I got my passsport stamped at the local INS office today. Rajiv and his team have done a wonderful job ! They answer any questions you might have even after your case is approved ! The entire Green Card process took only 19 months with no RFE issued at any stage as far as paperwork is concerned. I most definitely would recommend Mr.Khanna's office for GC and H1-B cases.
My wife and I received I-485 approval notice and our passports stamped in Charleston, SC on March 6th, 2002. I started the process in Nov 1998 with Rajiv Khanna. I should say that the whole process took a while, but Mr. Khanna helped me to clear every hurdle. One of the good things I liked about Mr. Khanna and staff is that they can be reached very easily through email, and all of them are very prompt in replying too. I found the staff in his office, especially Suman Bhasin, Diane Lombardo and Leila Lehman, very cooperative and knowledgeable. Mr. Khanna and his staff always kept me well informed about the status of the green card process. Rajiv is well abreast of immigration rules and regulations. I highly recommend Rajiv Khanna's service for any immigration matter. I am thankful to Rajiv and his wonderful team.
My GC case was handled very cautiously with keeping my interest on top of everything. I think Law offices of Rajiv Khanna take well proven approach that makes it lowest risk solution.
Hi, I am a 3 + year old Client of Rajiv's law firm all the way from H1 to GC approval. I would like to highly recommend the quality of work all of them do.Initially, when I consulted them for H1, Rajiv told me that "50 - 50 chances" , "you may get it", etc.. etc.. (Since I came as a Student and didn't finish my course work.) Guess what ? Approval was waiting in the mail box. Same thing for G.C. He told me that the processing is taking longer and I may get G.C. and within 2 1/2 years, my GC got approved. I want to appreciate all the great work done by Dorothy, Suman, Leila Lehman and especially, Diane Lombardo for the high quality work. I got 2 RFEs and I doubted whether I would ever get G.C. and to my surprise, I received the G.C. approval. This is not boasting about Rajiv's Law Firm but I felt that I got every Penny out of the Dollar spent. They are a great team. Their Service is fast, prompt, reliable and result oriented. Thanks Rajiv,Suman,Dorothy, Leila and Diane and all of those who are hidden behind the scene.
Rajiv and his team - One of the most dedicated, sincere, helpful teams I have ever seen. They are very co-operative. Whenever I needed any information I could get it from them right away.I would not hesitate even a bit to say if you need any help, you have Rajiv's team. Rajiv, Dianne, Leila, Suman,Lakshmi,etc...ev'one was very good in their service. Thankyou Raji & Team...for the help I received from you all. And Good luck!!
Rajiv and his team are just wonderful. My very special thanks to the team member who worked with me for being courteous and highly professional. It is a pleasure to talk to Rajiv and his team of dedicated staff with my questions and comments. They are ever willing to answer my queries. Thanks also to Charu, Sirisha and others who have helped me to get through this H1-B approval. I have no hesitation to recommend this outstanding team of professionals to anyone who need good immigration attorney.
thank you i appreciate your work!
Thanks to Rajiv and his team for their excellent work. The team is very experienced and knowledgeable. They are prompt in filing all documents with INS in all the stages of processing.Rajiv and his team is very prompt in replying to all my email queries. I strongly recommend Rajiv for your visa processing.
I am very satisfied with the services rendered by Mr Khanna and his colleagues. They have been professional and quick to reply to most of my emails and calls. I was not very involved with my Green Card process as my work is quite hectic so it was specially good to have people who are abreast of rules and regulations. They had the foresight to indicate CP on my I-140 application which saved me at least few months. I strongly recommend Mr Khanna to anyone who wants to get their GC process done in a smooth, streamlined manner.
timely work satisfied. will aproach you in future.
I had Consular Processing done with Law Offices of Rajiv S. Khanna
I would like to thank Rajiv, Leila, Diane, Suman, Lakshmi, Fidelina and Shivane for the Green Card approval that I got in a record time of just 2 years. I am really glad that I choose this Law firm becuase they were prompt at every stage of my green card process. Inspite of their busy schedule, I always got prompt replies to all my queries. I was at peace during my GC processing since I was always sure that I am in good hands. Keep up the good job, and once again, thank you very much.
My LC was filed on 26th of dec 2000 and was cleared on March 15th 2001. I am very happy the way SUMAN, POOJA co-ordinated with me. I am right now being assisted for filing i-140 by Pooja, Shivane
I am glad that I have Mr.Khanna as my immigration attorney.I got my greencard within 2 year 2 months. Mr.Khanna is one of the busiest attornies. But I could reach him whenever I needed. The staff is really good and responsive. I could sleep peacefully even though I faced several issues throughout the process because of Mr.Khanna. Mr. Khanna gave good advice all the times. In fact, he suggested me even consular processing which could have shortened the whole processing time. But I couldn't do it for my own personal reasons. I would like to thank profusely Mr.Khanna and his staff for their excellent work. I would like to mention my thanks to Diana Lombardo,Leila, Suman, Fidelina and Shivane for thier help at each step.Good work Diane, thanks for your smart work.Always she was ahead with the whole paper work even before the receipt of the approval notice from INS. My posting in the chat board. http://www.immigrationportal.com/WebX?13@149.3UfBa9AZxqi^6@.ef303e0
The H-1B Program
U.S. businesses use the H-1B program to employ foreign workers in specialty occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise in specialized fields, such as scientists, engineers, or computer programmers.
For more information about the H-1B program, see the link to the left under temporary workers for H-1B Specialty Occupations and Fashion Models.
How USCIS Determines if an H-1B Petition is Subject to the FY 2013 Cap
Thank you Mr Khanna for providing such a spectacular service in assisiting and making me understand in detail about the issues related to F1 and GC process. Thank you.God bless!!
I had scheduled Citizenship interview at 8:10 A.M. today, i went in around 7:20 A.M. and there were around 10 people before me. I had to wait for 10 mins and my name was called by the IO. The IO took me to his office and told me to raise my right hand and asked me that i am telling all but truth.
I travelled from Colorado Springs and it takes about an hour and 15 minutes to reach the Denver USCIS. I reached the USCIS office at 5:50am
WASHINGTON—Today the formal public comment period closes for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ (USCIS) Provisional Unlawful Presence Waivers of Inadmissibility for Certain Immediate Relatives rule. The proposed rule, published in the Federal Register on April 2, 2012, proposes a new filing process for certain immediate relatives of U.S. Citizens (i.e.
Job requirement says BS in engineering + 5 years of exp. No alternatives mentioned in PERM.
Educational qualifications: Diploma + AMIE + M.Tech
Experience: 7 Years exp. post M.tech from previous employer and 5 years from current employer. Does this can be classified under EB-2 for the above job requirement keeping AMIE degree in view? Would it be any issue during I140 regarding the education?
The AMIE is iffy. In fact I recall an AAO decision that said they will not recognize AMIE, but then a more recent decision was a bit more wishy-washy. Anyhow, I think an EB2 must be tried. The MTech will help.
I work under the EC (Employer-Client) model. I went for visa stamping at Hyderabad, India and my case was put under 221(g) administrative processing. On April 18th, I got an e-mail from Consulate stating that based on the information provided during visa interview my nonimmigrant visa case has been refused and the petition has been returned to USCIS for re-evaluation. The consulate would wait for the judgment from USCIS on weather or not the petition should be reaffirmed. Is there anything I could do to ensure that my case gets reaffirmed and expedite the process from USCIS?
You will need to wait (or start another H-1). The employer will receive from USCIS an intent to revoke. They will then have 30 days to respond. Based upon the response, USCIS will affirm or revoke. This process can easily take 3-6 months.
My mom had applied for my green card in March 2001 and the date became current in Nov 2008 which is when I received a letter asking me to confirm the address and to pay the fee of 400$. But unfortunately I got married in Dec 2008 thus didn’t pay that amount as I wont be eligible to do so. I am in USA right now on E3 visa and my dad has become a citizen, not my mom. My question to you is can I adjust the status to a green card or will I have to wait for my mom to become a citizen.
As far as I know, there is no way to transfer the priority date over from your mom's to your dad's petition. He can, of course, start another case for you.
I am a US citizen and I filed I-130 & I-485 for my mother to gain her permanent resident. She's in the United States as well as my little sister who is under 18. Would my little sister get her status upgrade as well because of her age? Or do I have to file separately for her?
You will have to file separately. Your mother can also file once she gets her green card. But note that your sister will not have any status in USA during the multiple years her green card application would be pending.
Hello, everyone. This is Rajiv S. Khanna for immigration.com, the Law Offices of Rajiv S. Khanna, P.C.
I wanted to talk with you folks about requirements for naturalization for people who get their Green Card based upon employment and then have to stay outside USA for a certain period time. Many of the criteria here are common to people who have obtained their Green Card through any other method such as through marriage or through political asylum. Pretty much, it is the same law. But I want to focus primarily on people who have gotten an employment-based Green Card, because those are the inquires I receive the most and I don’t want to miss anything, because N-470 typically does not apply to people in non-employment situations, except for missionaries. I’ll get to that in a second.
So, first of all, let’s look at the requirements for somebody to get naturalized in USA. What are the normal requirements?
Right here. You must have received your Green Card approval five years ago. Actually, it is a little bit more complicated than that. You can apply 90 days before your 5th year anniversary of Green Card. In case you got your Green Card through marriage, then it is three years, when you are married to a US citizen. After that, you must have stayed in USA for at least 30 months physically. 2 ½ years. Half the time. You should not have visited outside USA for a year or more. If you go outside USA for a year, your Green Card is gone. It’s difficult to get it back. Not impossible, but what you will have to do if you end up staying for a year or more outside USA is, you will have to go to the consulate and convince them that you have not abandoned your US permanent residence, your Green Card, and you can do that by a process called SB-1 (Returning Resident Permit). I’m not going to go into that in too much detail, but just to give you an idea. If you are outside USA for one year or more, for naturalization purposes, you have to start your five years all over again, except in the following two circumstances, I-131 and N-470, which are these. I’ll get to that in a second as well.
So, physical presence of 2 ½ years, no visit outside USA for a year or more, any visit outside USA for six months or more but less than one year, you have to explain. Why were you gone that long? So this is for people who have not filed these special forms called I-131 and N-470. I also want to make a quick note about I-131 and N-470.
What is I-131?
It’s the same form you used for filing for Advanced Parole when you are in need of Advanced Parole during your Adjustment of Status. It’s also the same form used for protecting your Green Card through a process called Reentry Permit. So you use your 1-131 to apply for a Reentry Permit, which is typically given for two years at one go, and you can get that extended, depending on the circumstances. Basically, the I-131 tells the government, “Look. I am not abandoning my permanent residence. I am just going outside temporarily.” Once you file the I-131, things change for naturalization purposes.
Did you stay outside USA for one year continuously?
If you did, ordinarily, if you had not filed I-131, you would have to start five years all over again, if you have not lost your Green Card. You could have even lost your Green Card. But, if you had filed your I-131, you don’t lose your Green Card, and you also get a respite of one year. When you come back, you have to establish your US residence for four years and one day instead of five years and apply after you have accumulated physical presence in USA for 2 ½ years. It gives you one year off from those five years. That’s an added advantage of I-131. It protects your Green Card as much as humanly possible. There’s more to it. I would always advise you to talk with a lawyer before you take any steps of going outside USA for an extended period of time. It also shortens the time of five years that you would have to otherwise accumulate for naturalization.
Did you stay outside USA for one year continuously after I-131?
If the answer is no, then these same requirements that apply to normal people will apply to you. Physical presence of 30 months, no visit outside USA for a year or more, six months or more will have to be explained.
Then comes N-470.
N-470 is one of those tricky strange forms. It’s applicable to a certain group of people. I would strongly encourage you to read up on the instructions on N-470. They’re pretty informative.
The way this works is, if you’re going to work for a US company abroad and, again, I am talking about employment context. There are other reasons N-470 can be filed. Read the instructions. What N-470 does is it allows you to stay outside USA for a year or more and not have a break that will restart your five years all over again. Let me explain. Let’s say I file I-131 and N-470. I do it together. Usually, in most cases, we do both forms together. When you file I-131 and N-470 together, let’s say you stayed outside USA for 1 ½ years. Normally, when you come back, you have to start that five-year period all over again, because you were outside USA for one year or, in case of I-131, you have to start the four year, one day period all over again. But N-470 says, “We forgive your stay outside USA for one year or more for naturalization purposes. We don’t forgive your requirement of 30 months of physical presence.” But it stops the discontinuity that would normally restart the five-year clock or the four year, one day clock after having stayed outside USA for one year. It is a clock-stopping device. It is a very good device. One problem though. N-470 has one strange requirement. You must have at least one year anywhere during your stay in USA as a Green Card holder where you did not travel outside USA for even for one day. Makes no sense to me. I don’t know why it is there, but it’s there. Go figure, but keep that in mind.
I hope this has been informative. I had told one of our posters. Somebody had posted a comment on immigration.com wanting to know more about this. And I told him that I’ll record something, but I’ve had some technical issues. They’re working on our website developing some new material that will make it easier for us to post our videos. I hope to be doing this a lot more, and I’ll continue to do so.
Thank you for being here. I hope to speak with you very soon.
It was very good experience working with Rajiv's office for green card processing. I got GC in less than 2 years. I rece ived professional guidance at every stage of the GC process. Following Rajiv's advise, I decided to go for consuler proc essing. Thanks to Liela, it took just 5 months between approval of I140 and interview and I had absolutely no problem at Mumbai consulate.