The Price of Freedom is Eternal Vigilance

B

Bongo

Registered Users (C)
Hi,

I always thought I was too pre-occupied with immigration
issues for my own good. However, I now see that I did
the right thing. I\'m happy to get my AOS approval but sad
that many of my friends were not as vigilant as myself.
One friend\'s lawyer ticked the wrong box on the I140 and
he was filed in the Extraordinary Alien
category (the category for Noble Prize winners) instead
of outstanding researcher. He filed his I140 four months
before me. Now I am a GC holder and he is still working
on a H1 tied to yet another company.

Another friend did not check the AVM regularly. He got an RFE
but the lawyer did not get it or lost it, whatever, and because
they did not reply with 90 days his case
was considered abandoned.

The moral of the story is that if you want freedom (a GC) then you
need to be vigilant. Most lawyers are compotent, but it\'s just a job
to them, it\'s your life. The tough bit is to balance vigilance with
fanatasism.

Dr. Bongo A Gogo
 
No

I live in upstate New York now and will let people know
if I am able to get it stamped here. Otherwise I\'ll
be flying back to SFO to get my stamp (small price to
pay).

Bongo
 
My point was ...

You need to keep an eye on your lawyer, paralegal, HR etc.
Before they send of I140/485/CP documents, ask to check them,
make sure they are fully informed.
 
Unfortunately...it is not possible in some companies

Bongo,

I agree with you, unfortunately, some companies do not provide the information to you. for example, some companies do not provide the I-140 approval notice because, you can change companies and still use the same file number to get the new company to give designation under the same category. mine was one such, where I had no visibility when and what was being done.
Even though my I-140 was approved on March 25th, 2000, just because they did not inform me in time, I could not file in time, when the April 2000, PD got retrogressed.

But what you say is true, in cases where you personally hire an attorney to handle your case.

--amburan.
 
No Title

Bongo, I agree with you on this one. Vigilance does not end with getting the greencard, there are still mistakes you can make as a permanent resident.

Note that vigilance is the middle name of other organizations including the ACLU, http://www.aclu.org. Be warned that the ACLU is a controversial organization, I am posting the link here for your reference only.

Good luck!
 
You need to negotiate this when you join company

I told my company that the GC was important for my
wife. She could not work in the U.S. without it and
that I needed the GC to come with no delays.

They agreed to this, so I tried to insert myself
in the loop. If you can\'t do this, you should try
to check the attorney has not misunderstood you
or vice-versa.

My friend thought he was filing for outstanding
researcher I140. Told his colleagues to write letter
of support that said, "This letter is in support
of outstanding researcher GC petition". Attorney
thought (or accidently ticked depending on who
you believe) the extraordinary alien category
box when submitting I140. Of course the INS
rejected the case and by the time he got to
re-file he was layed off. If he\'d only touched
base with the attorney the misunderstanding
would have been cleared up.

Remember, attorneys do literally hundreds of
GC cases per year, so they don\'t pay that much
detail to each one.

Bongo
 
Same with me.

My lawyers made a mistake in my LC and it got rejected in early 2000.
They declared me as a DBA on LC application form.

In my friends case same lawyers sent the xerox copy of employment letter for 485.
He got RFE in jan 1st week.

Another friend made change of address and did not notified to lawyer or INS.
Now his FP notice is missing. He is losing his job this month end.

All very bad experiences.

Bongo you are right.
 
Agree wholeheartedly...

You got to look out for yourself.

My lawyer fought with my manager to agree to a BS+5 req. After winning this fight, his paralegal went and filed my I-140 as BS+2. I was not aware of this. After a year\'s wait, my I-140 was rejected. Then company merger, change of lawyers, more incompetence etc. resulted in another 8 months delay before my I-140 was re-filed in EB3. Fortunately CSC had picked up speed and got this one approved in one month.

More carelessness followed during my I-485 application. The paralegal used to call me everyday to talk about all the details in the forms. I was quite impressed with her involvement and trusted her to do the right thing. Heck, I even ran from the Notary office to the nearest Fedex in the June sun to get the 485 packet mailed to my lawyer so she would get it the next morning. Then what happens? She sits on it for ONE MONTH doing nothing. Since, she had shown so much diligence before, I did not call her and ask her if she mailed it to INS. I did not want to annoy her (!!!!!). I wait for a MONTH and then quietly send her a email asking her if she got the INS receipts. After 2 days of silence, her boss replies apologing profusely.

Bottom line : Look out for yourself. It is your life. It is just a job for them.
 
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