If you are a Temporary Protected Status (TPS) beneficiary who is eligible to re-register for TPS but did not file your application before the deadline for your re-registration period, USCIS reminds you to follow the guidance on our TPS web page under “Filing Late.”
This bulletin summarizes the availability of immigrant numbers during April. Consular officers are required to report to the Department of State documentarily qualified applicants for numerically limited visas; U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services in the Department of Homeland Security reports applicants for adjustment of status.
To view Visa Bulletin for April 2015 Click Here.
PERM Processing Times (as of 3/10/2015)
On April 1, 2015, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will begin accepting H-1B petitions subject to the fiscal year (FY) 2016 cap. U.S. businesses use the H-1B program to employ foreign workers in occupations that require highly specialized knowledge in fields such as science, engineering and computer programming.
The congressionally mandated cap on H-1B visas for FY 2016 is 65,000. The first 20,000 H-1B petitions filed for individuals with a U.S. master’s degree or higher are exempt from the 65,000 cap.
I am in a very difficult/complex situation, the situation is as below:<br>
Have been on H-1 for 3 + 3 + 3 + 1 years (last 4 years extended based on approved I140). Have approved I-140 with priority date of June 2010 in EB-2 category. H-1 extension was denied last year hence had to leave employer A, now I am on H-4 and will be soon filing H-1 with employer B. I have following questions on which I am requesting your opinion. <br><br>
Q1. When my priority date becomes current and if I am still with employer B, can employer A still file my I-485 and that way I can then get the EAD and join him on EAD? :<br>
Q2. Further, do I have to be working with employer A on an active H-1 visa to be eligible to file EAD when my priority date becomes current? :<br>
Q3. If question 1 approach works, can I then continue to work with employer B and employer A can process my green card in parallel. :<br>
Q4. What are the risks in working for employer B when my I140 is with employer A. Note that employer A is willing to preserve my I-140 and process green card eventually without me working for him, because he is unable to find me any projects? :<br>
Q5. I do plan to file for a new GC with employer B but worry is the priority date is likely to become current before I complete GC process with B. :<br>
Q6. Do I need to be with employer A for my wife to apply H-4 EAD based on my I-140 with A (note that currently I am with employer B).
See clip from Attorney Rajiv S. Khanna's conference call video that addresses this question.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=baprYGs8IzQ&t=893
FAQ Transcript
Consistent with the initiatives outlined in the 2011 Beyond the Border Action Plan, Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson and Canadian Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Steven Blaney today signed the Agreement on Land, Rail, Marine, and Air Transport Preclearance Between the Government of the United States of America and the Government of Canada. This new agreement reaffirms the United States and Canada’s commitment to enhancing security while facilitating lawful travel and trade, and supersedes the existing U.S.-
Today, March 17, 2015, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will resume adjudications of H-2B petitions, but will continue to suspend premium processing until further notice.
Monday, March 16, 2015 the Department of Labor (DOL) filed an unopposed motion to stay the March 4 order of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida in Perez v. Perez until April 15. That order vacated DOL's H-2B regulations on the grounds that DOL had no authority under the Immigration and Nationality Act to issue them.
My I-140 was currently approved but the company is keeping the Original copy of I-140 approval with them, also they are not giving me the copy of original. The GC is filed in EB-3 and I have US masters degree and technically qualify for EB-2 category. I was waiting to get my I-140 approved and H-1 filed so I can start looking for change of job who can file in EB-2 with same PD.<br>
How important it will be for me to have the original copy of I-140 or how are the other ways which I can obtain this from the USCIS directly?
See clip from Attorney Rajiv S. Khanna's conference call video that addresses this question.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=baprYGs8IzQ&t=1376
FAQ Transcript
On March 18, 2015, the federal district court in the Northern District of Florida issued an order effectively permitting DOL to restart its processing of H-2B applications under the 2008 rule immediately and to continue processing applications under that rule through April 15, 2015. Effective immediately, DOL will begin processing H-2B applications under the 2008 rule and will continue to do so through April 15th.
The Department of Labor is making available Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) regarding its implementation of the Northern District of Florida's March 18, 2015 decision to temporarily stay its earlier judgment in Perez v. Perez, No. 3:14-cv-682 (N.D. Florida, Mar. 4, 2015). As a result of this stay, the Department has temporarily resumed processing of requests for H-2B prevailing wage determinations and applications for H-2B temporary non-agricultural labor certification until April 15, 2015.
My F-1 visa was denied twice for the reason 214(b). I have visited my uncle in U.S for 6 months on a vacation. My Uncle (U.S citizen) sponsored me for my both F-1 (student visas). On my first appearance for F-1 visa interview in Chennai consulate my B-2 visa was cancelled by interviewing officer . Now I plan to appear for F-1 visa with my parents sponsorship. Will there be any problem for me in applying F-1 visa interview this time?
See clip from Attorney Rajiv S. Khanna's conference call video that addresses this question.
https://youtu.be/GtOqgqgEG6I?t=87
FAQ Transcript
USCIS recently began transferring some Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative, cases filed by lawful permanent residents for their eligible family members from the Vermont Service Center to the California Service Center.
My I-485 (based on EB-1) is pending more than 180 days. If I decide to change jobs under AC 21 rule -<br>
(1) Does the new job description should be same as by definition of EB-1 or should it match my current job description based on which I applied for GC in EB-1B?<br>
(2) Do you advise to change using EAD or transferring H-1B? <br>
(3) Based on your experience, will you advise to change jobs under AC 21 or stay in the present job until GC is approved?
See clip from Attorney Rajiv S. Khanna's conference call video that addresses this question.
https://youtu.be/GtOqgqgEG6I?t=242
FAQ Transcript
The Form I-90, Application to Replace Permanent Resident Card is now available in the USCIS Electronic Immigration System (USCIS ELIS). USCIS ELIS is an online, account-based system that allows you to submit and view certain immigration benefit requests and receive electronic notification of decisions and real-time case status updates.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Director León Rodríguez today announced the release of an updated policy memorandum on the L-1B nonimmigrant visa classification for workers with specialized knowledge.
After consultation with Mr Rajiv, I really felt how the immigration process and planning can be made easy. He is very knowledgeable, professional and friendly. He treats you as his own family member and not as a client. He explains the process very well, walks though each step and precautions to be taken. His consultation is very focused, timely fashioned and easy to understand. Never hurried, always willing to explain the process again if needed and answered all questions very well. His office staff is very helping and schedule your appointment very conveniently. I highly recommend him for the immigration cases.
Dear Rajiv,
I finally got my approval emails today. My green card story started way back in September 2002, when I sent an email along with my CV to Rajiv one late evening. To my surprise the very next morning I got an email from his office indicating that Rajiv would like to talk about the case and we were on the phone within the next 30 minutes. Rajiv was very polite and courteous and suggested that my application will be best suited for the EB1-EA category. Within couple of hours I received an email with paperwork to sign a retainer and details about the documents I will need to file the application. I must say that the list was extremely long, but again this kind of a detail is what makes approval a breeze. My application was filed within two weeks after I had submitted all the documentation. Rajiv has excellent staff even for handling EB1-EA cases and one of his staff members wrote a 12 page cover letter which basically summarized the whole case in a point-wise manner. Couple of my friends have applied in this category using services from other attorneys and invariably I hear and see that they have to write their own cover letter in first person. In my case, the cover letter was by the Rajiv’s office and six major criteria’s were met by quoting reference letters and supporting documents. Needless to say that the I-140 approval came without any RFE. In 2003-2004, VSC was extremely slow in approving EB1-EA cases but as soon as my receipt date was reached, Rajiv’s office made several calls to VSC to check the status of my case and finally place an AILA request about the status of my application. My approval for I-140 came in Feb 2005, within three weeks of his request. An RFE was generated for my I-485 and here too, the response was nothing but prompt. I received the copy of my RFE via email and the response was submitted the day papers were received at Rajiv’s office. I finally got my approval within three weeks of the receipt of RFE by VSC.
Though this journey has been lengthy and painful, Rajiv and his staff has been with me every step of its way. I can guarantee that this practice is the BEST in the country.
Along with my GC application, Rajiv recently helped and advised two people, who work for me, about technicalities of H1B without charging any fee. This shows that Rajiv is an excellent human being. I whole heartedly recommend his practice for any immigration related services.
Keep up the good work
Great people, Great Results.
Subha,Prerna,Helen and Mathew are simply superb,very prompt
and courteous. I would recommend anyone.
We would like to thank The Law Offices of Rajiv S. Khanna, specially Savita for helping us get through our green card journey. They were very helpful, courteous, prompt and knowledgeable about the whole process.
The whole experience was very smooth, we just had to provide the required documents and information. It is very important to have a highly qualified and professional Law Office on your side for such a critical process.
I would highly recommend them to everyone for all immigration related matters.
Thank you so much to Rajiv, Savita, Leila, and everyone else who handled our cases.
Receipt Date: March 5, 2004
I-140 approved: January 16, 2005
I-485 approved: March 15, 2005
Thanks to the excellent work by Attorney Rajiv S. Khanna's team, especially the exceptional work by my case manager Diane Lombardo, my GC application was such a smooth sailing, it took only 1 year and 10 days for USCIS to approve the application!
I deeply appreciate the excellent professional work and the quick & concise responses by my very experienced case manager Diane Lombardo. Diane always answered my questions the same day, sometimes within minutes! She was so quick and professional in preparing my application documents, I always find myself being the one whom was too slow in response - such as providing supporting documents or returning a signed application form to her. Working in science, I found many of my colleagues were also applying for a GC. None of my colleagues’ other attorneys ever came close to providing the excellent and quick professional help the way Rajiv’s team does everyday! I highly recommend Rajiv’s law firm to anyone whom is looking for excellent professional help in immigration matters!
An additional information on why I chose Attorney Khanna: 6 years ago, I was fresh out of graduate school and half-heartedly contacted several law firms about applying for a GC. Not only did Rajiv himself call me just 2 hours after I contacted his law firm (I called before I went to lunch), he also gave me an honest answer after a quick evaluation over the phone - that I did not have much of a case back then! The quick response and no-nonsense answer are the reasons that, after establishing my career, I chose Attorney Khanna's law firm to process my GC application. And the outcome tells me that I had made the right choice!
Very professional and prompt. My PERM process went very smoothly.