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Guestbook Entry for Giridhar Tanjore , United States

22 years ago By Editor
Name
Giridhar Tanjore
Country
United States
State
OH
Comment

I thank Mr. Khanna, Suman Basin, Leila Lehman and Diane Lombardo for helping me through the Employment based Green Card processing. The best thing I like about the Law offices of Rajiv S. Khanna is that they are there when you need your questions answered. Efficient and very professional team.

Guestbook Entry for Aravinth Kaliappan, United States

22 years ago By Editor
Name
Aravinth Kaliappan
Country
United States
State
MD
Comment

ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC LEGAL SERVICES!!!It's with heartfelt appreciation and gratitude that I want to express my Thanks to the Staff of Law Offices of Rajiv S. Khanna, especially to Ms. Charu Bhagat, Ms. Reena Wadel and Ms. Sirisha Durgam for the patience with which they worked my very complicated case. I was basically in an out-of-status mode in the US for a long time with my past employment and it was a big question as to whether I would get my Visa transfer approved. Thanks to the ABSOLUTELY METICULOUS preparation of documents and the constant communication between INS and Rajiv S. Khanna's Office that amde it happen. The only thing that I would STRONGLY reccomend anyone that has the privilege of getting help from Rajiv S. Khanna's Office is...1. Be Patient and WORK (really, without question) with the lawyers who are handling your case.2. PROVIDE every bit of documentation asked for and be very PROMPT with it.3. Respect their effort in helping you and do not be impatient.Ms. Sirisha, Ms. Charu and Ms. Reena were three of the most friendly and helpful persons. Thank you so much!!Aravinth Kaliappan

Guestbook Entry for Dilbagh Gill , United States

22 years ago By Editor
Name
Dilbagh Gill
Country
United States
State
NJ
Comment

It was a very pleasant experience working with the Law Offices. I would like to make a special reference to the person I worked with who kept me informed on each step during the process removing any anxiety - I did get prompt responses on all queries and she returned every call, that was amazing. I look forward to working with this team again when I apply for my Green Card.Thank and appreciate all your efforts.

Cap Count for H-1B Nonimmigrants for Fiscal Year (FY) 2013 Updated

12 years ago By Editor

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

Guestbook Entry for Rajeev Vanmali , United States

17 years ago By Editor
Name
Rajeev Vanmali
Country
United States
Comment

I want to thank Pramita for her good work. I really appreciate the level of service you have provided to me during last 4 months of LC filing . I am also amazed with the fast and accurate quality of commucation provided to my all queries by you.

I hope I will continue to get same level of service for next steps from Rajiv Khnana law Office.

Guestbook Entry for Sri, United States

17 years ago By Editor
Name
Sri
Country
United States
Comment

I was in a difficult situation with a missing labor certificate, pending I-140 due to that and fighting with DOL, Mr.Khanna's office did an excellent job especially Mr.Jitesh dealt it through every possible opportunity and finally got it resolved by taking it through lawsuit against DOL. This shows that their experience counts while dealing with typical cases and troublesome situations. There has been a great communication through email on every step and effort to get this resolved. I personally thank Mr.Khanna, Suman, Rita, Amrita, others that have got involved and Jitesh.

Guestbook Entry for Nirmal Patel , United States

17 years ago By Editor
Name
Nirmal Patel
Country
United States
State
IL
Comment

I am really really thankful of Mr. Khanna and his team [Mr. Jitesh Malik, Anna Baker....] for working diligently in my case. I didnt have much time to get through my visa process. But Mr. Khanna & his team adviced me properly and worked step by step with me and my employer & kept me on the same page.
I wish good luck to Mr. Khanna & his team.

Guestbook Entry for Anil R. Pai , United States

17 years ago By Chief Editor
Name
Anil R. Pai
Country
United States
State
CA
Comment

I have been using the services of The Law Office of Rajiv Khanna for a while now. Labor certification in my case was recently approved, following conversion to RIR. The window for conducting recruitment and preparing the package was small, only 4 months. In addition, I was away for a month on vacation during this time. However, with my employer's and Vijay's help, I was able to complete the recruitment process on time. Vijay was very patient and professional dealing with my employer and me, despite some delays at my end.

Guestbook Entry for Anonymous , United States

17 years ago By Chief Editor
Name
Anonymous
Country
United States
State
VA
Comment

In spite of the fact that my case was closed mistakenly by backlog center, Rajiv Khanna's team were great in communicating with backlog center and was successful to reopen my case. Finally my labor got certified. My special thanks to Vijay and Mathew for working on my case and handling my frustration patiently, responding to me every time I had questions. Even when I had to consult Mr Rajiv Khanna, he was available to talk personally with no extra cost with his expert suggestions. I am really grateful to each and everyone at your office.

I honestly feel the fee we pay is nothing when you compare to the services we get from Rajiv Khanna’s office.

I sincerely suggest you folks better spend little more money and be in safe and experienced hands like Rajiv Khanna. Its all worth while. Immigration is a long and complicated process and you need expert suggestions all the way till the end and I don’t think anyone will handle better than this folks.

If you don’t believe me, Check yourself, you even get a free phone consultation from Mr Rajiv Khanna where as others charge you big time per hour….

Thanks again!

Guestbook Entry for Vijay Kelwadkar, United States

17 years ago By Chief Editor
Name
Vijay Kelwadkar
Country
United States
State
FL
Comment

I am very much impressed with the professionalism of Richa Narang, one of Mr Khanna's staffers. She was very patient and worked very hard to complete all the forms and putting the supporting documents together before filing with USCIS. I used the services of Mr Khanna's firm to file for Green Card through labor certification (EB2 Non-RIR) in Oct' 2003. In Jan' 2007 the Department of Labor came back asking us to convert non-RIR to a RIR application. Mr Khanna's firm supported me with documentation, news paper ad details and answers to lots of my queries. The RIR application was mailed on 03/29/2007 and I received a notice from US Department of Labor on 04/26/2007 that my labor has been Certified. I really appreciate the hard work put in my Richa Narang and her team. Hopefully the rest of GC process would be quick. I highly recommend Mr.Khanna's office and staff for all immigration purposes. Keep up the good work. Thanks

Guestbook Entry for Ravikumar , United States

17 years ago By Chief Editor
Name
Ravikumar
Country
United States
State
Virginia
Comment

I would like to sincerely thank Rajiv S. Khanna and his team for doing a great job. I got my Perm Labor and I140 cleared in a very short period of time.
I would specially like to thank Mathew Chacko, Pramita Shidhore and Rita Dhakal who were very helpful to answer all my queries and the professionalism with which they handled my case.

Looking forward to filing my I485.

Guestbook Entry for Nirmal Patel, United States

17 years ago By Chief Editor
Name
Nirmal Patel
Country
United States
State
IL
Comment

I am really really thankful of Mr. Khanna and his team [Mr. Jitesh Malik, Anna Baker....] for working diligently in my case. I didn't have much time to get through my visa process. But Mr. Khanna & his team advised me properly and worked step by step with me and my employer & kept me on the same page.
I wish good luck to Mr. Khanna & his team.

Public Comment Period Ends for Proposed Rule to Create a Provisional Unlawful Presence Waiver Process

12 years ago By Editor

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.

Trying for EB-2

12 years ago By Chief Editor
Question details

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.


H-1B petition returned to USCIS

12 years ago By Chief Editor
Question details

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.

Petition from mother or father

12 years ago By Chief Editor
Question details

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.

U.S Citizen, filing for 18 year old sister

12 years ago By Chief Editor
Question details

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.

Requirements for Naturalization in USA (Forms I-131/N-470)

12 years ago By admin 5 comments

Citizenship and Naturalization

Green Card

Substantial transcription for video

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.

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