Mentol Blog's

is pixel stretching liquifying? cause thats cool...u can distort peoples faces and stuff like that...hehe:)

bump
I have received EAD/AP. Need to know if I have need to go for EAD renewal in USCIS office or it comes by post

I got the 140 denial notice.
The USCIS did not mentioned any reason like my valid labour is expired.Not sure is the denial is because of 180 day rule or not.

Here is the reason...

The petitioner did not submit an individual labour certification for the beneficiary or evidence of schedule A designation.As such, the beneficiary is ineligible for classification as a member of the preofessions holding an advanced degree or an alien of exceptional ability.

Skilled = anyone having skills to remain employed (or provide healthy contribution to the economy) at that point of time

So this can be a cook, dancer, painter or a programmer - if the society or economy needs one. Tomorrow, if my programmer skills are no longer required for this economy and country then I can be categorized unskilled labor too.

I am sorry if I look biased. I have no such intentions as I made clear in my first post itself. All my intentions of discussion are based on the definition given above for the word "skilled".

"senator_levin@levin.senate.gov" to me
show details Apr 30 (3 days ago)

Dear Mr. Amin:

Thank you for contacting me regarding immigration and border security. I appreciate receiving your views on these important issues.

Our immigration system is broken and needs reform. I believe an effective immigration policy must include comprehensive border security and comprehensive immigration reform. We must secure our borders against real threats from terrorism and protect U.S. workers, while preserving the freedoms and principles on which our nation was founded. We must address reforms realistically, stem the tide of illegal immigrants entering the country and be fair to those who are here legally.

I support comprehensive border security reform. I voted in favor of an amendment to the Fiscal Year 2007 Defense Appropriations Act (P.L.109-289) that appropriated $1.83 billion to construct 370 miles of triple-layered fencing and 461 miles of vehicle barriers along the southwest border of our country. I also supported an amendment to the Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act for Defense, the Global War on Terror, and Tsunami Relief (P.L.109-13) that provided $390 million to hire an additional 650 border patrol agents, 250 immigration investigators, and 168 immigration enforcement agents and deportation officers, as well as to fund an additional 2,000 detention beds for immigration enforcement purposes.

I believe any reform must protect U.S. workers. For this reason, I voted in favor of an amendment to the Fair Minimum Wage Act (H.R.2) that would bar employers who violate immigration laws by hiring undocumented workers from receiving federal government contracts for up to 10 years. The Fair Minimum Wage Act passed the Senate on February 1, 2007, and must now be considered by a House-Senate conference committee to reconcile the differences between the Senate and House versions of the bill. I believe it is important to ensure that employers hire only those legally eligible to work and that employees are treated fairly. I support a broad-based Electronic Employment Verification (EEV) system, which builds upon the existing voluntary pilot program, to increase the reliability of employment authorization checks. In the 109th Congress, I supported a number of worker protection amendments to the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act (S.2611). I voted in favor of an amendment that would have established a true prevailing wage for all occupations to ensure that U.S. workers� wages are not lowered as a result of the guest worker program, and I supported an amendment that would have required employers to make good faith efforts to recruit U.S. workers first. S.2611 passed the Senate by a bipartisan vote of 62-36. Unfortunately, S.2611 was blocked by the House because of opposition to the immigration provisions in the Senate bill. The bill was not passed before the end of the 109th Congress.

Comprehensive immigration reform must remove the �magnet� that has attracted millions of people to cross the border illegally. We should not provide amnesty, but instead permit currently undocumented workers to earn the right to obtain legal status over a long period of time, under restrictive conditions, including being required to pay fees and back taxes. These individuals would be required to apply through the same immigration process as everyone else and take their place in line behind all those whose applications are pending. I will continue to work with my colleagues in the Senate toward effective solutions that address our nation�s real immigration problems. Without a comprehensive approach to immigration reform, our current problems with illegal immigration will likely continue.

Thank you again for contacting me.

Sincerely,
Carl Levin









CC to senator_levin
show details 7:36 pm (1 minute ago)

Respected Sir,

I wanted to bring to your attention the woes of immigrants who are legally here in U.S. Specifically, the high-skilled workers who are experiencing decade-long waits to get Green Cards (the employment based Green Cards). There are approximately half a million such people in U.S. today whose lives are in limbo as they wait to get their Green Cards. I encourage you to visit http://immigrationvoice.org, an organization comprising of such people who are lobbying the Congress to help get some relief urgently.

The focus of immigration reform has solely been on illegal immigration. What is not so well understood is that the fate of legal immigrants has been tied with that of the illegal immigrants (because there is just one bill that the Congress will debate - CIR/STRIVE). It is ironic that if this bill does not pass, legal immigrants would be left hanging in the dark again, even when there is bi-partisan support for their cause!

The waiting times for getting an employment-based (EB) Green Card (GC) are increasing each day for nationals of all countries. But especially hard-hit are people from India and China, whose waiting times are expected to increase to 10-15 years, if the current trend continues. The demand for EB-GC keeps increasing because over the last decade an average of about 100,000 skilled workers have joined the U.S. work-force each year (using H-1B visa, and graduating foreign students), but only 50,000 new employment-based Green Cards are issued. U.S. issues 140,000 EB GC but even family members are counted-off from this quota, which thus effectively reduces to about one-third. Therefore, each year about 50,000 skilled workers join the queue for a Green Card.

Once the wait for a Green Card starts, all major life-decisions are influenced by the Green Card application process. Decisions about traveling abroad, marrying, investing, kids' education, and changing cities are then based on the stage in which one's GC application is. The biggest impact of the wait is on the person's professional career. Once the process starts, changing jobs usually means re-filing for a GC, implying that the person starts from the end of the line again. Even promotions within the same company are not without risks, as any change in job descriptions necessitates refilling the application. So a person waiting for a GC is expected to remain in the same job with the same company and without any substantial increase (or decrease) in pay! The skilled worker therefore lives life in constant limbo.

The psychological impact of being stuck and being treated as less than equal, even while paying all taxes (including SS and Medicare, to which they are not even entitled to without becoming permanent residents) is immense.

Your help is very much needed to eliminate this unfair backlog and reform the system, so that no innocent and law abiding person should suffer anymore. Your kind reply is very valuable to me.

I appreciate your time and help.

Regards,
CC





Above is the email conversation beween me and Senetor Levine. He seems to be in support for Legal immigration, but is against Amnesty.
My reply here is basically a nice written post by a fellow member here (Eternal_hope).
So credit for writing goes to him.
A similar reply was sent to senetor Debbie Stabenow (Michigan too)

Please comment......

Hi,

My company filed for I-140 around Dec-2007. During first week of Sep-2008 USCIS case status page was showing "I-140 is approved". After that since third week of Sep-2008 case status page is showing "Documents mailed to applicant".

But neighter my lawyer not my employer had received the approval notice in mail.
How to obtain the duplicate or copy of this approved I-140? What form need to be submitted? where? and how much time it takes?

Thanks,

Even an entry level lawyer knows how to request\obtain a document that USCIS has sent but is not received. I suspect they are not telling the truth because they don't want to give you a copy.

If the lawyer simply calls USCIS 800 number on the I-140 receipt notice and provides relevent information they would at least send a COPY if not original or duplicate.

To reinforce our fax campaign, we should start calling the senators and start reinforcing our message to them. Please do not hesitate or be shy of doing this. Now is the time that you can make a difference.

Please stick to directions and talking points, stay on message and be calm, polite. Avoid sarcasm and rhetoric at all costs even if they disagree with you completely.

Here are the instructions of what you should do

Call the Washington DC Phone numbers of the following Senators. Check this post during the day because we may add to this list:

We want to reach them as early as possible before the vote on the Bingaman Amendments S.A. 4181 and 4182 take place. The Senate reconvenes at 9:15 am tomorrow (May 25, Thursday), we do not know at when the vote on these amendments will take place, so call as early as possible:

• John Cornyn (TX) - 202-224-2934
• Ed Kennedy (MA) – 202-224-4543
• Arlen Specter (PA) – 202-224-4254
• John McCain (AZ) – 202-224-2235
• Larry Craig (ID)– 202-224-2752
• Lindsey Graham (SC) –202-224-5972
• Jeff Bingaman (NM) - (202) 224-5521
• Dick Durbin (IL) – 202-224-2152

WHY IT IS OK TO CALL SENATORS WHO ARE NOT FROM YOUR STATE

Even if a senator is not from your state and if that questions comes up during phone call, explain the reason for calling by saying that "Since Immigration laws are federal laws and every senator's vote affects us in all 50 states, your time and the senators support would be highly appreciated".

Once they pick up the phone:

1. Introduce yourself

My name is _______ I am a member of a volunteer organization called Immigration Voice which advocates legislative changes for improving the GC processing for legal immigrants.
I have been a legal resident of the USA for x years and my employer is sponsoring me for a greencard.

2. Ask for the Immigration Counsel/ Staffer

3. Talking Points

• Very Briefly Express Overall Support for the Bill

Request the Senator to support the Comprehensive Immigration Bill, especially those provisions that support the highly skilled immigrants. Reiterate that all of us are LEGAL immigrants and have obeyed the laws of immigration at all times. Reiterate the fact that many of us have been waiting here for more than 5 years to get our green cards.

• Oppose the Bingaman Amendments S.A. 4181 and S.A. 4182

At present the CIR bill has a provision of not counting dependents against the cap. This is the way it should be because employment based visa quotas are properly meant for essential highly skilled workers, they shouldn’t be wasted on their dependents. After all the American business that is trying to stay competitive by hiring this workers is petitioning to get a skilled worker, not a dependent child.
The Bingaman Amendments S.A. 4181 and S.A. 4182 try to once again include dependents in the calculations of the annual quota for employment based highly skilled workers. This is harmful for American competitiveness, and will waste visas meant for highly skilled essential workers on their dependents.

Urge the Senator to vote against these amendments. Remind them that Sen Bingaman’s own PACE Education bill (S. 2198) does not include dependents in the calculation of the annual quota for high skilled workers.

• Thank the staffer for their time.

Post Here. Once you have called these senators, post back here so that it will motivate others to do the same.

Then why do we need an attorney if we are there to correct them. We provide them with proper documentation. They make sure they put it correctly in the form. I can understand if a wrong document has been send and that caused the error but otherwise what are they for.


When the papers are prepared, attorney will send it to the candidate to review and sign it. Dint you find the flaws then? if not, then it is your mistake and the attorney will bill you for sure.

My attorney sent a draft from for me to fill it out. I filled it in and sent it back to him. He filled the original seeing the information from the draft with lots of mistakes. Then he sent the filled original to me. I have to review it again and fix all the errors. Then he corrected it and sent it back to me. Then again I have to review and sign. So the responsibility lies on me and not with Attorney.

yes, GC is for future job. But if you are working with the employer while the GC in process, it is hard to substantiate that you are doing similar job in Team lead and in Manager position. There are job codes http://online.onetcenter.org/. These are the guidelines followed by USCIS. Any employer will not allow this to happen as an audit will cause this employer to be on blacklist with USCIS.

You can take any job and role until you adjucate 485. Once your adjucate the 485, you have to come back to the role defined in your LPR and stay there for a while. There is not strict guildeline for the timeframe on how long you have to do the current role once your have your GC. My company attorney recommends 6months to a year. After this, you are safe. Nothing will be a problem if you do not follow these guidelines until you go for naturalization(citizenship).

i'll believe it when i see it. too much talk no action. it's too good to be true, isn't it? maybe our childrens' children will benefit from it.

I think, similar to DOL backlog elimination centers, they will pull all the pending
cases and put them into a new system. The data entry for such an excercise will take 2 years. Afterwards the real processing will start.

ABC NEWS: Will Congress Vote on DREAM Act for Illegal Immigrants in 2010?

Senate Majority Leader Reid, Speaker Pelosi Weigh Lame-Duck Vote on Immigration

By DEVIN DWYER

WASHINGTON, Nov. 15, 2010�

Senate Vote on DREAM Act, Immigration in Lame-Duck Congress? - ABC News (http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/senate-vote-dream-act-immigration-lame-duck-congress/story?id=12136182)



They came through for him during a tight reelection campaign in Nevada. Now Hispanic voters are looking to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to return the favor.



Reid has promised a Senate vote this year on a small piece of immigration legislation known as the DREAM Act, which would give hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants a conditional path to legal residency.



"The answer is yes," Reid told Univision host Jorge Ramos in October when pressed about whether there will be a vote. "I have the right to bring that up any time I want."



As Congress reconvenes this week for the final session of the year, Reid now has roughly a month to make good on his promise.



Many immigrants and immigrant advocates, particularly Hispanics, have been disappointed by Congress' inaction on legislation to address the situation of millions of the country's undocumented immigrants, particularly those who are young children.



However, Republican opposition to efforts to legalize undocumented immigrants, a packed end-of-year legislative agenda and a bleak track record for controversial bills during lame-duck sessions all cast doubt on chances of the bill's passage this year.



The DREAM Act would grant legal status to immigrants who complete college or at least two years of military service and maintain "good moral character." It would apply to immigrants younger than 36 years old who arrived in the U.S. illegally as children under the supervision of their parents.



"We are very confident this will come up for a vote," said Flavia de la Fuente of the adovacy group DreamActivist.org. "We are confident that the American people and that the moderate GOP will make the right choice when it comes to investing in the future of this country."



Reid attempted to attach the measure as an amendment to the defense authorization bill in September, drawing intense protest from Republicans, who accused the Democrat of playing pre-election politics.



Ultimately, Republicans blocked the effort to bring the defense bill to the floor for debate, precluding a chance of adding the DREAM Act. The bill also included a repeal of the military's "don't ask don't tell" policy.



"We're going to vote on the Dream Act; it's only a question of when," Reid said after the vote. "It's a question of fairness. This is not the end of this."



Many activists on both sides of the issue agree, however, that chances of the bill's passage are only going to grow dimmer with an influx of Republicans set to join the House and Senate in January.





Roy Beck, president of Numbers USA, a group that favors tighter immigration controls and supports Republicans' efforts to block the DREAM Act, said the measure is flawed.



"Some of these [immigrants] are compelling cases, no doubt about it," said Beck. "But you've got to draw some lines a lot narrower than the DREAM Act draws them. This is about giving millions of illegal aliens permanent work permits, and I don't think in this economy that this is a very happy time to be doing that."



President Obama supports the legislation, as does Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who says it would help recruitment, and Education Secretary Arne Duncan, who says it's "the right thing to do for our country."



But it's unclear whether the administration will push behind the scenes in the weeks ahead to make it a legislative priority. The Congress already faces challenging debates over whether to extend the Bush tax cuts, fund the federal government through 2011, and approve a controversial defense spending bill.



"The president supports the DREAM Act and I support the DREAM Act. The president supports immigration reform, and I support immigration reform. And how Congress takes that up is for the Congress and the leadership to decide," said Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano in September.



The DREAM Act has received some bipartisan Senate support in the years since it was first introduced in 2001. It was approved as part of immigration reform bill in 2006, but the package later failed in the House. In 2007, the Act was filibustered when it came up for an up-or-down vote.



Speaker Nancy Pelosi has decided not to list DREAM Act as a priority for this week, a senior Democratic aide told ABC News. But it could come up after Thanksgiving.



According to the nonpartisan Migration Policy Institute, about 2 million of the nearly 11 million undocumented immigrants currently living in the U.S. could be eligible for legalization under the DREAM Act.



The group also estimates, however, that only 825,000 of those immigrants would ultimately take advantage of the law if it were enacted.



ABC News' John Parkinson contributed to this report.




DESERT NEWS: Sign the Utah Compact

Published: Sunday, Nov. 14, 2010 12:00 a.m. MST

Sign the Utah Compact | Deseret News (http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700081235/Sign-the-Utah-Compact.html)



Already recognized by Forbes Magazine as the top state in the nation for business, Utah further burnished its reputation for pro-family and pro-growth policies this week as civic, business and religious leaders signed the Utah Compact, a declaration for principled immigration reform.



Historically, during periods of economic recession, business leaders and policy-makers have reverted to what economists call zero-sum thinking � the belief that one person gains only when another loses. When we only have so much pie, it is entirely rational to worry about how the pieces are divvied out. And when the pie is shrinking, the rules for who gets a slice become even more critical.



Fixed-pied concerns are undoubtedly part of what lies behind the complex debate about immigration. There is understandable fear that immigrants might take increasingly scarce jobs and resources from citizens. And any public expenditure on immigrants, whether through social services or law enforcement, draws down a limited public treasury that deserves scrupulous stewardship.



But people also intuitively understand that the best way to ensure more pie over the long term is not to hoard what is being served right now, but instead figure out how to expand the pie. This is what economists call positive-sum thinking � the belief that through exchange we can expand the pie, not simply fret about how it is divided.



The recent recession, followed by a jobless recovery, has served up a fixed-pie economy. But zero-sum or fixed-pie thinking is never the path toward sustained prosperity. And as many of Utah's prominent civic, business, and religious leaders signed a declaration on immigration reform called the Utah Compact, they sent a powerful signal to the world that Utah embraces positive-sum, pie-expanding thought and policies. Instead of creating a hostile environment for immigrants, they have outlined thoughtful principles that embrace the promise afforded through immigration. They have sided with the consensus view of pro-growth free-market economists who recognize that immigration actually creates jobs and revenue. (www.nytimes.com/2010/10/31/business/economy/31view.html)



Even more important than the powerful economic growth message inherent in the Utah Compact is its embrace of those core values that support a free, humane and prosperous society: respect for the rule of law, respect for families, respect for individual liberty and respect for the dignity and humanity of each individual. It emphasizes an orderly approach to the critically important concerns of enforcement and security.



The Utah Compact is not itself a policy � it is a thoughtful declaration of principles that lawmakers should use as they work to craft pragmatic legislation that helps our state deal with the problems and promise afforded by immigration. We are impressed by the array of distinguished civic, business, and ecclesiastical leaders who have signed the Utah Compact or endorsed its principles. We encourage our readers to read the Utah Compact (The Utah Compact - Read the Utah Compact (http://www.utahcompact.com)) and sign it.

Recently joined.

Contributed $200.

Thanks Jitamitra

Related to the questions on this thread.

What happens when:
AOS has been filed and it is more than 180 days AND
dependent has started working on EAD AND
primary applicant loses job

Case 1: primary applicant is also on EAD
Case 2: primary applicant continues on H1 without using EAD

Do the primary applicant and/or spouse become out of status in either of these situations? Can the primary applicant invoke AC21 and look for another job - how much time does he/she have? i.e. does the AOS filing provide primary applicant a cushion in case of job loss?

thanks!
the key is that in any case, if the applicant does not have a H1-B backup and is solely relying on EAD, then he/she needs to make sure that the I-485 should not be denied. because if it does, it automatically makes the applicants out of status forcing them to leave the country. so it is always safe to have H1-B status maintained eventhough you have EAD. my2c

I agree. I am EB2 and my Prevailing_Wage_Level is Level II

My AP is approved on 27th, but I did not receive it so far. I already booked my tickets and have only one day left for my travel.

Would it be safe to travel now? Are there any risks involved in doing so?

Please advice.

Thank you

I did in SFO with an expired visa but with an valid H1B 797 document and they gave an 10 year validity passport.
Seems weird in your case ...

Hi All,

We wish to apply for PIO card for our 5 month old baby at the Washington DC Indian Embassy.
The application and the supporting documents are all in place.
We have to drive 3 hrs to the Indian Embassy.
Since the weather is not very co-operative, i was wondering if it's absolutely required to take the kid to the Embassy? I would like to avoid taking him if possible.

Also, a minor question - how do you manage to get the thumb impression. Where can we get the ink pads required for the thumb impression?

Thanks All.

Lawyer told me that I cannot contest. They screwed it up some thing
there is always some way...
pls quote the exact sentences of your rejection letter here. we need to know a reason for your rejection.
ask your lawyer or find out exactly what they screwed up.

also let us know
- is your lawyer a company lawyer or your lawyer
- what is the status of your company--- big/small/ many h1b/ what about others in your company on LC applications..etc
- did the comapny do ads? do you have the material or copy of everything that was sent?
- is your company making profits. how many employees?
- eb2 or eb3
- has anyone been rejected before in your company?
- how much time do you have on h1b

Hello,

To issue an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) for an H4 visa holder, the local IRS office is asking Indian passport and Indian birth certificate. It is difficult to get birth certificate in India because the birth was never registered. Is it OK to submit the affidavit given by parents (the kind usually used for immigration needs), instead of the birth certificate, to get the ITIN number. If anyone got their ITIN number by using such affidavit given by parents, please post your reply. Thanks in advance.

slc_ut

I dont get it...
What is the significance of birth certificate?

I only had to send in notarized passport copy to get ITIN. For foreign nationals, passport is more than enough.

guys can someone please let me know what is meant by lud.

my fringerprinting was done 2 days ago and received ead no ap yet.

i have seen posts saying online status of i485 been adjusted to lud after
finger printing done.i donot see any changes online for i485 after finger printing.

i highly appreciate if someone let me know what is lud

Online computer message shows EAD oh me and my spouse was mailed on 24th september but till date as on 24th october i hace not received it. i call the USCIS and the second level officer told me cannot mail u another one til me get in returned mail or go and inquire with the postoffice. Post office doea not have any pending mail for our address. USCIS says cannot send a duplicate one. donot know what to do.???? any suggestions.

I just happened to see a copy of my labor approval. My current salary is less than the salary mentioned in labor approval. Do you know whether it is legally valid?. My salary is as per the LCA for H1.

If GC LCA salary is more than it is well planned by the employer. If you run away, at the time of GC you need to show a job with that higher salary other wise you may loose GC.

Usually GC LCA salary is kept low. If some mishap happen, is will be easier to find a job with lower salary.