Recording Available, October 01, Community Conference Call with Attorney Rajiv S. Khanna

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DEEPAMENON

Team Member, Immigration.Com
Staff member

Rajiv 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:
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(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: :
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(202)800-8394
Topic: General Immigration Related Questions
Start Time: 12:30PM, EST
End Time: 1:30 PM, EST
NEXT CALL DATE:October 15, 2015
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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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FAQ: Can a J-2 holder get a HRR 212(e) waiver without J-1?

Dear Sir,
My wife is working here in the US on J1 visa as a Post Doctoral Fellow and She is subject to 2HRR requirement.

I came to United States last year on J2 visa from india and after few month I applied and got the EAD card and now I am also working for XYZ IT company here in the USA and I am subject to Two HRR requirement as well.

So I have these questions
1) My employer wants to file H1B visa for me but my wife does not have an offer for H1B visa so in that case Can I (J-2 visa holder) file a waiver petition independently of the J-1 Principal?

2) if I (J-2 visa holder) get a waiver, Will my wife (J-1 Visa holder) be exempt from the two year foreign residency requirement as well.

Your response would be greatly appreciated and I look forward to hearing from you.

Best regards,
Gautam Awasthi
 
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Sir,
I am a US permanent resident, entered from Canada and exited the US to Canada the same day in SEP 2013 and MAR 2014. Again, I entered US from Canad in FEB 2015 and exited to India after 3 days. All through I was as an Indian Citizen and Canadian Permanenet Resident. Very soon, I will take oath of Canadian Citizenship.

My question is: How can I retain US Permanent Resident status working in Detroit and staying in Windsor, ON Canada i.e. commuting everyday from Windsor, ON, Canada to Detroit, MI USA?

Thanks and Best Regards
Habeeb A. Alwi
Calgary, AB Canada
 
Dear Rajiv Khanna,

I just got my I-140 approved with my current employer. I have two questions :

1. I want to start a company and work full time for that. What are my options?

2. I came to US in Jan 2009 on F1 visa. My H1 was approved the same year through a contractor. My status was changed to H1 in October of the same year. But in my ignorance and no availability of projects with the contractor I continued with my internship at the University. I continued working for the University till May 2010 and then I realized that my status is H1B and I am not authorized to continue working as student. According to many I was out of status during that time from October 2009 to May 2010.

I joined a company as full time employee in June 2010 and later switched companies in October 2012 through H1 transfer. This new employer got my I-140 approved recently. But I have not visited India since coming to US in 2009. The attorney here recommend against going to India. But it may not be possible for me to not go to India till I get my Green Card. Do you have any suggestions?

Thanks.
AKS
 
Hi Sir,
I have got my green card from Company-A by EB1C - last month. Now I am getting a offer by an Company-B for the similar role in 1099 contract.
1) Do we have any legal issue taking this offer from Company-B ?
2) If I change my job to Company-B, is it possible for the company-A to revoke my I140? (I 140 has got approved few months back now its more than 180 days, applied in Jan2015). If they revoke my I140, any impact for me ..?
 
Unused H1B Petition - Revoked after Oct 1 - Can it be used for Cap Exempt Change of Status from L1b to H1b?

Dear Rajeev Sir,

Situation -
I had my H1B Petition filed by Company B approved last year but at the same time company A (current employer) wanted me to travel using L1B VISA last year and so I chose that option instead of joining Company B.
Later in March 2015, Company B revoked my H1B petition as I never happen to join them.

Questions
Now if I want Company A (L1B employer) to file for Change of Status to H1B (CAP-EXEMPT), is it possible? Or because my H1B petition was revoked, My H1B application will be counted under H1B Quota only?
Is it discretionary that sometime USCIS approves such cases as Cap-exempt and sometimes consider them under quota?

Thanks much !!
 
H1B to H4 COS without latest Paystubs

Hi Rajeev,

I have been working in US as a Full time permanent employee since 2011 in H1 status for a Fortune 500 US firm and got my 140 approved in 2014. My wife entered US in 2012 on H4 visa and last year she got her H1B. Unfortunately, she was able to work only for 3 months (May to July) and the employer was running her payroll for remaining months for an amount below LCA. My wife wants to change her status back to H4 but the employer has not run her payroll for July and August yet. Will it be Ok if she leaves US and go for a H4 stamping in India without the latest paystubs? What kind of risks might we face due to this? Will it be better if we apply for her COS from here itself after getting the paystubs?

Kindly advise.

Thanks,
Pradeep
 
EAD renewal

Hi ,
I am on EAD thru my spouses green card processing . we are on EB3. I140 is approved and I485 was filed
is it possible to renew my EAD separately, independant of my husband's green card processing , if he intends not to renew my EAD in future.

Thanks much,
 
hi .
I used my H1 visa only for 2 years and it expired in 2001. later i came back to the country on L1A which also finished. will i be able to use the unused years of my H1 under H1 Cap exempt now ? if so , what is the procedure to do this

thanks ..
 
Dear Khannajee -

My wife had to travel to India while her I539 and H4 EAD was pending. (She already had a Valid unexpired H4 VISA for re-entry). Surprisingly, the USCIS issued both the I797 and EAD card even though she was out of country. My understanding is that the filing gets abandoned if you travel while it is pending. My question are

1. Is the H4 EAD valid?
2. Is the I797 (and I-94) valid?
3. If the EAD is not valid, can I apply for another one given that it was just issued and nowhere near expiry date?
4. Do I need to inform USCIS about the error on their part?


Thanks, PP
 
Hi Rajeev Ji,

Thanks for your help.

I-140 is approved and priority date Oct 2013.

I used to get 90K (Let's assume ) and same amount is mentioned in green card application (I-140 and PERM ) .

since feb 2015 , my company reduced my salary to 72 K (Let's assume ) which is 18 K less.

I Spock to all the manager and higher authority in my company but no one helped me.

  • is it legal for my company to pay less salary then what they mentioned in my I-140 amount.
  • can I do anything legally ?
Thanks
 
Dear Rajiv,

My I-140 is approved and filed I-485 4 years back. I Left to India due to a personal emergency after 485 filed.
When I left US I was on AP and EAD. My H1B 6 year already over and got extensions before.

Now the question is since I have I-140 approved state, can I get H1B outside the lottery system and can a company file
H1B based on the I-140 approval? I am out of US now 3 years.

Thanks
 
Hi Rajiv,

I am H1B visa and currently in my 8th Year (getting visa extensions so far , based on Approved PERM).

Now, I need to switch to some other employer ( due to some problems with my current employer).
My current Visa expires in Dec 2015, and my current employer has already filed an H1 extension.
So I am assuming my next H1 will be valid till Dec 2016.

My question is , say i switch to another employer , and they do H1 Transfer.
How long will be my next H1B be valid for ?

Will it be valid only for remaining time in my H1 ?
i.e say my H1 is valid till Dec 2016 and i switch in March 2016. Will the transferred H1B be only valid till Dec 2016 ?

OR

Will it be valid till March 2017 ?

OR

Will it be something else ?
 
Dear Rajiv

I am a recent graduate and now i am in my OPT.I have an offer letter from a medium sized consulting company.But i am not on the project currently.I am planning to travel to India in November 2015.I just wanted to know the risk factor of travelling when i am in my OPT.
 
Dear Rajiv

I have some questions as per below, could you please help me on that, i am really appreciated.

I was on H1b from April 2002 – (based on Approved PERM) until April 2011 and got my I-140 approved and 485 is pending since July 2007, I left US on December 2008, since than I am in Canada now i am Canadian (citizenship) . My EB3 India priority date is September 2005, I Verified that now my priority dates are current with in one or two month. Can I come under Visa Waiver to US and apply for AOS again. Please Let us Know.

Thanks in advance for your time and help
Regards
 
Hi Rajiv,
I was on H1-B visa. I made a mistake to quit company A without company B completing the H1 transfer process. Company B initiated my H1 transfer process based on I-140. I had to leave the country to avoid out of status. During the transfer process Company A revoked my I-140 petition.
1) Do i have any option to retain my H1 visa?
2) Would i be able to retain my priority date for future use? Please suggest.

--FYI--
My perm was filed in 2008 and I-140 was approved in 2011. I have re-entered based on L2 visa to join my wife and kid and have applied for EAD.

Thanks in Advance,
Piyush Shah
 
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Hello Mr. Rajiv,

Thanks for answering to my previous queries. Your answers are always helpful !
I wanted to ask if it is okay to travel while H1B amendment (material change/location change) is pending. Also, if you go for your first H1B stamping, can you go before the amendment is approved or do you have to wait for the amendment approval.

Thanks,
Shweta
 
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Hello Sir,

"My lawyer was asking below information for my "I485" filing. The below info is not in the actual 485 form but my layer is trying to collect all the data.

The lawyer's question is "Please explain if you have ever been required to appear at police station."?


But, I appeared at police station ones. Here it goes:-

The below incident happened more than 3 years ago. One day, I was coming from a shop in the evening around 7 PM. It was summer and nice sunny weather. So, I just walked to the shop to get a gallon of milk. The shop was less than half a mile from my apartment. I was alone. On my way return to home, a cop stopped me and asked whether I was trying to enter into somebody’s home. I said no. He then checked my ID and let me go.
After couple of days a cop came to my apartment and asked about me. My wife told that I was in office. He then checked with my wife that where I went on that day evening. My wife told him that I went to a nearby shop to get the milk. He then asked when your husband was returned. She told that returned in 15 to 20 minutes. Then, he gave his business card to my wife and asked me to call him back. I called him and he told me that he wanted to meet me. So, he scheduled an appointment two days after.
On the appointment day, I went to local enforcement office and met this cop. Before he talks anything he told me that this is not arrest or detained. If you do not like this you can walk away anytime. I said no problem, I will cooperative with you.
He asked me whether I was stopped by a cop on that day. I explained everything as above. I asked what happened and why you wanted to meet me. He said that someone complained on you that you were trying to enter their house on that day. I said no, I do not know what happened. I said that I was just returning to my home from the shop on the sidewalk. He said, that is fine, it could be miscommunication and we wanted to verify few things. He said that they captured the finger prints of that person who tried to enter into somebody’s house and they wanted verify them with mine. I said ok, no problem and I gave all my 10 finger prints and left the place. It was an about 20 to 30 minutes meeting.

Before I left I asked below questions to the cop and here are his responses.

1. Is it going to be affecting my future or immigration?
He said that “NO”. We will get the finger prints results in two months and if you do not hear in two months then you can completely forget about this incident. It was just a miscommunication.

Now, it’s been 3 years and I did not hear anything from them.

2. Is it going to be in the history?
He said “NO”.

3. Can I travel internationally?
He said “Yes”. It won’t affect anything just assume nothing happened.

Now, my questions are:
Can I report this to my lawyer?
I did not have any letter/document about the above incident? Is it going to cause an issue for 485 application?

Thank you.
 
Hello Sir,
I am on H1B visa with I-797 expiry of June 2017 with approved I-140 of priority date December 2010.

I work for software consulting company and had no issues with my employer till now. My employer is facing rough business in terms of revenue growth and I am in process of rolling of current project at client location and my employer does not have another client billable project ready yet. I used to work in in-house product development projects earlier during roll-off periods and on-board to another client engagements but those internal projects are not available due to current budget situation at my employer.

I do not want to get fired at this late stage in my Green card process. Is there any salary reduction I can propose to my employer to keep my position in the company and not affect my GC process.
What are all the things that can be done to have a valid salary reduction, LCA amendment or H1B amendment or I-140 amendment or all three amendments should be done to reflect change in wages?

Thank you.
 
Dear Rajiv sir,
I am currently doing GC with your firm and have a couple of questions
I asked the same question with my case attorney they said to get Rajiv sir opinion- so thought to post her in this forum so others could get that knowledge too

Question 1 ( related to - PER DIEM & effects on EAD)
I lost my job couple of months back , that made me go to Louisiana from Houston.
I leased an 1 year apartment and continuing my work and receiving PER DIEM fixed benefits , which I might receive for 6 months or an 1 year because the contract says 6 months contract.

I still have things in Houston in my in-laws house and wife(house wife taking care of in-laws due to health issues by staying with them) she stays there for couple of weeks and here in Louisiana for a couple of weeks.
So, I have given the address of Houston and pay checks do have the Houston address on it printed.

When I fill 'G-325 Applicant last 5 years residence' - do I need to put my Louisiana address (or) Houston Address (or) Both ?


Question 2 (related to - Indian demat account)

I have an Indian Demat account and not used to buy/sell for 8 years now. But it does have more than 20000$ but haven't declared while doing US tax filing.
I heard the dead line is crossed few years back and if declared now it might result in fine or punishment . Does this foreign asset NON declaration cause any issue while processing EAD/GC ?


Question 3 (Mentioning Alternative name ):

The Indian Demat account is in a different FULL NAME which is not my official name in passport/birth certificate.
So is it ok not to mention this Alternative name in my EAD related application - to avoid issues ?


Thank you
 
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