I am thankful to Rajiv and team for their professional services rendered during the entire period of my GC processing. Their service and patience during year after year EAD & AP applications are commendable. Thanks to the entire well coordinated team Rajiv has for providing an excellent level of service. I have always recommended your services to my friends.
Special thanks to Rajiv to bring a great level of momentum in the 485 backlog reduction process. We all know how much effort Rajiv & his team members had put to build a better managed system from an unmanaged system.
THANK YOU Dr. MATHEW CHACKO!
Hey folks, if you are looking for a law firm with a solid professionalism and ethical dignity, call Rajiv Khanna's office. Last six years I have been repeatedly misguided by some (so called)immigration lawyers. Mathew Chacko is the first lawyer with a solid knowledge, ethical dignity, and warm personality, I come across in this country. I am surprised that he did not want any payment. Well, since I am not a citizen yet, I will do my best to find a way to do so I am starting to forward immigration.com to my friends. Thank you million times.
I start my experience first with a big thanks to Rajiv who helped us through the process of getting F1 visa stamped. Without his encouragement we would not have done it.
My timeline:
eb3, priority date June 2002
RFE on 485 for self March 2005, spouse a couple of weeks later.
Replied to RFE beginning of May. Received notice on June 8 that our case was transferred to Cincinnati, Ohio
Made infopass appointment to visit Columbus and was told that Cincinnati was the office that received files from the service center and that Cincinnati would forward the files to Columbus.
My timeline:
Eb3, priority date June 2002
RFE on 485 for self March 2005, spouse a couple of weeks later.
Replied to RFE beginning of May. Received notice on June 8 that our case was transferred to Cincinnati, Ohio
Made infopass appointment to visit Columbus and was told that Cincinnati was the office that received files from the service center and that Cincinnati would forward the files to Columbus.
Release Date
WASHINGTON—Today, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to adjust certain immigration and naturalization benefit request fees. The new fees would allow USCIS to more fully recover its operating costs, reestablish and maintain timely case processing, and prevent the accumulation of future case backlogs. USCIS receives approximately 96 percent of its funding from filing fees, not from congressional appropriations.
USCIS recently updated the following USCIS form(s):
01/04/2023 01:59 PM EST
USCIS recently updated the following form.
Form I-134, Declaration of Financial Support
01/04/2023 09:24 AM EST
Release Date
USCIS has published Form I-956K, Registration for Direct and Third-Party Promoters. The EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022 added the requirement for direct and third-party promoters to register with USCIS.
Discussion Topics
FAQ: Effect of typos on immigration documents || Concerns about EB-1C Green Card Portability || Who is required to pay for an EB-1C Green Card? || Can too many parking tickets affect Green Card or Citizenship process? ||
The CIS Ombudsman’s Webinar Series:
Interagency Engagement on International Student Issues
Thursday, August 25, 2022
1 - 2:15 p.m. EDT
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) provided these answers to stakeholder questions gathered from the webinar.
.......................................................................................................
Question 1. Maintaining F-1 status
Question 2. Reinstatement
Question 3. OPT
Question 4. Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization
Question 5. Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE)
Question 6. Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS)
Question 7. Change of Address
Question 8. Other
---------------------------------------------------------------
Maintaining F-1 status
Q1. Can a student under Optional Practical Training (OPT) travel out of the country for a few days (less than five days) without notifying the designated school official (DSO) or employer or do they need permission to travel?
Number 74
Volume X
Washington, D.C
A. STATUTORY NUMBERS
This bulletin summarizes the availability of immigrant numbers during February for: “Final Action Dates” and “Dates for Filing Applications,” indicating when immigrant visa applicants should be notified to assemble and submit required documentation to the National Visa Center.
Form Type | Case Type | Completed 0-180 Days | Quarterly Completions |
---|---|---|---|
Cumulative total of all completions | 69.69% | 848 | |
I-129CW | Petition for CNMI Nonimmigrant Transitional Worker | 66.67% | 3 |
I-129F | Petition for Fiancée | 100% | 14 |
Release Date
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services is implementing the final phase of the premium processing expansion for Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Workers, under the EB-1 and EB-2 classifications.
Processing Queue | Priority Date |
---|---|
Analyst Review | April 2022 |
Audit Review | January 2022 |
Reconsideration Request to the CO | June 2022 |
I have a query about the employment status of the H1B resource coming from India. Once the resource reaches the US, from what day they can start working? I understand that once they reach the U.S. they need to apply for SSN first. So the question is can they start working in full employment capacity even before they get SSN?
.
Excerpt from the SSA (Social Security Administration) website:
"We don’t require you to have an SSN before you start work. However, the Internal Revenue Service requires employers to use your SSN to report your wages.
While you wait for your SSN, your employer can use a letter from us stating you applied for a number. Your immigration documents can prove your authorization to work in the United States".
Find more information online at www.ssa.gov/employer/hiring.htm
This article is part of the continuing series of interviews between The Practical Lawyer Editorial Board Member Rajiv S. Khanna and leading practitioners across the country, designed to provide personal and professional insights into various areas of the law.
Read more by clicking the pdf attachment.
One of my friends has just completed a master's (F1 Visa) in Dec 2022 and has traveled to India (outside the USA). However, he hadn't noticed that the EAD card had incorrect DOB (date of birth). Would he have any issues while entering back to the USA? Will he have issues returning to the USA, how can he ensure that his DOB issue in EAD is sorted out?
You could send in a request to the USCIS for correction of the typographical error by taking a screenshot. Attach it with the rest of the documents and now you have enough proof to show who you are. Also, typographical error depends upon who made the error and in which context it's being raised. Sometimes it is just an easy fix and complicated at times. Let your lawyers help you with that decision in this case. I think if you have a screenshot of a requested correction you should be fine.
How does EB-1C portability work?
I also have a question about the EB1C portability of the priority date. Say, If I have I-140 approved under EB1C and have a particular priority date. For some reason, if I need to or want to change employers and I do not qualify for EB1C with other employers. My new employer can file I-140 under EB-2, or I can file EB-2 NIW myself. I have both options. The question is whether I can use the priority date of the earlier approved I-140 petition under EB1C to the new employer's EB-2 petition and file AOS.
Sure. EB-1/EB-2/EB-3 all of them can be ported.
Who pays for the I-140 filing fee? Employer or Employee? Do federal regulations mandate payment by the employer? Who pays the attorney fees for the I-140 form per federal regulations? Is it mandatory to be paid by the employer? Who pays for the I-1485 filing fee per federal regulations? Employer or Employee? Any federal mandate I need to know? Who pays for I-485 attorney fees per federal regulations? Is anything mandated in federal regulations?
Generally speaking for L-1/EB-1C there are no requirements of any kind that say that the employer has to pay. The employee can pay for I-140 and I-485.
Release Date
Changes Strengthen Efforts to Hold Unscrupulous Employers Accountable
Release Date
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services today announced that certain asylum applicants can now file Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization, online.
All Readers, I quote from my latest msg. to Mr. Rajiv Khanna's office. Please make yourself more aware on your issues by visiting his web-site (and positively contributing to it) and get advice from his office for your particular needs. All cases are NOT the same. Quote Dear Mr Khanna I barely get time to go to your web-site, though I know it is an ocean of information for all those awaiting their immigration process at some stage or the other. Today I happened to spend an hour there and learnt that your Office had done me good!! I live in an area which lacks Indian neighbors and in my Office too, I am the only Indian working in my whole division! Therefore, there is seldom any interaction with people who are at a similar stage as me in the Immigration process. When my I-140 was filed, your Legal Assistant Nimia Aranibar informed me of the CP option. Though I might have surprised her with my lack of knowledge on this process, she explained the process to me and answered my doubts. And she did as I opted for. No suggestions or implications or other discussion. She was very professional in giving me the information and in answering my questions on the issue. She even understood my concerns with the CP process and offered to clarify my doubts and suggested the recourse to this choice if I needed a recourse at a later date. After reading the chat-site on your web-site, I now realise that the lady was giving me good information at the right time. There are so many people on the web who feel have been un-informed of this process. I, on the contrary, have got the right information from your office and am very happy about this. Thank you and best regards Prateek Rishi Nimia, reading in copy, thank you very much for the time taken to explain me the two processes.