BECsufferer
10-09 03:04 PM
Mate;
Last year in March end I had an opportunity to go for business trip to Frankfurt, it was technical conference of my company. Just 5 days before the due date, my H1 was to expire. Thanks to this moron in my HR, the whole H1 renenwal was delayed to just 2 weeks before expiry. We paid extra to expedite the H1 renewal, fixed Visa stamping/interview apointment at Ottawa, ON same week as we applied for visa renewal. In-fact I had apointments paid for two consecutive days(friday and monday), just in-case the documents do not arrive on time. And they didn't ( aka Murphy Law) till saturday. So headed out on Sunday to Ottawa from MI. arrived Monday morning, got the visa extended next day. Arrived back in office on Wednesday morning, sent all the documents to Chicago consulate office, with same day delivery. Anxiously awaited to hear-back till Tursday afternoon. Started frantically calling consulate office on Friday Morning. Believe it or not someone did returnback my repeated calls and complained about why I was calling everyone in office and in future try to send application atleast 1-2 weeks before travel. My flight was booked for Saturday 3:00 pm in afternoon and believe it or not I collected my passport with visa at noon!!!:rolleyes:
P.S: Trip was great and in-fact also got chance to visit Paris!!!:cool:
Last year in March end I had an opportunity to go for business trip to Frankfurt, it was technical conference of my company. Just 5 days before the due date, my H1 was to expire. Thanks to this moron in my HR, the whole H1 renenwal was delayed to just 2 weeks before expiry. We paid extra to expedite the H1 renewal, fixed Visa stamping/interview apointment at Ottawa, ON same week as we applied for visa renewal. In-fact I had apointments paid for two consecutive days(friday and monday), just in-case the documents do not arrive on time. And they didn't ( aka Murphy Law) till saturday. So headed out on Sunday to Ottawa from MI. arrived Monday morning, got the visa extended next day. Arrived back in office on Wednesday morning, sent all the documents to Chicago consulate office, with same day delivery. Anxiously awaited to hear-back till Tursday afternoon. Started frantically calling consulate office on Friday Morning. Believe it or not someone did returnback my repeated calls and complained about why I was calling everyone in office and in future try to send application atleast 1-2 weeks before travel. My flight was booked for Saturday 3:00 pm in afternoon and believe it or not I collected my passport with visa at noon!!!:rolleyes:
P.S: Trip was great and in-fact also got chance to visit Paris!!!:cool:
desi3933
02-23 03:23 PM
If you work for sponsoring employer, your H1B is still valid, eventhough you enter with AP.
This is grey area and the interpretation can change any time. Please note that entering on AP is not same as entering with visa stamp.
_________________
Not a legal advice
This is grey area and the interpretation can change any time. Please note that entering on AP is not same as entering with visa stamp.
_________________
Not a legal advice
saketkapur
03-24 03:38 PM
She will need to complete a 3 year waiver in medically underserved area or a 2 year home return before you can file for her adjustment of status(I-485).
We had faced a similar situation 3 years back and decided to go ahead with it since looking at the backlogs I am assuming with my PD of 2007 I am still way off from getting my GC.
So now my wife is completing her residency in June this year and has a waiver job lined up. Once/ If dates become current I will file for her I-485 after the waiver is complete.
If you need details then PM me.
Everyone has their own priorities and their own way of dealing with the situations.
We had faced a similar situation 3 years back and decided to go ahead with it since looking at the backlogs I am assuming with my PD of 2007 I am still way off from getting my GC.
So now my wife is completing her residency in June this year and has a waiver job lined up. Once/ If dates become current I will file for her I-485 after the waiver is complete.
If you need details then PM me.
Everyone has their own priorities and their own way of dealing with the situations.
dan19
11-07 12:34 PM
Friends,
Can you all post the names of good consulting companies to work for. Let's create a list here.
Thanks,
Can you all post the names of good consulting companies to work for. Let's create a list here.
Thanks,
more...
MCQ
08-07 05:28 PM
I should have added - I'm STILL employed by them - that's how smart and forward looking they are - been bought over twice, but same management is still in charge of my division and same attitude still prevails
McQ
McQ
h1techSlave
12-05 10:00 AM
Below is the comment some body gave me in the rating thingie:
"YES LETS NOT HAVE ANY INCREASE IN H1B AND EVEN BETTER IS TO SEND U BAK TO INDIA SO WE HAVE MORE GC'S AVAILABLE, FOOL"
I think he/she wanted to say more, but the system may not have allowed that.:)
I think IV community will start working as a coherent team only when we get rid of the Green/Red thingie.
"YES LETS NOT HAVE ANY INCREASE IN H1B AND EVEN BETTER IS TO SEND U BAK TO INDIA SO WE HAVE MORE GC'S AVAILABLE, FOOL"
I think he/she wanted to say more, but the system may not have allowed that.:)
I think IV community will start working as a coherent team only when we get rid of the Green/Red thingie.
more...
raysaikat
11-30 09:51 AM
Thank you very much for the replies.
Right now I am leaning towards cancelling my trip, even though it is going to cost me the entire price of the ticket, besides of course the immeasurable cost of not visiting home.
About the suggestion of hiring a lawyer, can an immigration lawyer here in the US help me in any way with a situation (the renewal interview) and an all-powerful person (the interviewer) half-way across the world? I can see how a lawyer may help smooth this problem if I were changing status while in the country (say from F1 to H1), but I don't see how a lawyer would help with my visa renewal...perhaps I just don't understand the extent to which a lawyer may be able to help. Is my question clear?
Again, thank you for the advice.
The lawyer will be able to tell you (i) what is the legal implication of your charge in regard to F-1, (ii) statute of limitations of your charges, (iii) how long the records are kept (there are levels of access and with time some charges go down the levels). A lawyer gives you legal counsel (suggestions/appraisals); they are not supposed to "do" stuff for you, nor take decisions for you. You pay your lawyer simply for reliable information (and paperworks, usually).
Right now I am leaning towards cancelling my trip, even though it is going to cost me the entire price of the ticket, besides of course the immeasurable cost of not visiting home.
About the suggestion of hiring a lawyer, can an immigration lawyer here in the US help me in any way with a situation (the renewal interview) and an all-powerful person (the interviewer) half-way across the world? I can see how a lawyer may help smooth this problem if I were changing status while in the country (say from F1 to H1), but I don't see how a lawyer would help with my visa renewal...perhaps I just don't understand the extent to which a lawyer may be able to help. Is my question clear?
Again, thank you for the advice.
The lawyer will be able to tell you (i) what is the legal implication of your charge in regard to F-1, (ii) statute of limitations of your charges, (iii) how long the records are kept (there are levels of access and with time some charges go down the levels). A lawyer gives you legal counsel (suggestions/appraisals); they are not supposed to "do" stuff for you, nor take decisions for you. You pay your lawyer simply for reliable information (and paperworks, usually).
ragz4u
02-24 12:46 PM
ragz4u, ...you pipped me to the post..hehe..:)
Thanks, this is very informative!
In any case, as per Shusterman.com, this bill will be tabled to the Judiciary committee on March 2nd. Today is Feb 24th. That leaves us only THREE working days to pass on this information to the committee members. We need to do something drastic to make our point.
All the members of IV, wake up! This is the time to fight. The anti-immigrant lobby will be getting very active in the next few days. We need to do the same
Thanks, this is very informative!
In any case, as per Shusterman.com, this bill will be tabled to the Judiciary committee on March 2nd. Today is Feb 24th. That leaves us only THREE working days to pass on this information to the committee members. We need to do something drastic to make our point.
All the members of IV, wake up! This is the time to fight. The anti-immigrant lobby will be getting very active in the next few days. We need to do the same
more...
gcformeornot
06-30 08:36 AM
You are a line jumper. Get out of here..:mad:
Totoro
05-18 07:23 AM
Probably he is talking about the conditional green card one gets after marrying a US citizen
If I understand right, you only jeopardize your chances if you divorce within 2 years. Another option is separation. And of course there is the third option, and that is to try and work it out with her husband.
If I understand right, you only jeopardize your chances if you divorce within 2 years. Another option is separation. And of course there is the third option, and that is to try and work it out with her husband.
more...
psaxena
06-25 05:53 PM
bump
Please suggest the best time suitable for everyone for the conf call, today evening or tomorrow anytime.
Please suggest the best time suitable for everyone for the conf call, today evening or tomorrow anytime.
EndlessWait
02-21 03:41 PM
I filed my LC on June 06. The Certification was denied on Feb 07, I filed an appeal right away, and I have not heard anything. I called the DOL so many time and they gave me the same response: "Your case is in process, we work on first in, first out, and we do not expedited cases, we don't have a frame time" That is not a concrete answer.
There is any body that faced a similar situation, Please advised�. what to do!!!!
Thank u.
no accountability..just pay the fees, shutup and wait..
sorry dude but that's the reality
There is any body that faced a similar situation, Please advised�. what to do!!!!
Thank u.
no accountability..just pay the fees, shutup and wait..
sorry dude but that's the reality
more...
Blog Feeds
08-08 09:40 AM
AILA Leadership Has Just Posted the Following:
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKVfuEmEqC4iS9Jsf_2mc54BRp_ErppYssxULL14mQlt-zFIwgVLX5mZGy8Mzs1LalU0tWHX7jgjJ68PtjR8buTs7RW40JjQE90xuZRkWObuUyyNhSCYc09RWDZ9i2W_JCxb_CKXW5_F8/s320/investigator+image.jpg (https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKVfuEmEqC4iS9Jsf_2mc54BRp_ErppYssxULL14mQlt-zFIwgVLX5mZGy8Mzs1LalU0tWHX7jgjJ68PtjR8buTs7RW40JjQE90xuZRkWObuUyyNhSCYc09RWDZ9i2W_JCxb_CKXW5_F8/s1600-h/investigator+image.jpg)
As many of our members know, the USCIS is like a Jekyll and Hyde creation. With one face, USCIS happily grants benefits, issues approvals, and welcomes people as citizens. With the other face UCSIS distrusts everyone, believes there is a lie on every application, and looks for ways to disqualify clearly qualified applicants. As you all know, this is not an exaggeration. It is true of an agency still steeped in the "Culture of No."
Many of you remember the Religious Worker "Benefit Fraud Assessment Teams" that went out to make sure that the Catholic Church was actually still in business. The ability of the USCIS to conduct effective program reviews, rather than just sticking with its core strength of adjudications is rather dubious, to say the least. Recently AILA shared some information about a "new" benefit fraud assessment program in which USCIS is beginning to use the millions of dollars it has received over the last decade from the "fraud fee" in the H-1B program. This new program involves the hiring of a private contractor to send "investigators" out to conduct 25,0000 site visits to H-1B employers to verify if the H-1B employee is working at the employer and performing the work as outlined in the H-1B petition. Yesterday, a client of mine received such a visit, and thanks to a terrific Human Resources Professional, we have a brief report of the scope of this style of fraud "investigation:"
The investigator came back yesterday. Her name was ______________. She indicated that she was a contractor hired to conduct these investigations (this is similar to the investigators that conduct the background investigations for government clearances). She had a badge with a picture.
She first met with me (HR REP). She asked me some very basic questions about the company, what we did, how many employees we had, work hours, office locations, etc. She also asked me how many employees we had on H1Bs, how many we had sponsored for permanent residency and how many total of our employees are legal permanent residents. It was hard to answer these off the top of my head. She said approximate numbers were ok even after I offered to get an employee list that I could look at to get her the exact numbers. She then asked me a couple of questions about the H-1B employee � what he did, his salary, work hours and start date. She asked me for ID so she could verify that I was who I said I was and she asked to see a W-2 or pay stub. I didn�t have either so I showed her the payroll register from our last payroll which satisfied her requirement. She then met with the foreign national employee for a couple of minutes. He said that she asked him about his job duties, work hours and salary. She also checked his ID. She asked me for a quick tour around our offices and left.
It was a pretty quick process. None of her questions were hard to answer � hopefully we passed. She was very nice and professional. I did apologize to her that I missed her when she came over the first time and she said that they want their visits to be �surprise� visits so unfortunately this is a problem they have to deal with.
The foreign national employee did tell me that he asked her if he was selected randomly and she indicated that he wasn�t � I guess they are going to be doing this for everyone.
You can see from this brief report that we as attorneys have yet another issue with which to deal. Now we must advise our clients of these waste of time investigations not targeted to find those employers or employees abusing the H-1B program, but rather designed to throw as much enforcement as the government cannot afford at a problem that does not exist in order to justify jobs and and the expense of a program that should be more effectively and efficiently run. Just what we need in the middle of an economic downturn, more government regulators! Where is John Galt when you need him?
What makes the expenditures of these funds in such a random way even more outrageous is the recent report noting that the number of affirmative filings to USCIS has decreased by almost 50% (http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/sns-ap-us-meltdown-green-cards,1,2640213.story) year over year at the USCIS. Because USCIS's budget is entirely dependent on fees paid by users, the question becomes this: why is USCIS spending money on a program "looking" for problems when they would be better off using their resources to solve the problems they already have as an agency and better manage the extant operations that need to run more effectively.
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/186823568153827945-7219682141896598992?l=ailaleadership.blogspot.com
More... (http://ailaleadership.blogspot.com/2009/08/uscis-h-1b-investigations-run-amok.html)
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKVfuEmEqC4iS9Jsf_2mc54BRp_ErppYssxULL14mQlt-zFIwgVLX5mZGy8Mzs1LalU0tWHX7jgjJ68PtjR8buTs7RW40JjQE90xuZRkWObuUyyNhSCYc09RWDZ9i2W_JCxb_CKXW5_F8/s320/investigator+image.jpg (https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKVfuEmEqC4iS9Jsf_2mc54BRp_ErppYssxULL14mQlt-zFIwgVLX5mZGy8Mzs1LalU0tWHX7jgjJ68PtjR8buTs7RW40JjQE90xuZRkWObuUyyNhSCYc09RWDZ9i2W_JCxb_CKXW5_F8/s1600-h/investigator+image.jpg)
As many of our members know, the USCIS is like a Jekyll and Hyde creation. With one face, USCIS happily grants benefits, issues approvals, and welcomes people as citizens. With the other face UCSIS distrusts everyone, believes there is a lie on every application, and looks for ways to disqualify clearly qualified applicants. As you all know, this is not an exaggeration. It is true of an agency still steeped in the "Culture of No."
Many of you remember the Religious Worker "Benefit Fraud Assessment Teams" that went out to make sure that the Catholic Church was actually still in business. The ability of the USCIS to conduct effective program reviews, rather than just sticking with its core strength of adjudications is rather dubious, to say the least. Recently AILA shared some information about a "new" benefit fraud assessment program in which USCIS is beginning to use the millions of dollars it has received over the last decade from the "fraud fee" in the H-1B program. This new program involves the hiring of a private contractor to send "investigators" out to conduct 25,0000 site visits to H-1B employers to verify if the H-1B employee is working at the employer and performing the work as outlined in the H-1B petition. Yesterday, a client of mine received such a visit, and thanks to a terrific Human Resources Professional, we have a brief report of the scope of this style of fraud "investigation:"
The investigator came back yesterday. Her name was ______________. She indicated that she was a contractor hired to conduct these investigations (this is similar to the investigators that conduct the background investigations for government clearances). She had a badge with a picture.
She first met with me (HR REP). She asked me some very basic questions about the company, what we did, how many employees we had, work hours, office locations, etc. She also asked me how many employees we had on H1Bs, how many we had sponsored for permanent residency and how many total of our employees are legal permanent residents. It was hard to answer these off the top of my head. She said approximate numbers were ok even after I offered to get an employee list that I could look at to get her the exact numbers. She then asked me a couple of questions about the H-1B employee � what he did, his salary, work hours and start date. She asked me for ID so she could verify that I was who I said I was and she asked to see a W-2 or pay stub. I didn�t have either so I showed her the payroll register from our last payroll which satisfied her requirement. She then met with the foreign national employee for a couple of minutes. He said that she asked him about his job duties, work hours and salary. She also checked his ID. She asked me for a quick tour around our offices and left.
It was a pretty quick process. None of her questions were hard to answer � hopefully we passed. She was very nice and professional. I did apologize to her that I missed her when she came over the first time and she said that they want their visits to be �surprise� visits so unfortunately this is a problem they have to deal with.
The foreign national employee did tell me that he asked her if he was selected randomly and she indicated that he wasn�t � I guess they are going to be doing this for everyone.
You can see from this brief report that we as attorneys have yet another issue with which to deal. Now we must advise our clients of these waste of time investigations not targeted to find those employers or employees abusing the H-1B program, but rather designed to throw as much enforcement as the government cannot afford at a problem that does not exist in order to justify jobs and and the expense of a program that should be more effectively and efficiently run. Just what we need in the middle of an economic downturn, more government regulators! Where is John Galt when you need him?
What makes the expenditures of these funds in such a random way even more outrageous is the recent report noting that the number of affirmative filings to USCIS has decreased by almost 50% (http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/sns-ap-us-meltdown-green-cards,1,2640213.story) year over year at the USCIS. Because USCIS's budget is entirely dependent on fees paid by users, the question becomes this: why is USCIS spending money on a program "looking" for problems when they would be better off using their resources to solve the problems they already have as an agency and better manage the extant operations that need to run more effectively.
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/186823568153827945-7219682141896598992?l=ailaleadership.blogspot.com
More... (http://ailaleadership.blogspot.com/2009/08/uscis-h-1b-investigations-run-amok.html)
lavanyamohan
03-18 12:50 AM
thanks everyone for their suggestions.I know the clock is ticking and I am gonna decide today itself. I have all documents prepared from last year and I missed the quota.
Did any one used http://www.usavisanow.com/ for their H1B filing.
I am waiting for some reference from any of senior membere here who have used their service
Thanks
Did any one used http://www.usavisanow.com/ for their H1B filing.
I am waiting for some reference from any of senior membere here who have used their service
Thanks
more...
InTheMoment
09-16 11:59 AM
What has the Name Check initiation got to do with the submission of finger prints...Nothing.
I bet your notice date is about 2 weeks before your Name Check initiation (Sept 18, 2007).
Would believe the dates the IIO gave you.
I bet your notice date is about 2 weeks before your Name Check initiation (Sept 18, 2007).
Would believe the dates the IIO gave you.
matreen
10-07 03:59 PM
i am going to do almost exactly what you are thinking in a matter of few days. i spoke to two lawyers. essentially, ac21 allows this and there is nothing that you have to really do. Of course, i am assuming that you are moving into a job that has the similar job duties as specified in your labor application. what you need to do is make 100% sure that you have documentation to prove this job duties similarity. if you are going to get an SOW from your client, make sure that the SOW is similar to your labor. if you can, do get a letter from your client (where you will do your actual work) stating your job responsibilities, work content etc. you will also need to document/prove actual existence of your business by showing your tax transactions, invoices/receipts etc. also, make sure that you are spending 40 hours (or whatever is the equivalent of a full time job) doing your labor certified job... all this will be required only if USCIS sends you an RFE or calls you for an interview.
wish you luck
Don't you think if you're changing jobs and new job has to be fulltime with new employer? not contract?
Can we invoke AC21 on temp contracting job?
As you said if you go with contracing job where you will be running your payroll? Is it on your new owned company on your name? Or it has to be someone else name like spouse or friend?
Thanks,
Matt
wish you luck
Don't you think if you're changing jobs and new job has to be fulltime with new employer? not contract?
Can we invoke AC21 on temp contracting job?
As you said if you go with contracing job where you will be running your payroll? Is it on your new owned company on your name? Or it has to be someone else name like spouse or friend?
Thanks,
Matt
more...
brad_sk2
08-14 06:22 PM
But you cannot apply for first EAD/AP before applying for 485, correct? I would be surprised if we can apply for EAD/AP just after LC or 140 approval and when dates are not current for 485.
uslegals
08-20 04:12 PM
Can somebody please reply..? Your advice will be priceless for me at this stage..! Thank you!
ysnraju
12-05 11:01 PM
In my case I have only one LUD after fingerprinting and then on 30 Nov 2007
again LUD I485 Card production ordered.
same with my spouse also.
_______________________
LUDs on Current Status of I485:
30 Nov 2007 : Card production ordered .
02 Dec.2007 : Card production ordered .
04 Dec 2007 : Approval notice sent.
For Both Self and Spouse.
Labor Filing Date: 27 Feb 2004
Service Center: Nebraska
Category: EB2
Application Mailed: 04 Jun 2007
USCIS Received Date: 05 Jun 2007
USCIS Notice Date: 14 Jun 2007
Filing Type: non-concurrent
I-140 Processing: regular
I-140 Approval Date: March 02, 2007
Fingerprinting Date : 15 Aug 2007
RFE: no
EAD Approval Date: 08 Sep 2007
AP Approval Date: 13 Sep 2007
Nationality: India
again LUD I485 Card production ordered.
same with my spouse also.
_______________________
LUDs on Current Status of I485:
30 Nov 2007 : Card production ordered .
02 Dec.2007 : Card production ordered .
04 Dec 2007 : Approval notice sent.
For Both Self and Spouse.
Labor Filing Date: 27 Feb 2004
Service Center: Nebraska
Category: EB2
Application Mailed: 04 Jun 2007
USCIS Received Date: 05 Jun 2007
USCIS Notice Date: 14 Jun 2007
Filing Type: non-concurrent
I-140 Processing: regular
I-140 Approval Date: March 02, 2007
Fingerprinting Date : 15 Aug 2007
RFE: no
EAD Approval Date: 08 Sep 2007
AP Approval Date: 13 Sep 2007
Nationality: India
rb_248
10-26 12:39 PM
Able to read English or not should not constitute an offense. Not able to read a road sign and erring on that basis is an offense. All the regulatory and warning road signs have a symbol associated with the text (Octogon for stop 'U' for U-turn, curve ahead.....). Only the advisory signs (exit signs and street signs) have English names and no signs.
Aura M.
03-24 03:40 PM
My answer might be a little too pessimistic but I actually filed an appeal for a denied LC in Sep 2006. and as of today I still haven't heard from them. we tried calling and emailing them but they keep asking us to wait and they will get to it.
sorry and good luck. please keep me updated if you hear something from them.
Thanks
Have you hear anything from your appeal? Please let me know.
Thank you.
sorry and good luck. please keep me updated if you hear something from them.
Thanks
Have you hear anything from your appeal? Please let me know.
Thank you.
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