

Hi Rajiv,

I had a question about arrest history on immigration records. I was arrested for DUI in 2004 and was later released on $0 bond (later i went through the process of fines, classes and such). But now I got Governor's pardon, so that it will be effectively sealed from the records. Now would the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) still be able to see that when I apply for the F-1 extension or even if I were to have the visa stamped, would it be an issue when re-entering the US?
 
Hello Rajiv,

My husband and I got into an heated argument which led me to call 911 as a rash decision. I am very much regretting my action. The police arrested my husband on second deg assault charges, he was released on bail and now we are awaiting our court trial early september. Meanwhile, he had applied for citizenship just before the incident and now already we have a fingerprinting call which is next 2 weeks. We are hoping and according to our lawyer, our case in the court would be dropped. My question is -
1. should he still go ahead with his FP? or should we request a postponing of it?
2. How will these charges affect his application? what should we do?

Please respond. Thanks
 
I-212 Form

Hi Rajiv,
Many thanks for your community service.
i have been approved as an alien of extraordinary ability last may, i am completing the DS-230 but i have to complete the I-212 form for my wife.
i don't have a lawyer anymore.
My wife was been deported in February 08 because she stay more than 6 months that she was authorized on the I94. She had a B1/B2 but they canceled it.
She send the I-212 form to the lead office were she was deported the june 28th 2009 for permission to reapply for admission into the United States after deportation.
The check fee of 545$ have been debited to my bank in the USA the july 10th 2009.
How can i follow up the form in the process, and how long this form usually take to be processed?
Thanks
 
H1B worker laid off...Suggestions please...

Dear Rajiv,

I am on H1B and my last day with current employer is roughly in a week. I have read through your blog with some very useful information for H1B workers that are laid off in this economy. Thanks for that. However I have some follow-up questions.

1. One of the options for me now is to apply for B1/B2 visa. How soon or late can this be done? Can I wait until my company revokes the H1 and then apply for B1/B2. i.e. is it okay if there is a gap between H1 revokation date and B visa application date? The reason I ask is in the meantime I am looking for other jobs and if I get an H1B sponsoring company, then I would rather apply directly for H1B than apply for B1/B2.
2. Also is it going to be an issue if I apply for the new H1B while the decision on B1/B2 application is pending (if I find a new job after applying for B1). i.e. I will have two visa applications pending at the same time? Is it appropriate to do so? Or will this cause a problem? How long does the B1 visa take to get either approved or denied? Does one need a lawyer to apply for this B visa? or can it be done by the individual?
3. Will I have issues if in the meantime, I have to visit India while my B1 visa is pending?
4. If my B1 visa application is pending for 2 months from now and if I find a job at that time, and apply for H1B visa after 2 months from now, is it okay to apply for H1B transfer since I will not have the latest pay stubs? Or will it be considered as a new H1B? i.e. will I fall in the H1B quota? and be granted another 3 years H1B if approved? I still have around 2 years time on my current 6 years of H1b.
5. I also have my I-140 approved from this employer, however since I lost the job, can I transfer this to another new job and retain the priority date? And if yes, will I have to restart the whole Green Card process? Will I need to have the same job description and similar job position ? I am most likely considering changing my careers to something different than what I have done so far. Is it still ok to use my current priority date with an entirely different job description, etc.

Thanks for your time Rajiv. Sorry if I have some questions that have already been answered in your blog. I was a little anxious while typing these questions...Please reply as much as you can.

Thanks again..
 
Dear Rajiv,
Greetings and hope you continue to support the immigrant community for centuries to come.

I am presently on H4 I-94 valid till December 2009.

I had been on H1B earlier till August 2008 (total duration of H1B for 6 years)and have an approved I-140 NIW (EB-2 India )priority date July 07.
Now a higher educational organisation (University) is filling for an H1B for me, do you foresee any complications for the H1B approval from USCIS.
thanks
 
485 pending - lost job

Hi Rajeev,

Thanks for the excellent service.

I was with my sponsoring employer for last 5 years; my PD for EB3-india is July 2004. 140 approved in April 2007. 485 applied in July 2007.

1) Just got laid off last week, so what is my current status?

2) Like H1 people, do I have to find a job in 30 days otherwise will I be out of status?

3) Until I find new job and apply AC21, can my employer revoke my current I-140? What happens then?

Thanks
 
Parental GC/Citizenship situation

Hi Rajiv

My brother received his green card last year. His paperwork for the GC was in process for almost 4 years prior to that. My parents have retired and have moved to the U.S. on visit visa for now.
1. What would be the fastest process for him to get his U.S. citizenship? If he has received his GC after such a long waiting period does that mean that the time for him to apply for his citizenship is less? When can he do that?

2. Would it be better/faster for my brother to apply for my parents permanent residency as a GC holder or wait for his U.S. citizenship to do so? Will my parents have to leave the country once he applies under GC for their GC?

Thanks for all the help
 
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