Through this I wish to record my appreciation for the services provided to me by the Law firm of Rajiv. I would like to thank Rajiv and his team member Charu for excellent work and prompt response to all my queries and getting my H1B1 approved.
Thanks and regards to Rajiv S. Khanna and his co-workers for the advice and professional work to get our Green Card. We started in Sep'99 and the approval came in Oct'01. It was RIR under EB2.
S2Tech is a global software development company with offices in St. Louis and Hyderabad, India. S2Tech provides customized software solutions to its diverse clients base. S2Tech has been working with Law Offices of Rajiv Khanna for the past four years. One of the core competency of Mr. Rajiv Khanna is leveraging information technology to provide BEST service to his clients. The following are some of the examples: 1. Domain name of immigration.com 2. Use of electronic e-mail to answer questions from his clients within one day. 3. Use of Adobe products to reduce/eliminate certain physical mailings and expedite information delivery to his clients. 4. Use of website to provide quick answers to frequently answered questions, provide status information from various centers, and build a community. 5. Send free newsletter to interested persons in an automated fashion. Even though technology is being used heavily, Rajiv Khanna is always accessible over the phone to his clients. It is just that clients like me who are crunched for time interact with him electronically. I would recommend Law Offices of Rajiv Khanna to all the busy entrepreneurs, fast growing companies, and all IT companies.
We were very impressed with Diane Lombardo. She was very prompt and responded to all our emails very quickly.
Choosing Rajiv Khanna's office for GC processing is one of the best decisions in my career. They did excellent job. They 've got my GC done in about 18 months. Appreciate the services of Rajiv, Leila, Diane and Vijay.
I received excellent service from Rajiv’s office. Rajiv and his staff stay on top of latest immigration issues. Rajiv was always available for advise on my case. My special thanks to Diane Lambardo, Suman, Leila Lehman, Pooja Sama and Mathew Chacko.
One of our community members had asked a questing regarding the processing dates of 485.
In a pending AOS (I-485), unless your PD is current, USCIS will not touch your application. Only when the PD becomes current, they start processing applications ROUGHLY in the order received.
For recent updates on PERM processing please click here.
http://www.immigration.com/processing-times-and-status-checks
One of our clients (I think I have worked with these folks for over a decade) had these questions:
Quote: A member of our family was issued a Green Card in November 1980. The green card did not have any renewal date (see enclosed). I assume Green Cards at that time did not have a renewal date. Does this need to be renewed?
Ans: Replace the green card. See:
http://www.uscis.gov/files/form/i-90instr.pdf
Now that I received my GC through employment, does my employer need to change my position to the one filed in the Labor Certification?
Yes, now that the GC is approved, your employer should "permanently" give you the job described (including the title, salary and job duties) in the Labor Certification. This change should take place within a "reasonable time" after the GC approval.
Keep in mind, "permanent" does not mean forever. This term describes a job that has no pre-decided termination date. We see no violation of the law, If the employer, due to economic or other circumstances, can no longer support the job after having offered it to you in good faith.
Some of our employees' Green cards
have been filed. There projects have ended. They are working on H-1 but possess EAD and have 140 approved and 485 pending more than 180 days.
Quote: (1) If we revoke their H-1, are we still required to pay full wages if our clients say they do not currently have a project for our employees?
Ans. You are not required to pay "bench salaries" for employees whose H-1 are revoked (remember you must inform CIS and offer employee a one-way ticket home). But we then have exposure to the questions, "do you still have a "permanent" job for them?" If the answer is no, then their GC processing can be interrupted unless they use AC21 portability.
1. Hi Rajiv I have a few questions about starting business in partnership.
I am currently on H-1B , my I-140 is cleared and priority date is not current. My wife is on H-4 visa and she is interested in starting her own business with some one who has I-485 pending and has EAD.
I will be the one who will be investing in this business but I won't be employed with that business.
- Is this legal ?
2. Can you be a passive investor on H-1?
1. She can NOT do this on H-4. Once you folks file 485 and get EAD, things will be different.
You can then be a passive investor (performing no work type activity for the company) even while on H-1. You can also be an active investor if you wish to move to EAD as long as you maintain your intention to work full time for the GC sponsoring employer. Your wife can work for the company, own it, be partners, etc. as long as she has the EAD.
For past 7 years I work for company ‘A’ on their H1B visa (EB3). I had a I-140 cleared in 1998 from my previous company ‘B’ under EB2. Company ‘B’ filed for my I-485 in 2004 and I finally got my green card.
Quote: 1) Do I need to inform company ‘B’ and be in their payroll with immediate effect?
2) If company ‘B’ cannot provide me a job in my location and offer the salary I demand, is it a valid reason for me not to join ‘B’?
3) How should I inform company ‘A’ about my green card and what is the best reason to justify my case to continue work with company ‘A’?
or Should I inform company ‘A’ only when I fill the I-9 form next year Jan 2010.
The attached document explains the criteria.
1. Is it advisable or compulsory to get the prevailing wage determination from the states or Online Wage Library is enough at the time of taking LCA? Because most of the time we are taking the LCAs for the job titles like: Software Engineer, Programmer Analyst and System Analyst for which the wage determination available in the online wage library.
Ans. OES wages can be used as long as the correct job category and job level are used. Applying for prevailing wages from the govt. is time consuming, but does have the benefit of being almost beyond question in case of an audit.
1. I am contemplating switching from H-1B status (in Year 4) to an L2 status (wife holds L1B status) and then applying for EAD. After I receive the EAD (receipt of application sufficient for starting work?), (1) am I allowed to hold on to my current H-1B status or does it automatically lapse upon conversion to L2?
2. Can I hold a CAP-EXEMPT H-1B with an academic institution/ think-tank etc CONCURRENTLY with the L2, (3) work as an independent contractor (1099)?
3. Does EAD allow one to be do multiple things as a free-lance professional?
1. Ans. It lapses upon change of status from the date the status is changed.
2. Ans. You cannot have H-1 and L-2 status at the same time. But on the L-2 EAD you can do both jobs.
3. Ans. Yes.
1. Are we OK in keeping an H1B worker without work as long as we pay him during the project break too - at the LCA wage level.
Ans. You must pay your H-1 workers the legal wage. This is the higher of the prevailing wage or the actual wage. Actual wage is defined as that which you pay other similar employees in the same geographical location. So, as long as you pay the legal wage, there is no problem.
When filing for H-1, it often becomes an issue as to what is acceptable evidence that a foreign employee has completed their degree requirements.
USCIS has stated:
I have attained Canadian Citizenship but a born Indian citizen, when I am applying for 485 which priority dates do I need to consider, General or India. I do not have Indian passport.
Still, India. Your chargeability follows the place of birth, not your citizenship.
I am sharing with you a response to a frequently asked question about adopting a child from India. Our inquirer also wanted to know if she could adopt her niece. Here is the info:
You may file Form I-539, Application to Extend/Change Nonimmigrant Status, online if you are applying as a single applicant (without co-applicants, or legal or accredited representation) to extend your stay and you hold status as a:
USCIS recently updated the following USCIS form:
USICS strongly encourages you to update your address with USCIS to ensure you receive all correspondence and benefits from USCIS in a timely manner and avoid possible delays related to your case.
I have used this firm for a number of years for H-1B visas. They are extremely professional and organized. And most recently I had an employee require H-1B status quickly due to a student visa heading toward expiration. We did the premium process through this group and the approval came back in much less than the 15 day turnaround time. That in itself should tell you everything you need to know. If you don't hire this group, you are doing yourself a disservice.