Release Date
Effective Sept. 26, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is automatically extending the validity of Permanent Resident Cards (also known as Green Cards) to 24 months for lawful permanent residents who file Form I-90, Application to Replace Permanent Resident Card.
Background: Applied I-485 application under EB3 after downgrade from EB2 in 2020. Refiled another I- 485 application under EB2 in 2021. Received EAD/ AP combo card from EB3 application in Jan 2022. Used it to travel out of country in July 2022. Green card approved in EB2 category while out of country. Entered USA using the Advance Parole from EB3 in August 2022 as the green card was in mailbox in USA. At Port of Entry, I informed them about the approval of I-485. However, they paroled me in for 1 year until August 2023 and stamped Advance pare in my passport. I collected my physical card from the mailbox after reaching my home.
Question
What is my status now- Green card or Advance parole? Any impact on my green card status with that AP stamp as I used AP from EB3 after approval of green card from EB2? I did not receive any notice form USCIS about withdrawing EB3 application after they granted green card under EB2. Should I ask USCIS to cancel the EB3 application or assume that it is automatically canceled by USCIS?
You can contact the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and go to one of their offices which is usually at the airport. They are called Deferred Inspection. As a green card holder, they might be able to change your I-94 or your admission to a green card holder. I would also like you to double check first with the CBP and then with the congressman.
Background:
1) PD - Initial Filing - EB2 MAR 2014 (Two Different EB2 filings with two different employers A and B)
3) Downgraded to EB3 with Employer B (New Petition but using the same EB2 PERM with Employer B) In Nov 2020, Filed I-485 Concurrently
3) Change to a different Full-Time AC21 - Same or Similar Role (Employer C) - Using AOS EAD
4) I-485 Got Approved in E26 Category (EB-2) before any I-485J submission whatsoever.
4) Initiated an inquiry with the Congressman to confirm this card is legitimate for usage and no errors / issues; still waiting on USCIS Response.
5) Spouse's I-485 also Got Approved about 2 weeks AFTER this inquiry was already sent over to USCIS (E27 Category).
Questions:
1) Suppose that a congressman's written response from USCIS comes back affirmative for legitimacy of the approvals quoting USCIS discretionary authority. There is also a recent trend of many such approved cases where the applicant had at least one prior approved EB-2 petition with PD current - so this situation does not seem to be unique any more.
Should we still then pursue USCIS E-Request / I-90 submission avenues from our side - would it really be worth to continue stretching this any further at that point ?
2) You had indicated that until notified otherwise, this LPR card can be used for Travel Purposes. Can it also be used to say take up a second week-end / part time job, renewal of driver's licenses etc. ?
3) If you use this card for any of the above purposes, and unfortunately USCIS response were to be negative, do you lose your status - have to do any reinstatement etc. particularly in the travel situation usage of LPR Card ?
4) Can you continue using your AOS EAD / AP instead during this seemingly weird time window, since that also is a USCIS-issued valid non-expired travel and work authorization ? In general, can you continue its usage until the expiry date, regardless of your I-485 status ?
1. I would suggest that you submit the E-request with an I-90 saying this green card appears to have been approved with an error.
2. My advice would be to avoid it if you can. But if you have to I think you can argue quite successfully that travel was valid and it does not affect your pending green card.
3. I do not think so because you have an EAD/Advance Parole.
4. I think you have a pretty strong argument. You can definitely continue using your EAD, but do not use your Advance Parole if you can.
Release Date
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) today announced publication of a final rule consistent with the vacatur of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in Asylumworks et al. v. Mayorkas et al. This final rule is effective starting Feb. 7, 2022.
H-1B visa holder travels abroad (Canada) for work sometimes; is an H-1B amendment required for change of address or location abroad?
The bottom line is there is no law that requires you to have an H-1B if you are working from a country other than the USA. Now if you go to Canada and you are a citizen of India and you do not have any work visa in Canada you will probably need a work visa in Canada. But sitting in Canada you could work for a U.S. company. Also the intermittent H-1B allows you to visit the U.S. for a few days as well as months. This is even allowed under the law. I therefore do not see any problem in working from abroad and coming to the USA intermittently.
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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.
What are the chances of an H-1B visa (STEM OPT) after completing Masters in the U.S?
One is not sure what the laws are going to be or what the procedures are going to be in another few years. Congress is keenly aware of the perceived shortcomings in the H-1B process. Things might change by that time. It appears to me that having three tries through STEM and having a Master's degree improves your chances.
Please see my blogs and articles for more information.
https://www.immigration.com/blogs
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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.
I have an Approved I-140 from a previous job. My new employer has initiated the PERM. How can I make sure that the attorneys use the priority date from my old I-140?
Even if your lawyers do nothing to use the old priority date, that priority date is your right. The government itself is supposed to run a data sweep. Check their databases and give you the earliest date you are entitled to. If none of the documents reflect that you've been given the earlier priority date it is still not a problem. Hence there is no other procedure required for you to follow. You do not have to be overly concerned about the attorneys using the old priority date.
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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.
What is the meaning of a US “visa canceled without prejudice”?
Whenever the authorities, whether it is a judge or the government says "canceled without prejudice" that means they are canceling for some technical reason. This is not going to cause any harm if you want to apply for the same visa again. This therefore means cancellation without affecting your ability to apply again. It is not a black mark against you.
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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.
Impact of alternate wage survey for H-1B LCA; the success rates of H-1B extensions; AC21 rule when the company is bought by a successor-in-interest
One cannot use any wage survey to convince the government that one’s wage survey is as good as the government's own. I think there are about ten requirements that the wage survey must meet. A few requirements are for example the survey must be conducted by a reliable third party, the survey must not be more than two years old, you should be using the most recent copy of the survey, it must have a significant statistical pool from which the survey was conducted. These are a few requirements.
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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.
I-140 was approved and then revoked in 2011. Can I keep my priority date and also apply for I-485? What is the deadline for filing I-485?
It depends on a couple of things. First of all the regulations changed in your favor on January 17, 2017. Therefore, if the revocation occurred before January 17, 2017 chances are you might have lost even your priority date. On January 17, 2017 the laws changed and now the rule is if the moment your I-140 is approved the priority date is yours to keep. The second rule is if the I-140 stays approved for 180 days you also have the right to extend your H-1B and your spouse their H-4. There are two different rights - right to keep your priority date the moment I-140 is approved and the right to extend H-1B if the I-140 stays approved for 180 days. Hence this is a protection even if the employer revokes your H-1B.
For more discussion on this matter you can have a look at my older blog entries.
https://www.immigration.com/blogs/
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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.