We received our approvals. A special thanks to Leslie and Heather for supporting us through the entire process. They were very responsive, knowledgeable, and took prompt care of all our questions and inquiries right to the last few days. Mr. Khanna has a great team in Suman, Heather, and Leslie. Thank you for all your help.
Should H-1 be renewed while the AOS is pending?
Bottomline - I think H-1 should be renewed.
A little more info: A few months ago, I used to feel strongly that AOS applicants should keep their H-1 active for several reasons. Two of these are:
One, EAD issuance was erratic and CIS had discontinued issuance of interim EAD's (that is, if in 90 days your EAD is not issued, you could walk with a infopass appointment to your local CIS office and get an EAD). Thus, EAD's were unreliable and given for only a year. You could have interruptions in your work.
Rajiv, this month’s visa bulletin shows our category is current. What does this mean for people who have already applied for 485. Have AP and EAD. And now their dates are current again? Does it mean they will get a GC via mail? What if I haven’t had my FP done yet?
As of July 2008, this is how the system works.
First, let me provide a little background. Priority Date is the date your PERM is filed (in Case of EB-1 or NIW – the date your I-140 is filed; in case of Family-based petitions – the date your I-130 is filed.).
Rajiv, this month’s visa bulletin shows our category is current. What does this mean for people who have already applied for 485. Have AP and EAD. And now their dates are current again? Does it mean they will get a GC via mail? What if I haven’t had my FP done yet?
As of July 2008, this is how the system works.
First, let me provide a little background. Priority Date is the date your PERM is filed (in Case of EB-1 or NIW – the date your I-140 is filed; in case of Family-based petitions – the date your I-130 is filed.).
The attached PDF document contains information from DOL on PERM backlogs, program future and other pertinent matters. Enjoy. Regards to all. Rajiv.
I was very lucky to have Rajiv Khanna's team file my application because the person who worked with me was very patient, very detailed, very sensitive to my concerns. Moreover, she provided me with upto date information on my processing and made every effort to dispatch any material to the INS as soon as possible. I would happily recommend her to anyone.
I am trying to take an appointment for my wife to renew her H-4 visa since the dates are available right now. She came here on H4, switched in between to F-1 (change of status) but did not leave US, then got the new approval for change of status to H4 (after we filed for green card) and wants to get it stamped now. There is a bit of confusion on the DS-156 form that I have to fill out.
If someone came to the US on a J1 visa with a residency requirement of two years and that person returns back to the home country and then would like to return to the US on an F1 visa to continue a master's degree, can a visa be issued before the residency requirement is completed and does the new F1 visa if given, get rid of the J1 residency requirement?
The two-year home residency requirement does not prohibit issuance of F-1 visa. That can be tried any time, even before the HRR is completed. Ultimately, F-1 visas are discretionary. But there is no law that prohibits their issuance in these circumstances.
Issuance of an F-1 does NOT waive the HRR. You will stay subject to it.
This link below shows the average amount of time it takes to receive a decision in a particular type of case after the case file is received by the AAO. Processing times are directly related to the volume of cases received.
http://www.immigration.com/processing-times-status-checks/aao-processin…
Here is another set of questions that may be of interest to you folks.
Facts from one of our clients
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.
I normally do not answer questions about filling out forms. But in this case, one of our community members has raised issues that I think are generic enough to be generally applicable. I am posting this for all of you who run into a similar situation. Regards to all. Rajiv.
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Here is another question from one of our clients posted in our extranet forclients.com.
Qo. My Priority date became current as per August bulletin.
I and my wife are applied for I-485 on July 2007 (PF is done and got EAD and AP docs). At that time my son was in India and i could not apply for him.
Right now i am working on his I-485 paperwork and targeting to send his application to INS/Nebraska on August first itself (through your Law firm).
1. Planning to transfer from H1B to H4, I-140 approved with Jan2015 priority date. Can I keep the priority date after I change to H4? Intend to come back to H1 after few months. 2. Currently I'm 7 months pregnant and I work for a consulting company (employer) on H1B visa, Can I take maternity leave on H1B? If yes, for how long? will it be a paid or unpaid leave? If not do I need to convert status from H1B to H4? If yes, can I change it back to H1B and work again or need to apply for a fresh visa?
Here is an interesting question, if I am on H-1 and I convert to H-4, does that kill or affect my priority date ? Answer is no. If you were on H-1 and you had filed a Green Card, you got a priority date and I-140 was approved now you changed to H-4 that does not kill your priority date. That's not the problem.
And the second part of the question was can I take maternity leave on H-1?
Note: This is a verbatim transcript of the referenced audio/video media delivered as oral communication, and, therefore, may not conform to written grammatical or syntactical form.
Perfect and straight guidance given by Lawyers/persons handling my case, help me achieve my Labor certification. Great Team. Professionalism is KEY here. I would recommend others to Rajiv Khanna/Vijay Durgam who handled my case.