Kama Of Kingstone

Even if we can get one of these, especially, Item #3 passed will provide relief to many candidates.

For example, we can request Congress to amend to "Allow USCIS to issue 3 year EAD along with I140 Approval."

Can IV help pass this request on Advocacy days?

Do you mean we can send checks for $ accounts to be deposited into local rupees accounts in india? Does this work. Do you know how long it takes for them to get the money after each cheque deposit?

Hebbar77,
Yes its ok to do it. I have been doing it for last 11 years. It usually takes 7-10 days to get it cleared in the bank.MY parents have account in Axis bank , ICICI and dena bank. Depends from bank to bank.
Advantage: no extra cost involved
Limitation: 1-2 weeks time

Wire transfer:
Advantage: money is there in 2 days , good for emergencies
Limitation: unnecessary extra cost involved.

I think some of the I140 dates went backwards in Nebraska. I can't understand how it can move backwards...Some moved just a few days even though the list is updated after 2 months!

The only LUD was on my 140, which is on 7/13 - There was no LUD on any other applications H1, EAD, AP - One LUD today after the status change. Hope this helps.

Wandmaker,
Wondering if you ever checked if your namecheck was cleared or not.

I gave you green .. be happy .. and keep helping others

Well, thank you. I am returning the favour.

You can gain passive income.
You cannot materially participate in the operations of the firm (employee).
A member not necessarily be materially participating in the operations of the firm.
Income from profit on an investment is passive.

I like what is going on with what you are doing. The one thing that doesn't look good is that you have shadows going in different directions (i.e. chess pieces, clock, text). The board does not have a shadow at all. I think if you had added a shadow from the board it would look way more realistic.

other than that, pretty good

Current Status: H1 (visa stamp expires Sept 2011)
Citizen-India
Current: Company A (Has filed for h1 extention on May 1 under normal processing)
Future: Company B (Has filed for Transfer under Premium Processing as of May 6)

Currently employed with A. Company B lawyer has filed a transfer on May 6 Premium Process.(I believe current status is LCA is under process).

I plan to resign on May 21 with A and travel abroad to Dubai On May 22. Will be back on June3 to usa
>Can i travel abroad even if my tranfer is under process
>When i enter, what documents do I need to show at POE?
> Can i enter with Company A visa stamp
>Any issues if current employer informs USCIS about my resignation?

Its a emergency travel i cannot avoid. What needs to be done to make my trip
Please do confirm with a reliable attorney as some interpretations of the rules indicate that leaving the country while an application is pending for adjudication implies abandonement of the application.

Not sure if it applies in the case of H1 transfer pending case or not... so it is best to check with someone reliable.

No surprises here...from Murthy Bulletin:


2. Employment-Based Visa Number Predictions

We are often asked by our clients at the Murthy Law Firm to predict the movement of immigrant visa numbers. We have some useful information for MurthyDotCom and MurthyBulletin readers in this regard. Charles Oppenheim, Chief of Immigrant Visa Control and Reporting Division at the U.S. Department of State (DOS) was a guest speaker at a February 28, 2007 Washington D.C. Chapter meeting of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), which was attended by several attorneys from our firm. Mr. Oppenheim was kind enough to share his office’s visa number / Visa Bulletin expectations for 2007.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF RETROGRESSION

Mr. Oppenheim discussed the historical background that has led to the current retrogression situation. Retrogression is not something new or unfamiliar in immigration law, as long-time MurthyDotCom and MurthyBulletin readers may recall. For many, however, who may have become involved in the green card process since 2001, it is new and, of course, highly problematic. Employment-based (or EB) numbers were current from 2001 through 2005 due to a legislative "fix." This legislation authorized prior, unused immigrant visa numbers from several earlier years to be recaptured and put back into the immigration system. That quota of recaptured numbers was exhausted during Fiscal Year (FY) 2005. As a result, in FYs 2005, 2006 and 2007 we have witnessed severe backlogs in the EB3 categories for all countries and, starting in FY2006, in the EB2 categories for China and India.

PREDICTIONS FOR EB IMMIGRANT VISA NUMBERS

Employment-Based First Preference / EB1

Mr. Oppenheim stated that the employment-based first preference (EB1) category is expected to remain current for all countries of chargeability, including India and China. This is likely throughout the remainder of FY2007 (ending September 30, 2007).

Mr. Oppenheim explained what he referred to as the “trickling effect” of unused visa numbers between EB categories. This trickling effect has resulted in the EB1 category's having remained current. The numbers in the employment-based fourth preference (EB4) and employment-based fifth preference (EB5) categories that are unused are transferred up to the EB1 category. Without this trickling affect, the EB1 category would not remain current for India and China.

This also has an impact on EB2, as unused EB1 numbers trickle down to EB2. There are not enough numbers for India and China, however, to allow the EB2 for these two countries to become current. But it has helped to move EB2 forward for these two countries, to some extent.

Employment-Based Second Preference / EB2

The employment-based second preference (EB2) category is expected to remain at its current cutoff dates for nationals of India and China. These dates have been stagnant at April 22, 2005 for China and January 8, 2003 for India for a few months.

Employment-Based Third Preference / EB3

No forward movement is expected for the employment-based third preference (EB3) category. In fact, as predicted in the March Visa Bulletin and confirmed by Mr. Oppenheim, there is a strong possibility that the EB3 numbers that are not in the "worldwide" chargeability will further retrogress, or move backward. This is expected to occur in the summer of 2007. This backward movement is based upon excessive demand for the limited supply of visa numbers. This will adversely affect nationals of India and China.

Double Dipping

Another problem important to note is one of “doubling dipping” for visa numbers by some individuals. As explained by Mr. Oppenheim, if an employment-based beneficiary filed for adjustment of status in the U.S. and for consular processing overseas, that individual could acquire two visa numbers if both cases are approved. This would result in a wasted immigrant visa number. As a result of this scenario, the DOS and the USCIS are planning a system that would coordinate their visa number allocation, so that each will be aware if the other has already issued a visa number for a particular individual, to prevent waste of this kind.

CONCLUSION

We appreciate Mr. Oppenheim's continued willingness to address matters related to visa numbers and the Visa Bulletin. [The most recent Visa Bulletin chart is always available to our readers on MurthyDotCom.] The lack of employment-based visa numbers is a source of great frustration for many and Mr. Oppenheim's predictions do not assuage that feeling. It is better to have an understanding of the reality of the situation, however, than to operate in ignorance or with unrealistic expectations. The shortage of visa numbers, once again, underscores the need for legislation in this area, to increase the numbers, change the counting of the numbers (from one per person to one per family), or to revamp the system entirely.

i am a july 2nd filer at NSC , got EAD too. i-140 originally from NSC also.

Are you starting this rumor fresh, or are you passing on a third party rumor?
:)

rumour say retrogression may lift on march 2009, is it true????

Its writern in the RFE. I got an RFE and in that letter its clearly mentioned by when you need to submit the required docs.

Hi
My status has changed recently from H4 to H1. I haven't got my H1 visa stamped in passport. I need to travel to India due to family emergency.
1. Can I get an emergency appointment?
2. Would I have any problem related to transit visa if travelling via Amsterdam or Frankfurt?
3. How long does it take to recieve the passport after stamping?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
TEKNMEK

1. You should be able to get an emergency appointment. Check out the following links:
http://chennai.usconsulate.gov/appointments2.html
https://www.vfs-usa.co.in/Home.aspx

2. My mother recently flew via Frankfurt. She did not require a transit VISA.

3. If you get VISA stamped in India, it usually is given to you the same evening (at least in Chennai).

Hope this helps. Wish you good Luck!

Yes. Thats true. My cousin is in the law school here and he says that the laziest or weakest in the class go for immigration law (usually, there are exceptions) as it's "easy" most of the time you are just filing forms and immigrant like us pay on time, are polite and dont cause them "stress".

A lot of them have "UNPAID" interns, usually law students, do all the work while they are hardly working (playing golf, socializing..) and then they sign all these forms in 20-30 minutes, if they decide to work that day.


Such is the story of lot of immigration lawyers. A lot of us I am sure do not like their lawyers.
Lawyers do not even read the full application properly. They delegate the responsibility of reading and writing applications to their trainees and paralegals. I do not even know why lawyers charge such heavy fees for not doing any hard work. Lawyers do not even tell you which documents to send when you file application. They keep asking documents one by one. Can't they keep a list of all documents for each application form and send it to their clients in advance. Such problems are faced with people who have both big lawyers and small lawyers.

Another thing. I saw the list of top lawyers by bestlawyers.com and saw their selection criteria. It seems lawyers select each other. I wish they had clients rating lawyers and not peer review.

No wonder only the worst students of law become immigration lawyers. Oops, i said something bad!! Some lawyer reading this will sue me for saying this...

Not sure how true this is but I got this email from my friend who is also an IV member.

Dear All,
Be Careful At the Indian Airports , This is a well organized conspiracy by Indian Immigration, Police, Customs and Air India staff with networking at all the Indian
International Airports. Be watchful when ever you give your passport to Immigration/ Customs/Air India staff. The pass port can be easily tampered and can create trouble to you. They have found easy way of making money from NRIs. This is the way it works:
At the time of the passenger's departure, if the passenger is not looking at the officer while he is stamping the exit, the officer very cleverly tears away one of the page from the passport. When the passenger leaves the immigration counter, the case is reported on his computer terminal with full details. Now all over India they have got full details of the passenger with Red Flag flashing on the Passport number entered by the departure immigration officer. They have made their money by doing above. On arrival next time, he is interrogated. Subject to the passenger's period of stay abroad, his income and standing etc., the price to get rid of the problem is settled by the Police and Immigration people. If someone argues, his future is spoiled because there are always some innocent fellows who think the honesty is the basis of getting justice in India ..
Please advise every passenger to be careful at the airport. Whenever they hand over the passport to the counters of Air India , or immigration or the customs, they must be vigilant, should not remove eyes from the passport even if the officer in front tries to divert their attention. Also, please pass this information to all friends, media men and important politicians. Every month 20-30 cases are happening all over India to rob the NRIs the minute he lands. Similar case has happened with Aramco's Arifuddin. He was travelling with his family. They had six passports. They got the visa of America and decided to go via Hyderabad from Jeddah. They reached Hyderabad. Stayed about a month and left for the States. When they reached the States, the page of the American visa on his wife's passport
was missing. At the time of departure from Hyderabad it was there, the whole family had to return to Hyderabad helplessly. On arrival at Bombay back, they were caught by the police and now it is over 2 months, they are running after the Police, Immigration officers and the Courts. On going in to details with him, he found out the following: One cannot imagine, neither can believe, that the Indian Immigration dept can play such a nasty game to harass the innocent passengers.
All the passengers travelling to & fro India via Bombay and Hyderabad must be aware of this conspiracy. Every month 15 to 20 cases are taking place, at each mentioned airport, of holding the passengers in the crime of tearing away the passport pages. On interviewing some of them, none of them was aware of what had happened. They don't know why, when and who tore away the page from the middle of the passport. One can imagine the sufferings of such people at the hands of the immigration, police and the court procedures in India after that. The number of cases is increasing in the last 2-3 years. People who are arriving at the immigration, they are questioned and their passports are being held and they have to go in interrogations. Obviously, the conspiracy started about 2 to 3 years ago, now the results are coming. Some of the Air India counter staff too is involved in this conspiracy.

Hi All,

NSC received my I765 applications on June 21st. I am still waiting for my EAD. I have seen many people from NSC got their approval for the same time frame. Is there anypone in the same boat. Is this something I should be worried about.

Thanks!

see my signature but I am july 2nd filer.

IV is all of us in here. If we want an issue of ours to be resolved we need to take the lead and be willing to do the Ground work and be consistent with what we are trying to accomplish. Core members are always available to provide guidance

CP Filed at Mumbai Embassy - India
PD: Oct 2003


I would suggest to start a separate thread to know who are CP filers in the forum and then we can have a conf with IV to discuss what needs to be done. We can also send the private message to each to share our contact info.

I'll be there and will try to bring friends.

Yes, we should not restrict the contribution by $20 minimum.

When there are more than 6000+ registered members without contributing, for sure there will be several members who may think in future ( its my hope) to contribute in small steps before they get ready to contribute in big way.

Atleast it is my hope. I dont know what those registered members are waiting for. May be they want president Bush to become a member of core IV team. Even then, I dont think they will take a penny out from their wallet if they dont have the right attitude and desire to work as a team.

I got my H4 stamped first and then applied for H1 while in India. Travelled to US on H4. This is the reason why I cannot work in US without stamping.

I am not too sure if USCIS would ask questions when I apply for h1B again in future through another company, about my not using my previous H1 aprooval for working in US.

What is the validity on the H1 ? Did you get this H1 before you got H4 stamped and before landing in USA on H4 ?

It is not possible to get the stamping on company "B" if you have H1 from company "A".



You can get the stamping done overseas based on the current H1. You can enter US based on that stamping. You are expected to work for that company to transfer teh H1 to a different company. You will be asked to send at least one pay stub (more some times in case of RFE) with your transfer application.

I am in same boat.
Here is my experience with USCIS at San Francisco:-

Went to USCIS SFO Today.
They bluntly told me that they have no process to re-issue I-94s.
Either file an H1 Extension or leave the country and get back in for a new extended I-94.
I argued with them that this is real crazy - how come you dont have a process to fix the I-94 after passport is extended and well before I-94 expiry date.
They had no answer and stuck to their answer that they cant do much and I have only those 2 options.
I asked them if San Francisco CBP will fix it - they said NO,they wont.
Also,apparently as per USCIS officials,I cant go to any of the border Countries like Canada,Mexico as they dont issue I-94 if stay there is less than 30 days.
So I have to go out to any country other than border countries and only then I-94 will be issued?
How more crazy can USCIS be?

How come AILA or someone never raised this issue with USCIS- as this is such a common scenario.