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!
Two general questions,
1. What are the benefits of filing an EB2 NIW for a person whose I-140 has already been approved by an employer in the same category apart from NIW, not depending on your employer? Also, can you get your I140 approved priority date to your NIW?
2. Is it possible to renew the H-1B visa stamp before expiration? For example, if my H1B expires on November 1st and I apply for a visa stamp in October with approved extension I797, Would I be able to renew it?
While an approved I-140 with an employer offers some benefits, an EB-2 NIW grants portability - you can keep your green card across job changes in your field. It also allows extending your H-1B past the 6-year limit and enables your spouse to work and travel with you. For those with backlogged priority dates (e.g., India), NIW can help with I-130 petitions in specific situations. If your I-140 is approved already, the main advantage of NIW becomes self-sponsorship. Finally, you can renew your H-1B visa stamp before expiry, though consulate lead times (like four months) might apply.
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