Family-Based Green Cards

Recording for February 23, 2023 Conference Call with Rajiv S. Khanna

Immigration.com

Immigration Law

Discussion Topics:

FAQs: H-1B visa cap exemption - How does the 6-year rule work? || Will having EAD cards or petition approvals with gaps in the start and end date cause an issue?|| H-1B visa layoff options - Going to home country and applying for jobs, going through the lottery again, documents required to apply for a new visa to explain missing pay stubs and the contents of the documentation for termination contract sent by the company to the USCIS

Extending Green Card while applying for naturalization

Question details

My concern is about the Applying for Citizenship for myself and spouse, and with our passport and GC expiring criteria.
My GC and my spouse’s GC have a expiration date of Sep-2023
My Indian Passport have expiration date of Jul-2024 and my spouse’s on Mar-2026
I am pretty much ready with all the documents (been working on it for some time) to start our citizenship application by myself, according to the U.S Naturalization website for my region (New Jersey) it shows the processing time as 16 months. And if I apply now, during the processing period my GC will expire.
Is it okay to apply for citizenship now and then around July start my renewal of GC? Are there a process to update GC info after a citizenship application is submitted and is in processing? Would any part of GC numbers change when I get renewed? Or would you suggest that I renew the GC first as soon as I can and then apply for citizenship? If I do this then I will have to renew my Indian Passport as well I think, if there is not enough time.

 

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FAQ Transcript

The situation has changed a couple of months back. Now the government says if you apply for naturalization even in the last month of your green card USCIS will send you a receipt that says your green card is extended for two years. With the receipt, you can work  as well as  travel.

US Citizen child living in India applying for parents' green card at the age of 21

Question details

My cousin’s family relocated to India from the US. They have a US-born daughter who is a US citizen.
Now the daughter wants to come back and study for a bachelor's in the US. Once she turns 21, can she sponsor the Green Card for her parents? If so, I would like to know details about the process and timeline involved.
 

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FAQ Transcript

Once she turns 21 she can definitely apply for you as long as she's domiciled in the United States by the time you go for your Green Card interview at the consulate.

Applying for E-2 Visa with a pending family-based Green Card; who can be the main applicant for an E-2 visa?

Question details

We are looking to apply for an E2 visa being Canadian Citizens born in India. Seeking your advice on a couple of questions- we have pending F3 status immigration with a 2011 priority date, can the primary applicant on the E2 application be my wife, who is also the primary applicant on F3 immigration? Would you recommend going through consular processing or an adjustment of status for my wife, considering we have a pending immigration file?

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FAQ Transcript

In my opinion that can be done because the E-2 visa is kind of a dual intent visa. It allows you to have a green card pending as long as you have no intention to violate U.S immigration laws and you have the intention to go back to your home country if required.

Parents staying in or traveling to the U.S. while their green card petition is pending

Question details

Would there be any issues with parents reentering the country after filing for GC application? Say the parents entered the US on a B1/B2 visa but applied for GC while they were visiting (not for the first time). They were going to file for it once they were back in the home country anyway, but decided to submit the application now than at a later date due to some health situation that came up during the visit.

Are there chances of the application being denied/or will the parents not be allowed to reenter the country because there have been some medical emergency that happened during the visit? Should those factors need to be addressed before exiting the country before the 6 months stay time is up? And would it still be a problem if that has been addressed with the provider, given it will all be in the history file now? Would there be some state assistance that anyone can get some help with in terms of financial and patient well-being and all?
 

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FAQ Transcript

I have known many immediate relatives of the U.S citizens and they have never had a problem. However, theoretically the problem exists. It would be right to do an immigration pre-clearance somewhere close to home.

Regarding your query on medical emergencies, you could tell them that your parents took the medical treatment. As long as there was no government funding I do not see any problem.
 

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Note: Unless the context shows otherwise, all answers here were provided by Rajiv and were compiled and reported by our editorial team from comments, blog and community calls on immigration.com. Where transcribed from audio/video, a verbatim transcript is provided. Therefore, it may not conform to the written grammatical or syntactical form.

Parents who are GC holders, applied for reentry permits, left USA; do they need to return to the USA or can they wait till I-131 is processed?

Question details

My parents who are green card holders applied for the i-131 travel document in Sept 2021. They finished their biometrics in Oct 2021 and left the USA on Nov,14th 2021.
There has not been an update to the case after the biometrics. Do they need to return to the US by Nov 14th, 2022? Or can they wait till the I-131 application is processed before returning to the US?
 

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FAQ Transcript

If they can come back before November I think that would be a good idea just to be safe.There is no guarantee that the reentry permit will be approved, although it is very rare for reentry permits to be denied at least for the first two years.

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Note: Unless the context shows otherwise, all answers here were provided by Rajiv and were compiled and reported by our editorial team from comments, blog and community calls on immigration.com. Where transcribed from audio/video, a verbatim transcript is provided. Therefore, it may not conform to the written grammatical or syntactical form.

Recording of October 27, 2022, Free US Immigration Community Conference Call with Rajiv

Immigration Law

FAQ: What happens to H-1B after Green Card approval? || OPT eligibility requirements, F-1 status for one academic year, and Change of Status or visa stamping from back to H-4 || PERM issues for a green card for remote jobs - headquarters || Can an H-1B visa holder rent via Airbnb? Is this a violation of status? || How long does it take from PERM to Green Card, and difference between NIW and PERM Labor Certification? || Applying for E-2 Visa with a pending family-based Green Card; who can be the main applicant for an E-2 visa? ||

Green card application for parents during tourist visa

Question details

As per I-94, parents are admitted until 8th August 2022 for their B2 visa. We just sent the I-130/I-485 documents to USCIS.

Q1. What happens if there is no receipt generated till 7th August? Do parents have to leave the country?

Q2. If receipt is generated after they have left the country, what happens to the GC process?

Q3. If receipt is generated in time then what is the process to extend their stay or are they automatically eligible to stay till the GC process is completed?
 

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FAQ Transcript

1. Your obligation is complete when the government physically receives your papers with the proper filing fees. After that, if they delay in creating the receipt it's really not your problem. As long as you can show that the papers were sent and received by the government. 
2. The answer is No. Let's say that they did leave, then they’re I-130 would still go on but their I-485 would be abandoned and you would have to convert the case to consular processing. 
3. They are automatically eligible to stay because once their I-485 is timely filed, they are considered to be an authorized period of stay. They cannot be illegal as long as the I-485 is pending.  
 

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Note: Unless the context shows otherwise, all answers here were provided by Rajiv and were compiled and reported by our editorial team from comments, blog and community calls on immigration.com. Where transcribed from audio/video, a verbatim transcript is provided. Therefore, it may not conform to the written grammatical or syntactical form.

Dec 23, 2021 Free US Immigration Community Conference Call with Rajiv (Every Other Thursday)

Discussion Topics: FAQ: L-1B or TN visa for intracompany transfer - advantages and disadvantages || STEM-designated MBA - is it easier to get an H-1B visa?|| Parent's EB-2 approved, EB-3 downgrade pending, - will aging-out child's EAD interfere if EB-2 advances, and the best way to maintain the status of a child turning 21|| Do we have to refile PERM or I-140 0r I-485 due to corporate restructuring/successor-in-interest