Recording of April 01, 2021 Conference Call with Rajiv S. Khanna

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DEEPAMENON

Team Member, Immigration.Com
Staff member


Rajiv S. Khanna, US Immigration Attorney, hosts a Free Community Conference Call every other Thursday to answer immigration related questions. Whether a member of the forum or not, you are welcome to call in and ask questions or just listen to the discussion live. Questions marked as FAQ'S will be addressed first and these FAQ'S will be posted in our immigration.com FAQ section. The recording of what was discussed during the live call will be posted at the end of the day. For previous recordings click here.
Note that we answer posted questions and follow-ups first.
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Call Details:
Next Call Date: 15 April 2021
Start Time: 12:30 PM Eastern Standard Time
End Time: 1:30 PM, EST
Conference Dial-in: : (202)800-8394
Topic: General Immigration Related Questions
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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: After I get my green card, is it legal to work for two companies (and not the original company) simultaneously?

Hello Rajiv,

I got my GC on March of 2016 through my then employer. Soon after getting my GC my project ended (May 2016) abruptly because of the change at client location. I did not had any project at hand so I started looking for a new job and started to work with new employer in June of 2016. There was no official end date of my employment with my previous employer through which I got my GC because they were looking for a new project for me but without any certainty how long it could be before they can find me a new project. While they were looking for a project for me, I already started working for my new employer so I just moved on without any official end date with my previous employer.

In Feb of 2019, I started a second job with another employer. Currently, I'm working 2 jobs full time on GC.

I am now eligible to file for citizenship through 5 years of permanent residency requirement. I'm worried if there will be any issues while I file for my citizenship because I did not stay with the employer that file my GC long enough after receiving my GC. Also will there be any issues because I am currently working 2 full time jobs when I file for citizenship?

Please advice.

Thank You.
 
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FAQ: AC21 Job Portability

Previously I was on H1B when my I-140 was approved. Currently I am on H4 status, not employed and my priority date became current.
Previous employer has provided Supplement J and I have filed I-485, I-765, I-131 concurrently. The Supplement J indicates (#9 in Part 6) I am not currently employed with the sponsoring employer.

Q1) Upon receiving AOS EAD, can I directly join a new employer after 180 days of pending I-485 if sponsoring employer doesn't have any open position?

Q2) Can I start searching for new job before 180 days of pending I-485, but join after 180 days? Or, I must have to start searching and interviewing for new job, only after 180 days?

Q3) As Filing Date to Final Action Date may take a decade for EB3 India, so if I join a new employer "A" before 180 days of pending I-485, but later change that employer and join another employer "B" after 180 days of pending I-485 and take the Supplement J from "B" at the time of interview, how USCIS will determine that my job change occurred prior to 180 days? Just curious.

Q4) At the time of filing AOS, my Supplement J indicated that I am not currently employed with the sponsoring employer. If I join the sponsoring employer upon receiving EAD, then do I have to send USCIS new Supplement J indicating that I am now employed with the sponsoring employer, knowing that it might take a decade for my Final Action Date to become current and I may not be employed with the sponsoring employer at the time of GC interview?

Q5) What if I need to change my employer after GC interview, but before receiving GC?

Q6) I heard, after 180 days of pending I-485, even if I change my job couple of times, I can take the Supplement J only from the employer with whom I will be working at the time of GC interview. But can I still send new Supplement J to USCIS from each employers everytime I change my job? Is that legally allowed? or, is there any concern? Because, it might take a decade for my Final Action Date to become current and within that timeframe I might have to change job 2-3 times.
 
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AOS pending, H-1B approved and change of status not approved

Greetings Rajeevji...

Context: My adjustment of status is in the pending state. My H1B is approved but the Change of status has not been approved.

Question: Can I still work in the USA? (As pending AOS gives the privilege to stay in the USA, and approved H1B gives the privilege to work in the USA.)

Yours Sincerely,
KarmaYogi.
 
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Relative remaining in the U.S. longer with an I-539 application and impact on sponsors visa issuance

Namaste Rajiv Ji

An immediate relative of my wife entered USA on B1/B2 (Temporary Visitor for Pleasure) visa

1) Initial Entry Date - March 10 2020
2) Initial I-94 Date - Sept 10 2020
3) Applied for Extension (I-539 Online Form) on Sept 11 2020 - Requested additional stay for one full year - due to flight cancellations and COVID-19 pandemic. I was not involved in preparing that application - so really not sure how that could be done in the first place.
4) Has been staying at the same physical address with us since her entry date - which was also provided on her I-539 Application
5) The relative had applied and received very first 10-year B1/B2 Visa in year 2017, and at that time we (myself and my wife together) had provided a signed invitation and financial and medical support letter as a supporting document for usage if needed, for US Visa Application.

Received the initial acceptance receipt from USCIS, but still waiting on the final decision from USCIS for I-539.

Q - So in this case, Is that person's current stay considered as I-94 overstay, as it is now obviously more than one year of continuous stay ? Would the 240-day period of authorized stay rule apply in this case, from the date item 3 above ? If we never receive any decision, till what date can that person actually continue staying in USA ?

Q - I am now planning on a travel to India myself - to take care for some time sensitive tasks in India. Would be requesting H1-B Visa stamp (renewal) and eventually traveling back on the same for re-entry into USA.

Could all this above situation (with my wife's immediate relative) impact my own visa issuance or my own admissibility into USA - especially due to items 4 and 5 stated above ?

Thanks Much

Rahul
 
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How long can a green card holder stay in Canada as a visitor due to medical reasons?

Hello Rajiv Sir,

Background: Currently, I am in Canada visiting my husband while waiting for his consular interview in Montreal, Canada. He is having some medical issue going on right now, and he is completely dependent on me. I was in Canada on a visitor visa from June 2020 till October 2020, and then I went back to the USA for a month. Later, since November 2020, I am in Canada helping my husband with his day-to-day activities while waiting for his surgery.

Questions:
1. What are the possible ways for me to stay here in Canada for more than 6 months from the US side.
2. Will staying this long outside of the US on Green Card impact my current situation or put my husband's spouse visa in jeopardy?

Once again thank you so much for all your help!

Best Regards,
Rinkal
 
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Submitted I-130 Form and NVC expedite request process for a US spouse visa

Hi Rajiv, Good Day.

Background :
My wife is LPR of USA. We submitted my I-130 form and it got approved on Apr 2020.
We have submitted all our documents to NCV last December 30th. Since then we didn`t here anything.
Currently my wife is pregnant and she is in USA.
I don`t have any kind of Visa to USA.

My questions:
1) Can we send mail to NVC for the expedite request, so that, at least I can be with her before baby delivery.
2) What are the chances that, my request will be endorsed and my Interview will be scheduled ASAP.
3) I kindly request you to please let me know if there is any better way for me to be with her in USA.

Thanks
Lucky
 
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Form I-485 Supplement J preparation, same/similar job for AC 21 portability, using the EAD as an option for new employer

Background
  • Filed 485 downgrade application along with I140 NEW
  • I140 is approved in Premium
  • Joining new employer after 180days of pending 485 ( RD of I-485 - Oct 27)
  • MY PD is 2014 Feb
Questions:

Q: Is the 485J supplementary form be filed by myself and what are all important things to be taken care of to avoid denial.
Q: My Original PERM was filed as Sr Software Engineer and skills as ETL Developer (Informatica/Oracle)but my new job offer is Sr Cloud data engineer (AWS,Python)and technologies are different, Is this considered the same/similar for Job portability AC21
Q: Is it good to use EAD when joining a new employer or still transfer H1?

Thanks
 
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Rules and restrictions for I-140 upgrade to premium processing

Sir,
EB2 PD: Aug 2013.

My employer filed my I-140(EB2 to Eb3 downgrade) along with 485/765/130 after my PD became current in Oct 2020. SO far I have only received receipt notices. So far not much progress.
I'm thinking about upgrading I-140 to premium processing to expedite the process.(I'm hoping that would help me getting EAD faster and be able to switch jobs sooner).
Could you please explain rules and restrictions around upgrading I-140 to premium processing. Also please explain the risks if there are any.

Thank you so much
 
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Federal pandemic unemployment compensation and H-1B Visa Change of Status

Hi Rajiv ji,

I have few quick questions-

1) you have covered unemployment benefits a few times and I also checked out your Linkedin post; however, now there is Federal pandemic unemployment compensation. Can folks on H1B who lost their job due to pandemic (and switched to B2 for the authorized/legal presence ) collect Fed pandemic unemployment comp if eligible? It made sense to collect the one paid by the State of California since they deduct taxes for this from our paychecks.

2) After almost 10 months of unemployment I finally have 4 offers. on March 15th COS to H1B (B2 until June 2021 still pending) was filed by the 1st company. Now my question is can I initiate multiple(2 or 3) COS to H1B via different companies. Do you see any problem with this?

Thanks for your time!
shiv
 
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Green card holders and unemployment benefits, joint sponsor income requirements and how to read the Visa bulletin

Hi,

I am a US Citizen and both my parents are greencard holders. April 2020 both my parents lost job due to COVID however my father claimed unemployment insurance for one month this year 2021. My mother didnt claim any insurance due to fear of public charge rule. She has sponsored my brother under F2B category (unmarried adult child) in June 2017 and priority date for my brother is 14th June 2017. As per my understanding, public charge rule is no longer applied in the application assessment by the officer however we are not seeing any significant movement in the processing as per the last few visa bulletins. Also, is there any impact to the application because both parents lost job and took unemployments benefits. Can we expect the queue to move faster some time in future? Can I be a joint sponsor with my parents as my parents have limited income? Also, whats the difference between Final Action Date and Filing Date? Can I consider that filing date to be used for submitting documents to NVC and final action date is to schedule interview and complete the medical, police clearance, finger printing etc processings. My question is what date to look for in the visa bulletin for submitting NVC documents or expect NVC updates? My brother's I-130 has been approved but now we are waiting on NVC link to open to allow us to submit the documents for further processing.

Thanks
 
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Filing an I-140 and I-485 concurrently and I-140 priority date retention

Hello Sir,

I was in the U.S, and my employer applied for I 140 and was approved in 2007 (PD Dec 2006). I left the US on an international assignment and was outside for over 6 years and hence could not apply for GC when my PD became current. I was back in the US in 2018, and my employer (same) applied for PERM and I 140 (since my job description changed a lot). New I 140 is under premium processing and yet to be approved.
My old I 140 is still active (I have the receipt number) when I checked the case status on the USCIS website, but my employer has lost the approval notice. I have filed an FOIA and received the petition of my previous I140 from USCIS. My employer has filed an I 824, but it is still pending action. My questions and concern are:
1. Can I request my employer to apply for my I 485 now as my new I 140 is still pending under premium processing? ( They want to wait on I 824 to retrieve my PD and the current wait time is around 15 months).
2. What should I do if my new I 140 gets approved but the old PD is not captured?
I am very confused right now. I may have an imminent change in my employer by the end of 2021, which may trigger the reset of this entire process (PERM and I 140).
I will appreciate your response very much.
Thanks,
Shilpa.
 
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H-1B and spouse working on H-4/H-4 EAD options to extend spouses I-94

Hi Rajiv Ji, My question is related to H4/H4 EAD

Background :
Working on H1B and my wife is working on H4/H4 EAD . Both our H1B and H4/H4 EAD are valid till Sept 2021.
Filed i485/EAD/AP in Oct 2020 and waiting for GC EAD.
Have H1 and H4 visas valid till Sept 2021 stamped in our passports.

I filed for H1B extension in premium in March 2021 and have i797 approval notice valid till 2024 .
My wife is planning to travel by road to US Canada border at Detroit -Windsor Tunnel and use my H1B i-797 approval notice to extend her i94 and then use the extended i94 to file for her H4 EAD
1) Is it possible to extend her i94 this way ?
2) If her i94 gets extended then do we still need to file for i539 ( H4 extension) or that will not be required as her new i94 will be valid till 2024 ?
3) Can this cause any issues with the i485/GC EAD/AP application currently under process ?

Thanks in advance.
 
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H-4 visa for family of H-1B visa holder with I-485 pending

Dear Rajiv ji,

I am working on H1B since 2007. My PD is April 2011, under EB2. I485 AOS was filed in October 2020 when the date of filing was allowed to be used.

My family lives in India. They do not have an H4 visa at the moment. If I would like for them to get a green card, do I have to wait until I receive my green card and file under F2A or would I be able to apply for a green card through the EB category for them while they are still in India through consular processing?

I understand they could move here before my PD being current per the final action date and apply for the AOS. Is consular processing an option if they visit and apply for AOS?

Thank you for taking the time and answering our questions.

Warm regards,
Prashanth
 
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