Rita and Suman ji have been very prompt and helpful with my Green Card process. I got my I 140 approved last week! The team at Law Offices of Rajiv S. Khanna is the best.
My I-140 was denied because of some issues with educational evaluation (B.Sc(Tech) equivalence to B.E) that was done with my first H1. We worked closely with Rajiv ji and Sheena ji in getting the issue resolved. We filed an appeal notice with a new detailed educational evaluation and got the I-140 approval with in 15-20 days. My I-485 that was also denied was also returned to pending status. I was very happy with the whole experience and the way the issue was handled and resolved.
I would like to thank Sheena ji and Rajiv ji for the pleasant and swift way the appeal process was handled.
I am very satisfied the way my case was handled by Mr. Rajiv Khanna. I specially want to thank Anna and Francesca for their effort and availability whenever I had issue with any paper format or so.
I will definitely have you(Mr. Rajiv Khanna) process any of my future legal issues.
I have applied for 485 as the primary applicant and my wife is the secondary applicant. Right now both of us are on H1 visa. We had applied for EAD and AP and intend to apply for renewal soon as we near 120 days.
I am on my 7th year of H1 and my wife is on 2nd year of H1 and 3 year of (H1 and H4 combine). Her current H1 expires on April 2010.
I intend to remain on H1 itself and have no intentions of using my EAD.
Can you please clarify these questions.
Qo1. Would it be advisable for my wife(secondary applicant) to change to EAD in case she gets a better employment with another employer? This employer is not willing to transfer H1.
Ans. That should be fine.
Qo2. All that is required to work on EAD is fill in form I-9 and submit a copy of EAD with it. Does the employer have to do anything like notifying USCIS etc?
Ans2. The employer has to do nothing more than prepare the I-9 and keep updating it every time new EAD is issued.
My friend lost his job on Friday when he was working on EAD (this is not the employer who has applied for GC). His i-140 was approved last year in May. He is looking for new job which would take couple of weeks. I have following question for the situation:
Q1. Is there any limit or restriction for number of days without work between changing job?
Ans. No. I do not believe a few weeks should make a difference.
Q2. Will this impact his GC process?
Ans. Not as long as he is eligible for AC21 portability.
Can a PERM case be filed through a company that is owned or controlled by a relative of the beneficiary?
The answer is yes, BUT, the case is likely to be very closely scrutinized and may even require supervised recruitment. That means, USDOL will most likely ask us to place advertisements again under their direct supervision. So, we could end up repeating the advertising. This could cause delays (and of course even denial).
This question had come up a few weeks earlier also. I wanted to clarify this with the USDOL so we wrote to them. Our letter and their response is attached.
Qo. If an AOS (adjustment of status or I-485) applicant has already used up six years on H1 and is currently in 8th year of H1, what are his/her options if AOS gets denied before the 8th year on H1 expires?
Ans. A lot depends upon the grounds of denial and whether they are likely to be overturned on a Motion to Reopen/Reconsider. Do note, there is no appeal against a 485 denial.
Date: 06/02/2008
Time: 2:00 PM
Place: USCIS office, Callowhill St. Philadelphia PA
The news item and related documents are available here:
http://www.immigration.com/newslette...prmprocss.html
Please note, for now (June 2008), premium processing is only available if you meet ALL of the current requirements:
1. Your are currently on H-1;
2. Your H-1 status is expiring within 60 days when you apply for I-140 premium processing; and
This issue has come up several times. Here is what USCIS says:
USCIS Considerations to expedite Cases
All expedite requests are reviewed on a case-by-case basis, and are granted at the discretion of the Director. The criteria are as follows:
* Severe financial loss to company or individual
* Extreme emergent situation
* Humanitarian situation
* Nonprofit status of requesting organization in furtherance of the cultural and social interests of the United States
This morning, I was working on explaining to a client (whom I respect greatly), one of the foremost musicians from India, how EB1 (Extraordinary Ability) category applies to musicians and performers. As I was sending him the basic information on EB1 category, I thought I will share the general criteria with all of you. This information is for EA, generally and applies to all fields - not just music. See attached.
Regards to all. Rajiv.
USDOL has posted the following FAQ
1. Under what authority can the Department of Labor's Office of Foreign Labor Certification select an employer's application for supervised recruitment?
In a recent meeting, Nebraska Service Center has clarified why, some times, in cases of pending I-485 applications, USCIS approves AOS interchanging the applications of the derivative and principal applicant:
USCIS is launching a pilot program in July 2010 that will use Dun & Bradstreet databases to verify business information of employers who submit immigration related petitions. "Verification Instrument for Business Enterprises" (VIBE) is a tool intended to help combat immigration fraud, and to minimize RFE's regarding petitioners' business data and eventually to make submission of routine documentation unnecessary.
We won this case for the applicant based on his exceptional research record evident by his numbers of publications and invited presentations. At the time of filing, the applicant's research work had been cited over 100 times which is indicative of the high-quality, highly regarded work that he does. Referees noted that this applicant was one of the very small percentage of scientists who achieve the highest level of success in their given field.
We won a case for National Interest Waiver for a Physician working in a medically underserved area. We provided a five year contract, copy of his J-1 Waiver approval, numerous experience letters, a letter from the Department of State and documentation to reflect statistics of health professional shortage in the area.
We won this case as the applicant was noted to be a critical component to the success of various projects and had a very large impact on the research program. Referees described this applicant's talents to be rare and difficult to replace by U.S. workers. Her original and pioneering research made her uniquely qualified to further this intrinsically important research which greatly effected the nation as a whole.
We won this case for the applicant who had over twelve years research and teaching experience. He was considered a critical component to the success of his current project. At the time of filing, the applicant had over 22 publications in prestigious, international scholarly journals. The applicant's significant contributions had been cited by other renowned researchers in his field. His Ph.D. work was highly regarded and noted to be admired by several leading experts.
This applicant had over twelve years of research experience. We noted the applicant's international reputation in the fourteen recommendation letters submitted. The applicant was a member of a prestigious professional society membership of which requires noted achievements in the field. We provided evidence of the extensive presentations the applicant made due to his level of expertise in the field.
What is the basic criteria for extraordinary ability?
This morning, I was working on explaining to a client (whom I respect greatly), one of the foremost musicians from India, how EB1 (Extraordinary Ability) category applies to musicians and performers. As I was sending him the basic information on EB1 category, I thought I will share the general criteria with all of you. This information is for EA, generally and applies to all fields - not just music. See attached.
I got excellent advice from Rajiv for my problem of wanting to go back to school after having filed for my green card. The whole team was very efficient with handling my sufficient request for H1B transfer so I can go to school while working on an H1 visa.
Great work and many thanks!