Thanks to Rajiv and his team. My LC was filed in Nov' 99 and got approved on Nov'12th 2000. Applying for I-140. This team is very prompt, patient, energetic and knowledgeable. The team reply to every question very carefully. Rajiv even replied to some personal immigration questions when I need to change my wife's H4 status to F1 (we went to Mexico for this). Thanks to Rajiv for all his answers and suggestions. GC is a major milestone in our life, for those who want to make a career in U.S. We need patience and above all must follow the attorney's suggestions for successfully getting the GC.
Green card experience : I would like to thank Mr Rajiv Khanna, Fidelina and their staff for all the help they provided through my Green card process. I am glad I selected them as my lawyers and would recommend others too if they want a hasle free green card processing. My Labour was done in Feb 98 and it came in under 6 months. We tried for EB2 I140 but since I did not have masters, we got an RFE. We selected EB3 as an option then but due to some confusion at the VSC side, my I140 was denied, they thought we are asking for EB2 again. My date had luckily become current at that time. Due to the quick response from Fedilina, my 140 was approved in about a week or so. That was something really extraordinary and I am glad Fidelina was handling my case. We are able to file 485 at that time, Aug 99. Got the EAD in about 3 months. But unfortunately, the dates went back. At that time, my wife’s 140 got approved in EB2 and through another lawyer. Her date was current. We were in a dilemma whether to file another 485 while earlier 485 was still pending, do CP or just wait. We finally decided to go for CP. We had our interview on 25 October at Delhi and had to wait for 2 weeks at delhi because of Name check problem. Fidelina had been nice to answer my queries every now and then through the whole process. The CP process was very smooth without any problems. If anybody has any specific question, please write to me at KHERAA@YAHOO.COM and I will be really glad to answer.
Rajiv's staff is well informed, prompt and very friendly. I had no problem during all the phases of processing. I received prompt response to my emails and Rajiv or his staff members were easily available to answer any questions. Further he has a real good system to organize and store documents; because of which I never had to refer to any of my old documents over the course of my 3.5 years of Green card processing. Further his consultation fees are reasonable. I would recommend his services.
I sincerely thank Rajiv Khanna and his team of professionals for their work on my PERM (Labor) stage of my Green card process. I would extend my heartiest thanks especially to Subha, Roopa and Pramita who were actively involved in my case. I got my approval in 2 weeks. I would like to mention that I work for a medium sized company and this is the first time my employer was filing for permanent residency. We were patiently educated and guided through the entire process. Mr. Khanna’s team did all paperwork professionally. I am very happy with the services of The Law Offices of Rajiv Khanna and would definitely recommend them for any immigration case.
Dear Rajiv,
I would like to thank every one in your office who is working my green card case. The first two major steps in my green card process, Labor and 140 have been completed. Special Kudos/thanks to my case manager Aruna Marthi. She did put awesome effort in preparing my case, did necessary follow-up with INS and very patient in answering my calls with detailed information. I’d highly recommend law offices of Rajiv for every one who are looking for future green card process. Thank you all once again.
Thank you for all your assistance. After 10 years in the US and almost 5 years after filing for our green cards we can now relax and enjoy our lives. Would recommend you to anyone needing immigration assistance
Heather and Mathew were most efficient, personable and timely in the processing of the application and clarification of any doubts I had. The total time for a Schedule A worker Permanent Residency/Green Card took under 4 months from filing.
I also appreciated the reasonable payment option.
I got sworn in today in Atlanta. I am going to try and give you a low down on the process and I'll post my timeline at the end.
I got in at 9:45 am ( that was my appointment time), but they don't hold it down real fast.
I dropped off my appoinmment letter and finally got called in at 11.20am.
The interview process is rather simple: he asked me questions on the form ( have u ever been a member of a communist party etc).
Here's the good news, if he/she asks you to start sgning stuff, you are on your way, don't trip yourself now.
Got naturalised today at Newark, NJ as well.
My interview was scheduled at 1:00 and I got there at 12:50 pm.
I was called in at 1:30 pm and the interview lasted 7 minutes. The interviewer was very courteous. He verified that the information in the form was correct. Asked me to sign the name change form (since I had request a name change). Asked the 6 history/civics questions, all of which I answered correctly and handed me the approval notice and told me to show up at 3:00 pm for the Oath.
I was not asked for any documentation whatsoever.
Arrive Early before the ASC office opens as there are many people that have same Appt. time , the line fills in fast.
Bring the following:
1)Your original ASC appt. notice
2) Photo ID (IF Photo ID passport has different last name than your ASC notice , bring Marriage license, If your ID and Appt. notice name are not same they will turn you away unless you have Marriage license)
3) Be sure your fingers/ hands are not dry or cracked, If you have dry hands put lotion on the nigt before so when you arrive they will take good prints
Appointments' procedures for all non-immigrant visas are the same. This is from my personal experience in Nov 2005.
Step 1.
Make the two payments - either by DD or cash at the designated branch of HDFC bank. Take copy of passport along. Get receipt of the payment. There'll be a barcode sticker on the receipt which will also have the number which will be your receipt no. for all future references. This can be done by the individual applying for the visa or any representative but should carry the Passport copy of the individual travelling.
I am always reading comments from other membres on this forum, but today I would like to take opportunity to share my wife's interview experince for citizenship.
Below is her N-400 timeline
10/12/05: RD
10/12/05: PD
11/25/05: FP Appointment
02/13/06: Interview notice
04/25/06: Interview Appointment
04/25/06: US citizen since 5:45
I am reporting here comments from and my responses to a member of our community, "Julissa," regarding whether or how she could apply for a green card herself if she has a Master's degree. Do note, if a set of new immigration laws gets passed, all this could change.
Thanks for this great list! I had my interview yesterday and went prepared with everything. My citizenship was based on marriage and these are the documents that the officer looked at / took:
Passport, ID and Green card, obviously
Selective Service registration
Copies of last three years tax returns AND transcripts from IRS (though one or the other would have been fine)
Three months of bank statements
Three months of mortgage statements
My POE with the AP was actually Newark (there is a Newark-Beijing direct flight which goes over the pole). The officer just had my passport, the two copies of AP I have and also I had filled in the white landing card (the one you normally use for entrance with a visa).
Hi All,
Please see signature for updated timeline. Really impressed with how quickly this case has been processed.
We got married in May and dont live together because of our work situation but I have the following documents so far :
NOTE : The joint financial stuff is only a month old since we just got married in May.
FINANCIAL STUFF
------------------
1. Joint savings account
2. Joint credit card
3. Added her name to my apartment lease
Hi everyone,
I've got good news to share ,
I received 6mails from USCIS last night that my 1-485 & I-130 have been approved and my approval letter & welcome letter was mail yesterday
I just want to say thank you to everyone on this forum; your kind words, encouragement & prayers has help make the waiting a success. I deeply appreciate your help, support & friendship.
I pray that everyone still waiting will get their name check clear soon
Cheers
One can petition for parents only if the petitioner is US Citizen. GC holder or LPR cannot apply for parents.
Parents cases of USC are processed differently from the Spouse of USC though they come under the same category.
If parents are already in US, they can go thru the AOS process or CP.
If parents are outside of US, they can go thru the CP only.
For Whom Are You Petitioning?
For AOS or CP, I-130 is the common form.
Our interview was at the Federal Building in Los Angeles at 11am
I got a call from my attorney’s office at 8am saying he was taken ill to the hospital during the night and he can’t make it to the interview. The office said we can go by ourselves or they could postpone the interview.
After speaking with my wife we decided to go by ourselves. Part of me thought, “what a way to start the day” and another part of me was glad because I always thought taking an attorney might show that we had something to hide.
WASHINGTON—Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano, Secretary of the Treasury Jacob J. Lew, White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Director Alejandro Mayorkas will help USCIS celebrate our nation’s 237th birthday as the agency welcomes more than 7,800 new citizens during more than 100 naturalization ceremonies across the country and overseas from July 1 to July 5.
Statement from Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano:
Immigration Reform 2013 Status
I wanted to give you quick overview of where we are as of today in the immigration reform effort. As you know the comprehensive immigration bill labeled S.744 was passed by Senate, and the voting in the Senate reflected what kind of support there is generally amongst the two parties (Senate and House of Republicans (House)) for this reform effort.
The composition of the Senate is currently 54 Democrats, one Independent and 45 Republicans. A total of 100 Senators. When the bill was voted upon, it was passed 68 to32. All Democrats voted for it, one Independent voted for it, but only 13 Republicans in the Senate voted for the bill. So less than one third (of Republicans voted for passage). This means that Democrats overwhelmingly support the reform, the immigration bill S. 744. But Republicans are not by any means, or in any way shape or form overwhelmingly or even in a majority in favor of the reform as it was proposed.
So, now bill has been passed the Senate. 68 to 32. It’s a good margin, but the problem situation in the House is totally different. The politics of the situation is that the Latino, Hispanic vote is becoming in proportion much larger. It is exponentially expanding. The Republicans leaders rightly believe that they must curry favor or must be considered a friend to the Hispanic industry of immigration. A lot of Republicans also believe that they have no incentive to pass an amnesty bill. One thing I would say that as far as reform of the legal immigration is concerned I don't think we have too much controversy about that. Both parties agreed that certain things need to be done, like we need skilled immigration professional. Special provisions for PhDs, physicians, people who have Master’s degrees, people with STEM degrees. We need all that and some way to remove the backlog, which is horrendous for many countries. For instance, India has nine to ten years of backlog waiting for a Green Card. So there is consensus among both parties on legal immigration. It is the amnesty part, the enforcement and border protection, which are the key areas of disagreement.
If you look on the Republicans composition, only 24 out of 234 House Republicans represent districts that have any appreciable numbers of Hispanic voters, more than 25 percent. So, only 24 out of 234. Where is the incentive for them to pass an immigration bill with amnesty? In fact, many of the Republicans come from districts that actually oppose amnesty. Republican Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) was speaking in Lynchburg, Virginia yesterday and passions were really running high against the amnesty.
So in the House even if Democrats all get together, the problem is how do we move the reform forward. House is controlled by Republicans, 234 to 201. House Speaker, John Boehner (R-OH) has said that he won't bring the Senate bill up for a vote if he does not have the support of a majority of the House Republicans (known as Hastert Rule). He says, I will not even allow this Senate bill to be voted on in the House unless a majority of House Republicans support the bill. And if we look at the cross-section of the voting that occurred in Senate, less than one third of Republicans support. It’s not good sign to get that kind of support.
So, it appears at least at this stage that the Senate bill will have very tough time going through the House as today’s politics stand.
What are the options?
Four obvious options, the fourth option is very unlikely, which is House leadership brings up the the Senate bill up for vote.
There are four options, but again it’s important to understand what happens if there are two separate bills addressing some of the same areas or all of the same areas, and there are controversies among those bills, then it goes into something called “conference”. When we get into conference, the idea is representatives from Senate and the representative from House will meet together and they will iron out their differences. A lot of times if you want to effect the Senate bill, all you have to do is pass something in the House and then it goes into the conference where you can work on one bill or the other, agree, negotiate and then take the negotiated version back to both chambers for voting Senate and House. So, option number one is House passes its own bill or bills. Actually, here we are talking about comprehensive, some kind of comprehensive set of bills, then it goes for conference. Option two, the House passes any bill, it does not have to be comprehensive bill, something that effects or contradicts the Senate version again we go into conference.
Another interesting option and normally this would not be a really good option but here may be worth considering. I doubt it, but I am not a political pundit just a lawyer. House can actually vote on the Senate bill without the House Speaker’s support. If 218 house members vote for a discharge petition, which means we don’t care what the Speaker says, we are going to vote on this bill anyway. That means House Democrats need 17 votes from Republicans to get a discharge petition and vote on the Senate bill.
So, what are the four options again:
1. Comprehensive bill by House;
2. Any bill by House;
3. Discharge petition; and
4. House leadership brings up the Senate bill to vote which is unlikely.
Let us talk about a comprehensive bill. House had its own “Gang of Eight” people working on a comprehensive immigration bill. Their focus was a lot more on enforcement, on border security, etc. But then one of the Congressman, Raul Labrador (R-ID), quit. The now “Gang of Seven” still might produce a comprehensive House bill. If such a bill is produced, we will get into conference, negotiate and then finally vote on the negotiated bill. So number one is Comprehensive bill.
Number two is any bill. As I mentioned Rep. Goodlatte from Virginia, the Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, has produced a series of immigration related bills. House Democrats do not like it because it’s a piecemeal approach and there are all kinds of very extreme positions taken by Bob Goodlatte that House Democrats feel are inimical or enemies of immigration reform. But one of the ways, this series of bills, could be just a device to force matters into conference. If any of these bills pass in the Republican controlled House, then we will all get into conference anyway, where we can negotiate based upon the Senate version of the bill and make changes to it and then go back with the compromise. So the passage of a series of extreme bills could be a way to force matter into conference.
Option three is a discharge petition. Discharge petition normally its considered to be very bad form. If a Republican votes for a discharge petition it’s disloyal, it’s considered to be bad form. But here, Speaker Boehner himself and many other leaders, who are perhaps more in tune with the needs of the time, have said that they want immigration reform. But it looks like there is very strong opposition from certain elements within the Republican Party, which is basically muting some of these more moderate or more aware. I would not call them moderate but more aware members of the Republican Party. So normally a Republican will not vote for a discharge petition, but here who knows. Maybe this is the choice.
The key date to watch is 10th July. On 10th July there will be conference, the House Republican conference, and they meet in the basement of the Capitol to decide how they want to move forward. So that's when we will hear about the final strategy. Once again, right now we don’t know which way House is going to go, but on 10th July we should have better idea of the direction.
The services provided by Mr. Rajiv & Ms. Suman were outstanding and the timely help during emergencies were really professional and courteous.