Posting this on behalf of a friend in need.
Hello Mr.Khanna,
Greetings! I would like to present the case of an accomplished research scholar who is in desperate need for some legal help. Following are his details:
My friend is a very bright young scientist with an M.Sc from Central University, Hyderabad and a Ph.D. from the prestigeous All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi. He came to this country in August 2006 on a J1 visa to pursue his research interests at National Institue of Health (NIH) in Maryland. After a 2 year stint with them, he moved to Albert Einstein College of Medicine (New York) in September 2008 and worked there (on another J1) until August 2010. Since Sept 2010 he has been doing research at Boston University. His current J1 with Boston University is ending on 19th August, 2011. Earlier this year, he was planning to move to H-1B and has been preparing ground for that. He got his Waivers from the Indian government and as of March 2011, he was preparing the paperwork to submit to USCIS for obtaining required waiver(s) to transfer his status to H-1B. In a very unfortunate and rather shocking way to his family and friends, he suffered a major stroke on March 16th while at work. A big clot on the right side of his brain caused this massive stroke that left him fighting for life for the next several days. For someone who barely entered his 30s with no prior health issues whatsoever, this was simply unimaginable. Luckily he was attended by some of the Doctors who are the best in business and gradually got out of danger. However, he is still in a partially paralyzed state with his left side of the body not functioning. He also had a Craniectomy (Check wikipedia or Google for details on this procedure) done and still has his skull open. Undergoing intense therapy sessions to get him back to as much normalcy as possible, he is looking at a long road to recovery before he can indepndently take care of himself. However, his chances of fully recovery are very bright if he gets continued therapy and treatment.
As if all this chaos is not enough, he has a huge legal and financial hurdles awaiting to hit him. His employer provided him with full salary until May 13th, after which he was put in "Leave of absence" status. That means, he would still be employed but wouldn't be paid any salary. As a result, he is entitled to his health benefits...provided he bears his part of the insurance premiums from out of his pocket (which were otherwise deducted from his pay check). However, his employment (read J1) ends on 19th August, 2011. His employer expressed inability to further extend his J1 visa for lack of funding. As of now, his only option seems to be going to India by mid August. But he is not likely to recover by that time to be able to travel as he is currently can't even sit upright by himself. Additionally, he needs to have another surgery to put his skull back in place once he recovers. This legal situation has become an additional conundrum for him and his wife while fighting the health and financial situation they are already faced with.
His wife, who is currently on J2, is an M.Sc, M.Phil in Mathematics from Andhra University in India. She worked in the software industry in India for a very brief period before she got married and came to the US. She has never worked in the US so far, though. Even if she can find a job and have her H-1B sponsored, she can't start working until October, 2011. They have 2 months (August-October) where they will likely be out of status.
Here are some of my questions...
Questions
1) Once the current visa/employment expires on 19th August 2011, what are his chances of getting a legal extension on Medical grounds?
2) As per our understanding, once he applies to USCIS for a waiver (of his J status), it takes about 2 months to have it approved. If that happens, what are the negatives resulting in that in terms of losing J status. Would that jeopardise his chances of extending his stay in the US legally?
3) As a part of processing the waiver, if USCIS contacts his current employer and the employer lets USCIS know that he is employed but on a leave of absence on medical grounds, would it affect anything negatively?
4) As and when the waiver is approved by USCIS, would it result in them losing their J status? In other words, since they don't have any other offers for a different category visa, how much time would they have in hand to legally stay in the US?
5) Is there any expedited process to get the waiver from USCIS?
6) His employer has expressed inability to extend his J visa past Aug 2011. Even if they get additional funding, they mentioned that they won't be able to sponsor for his H1 (should he get the waivers), unless he physically and mentally recovers enough to be able to perform his duties. Given his current health condition, this is highly unlikely to happen in the next few months. Are there any other possible avenues through which he can approach his current employer for help...on humanitarian grounds, perhaps?
7) His wife is an M.Sc M.Phil in Mathematics and has worked in Software industry in India for a brief period. She has some prospective offers for getting an H-1B sponsored. Since she will have to wait until October to start working, what are their possibilities between August and October to maintain their legal status? Should she get an approval for H-1B, do they need to go back to India to get their visas stamped?
8) If his wife gets an H-1B and he goes to H4, would there be any issue with getting Health Insurance through his wife's employer because of his pre-existing condition?
9) Are there any Indian (or any other service) organizations that can help him in terms of health coverage costs once he loses his current insurance in August, 2011?
10) Are there any other possible avenues (that were not discussed above and that we are not aware of) to enable them to legally stay here in the US until he fully recovers? As friends, our only wish is to let him have a 100% chance to recover and be able to do what he immensely enjoys and loves to do - which is to continue his research in the field of Bilogical & Medical Sciences.
It would be of great help if you can be kind enough to take up this case and with your expertise help my friend in anywhichway you can.
Sincerely,
Ravi
