Visa Bulletin - January 2011
Visa Bulletin for the month of January 2011.
Visa Bulletin for the month of January 2011.
I applied for my waiver in Aug 09 from the US and sent completed DS 3035 to the Waiver Review Div. in St. Louis, MO and Indian Embassy in DC. I returned to India in Sept 09.I have not had any updates since then. I would like to know (1) If I have missed any steps and if that is the reason why my waiver status remains unchanged (2) If I HAVE TO and can still apply for the NORI and obtain my waiver since I already have my case number and barcode (3) If I apply for the NORI from India, where do I send the Statement and Affidavit for attestation? (4)Are there any additional steps for waiver from India?
Contact the Waiver Review branch in USDOS first. Figure out what is going on with your pending case. You cannot apply for more than one type of waiver at the same time.
I have a 4 years Bachelors Degree in Civil Engineering and I am working in IT Industry for the last 13 years with documented progressive experience. Do I qualify for EB2 or EB3?
EB2 is possible
I have 3 years bachelors in computer science and 2 years masters in computer science in India..My education evaluation says masters..so is it possible to apply in EB-2?
It is possible, but your lawyers must assess which route is best for you: evaluate the two degrees to be equiv. to a Bach. and use Bach + 5 for EB-2 OR just use the Master's degree (risky).
I am currently on H-1 and interviewing with another company. The interview involved air travel within the US and staying at a hotel. Is anything wrong with my prospective employer reimbursing the air travel and hotel costs and also providing reasonable allowance (for covering food) for the days of my stay? Would receiving a cost reimbursement check from the prospective employer invalidate and/or interfere with my current H1 visa status?
Interesting issue. I do not believe there is any law covering this situation, but in my view out of pocket expense reimbursement including food is acceptable and is not a violation of H-1 status.
Dear Rajiv and Vijay, I would like to thank you and your entire staff for great job plowing through many emails/teleconferences/phone calls and documents. As someone who pays extra attention to detail, it is refreshing to find others working with the same diligence. Without getting into the cobwebs of my case, Mr. Khanna was introduced to a new law that affected my case. Rather than bypassing it, we tackled it head on; it did take additional time for both the lawyers and myself, however the LCA was approved. With such a stressful and time consuming process, Mr. Khanna and his staff, can give their clients not only the knowledge to move forward, but also peace of mind! H1/LCA (now I-140 and I-485)
Received greencard through Eb1-b category in exactly 5 months. Diane did an impressive job in putting together the application packet in a quick and timely manner. Guidance from Rajiv was thorough. Overall, extremely pleased with the customer service of this lawfirm.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank Law Offices of Rajiv S. Khanna and team. They have been very helpful in my case. A year back I have filed my H1 transfer through this firm and now an extension of stay in US. In both the cases, I am very happy. Specially thanks to Fran who took over my case. I definitely say with strong voice that it would be worth working with Law Offices of Rajiv S. Khanna. - Praveen
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I had a conference call with Attorney Khanna. I was given very specific and precise information which cleared all my doubts and being a friendly person helps to ease and think during conversation if any questions are raised. Truly speaking, its a dialogue rather than monologue which I have seen from others. I am satisfied and strongly recommand his help whoever wants. Good Luck.
I want to thank Mr. Rajiv Khanna and his team for taking care for my L1B visa application during the summer of 2010. By now (dec 2010) this is all history and I have the visa in my passport. At the time, it was quite a stressfull period with much uncertaincy of the outcome. My Khanna and his team kept faith in a good result and steered the application through rough seas, until the final approval by USCIS. Thanks very much for the professionalism. Theo Borst
WASHINGTON - U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) released a revised Form N-648, Medical Certification for Disability Exceptions, for individuals with disabilities who are seeking exceptions from the English and civics requirements for naturalization.
WASHINGTON—U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) reminds Haitian nationals that the registration deadline for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) is Jan. 18, 2011.
Haitian nationals who have continuously resided in the United States since Jan. 12, 2010, and who meet other TPS eligibility requirements, must file their applications for TPS no later than Jan. 18, 2011. The TPS designation for Haiti will remain in effect through July 22, 2011.
There was an interesting question in today's community conference call we host every other Thursday. The link to the question is here: http://forums.immigration.com/showth...onference-Call
PERM filing issue
Here is an excerpt from a press release from USDOL. I have said this many times before, - government investigations are NOT the same as litigation or practicing transactional immigration or corporate law. This is an entirely different area of practice. We as counsel need to know the law, compliance as well as litigation. We must approach all investigations in the spirit of good faith compliance, yet protect our clients from unnecessary liability. The investigators are not only investigators, but in effect also prosecution and judge.
Release Date
On Aug. 19, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) announced that it no longer recognizes the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools (ACICS) as an accrediting agency. This determination immediately affects two immigration-related student programs:
My parents who are green card holders applied for the i-131 travel document in Sept 2021. They finished their biometrics in Oct 2021 and left the USA on Nov,14th 2021.
There has not been an update to the case after the biometrics. Do they need to return to the US by Nov 14th, 2022? Or can they wait till the I-131 application is processed before returning to the US?
If they can come back before November I think that would be a good idea just to be safe.There is no guarantee that the reentry permit will be approved, although it is very rare for reentry permits to be denied at least for the first two years.
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Note: Unless the context shows otherwise, all answers here were provided by Rajiv and were compiled and reported by our editorial team from comments, blog and community calls on immigration.com. Where transcribed from audio/video, a verbatim transcript is provided. Therefore, it may not conform to the written grammatical or syntactical form.
I am currently on STEM Extension and my visa expires in July 2023. I also have a masters degree here in the states. I wanted to know what my options are..
If the suggestion is Day-1 CPT, I wanted to know how safe/legit it is! I have heard that going on Day-1 CPT can cause some issues when your H1 gets picked and may lead to RFE?
It is legal and so far it has been safe. You know that the rule for Day 1 CPT requires that when you join, you are associating with a graduate program otherwise you cannot get a Day 1 CPT. The Curricular Practical Training is an integral part of your degree. You cannot finish the degree without the practical training. The other thing is the employer signs the cooperative agreement with the university. The only additional suggestion I have is if you are going to do Curricular Practical Training make it as an adjunct to your profession.
For more information please check my blog.
https://immigration.com/blogs/curricular-practical-training-cpt
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Note: Unless the context shows otherwise, all answers here were provided by Rajiv and were compiled and reported by our editorial team from comments, blog and community calls on immigration.com. Where transcribed from audio/video, a verbatim transcript is provided. Therefore, it may not conform to the written grammatical or syntactical form.
I have worked in the U.S. under L-1\H-1B from June-2015 to March-2020. I have been in India since the last 2 and half years (Not working for any US based company). Now I have got Job offer from a US company and the H-1B I-797 petition is approved. I have a previous employer's H-1B Visa stamp (which expired last month) in my current passport, and B1/B2 Visa stamp(got in 2013 and valid till Sep-2023) in my older passport. I also have approved I-140 (EB2) from my previous employer.
My Question is due to the high wait time for Visa appointments, in worst case, if I can not secure a visa appointment anywhere close to joining date, can I travel to the US with a valid B-1/B-2 Visa and approved I-797 and later change status to H-1B and join the job? If yes, would it impact the GC process in future?
I would strongly recommend against it. I think you would do a lot better trying to get an H-1B Visa stamping in a third country. People are going to places like Singapore, Hong Kong and Maldives. Look around India and you might be able to make an appointment.
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Note: Unless the context shows otherwise, all answers here were provided by Rajiv and were compiled and reported by our editorial team from comments, blog and community calls on immigration.com. Where transcribed from audio/video, a verbatim transcript is provided. Therefore, it may not conform to the written grammatical or syntactical form.
1. My I-485 was filed in August 2022. Priority Date: 2014. Lost a job. H-1B withdrawn and offer is canceled. Current H-1B remaining till January 2023. If I-485 is denied do I have to leave the country? Can I work for the remaining 5 months?
2. After retrogression, can I transfer H-1B?
1. You can finish your H-1B term.
2. I don't see why not.
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Note: Unless the context shows otherwise, all answers here were provided by Rajiv and were compiled and reported by our editorial team from comments, blog and community calls on immigration.com. Where transcribed from audio/video, a verbatim transcript is provided. Therefore, it may not conform to the written grammatical or syntactical form.
I am in the 1st year of my 2-year STEM OPT after completing Bachelors Degree. Can I do another set of OPT + 2 year STEM OPT if I complete my Masters Degree? Does the Masters also have to be in STEM field to utilize the post Masters OPT+2 year STEM OPT?
You can get a STEM OPT extension twice in one academic life cycle. Even if you did a STEM degree and never used stem opt extension you should be able to reuse it.
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Note: Unless the context shows otherwise, all answers here were provided by Rajiv and were compiled and reported by our editorial team from comments, blog and community calls on immigration.com. Where transcribed from audio/video, a verbatim transcript is provided. Therefore, it may not conform to the written grammatical or syntactical form.
I want to thank Mr. Rajiv Khanna and Richa Narang my case manager for helping with my PERM application. Mr Rajiv Khanna and his team are very professional, detail oriented and up to date. My PERM was audited in 2009 and Richa Narang made sure that all the documentation was completed and the details were answered promptly. Mr Rajiv Khanna provided excellent guidance in obtaining required letters to answer the Audit notification. My PERM was certified last week, This is such a great relief because I am in my 6th yr of H1-B. I look forward to work with this great team for the next steps. I would recommend Mr Rajiv Khanna and his team to everyone.