Recording Available, November 08, 2018 Community Conference Call with Attorney Rajiv S. Khanna

[DEEPAMENON]

Rajiv S. Khanna, US Immigration Attorney, hosts a Free Community Conference Call for all of you, every other Thursday at 12:30 PM Eastern Standard Time to answer US immigration related questions, Dial in No: (202)800-8394. Everyone, whether or not a member of discussion forums, is welcome to call in and ask questions or just listen live or listen to the recording for the call posted at the end of the day. Note that we answer posted questions and follow-ups first.

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Conference Dial-in: : (202)800-8394
Topic: General Immigration Related Questions
Start Time: 12:30 PM, EST
End Time: 1:30 PM, EST
NEXT CALL DATE: November 29, 2018
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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.

 

[georgepenn]

FAQ: Impact of unlawful presence

Hi Rajiv,

I am a LPR for 1 year. I married my wife 10 month ago. She came here on a J1 visa that expired 12 years ago and she is out of status. She never filed anything with USCIS except the I-130 9 month ago. The new policy implemented on Aug 9, 2018 for the F,J,M students and accrual of unlawful presence says that she will accumulate unlawful presence starting Aug 9, 2018. If she leaves US after February 5, 2019 she will be subject to 3/10 year bar. She plans to leave shortly before that and wait for her priority date to be current in 1.5 years hopefully. Do you think she can have any problems at the consulate interview if she was out of status for 12 years, and she accumulates close to 180 days of unlawful presence?

Thank you very much

 

[Manjula Deeksha]

FAQ: Unlawful presence for minors

Hi Rajiv sir,

Sir my son’s i94 and visa are expired in June.
We have applied for i539 for extension in October. Will he be granted the extension. Please find the attachments. The status just say that it received.

 

[VIJAY AMIN]

FAQ: How can I downgrade from EB2 to EB3 and the consequences

Thanks Sir for your help to community.

Subject: Eb2 to EB3

Details: I have I-140 approved in EB2, priority date is 2010. When date become current for EB3, I want to downgrade from EB2 to EB3 (I know I have to only refile I-140 and I-485 concurrent).

(1) What will happen if USCIS denied newly filed I-140 (EB3)? can I-485 also denied?
(2) If newly filed I-140 (EB3) denied, can I used my previously approved I-140 (EB2)?

 

[deals4kr]

FAQ: Traveling abroad while H4 EAD is pending

Hi Sir,
I changed my job from company A to Company B. H1,h4,h4ead is approved for company A. I moved to company B and my h1 change of employer is approved. While h4 is pending with company B. Can my wife travel to India and apply for h4 visa stamping in India?

Regards,
Reddy

 

[sandeep@39]

FAQ: Filing change of address

Hello Rajiv,
(1). I would like to know whether I should update my residential address to USCIS or immigration department in order to keep them informed of my updated address?? Since I'm the beneficiary and my wife is GC holder, she has applied for my I-130 of family based Green card when I was in New York and now I've moved to South Carolina, are we suppose to inform immigration dept?
If Yes who should inform them, can I give a permanent Mailing address different from my residential address since I may be working on short-term contracts.

(2). What would be the situation if someone over stays on visit visa and their sponsor is not aware of that.

Thank you for your service.

 

[Vinodh]

FAQ: Starting business while on student visa

Hi Rajiv

I'm from India, and I am currently doing my masters in the U.S.

My goal is to build my startup as I m doing my masters.

Therefore, before coming to the U.S, I have incorporated a C Corp in Delaware with me and my brother as the owners.

I don't want to violate my F1 status, therefore, even though I have incorporated the C Corp, We are not actively doing any work since I am not sure working on my startup in University will violate my status.

I have tried getting in touch with International student services but I have not gotten a clear response on how I can run my startup as an international student while being on F1.

I request you kindly let me know what I need to do to run my startup while on a F1 student.

Looking forward.

Thank you.

Vinodh

 

[nick_agrawal]

Hello Rajiv,
My wife went to give l-1b blanket interview and got denied. She appeared for h-4 visa interview after that and got denied again. Reason give was that she was traveling to a different city than her husbands city. My wife holds a H-4 Ead that is valid till July 2020 and works full time in a different city than mine.

Now, I was laid off recently and I was on the companies payroll till 29th October 2018.
My new employer has filed for the h-1b transfer on 25th oct 2018 and I am waiting on the transfer receipt for h-1b so I can start working.

My wife’s employer is suggesting her to go for h-4 visa interview again ( so she can get back to work on H-4 EAD) with receipt of h-1b transfer, old employer i797(valid till 2020) and new employers paystubs, new LCA etc.
I wanted to know what are the chances of getting approval on h-1b transfer receipt?

From my understanding I will still be in status but not sure how consulate treats it. My wife's employer is not allowing her to work remotely so I hope her job is not lost due to this timing

Please provide your inputs.
Thank you

 

[newandhra]

FAQ: Being without a job on AC21

Hello Rajiv Ji,
I would like to know is it ok to not be on a job for few months when a person is on AC21 and working on EAD (485 filed) status.
Does it raise any issues down the line like getting green card or USC.
-Thanks,

 

[AnoopGC]

FAQ: Citizenship for employees of consulting companies who have projects in different cities after green card

Hello Rajiv Sir,

Thank you very much for all your help.

IT consulting companies hire “full time” employees as Consultants who gets placed at different job locations at client sites. Role and Job of a consultant remains same or similar but keeps changing according to contract job on which employee is been placed at different client locations.

When IT consulting company sponsor someone for green card, some fixed job title( ex software engineer) is mentioned in labor certification.
After green card is approved employee keep working “full time” for the consulting company with same job title for example - “software engineer” and get paid the salary accordingly (But in fact, because of the nature of consulting companies, employee keeps working on different contract projects, different roles, at different client locations which may be same or similar with the labor certification job title- software engineer ).

When employee works on H1b with consulting company, USCIS asks for client letter, contracts, statement of work etc..
On the other hand when Same consulting company sponsor green card, primary applicant only needs “ Job Offer Letter” from the sponsoring consulting company.

When applying for citizenship—
My Question is after getting green card and leaving consulting employer after 14 months, when person applies for US Citizenship (8 years after getting green card) can USCIS( knowing that sponsoring company was consulting) asks for client letter, contracts ( like H1b documentation ) for the period when employee was working with GC employer( after GC approved) ? ?

What if person do not have any client letter, contracts etc.. ( which is now more than 8 years old) and only have paystubs and w2( from GC sponsoring employer) and bank statements?
have you seen anyone denied( other than fraud) citizenship?

Have you seen USCIS giving RFE( other than basic pay stubs and w2 to check that person worked for sponsoring employer) when they apply for US citizenship with green card through Information technology Consulting company?

Thank you!

 

[Surya04CA]

FAQ: The new restriction on 12 months of CPT OPT combined – – consequences of H-1B denial on OPT

Hi Rajiv,

I am currently on F1 visa and working on CPT. My H1 petition was picked in the lottery this year and status changed to RFE 2 weeks ago.

- I wanted to know if August 9 unlawful presence rule applies in my case i.e; if I get a response for RFE after Feb 4 2019, that completes 180 days.
- In case if H1 is approved but COS is denied, will my F1 visa be still active until I get H1 visa stamped?
- I am planning to do PhD after completion of my current masters program(2nd). Will CPT that I used during Masters effect my future immigration chances if I take CPT even during PhD (if my H1 FY2019 is not approved.)
- What would you suggest in my case to have a smoother process for a successful conversion to H1 (if/when approved)

 

[sampQ6699]

Hi Rajiv, good day.

Next month I am marrying LPR, she received it few months back through family based process.
and she is planning to find a job in US after our marriage.

considering we get married,

a) How quickly she can sponsor me the GC under F2A category?
b) Is it necessary to be in job to sponsor me?
c) Considering she is not having any job as of now, can her father jointly sponsor me?
d) What is the best way for me to come to USA.

 

[Krishna3.ck]

Hi Rajiv.

We went to India in June 2016 when my Wife was on F1 status. While coming back to USA she had H4 stamped at Consulate. But we were stopped at Abhudhabi Port Of Entry and Issued new form "Application for Waiver of Passport AND/OR Visa" . We were told that My Wife's H4 visa cancelled and Issued F1 again.
Online I-94 also shows Class Of Admission is F1.
My Employer has filed for My H1B extension in May 2018 and Change of status for my Wife from F1(OPT Expiring on June 21 2018) to H4.

Will there be any RFE on My wife's Change of status from F1(OPT) to H4 now?.

Regards.

 

[Andy T]

Hi Rajiv,

I got my employment based GC four months ago. One month after getting the GC, I started my own IT consulting firm(LLC) and started working on additional projects while continuing to work in parallel for my GC employer.

Now after 4 months, I would like to quit my employer and just continue to work for my LLC.

1) Do you think quitting my GC employer after 4 months will cause any issues during naturalization?
2) Can establishing an LLC and working on additional projects immediately after getting a GC should be cause of any concern during naturalization?

 

[abhijit_22]

Hi Rajiv Sir,

I am working in Bengaluru in India. I was on H-1B from 2006 - 2008 for Employer A, and came back to India afterward. Since then, I have been working with Employer B. Though I was working in India, my current employer had filed my I-140, which got approved in 2015 in EB2 category.

Now, I have a job offer from Employer C in Seattle.


Question:
Can I use my H-1B from 2006 and with an approved from I-140, renew the expired H-1B, and start my job in the US?


Thanks a lot for helping the community.

 

[rajeevsharma]

Hi Rajiv,
I am on H1B and my i140 was approved and waiting for PD which is 26 July 2013. My concern is my son, who is aging out in 2021 and studying in college. Will CSPA help him? if not then, what other options he has to stay with us in the US? My i-140 was only pending for 13 days with USCIS.

Thanks,
Rajeev

 

[sampQ6699]

Hi Rajiv, this is in continuation for 12th message.

Get married, after marriage my wife will go to US and file for me (AOS will be provided by one of my friend) and come back to my place for couple of months(max 5 months)and after that she will go back to US and find a job. After the priority dates I will join her.

Please let us know if this can be done.

 

[clear_signal]

FAQ: Not worked for green card sponsoring company – – fraud implication for naturalization/citizenship

Potential *fraud implication* while applying for Naturalization

Time Line
2001 - Completed Masters from a US University.
2004 - Started working for "Employer A" on H1B visa
2008 - Filed for GC in EB2 thru the same "Employer A"
2011 - Moved to India to run Indian operations of the same employer A, and converted GC processing to 'Consular processing' before leaving.

October 2013 - Immigrant visa issued while in India
November 2013 - Entered US for a short one week visit and received Green Card on arrival
Nov 2013 - Mar 2014 - Continued running Indian Operations
March 2014 - Entered US, quit the Company and setup my own S-Corp.

In Summary,
* I worked for the same Company from 2004 to 2014 (2004 - 2011 in US on H1B, and 2011-2014 in India)
* BUT, after Green card, I did not work for the Company in US.
* I don't have even a single paycheck from US Company after receiving GC.
* Since then, I have been working in a job with same job description that my GC was filed for.
* All other history is clean. I have two US born children, Always paid taxes on time, no legal cases.

I heard from reliable sources that under current circumstances, my case will be marked as fraud and there is a 99% chance that they will revoke my GC and deport me, as I didn't stay with the employer that sponsored my GC.

Questions
* Should I be really concerned?
* What are my options?
* I have the option of going back to the same employer now. Does that help?
* If my wife applies for Naturalization instead of me, is that going to be any different?

Thanks for your time.

 

[clear_signal]

Potential *fraud implication* while applying for Naturalization

Time Line
2001 - Completed Masters from a US University.
2004 - Started working for "Employer A" on H1B visa
2008 - Filed for GC in EB2 thru the same "Employer A"
2011 - Moved to India to run Indian operations of the same employer A, and converted GC processing to 'Consular processing' before leaving.

October 2013 - Immigrant visa issued while in India
November 2013 - Entered US, received Green Card, joined the US Company. Stayed ONLY for a WEEK.
Nov 2013 - Mar 2014 - Went back to India after a week to continue running Indian Operations
March 2014 - Entered US, quit the Company in a couple of months and setup my own S-Corp.

In Summary,
* I worked for the same Company from 2004 to 2014 (2004 - 2011 in US on H1B, and 2011-2014 in India).
* BUT, after Green card, I don't have a single paycheck from Company in US, but I have paychecks in India.
* Since then, I have been working in a job with same job description that my GC was filed for.
* All other history is clean. I have two US born children, Always paid taxes on time, no legal cases.

I heard from reliable sources that under current circumstances, my case will be marked as fraud and there is a 99% chance that they will revoke my GC and deport me, as I didn't stay with the employer that sponsored my GC.

Questions
* Should I be really concerned?
* What are my options?
* I have the option of going back to the same employer now. Does that help?
* If my wife applies for Naturalization instead of me, is that going to be any different?

Thanks for your time.

 

[clear_signal]

Please ignore post 18 above and replace it with post 19. I have updated it a little bit.