Rfe 485

[scared485]

came to US in Jun 2000 on a b1/b2 awaiting approval of H1B applied for in Apr 2000 but could not make the cap empl however insisted that prior to starting on jul 1st visa needed and they recommend to apply for a J1 and switch to a H1 once it is approved, went to canada got J1 visa stamp ,H1B approved aug for work starting in oct 2000.

left the us in oct to obtain H1B stamp on a new passport reentered went thru 3 years residency in H1B

On completion of my residency I was employed and received a 3 yr extension on my H1 . sponsored by employer for a GC and did have an attorney, he filed for my labour certification, I140 , I 485 , EAD and advance parole never indicating i was ever on J1 ,all were approved except the I485 received an RFE stating that was admitted on a J1 and needed to provide evidence of having completed the waiver requirements, my lawyer who did not know about this previously thinks we should withdraw the application, do i need another guru lawyer?

 

[lalalala]

woo

well i sympathize but it is a harsh lesson for future to learn , i think u have no other choice but to withdraw application

 

[hadron]

This raises a couple of questions:

Who sponsored your J1, and for what profession ? (this determines whether you have a home residency requirement or not)

Did you ever enter the US on this J1 visa or changed your status to J1 exchange visitor ? (I couldn't quite figure out whether you ever used the visa in that way. If you never acquired J1 status, you don't have an HRR. e.g. if you only started your residency in october when you entered the country on H1b. Just getting the visa stamp in and by itself doesn't slap you with a HRR, it is the status that does)

How in the world did you manage to get an H1b if you where on J1 before ?

Did you deliberately obscure the fact that you had a J1 when you started going through the motions to get a GC ? (I believe that you have to list all trips to the US and all visas when applying for an I485. At that point the alarm should have gone off.)

 

[sudmoni]

This raises a couple of questions:

Who sponsored your J1, and for what profession ? (this determines whether you have a home residency requirement or not)

How in the world did you manage to get an H1b if you where on J1 before ?

Did you deliberately obscure the fact that you had a J1 when you started going through the motions to get a GC ? (I believe that you have to list all trips to the US and all visas when applying for an I485. At that point the alarm should have gone off.)

I agree with you. I also did my residency in J1 and that time I enquired about the H1B but I was told by everyone including the lawyer that It is not allowed to change to H1b .without doing the waiver. Thats why I am doing my waiver at the moment. I don't know how u got the H!b when u were already in J1. I hope everything works out for you as this problem is not a common one. May be the good immigration lawyer has some solution.