Kama Of Kingstone

Two thing here. I was wondering whether you understand the connotation of "paki". Do remember that "posts to denigrate anyone are not welcome " as can be seen on top of the page.
Also there have been discussions of a variety of things and the issue of making a DWI a criminal offense has been discussed previously. As long as the moderators are okay with the issue I guess the discussion can continue.

my two cents

hey, my paki friend,
this forum was created for the express purpose of addressing the backlog for employment based adjustment of status. Maybe you should try a more general forum to ask questions about H1 visa stamp/criminal issues etc. Infact on the Murthy forum, there is a specific area devoted to such issues and you will perhaps get better response.
regards.

Last time CIR had sweet deal for Illegals ..
Pay $100 and get Z visa ( Work Permit ) .. --> GC --> Citizenship ---> Vote for ?? ..

For Legals ...go back and restart in new queue .. We dont want to skilled people be free of our companies. We expect you to be enslaved ..We are leader of Free world.

What happened in 2007 is now history. That is not likely to repeat in the upcoming CIR. At this time CIR is the only way to get things moving. Unless CIR is defeated or unless administration says that they do not want a CIR bill, piece meal approach is not likely to happen. Given the situation, asking for a separate bills is setting ourselves for failure, and it alienates us and our issues from the pro-immigration community. At this time, if you call/meet with lawmakers asking for EB only bill, the pro-immigration lawmakers get turned off and anti-immigrant lawmakers use the count of your call to oppose the immigration reform. At this time its a bad idea by calling lawmakers asking for "EB only bill". It will only turn out to hurt our issues and the cause. Additionally, it doesn't help to call specific lawmakers who already understand, agree, support and champion our issues.

IV do not have a any position on on the issue of illegals/undocumented. And whatever is your personal belief, please understand the reality of the situation and refrain from attacking illegals on IV forums as it doesn't help our cause in anyways.

Folks,

I received a Transfer notice today for both me and my wife suggesting that our I-485 petitions have been transferred to the local USCIS office. Below is the exact message.

Current Status: This case has been sent to another office for processing because it has jurisdiction over the case.

On April 30, 2009, we transferred this I485 APPLICATION TO REGISTER PERMANENT RESIDENCE OR TO ADJUST STATUS to our LOS ANGELES, CA location for processing because they now have jurisdiction over the case. We sent you a notice of this transfer. Please follow any instructions on this notice. You will be notified by mail when a decision is made, or if the office needs something from you. If you move while this case is pending, call customer service. We process cases in the order we receive them. You can use our processing dates to estimate when this case will be done. This case has been sent to our LOS ANGELES, CA location. Follow the link below to check processing dates. You can also receive automatic e-mail updates as we process your case. Just follow the link below to register.


From what I could find through browsing through various forums is that usually one ends up getting an interview when this happens. Does anybody have any other thoughts? or has anybody received a similar notice recently?

To get an answer just visit this thread

http://immigrationvoice.org/forum/showthread.php?p=339084#post339084

This might be a cliche..

Neither GC nor the Career meet our ultimate end goals

If you boil it all down, this craziness is driven by three things

1) Hunger for money
2) Hunger for Achievement/Recognition
3) Hunger for materialistic pleasures.

When you are 65+ years old, I bet none of us would be thinking about GC, Citizenship or for that matter how good the infrastructure in this country is. However I bet we will all be thinking about two things

1) Financial Freedom/Retirement
2) A closer and more fulfilling relationship with near & dear ones.

From what I can remember, I have always wanted to come to the US, enjoy the luxuries of life and escape India. 12 years into this country, none of that joy or excitement remains. What has taken over is planning for an early retirement and peace of mind. To put things in perspective, I am neither approaching retirement nor approaching mid life crisis (I think), I am just 35 years old.

My goal now is to make my money without sacrificing too much in life, plan out my future and make my way to the beeline. Hopefully the conversion rates wont disappoint us, and I can disappear into the Indian sunset.

Again, ramblings from a tortured soul.

Cooler

This sustain act is total BS. They want to increase H1-B numbers without reforming the EB system. They do not want to increase EB numbers. They do not want to do away with country quotas. They don't have country quotas in H1-B. This just creates more and more backlogs for everyone. I HOPE THIS BILL DOESN'T PASS. The companies and lawmakers just want cheap labor without "paying" for it. Just a bunch of self-serving bigots !

Seems like this bill has some EB provisions as well - like exempting PhD holders from visa numbers. Ofcourse thats too little but something is better than nothing.

If you have not been to Canada or lived in Canada since your landing I would assume that your Canadian PR would have been automatically cancelled because of the 3 years out of 5 years rule.


I was wondering if anyone here who had a canadian PR (i.e. did a landing), got GC later has travelled again to Canada again?
We got canadian PR in 2005 and did a landing while we were waiting for our GC. We got a our GC last year and are planning to visit canada using our GC. Are there going to be any issue in entering canada?

Also, we travelled to India last year and received new I-94 when we got back into US using AP. Very soon (days) we received our GC's. I am not sure what do with these I-94's when we leave US. Do we still need to surrender these as in the past?

I am in.
What do I need to do apart from contributions and convincing other friends to vote on the above thread?

for gg_ny

this is extension of H1B based of aproved I140 .

if i understood correctly the application for H1 extension will became null and void if i travel outside of US .

this is very interesting. I was not aware about this .

Anyway, thank you for your valuable input

I agree.

Visa Recapture or remove country limit for skilled labor (EB category). these would probably be the only ones that will fly.

Maybe they should also keep it low key so less people oppose it;)

Send it through when Mr.King is on vacation:D

Don't keep your expectations so low. Change is on the way ! Senate's color has changed. ;)

This sustain act is total BS. They want to increase H1-B numbers without reforming the EB system. They do not want to increase EB numbers. They do not want to do away with country quotas. They don't have country quotas in H1-B. This just creates more and more backlogs for everyone. I HOPE THIS BILL DOESN'T PASS. The companies and lawmakers just want cheap labor without "paying" for it. Just a bunch of self-serving bigots !
I disagree with u, i think this bill should pass which lets the EB pipeline inflates so much that it explodes.

Which part of CA are you in? Is it scary to live there. Do you really need a gun?

I live in Southern california(also lived in LA/Orange/San diego area) and i guess you are not in Southern california.

J Thomas


I live in SF Bay area.
Not that I am getting paranoid, I suspect social issues if economy worsens..Rising crime and other social issues do come up in tough economic conditions.

Recently one of my friends was targeted in a racial abuse, something which was unheard in the area where I live in. I see gang signs allover the area where I live. It was not like that one year ago.

Guys ,
Is there anyone know whether H1 increasing issue will be introduced again in Congress or not ?


YES. I believe that will certainly be re-introduced as one of the measures in 2006

Here it is

Q #17 in http://www.uscis.gov/files/pressrelease/EBFAQ1.pdf

Q17: How will USCIS interpret the language of AC21 Sec 104(c) (for three-year H-1B extensions) during a period in which AOS applications could be filed?
A17. USCIS interprets AC21 �104(c) as only applicable when an alien, who is the beneficiary of an approved I-140 petition, is eligible to be granted lawful permanent resident status but for application of the per country limitations. Any petitioner seeking an H-1B extension on behalf of a beneficiary pursuant to AC21 �104(c) must thus establish that at the time of filing for such extension, the alien is not eligible to be granted lawful permanent resident status on account of the per country immigrant visa limitations.

And here is what OH says in his breaking news for July 24th after this memo

0724/2007: AC 21 Three-Year Increment H-1B Extension Petition Availability in July and August 2007

Under Section 104(c) of AC 21 Act, those who have an approved I-140 petition or pending EB-485 application with the approved I-140 petition are eligible for the H-1B extension in three-year increment, if they cannot file EB-485 or EB-485 is pending but cannot be adjudicated because of the visa number unavailability for him/her. The question remained whether visa number should be unavailable at the time of filing of H-1B extension or at the time of adjudication of filing. The USCIS FAQ indicates that it will be determined by the date of filing rather than date of adjudication.


You should ask your lawyer to get an amendment. I read here yday somebody doing that.

As I had already posted in the news article thread (http://immigrationvoice.org/forum/showpost.php?p=8552&postcount=225), this is an exhaustive article with a bold and thought provoking headlines. The article can be accessed here - http://www.newsobserver.com/104/story/427793.html

Many skilled foreigners leaving U.S.
Exodus rooted in backlog for permanent status

Karin Rives, Staff Writer

When the Senate immigration bill fell apart last week, it did more than stymie efforts to deal with illegal immigration.

It derailed efforts to deal with an equally vexing business concern: a backlog in applications for so-called green cards, the coveted cards that are actually pink or white and that offer proof of lawful permanent residency.

Many people now wait six years or longer for the card. There are 526,000 applications pending, according to Immigration Voice, an advocacy group that tracks government data.

Lately, this has prompted an exodus of foreign workers who tired of waiting, to return home or go further afield. With the economies in Asia and elsewhere on the rise, they can easily find work in the native countries or in third nations that are more generous with their visas.

"You have China, Russia, India -- a lot of countries where you can go and make a lot of money. That's the biggest thing that has changed," said Murali Bashyam, a Raleigh immigration lawyer who helps companies sponsor immigrants. "Before, people were willing to wait it out. Now they can do just as well going back home, and they do."

Mike Plueddeman said he lost three employees (one a senior programmer with a doctorate) at Durham-based DynPro in the past two years because they tired of waiting for their green cards.

All three found good jobs in their home countries within a few weeks of leaving Durham, said Plueddeman, the software consultancy's human resource director.

"We are talking about very well-educated and highly skilled people who have been in the labor force a long time," he said. "You hate losing them."

This budding brain drain comes as the first American baby boomers retire and projections show a huge need for such professionals in the years ahead. U.S. universities graduate about 70,000 information technology students annually. Many people say that number won't meet the need for a projected 600,000 additional openings for information systems professionals between 2002 and 2012, and the openings made by retirements.

"We just don't have the pipeline right now," said Joe Freddoso, director of Cisco Systems' Research Triangle Park operations. "We are concerned there's going to be a shortage, and we're already seeing that in some areas."

Cisco has advertised an opening for a data-security specialist in Atlanta for several months, unable to find the right candidate. Freddoso believes the problem will spread unless the government allows more foreign workers to enter the country, and expedites their residency process.

However, not everybody believes in the labor shortage that corporations fret about.

Critics say that proposals to allow more skilled workers into the country would only depress wages and displace American-born workers who have yet to fully recover from the dot-com bust.

"We should only issue work-related visas if we really need them," said Caroline Espinosa, a spokeswoman with NumbersUSA, a Washington, D.C., group pushing for immigration reduction. "There are 2.5 million native born American workers in the math and computer field who are currently out of work. It begs the question whether we truly need foreign workers."

She added that the immigration backlog would be aggravated by raising the cap for temporary and permanent visas, which would make it harder for those who deserve to immigrate to do so.

Waiting since 2003

Sarath Chandrand, 44, a software consultant from India, moved with his wife and two young daughters from Raleigh to Toronto in December because he couldn't live with more uncertainty. He applied for his green card in early 2003 and expects it will take at least two more years to get it.

His former employer continues to sponsor his application for permanent residency, hoping that he will eventually return. But Chandrand doesn't know what the future will hold.

"I miss Raleigh, the weather, the people," he said in a phone interview. "But it's a very difficult decision to make, once you've settled in a country, to move out. You go through a lot of mental strain. Making another move will be difficult."

Canada won him over because its residency process takes only a year and a half and doesn't require sponsorship from an employer.

The competition from Canada also worries Plueddeman, who said several of his employees are also applying for residency in both countries. "They'll go with whoever comes first," he said.

And it's not just India and Canada that beckon. New Zealand and Australia are among nations that actively market themselves to professionals in the United States, with perks such as an easy process to get work visas.

New Zealand, with a population of 4 million, has received more than 1,900 applications from skilled migrants and their families in the past two years, said Don Badman, the Los Angeles marketing director for that country's immigration agency. Of those, about 17 percent were non-Americans working in the United States.

Badman's team has hired a public relations agency to get the word out. They have also run ads in West Coast newspapers and attended trade shows, mainly to attract professionals in health care and information technology.

Dana Hutchison, an operating room nurse from Cedar Mountain south of Asheville, could have joined a hospital in the United States that offers fat sign-on bonuses. Instead, she's in the small town of Tauranga, east of Auckland, working alongside New Zealand nurses and doctors.

"It would be hard for me to work in the U.S. again," she said. Where she is now, "the working conditions are so fabulous. Everybody is friendly and much less stressed. It's like the U.S. was in the 1960s."

Limit of 140,000

Getting a green card was never a quick process. The official limit for employment-based green cards is 140,000 annually.

And there is a bottleneck of technology professionals from India and China. They hold many, if not most, of all temporary work visas, and many try to convert their work visa to permanent residency, and eventually full citizenship. But under current rules, no single nationality can be allotted more than 7 percent of the green cards.

In his February economic report, President Bush outlined proposals to overhaul the system for employment-based green cards:

* Open more slots by exempting spouses and children from the annual limit of 140,000 green cards. Such dependents now make up about half of all green card recipients, because workers sponsored by employers can include their family in the application.

* Replace the current cap with a "flexible market-based cap" that responds to the need that employers have for foreign workers.

* Raise the 7 percent limit for nations such as India that have many highly skilled workers.

After steady lobbying from technology companies, Congress is also paying more attention to the issue. The Senate immigration bill had proposed raising the annual cap for green cards to 290,000.

Kumar Gupta, a 33-year-old software engineer, has been watching the legislative proposals as he weighs his options. After six years in the United States, he is considering returning to India after learning that the green card he applied for in November 2004 could take another four or five years.

Being on a temporary work visa means that he cannot leave his job. Nor does he want to buy a home for his family without knowing he will stay in the country.

"Even if the job market is not as good as here, you can get a very good salary in India," he said. "If I have offers there, I will think of moving."

Let's utilize this write up and start quoting the link in our personal comments / emails to other news anchors, commentators, blogs etc.
I thought this deserves it's own thread. Please comment and act.

Murali,

It is always good to have your documents in order. If you are aware of the problem, why don't you have it fixed?
It may very well be a typo. on the card, and everything else may be in order. For example, what does it say on your credit report? If it is the other way round, then there is problem that must be fixed.

I would have it fixed it anyway.

Dear Friends

I have a big problem , my name is correct on passport, birthcertificate , H1 but my social security card has my name swapped. I never bothered to change all these years but I hear name check so I am worried.

Will my 1-485 case get stuck because of this
is it a good idea to change the name on SSN now.

Any suggestions.

Thanks
Murali

That is great south mama. Machi I filed I140 on JUN2nd and I got approved on JUN10th. Machi Congrat you soon will get the ration card.

What I am looking for is how do they physically transfer the application? I am afraid of dealing with another incompetent organization such as USPS. Also, what type of processing delays should I expect?

How recent were the guidelines that I-485 be sent to the same center as I-140? Were these guidelines applicable on July 2nd.

I do not know about the guidelines but these FAQs were released a few days ago(definitely after July 2nd).

Your question about how do they physically transfer applications is just very stupid. Just think about it. Your lawyer made a mistake and you want to blame USPS or USCIS for it? Nobody can tell you for sure their method of transferring applications. I dont think you have any other option but to wait.

ganguteli,

there was a donor conference call a couple of weeks back, in which aman, pappu etc participated.

your thoughts of rally was discussed, but unfortunately the numbers are not quiet adding up as it did during the July 2007 fiasco.

As per what I learned from that discussion was when IV sees the "thousands" as per your quote they are willing to support the rally idea. Otherwise, it may not make the noise as we expect it to do.

Yes, I agree with IV core's line of thought in the "rally" idea. I too wish we can do a "rally" but...:-(

If people really want to do something, then how about we organize a rally in DC and show up in thousands?

Then everyone will know you and you do not need to go to meetings just to show your faces and expect that someone will have mercy on us and think about us next time.

Hi

I am on H1B for past 7 months. My employer had difficulty getting job for me I got job(with 3 layers of companies before the client) after my own efforts(with little help from my company) and my employer cornered me to send an email in which i have agreed that i will get paid only if my employer gets the money from the last layer of the company he is contracting with.

Because of that i am getting paid very late after 100 days, as companies pay late. I have got new job and i am taking it up from Jan. Till now my employer has paid only salary till August only. He has run pay stub still Mid of september(though he has not paid for september). And is refusing to give me pay stubs after that. Also he says, as i am quitting he will pay the salary going forward as bonus without pay stubs in next year 2008 as he will not be able to pay it as my salary as i will not be with them as employee after December.

I have proper timesheets that i had submitted with client to prove my work hours with client.

How do i get my pay stubs and my pay?

Can i take legal action against my employer for not paying me on time and not giving me pay stubs. Will the email i sent have any advantage to him?

Please help

Thanks
MRD

you dont have to marry. just remain as illegal and they will GC sooner.

Hmm really? I thought that is not possible anymore. Can you give me the details or refer me to a website that has them? Thank you!

Thanks very much for your quick reply.
I have asked my lawyer to fill i140 in PP. But he said they can not because the original labor certificate is not available and USCIS will have to locate the original certificate which make sense.
Any my question is, my Priority date is June 2004. What happens after the I140 approval? Will they have to apply another i485? or use existing i485? if yes, how do they communicate to USICS to convert the old i485 from Eb3 to Eb2?