Mentol Blog's

the question is are jon and stephen interested? if they are and they invite lou or sessions, and they dont accept, chances are they will get the treatment bill o'reilly/dr phil/oprah got from letterman before they showed: every night a constant reference and poking fun at them until they succumbed.
Point taken. Where do we get Jon/Stephen's contact information?

I am sure this will enhance the reputation of IV more than ever...!!!

Well, in the middle of negative comments, I have something positive to add here.

I do agree that what you did was not a right thing to do on H visa; however, it is not uncommon, mostly because many people are unaware of it.

In any case, I have following comments/solutions for you:

1. When you worked on 1099, you violated H1 visa status, so you were out of status starting from the day you first worked on 1099. However, you were not "illegally present"; only "out of status".

2. Since you have not filed 485 yet, you can correct this thing before filing 485, and here is how:

If you have H1 visa stamped on the passport already, it is very simple. You need to go to Canada, Mexico (to have a margarita :)) or any other country and come back (make sure you get new I94; so preferably do this by air). And then file 485. The rule is, your "out of status" period counts from your last legal entry and nobody will question you for the "out of status" period before that.

If you do not have H1 stamped, you need to go to your home country and get it stamped first and then come back on new I 94.

Above applies to all the dependents as well.

3. I know of a case on a different forum where USCIS actually denied 485 on the grounds of this 1099 issue (do not want to scare you, but it can happen as your "out of status" days will exceed 6 months and 245 (k) will not protect you). In that case, the person affected is going to "reenter" and then refile 485 (using the same 140 and PD); and I believe he will be successful (I donot know whether he already did it or not). In your case, since you have not yet filed 485, above solution 2 will be the best option.

Lastly, I AM NOT A LAWYER and I do not know all the variables in your case! Follow the advise of a good lawyer.

So at the end; I will not advise anyone to break the law and work on 1099 on H1 as it is clearly unintended use; but yes, it is fixable....

Good Luck.

In the same boat...

if the principal files 485 now and then gets married say 2-3 months later when the dates are NOT current, can a dependent 485 be filed for the spouse so that she can get EAD?

I was told that even in the case of a dependent 485 filing, the dates have to be current for the application to be accepted :(


On related lines, if the principal application gets EAD and after 6 months moves to a new job based on EAD, and then he gets married, can he bring his spouse on H4? I think the answer is NO.

Hi Seniros

My 6th year h1b is expiring on April 30, 2008. I applied labor through PERM on October 1, 2007. How to stay legal in this country until approval of 140. Converting to F1 or B2 will cause any problems to green card process. Please advice.
Thank you

I am not quite clear on your question. Why would you convert from H1 to F1 or B2 ? I think you should extend your H1 in Mar or Apr 2008. Hopefully You will get your Labor approval by end of Nov or December and then you should be able to file for I140. If I am not mistaken you should be able to apply for three years extension on the basis of your I-140.

Nabeel

Hello Everyone!

I sent this post a few weeks ago but didn't really get a response. I think it's getting a little urgent for me so any help would be greatly appreciated. I'll try to ask more specific questions this time around.

My information:
----------------------
Citizen of India.
Priority Data: March 2008
I-140 approved
About to apply for 3 year extension of H1B after 6th year( which expires on Dec 1st 2011). Employer will apply for this extension in June 2011.

My Questions
----------------------
I want to move to another company in another region in the US.
1. Should I wait for my H1B extension to get approved and then move, or can I move now with the current H1B (transferred) and then have the new company apply for my extension? In the latter case, can they do that since my I-140 was applied by my current employer? Why I ask is because the opportunity in the new company is now and I wont get my extension till August 2011(I presume).

2. Will the new company immediately have to start my LC and PERM as my current H1b expires on december 1st 2011?

Guys, please help me, I am confused. I really appreciate any help!
THanks!

There will be no movement for EB2I without spill over. It seems this year is the key as the spillover expected is much more than the previous years (based on the pending application numbers). 10K from last year's family based leftover numbers should also go to EB2 I and EB2 C.

If two consultants are working through a consultancy, their own opinion might differ drastically about the same company. These desi consultancies treat everybody differently.


I agree to that wholeheartedly!
I used to work for a Consultancy A(a middle size desi Consultancy firm based out of NYC)...signed a 2 year contract...broke it within 6 months & joined an even worse company B(which I found out only after joining them...very small west coast company)... got sued by company A ...left B and joined back A.

But after coming back to them(A), I could appreciate more of their way of working ...as I saw even worse companies. If you are honoring the contract, then everything is fine...
So, some of my friends, would say company A is a bloodsucker....for me they are still better than most other Desi consultancy companies.
Since then, I have moved on in life and do not work for company A....

Hello,

I am on H1. I got laid off in March 2009 and have not got anything since then. So I dont have lot of amount in my W2 for this year I have my H1 extension (after 3 years) coming up next year (2010).

My employer advised me to run payroll taxes for rest of the year, so that we could get W2 which would be helpful for H1 extension.

I have following Questions - Is W2 required for H1 extension or would few pay checks suffice?

Thanks!

What is required for a H1 extension is a "JOB". You should try and get a job asap. Technically, you are accruing unlawful presence in the US since the day you are out of the job (unless you have a pending I-485). On top of that, what your employer is suggesting is illegal. Try to find a job asap and apply for H1 COE petition. You will be required to submit your latest paystubs though.

My girlfriend is an Australian citizen and I am an Indian citizen.

Her uncle and cousins immigrated to the US years ago and she seems to have a Family-Based Immigrant VISA under category F4.

Her parents have greencards too.

She believes her greencard was filed for her by her uncle after he got his US Citizenship.

1. Can this be the case? ( Can an uncle file a green card for a niece? Or was it filed by the cousins? )

Does she or does she not have a green card in her hand?

We were recently browsing the USCIS site and it seems she still has to maintain continious residence in the US for 3 more years to be eligible for naturalization.

This is after she receives the greencard...not merely by staying in the U.S on a non-immigrant visa. What is her legal status now?

2. Is it mandatory for green card holders to have 5 years in the US to be eligible for naturalization regardless from the country they are from?

Yes.

I mean, a lot of immigrants come from India, China etc, but applications from Australia are a lot less.

Will she, being an Australian citizen, have to wait for 5 years just like immigrants from India, China etc have to? Or can she wait in the US for less time?

All immgrants except ones in the U.S military will have to wait 5 years to become citizen AFTER obtaining the greencard (I think the spouse of an U.S citizen may get it in 3 years). There is a seperate wait time for greencard based on country of nationality. So, again, does she have a green card already or is she staying on non-immigrant visa?

3. We would love to get married soon. I don't have any immigrant or dual intent VISAs for the US nor am I very much interested in going to the US either.

However, her uncle has told her that her greencard would be revoked if she got married to me before getting her US Citizenship.

Not true.

Is this just empty an threat from her uncle or are there really restrictions on how person with a greencard can get married or not?

Spouses of green card holders who are aliens have a typical 5 year wait (especially if you are from India) to get a green card

4. Are not all greencards created equal?

Most green cards are but, the road to getting them is not equal. Also, some of the green cards have a restriction of 2 years initially (also known as conditional green cards) when you are married to a U.S citizen for example.

5. Is there any way by which we can verify, by ourselves, what is the category and type of greencard she has?

If she has a green card, that is all there is to it (unless she obtained it via marriage which may have a conditional 2 year validity initially). It is an immigrant visa without restrictions. As long as no laws are broken while receiving it and thereafter, she can apply for your green card as a spouse.

Any special serial numbers/markings/etc?

I would love to have contacts of good immigration attorneys either in Hyderabad, India or San Francisco, US in case this case is complicated

Please post this in the lawyers section so that an immigration attorney can help if he/she is from SFO.


Read between the lines for answers.

Good luck for us ; And to all the hard working guys ; i would like to help out in the best way ; i am mostly a follower not a leader ; please let me know if i can be of any help ; I live in Oregon, Portland ; i shall request my other friends to contribute for the cause.
Thanks
Anil.

Hi, I am in exactly the same situation. Would just the I-140 receipt number suffice? My employer also hasn't given me any copies of the I-140 and labor certification copies. My I-140 is approved and it's been more than 180 days since I-485 filing..please advise.

I am planning to change jobs using the EAD / AC-21 in the next couple of months. To start off the process I wanted to get all the approval notices from the lawyer so that I have all the documents in place before I change jobs.
My employer uses a popular law firm to handle the immigration filing etc. I sent an email to the lawyer asking them to send me a copy of the I-140 approval notice.The lawyer responded that according to my company's internal policy they will not provide me a copy of the I-140 approval notice.

I would like to know the following -
1) Has someone else also faced a similar issue ?
MANY PEOPLE ARE IN A SIMILAR SITUATION.
2) If so , is there a way to get them to send me a copy of th 140 approval notice
NO - EXCEPT IF THEY HAVE A CHANGE OF HEART (GOOD LUCK FINDING LAWYERS WITH HEARTS!)
3) Does the employer by law have the authority to restrict the distribution of the 140 approval notice
THAT'S WHAT PEOPLE SAY.
4) Do I need the 140 approval notice in order to use EAD/AC-21 to change jobs ?
IT'S GOOD TO HAVE IT AS A REFERENCE, ESPECIALLY IF THERE ARE 'REQUEST FOR EVIDENCE' IN THE FUTURE. IN ANY CASE, AFTER 180 DAYS OF 1-485 FILING, AND IF YOUR 1-140 IS ALREADY APPROVED, EVEN IF YOUR EMPLOYER REVOKES THE 1-140 IT DOESN'T IMPACT YOUR ADJUSTMENT OF STATUS APPLICATION.

AS A SIDENOTE - IN ALL LIKELIHOOD YOUR LAWYERS WOULD HAVE INFORMED YOUR EMPLOYER THAT YOU WERE ASKING FOR I-140 RECEIPT, THEREBY SENDING A SIGNAL TO YOUR EMPLOYER THAT YOU MAY BE JUMPING THE SHIP SOON!


Thanks

ALL THE BEST!

Hi guys,

Sorry, I was absent for a long time. I am back now!

@ Hebron:
Yes, I am planning to file the EB2 with the same employer. Of course that is what prompted my questions in the first place.

@ veni:
Thanks for the suggestion. Yes, my employer applied for the H1B amendment and LCA and got them approved. So I hope that is good.

@ JamesSingham:
James, is your case the same as mine? i.e. you converted from EB3 to EB2 with the same employer (for a different job title & responsibilities) and are using the experience you gained with the same employer? Have you filed for EB2 PERM already? What is the current status? BTW how do we prove that the job responsibilities are 50% different. Obviously reading the EB3 job description and EB2 job description should make it clear. But I guess the DOL expects some formal proof about this? What kind of documents/letters/evidence has your current employer included in your application to prove that the two positions are > 50% different? Is there a standard procedure for doing this? Too many questions...sorry. But I hope you understand my situation :(. Please provide you responses. That will greatly help.

Attorney saying she did fallow up with USCIS but she got response back that since they (USCIS) already approved my case she can only do proting when I file 484 under EB2 category.

Can you ask her to do inter-filing for I-485? I thought lawyer just need to send a letter to link new I-140 to your existing I-485 application.

?....

Now that I do have receipts- should I go ahead and stop payment on the 2nd set??

I would wait until your money is actually deducted from the bank account to be 100% sure that there is no issue with regards to your checks.Then possibly you could ask for stop payments on your check.
Actually I have read before in UsCIS site that they will try to resubmit the check one more time before rejecting or accepting the forms.So hopefully they will resubmit it again, and since you have reversed your stop payment everything should be OK with your july2 filing. Again it is very reassuring that you have got the Receipts, and that is a sign that it was indeed properly filed, because they reject anything which was improperly filed.

In my case the money is already deducted from the bank account, and I have check cashed images online. so I have asked for stoppayments,yeah it cost me 150 bucks for 5 checks ouch...

I think it matters and you probably might get an RFE if you dont provide evidence that you are qualified for the advertised job.

You can try to get an affidavit from some of your older colleagues.


It is EB3 (PD 2001) and Lc did say that 3 years of experience and my first job almost have 2 years 8-9 months of experience. So I was thinking that USISC should not mind for letter of eperience for 3 remaining months..Current job ..I have been working now for 6.5 years....

Does it matter..Do you think it really matters..

let me know..otherwise I really have to worry about RFE

DB

As of my knowledge and talking with others, it seems like they will issue receipt to you for each of those application. Regarding I-485 processing, yes they will wait untill your labor substitution is done then they will process I-140 and once I-140 is approved they will process I-485. If I-140 is not approved then they wouldnt be able to process I-485 even if it's current.

I had applied for Labor Substitution/140/485/EAD concurrently on July 2nd. If I understand the process correctly, I would receive 3 different receipt notices and 3 different approvals for LC/140/485?

I have applied in NSC. What is the approximate processing times for approving:
1. Labor Substitution
2. I 140
3. I 485.

Also, will they start processing 485 only after LC and 140 are approved?

Thanks.

um and theres many sites with ps tutorials... www.phong.com something starting with r...heh oh yeah and www.eyeballdesign.com has some good tutorials...though they mostly focus on interface design...oh well

The thing i could sugest is for you to do a search on like google for ps7 tutorials...

**** i really need to get ps7

What do you mean by
"Can an attorney force me to file AC-21 even if i dont want to?"

Are you asking if the attorney would file the change of employment letter?

Please clarify your question

What I am trying to say is if the attorney prefers Ac-21 filing without waiting for RFE, while I may want to wait for RFE if i am sure sponsoring employer wont withdraw 140, whose word will prevail?

Wow,

at first glance it seems 245(i) is kicking in real hard.

Look at EB-3 numbers for Mexico, Phillipines, Pakistan, South Korea, Guatemala, Brazil, Equador, Peru, Poland, El Salvador, Bolivia, Ecquador,

Compare this with H1-B data and you'll see what I mean.

Also EB-1 seems unusually high at ~37,000
EB-1 is even higher than EB-2

isn't that unusual?