Thank you so much for your excellent work! Anna, Ursula, thank you so so much! The road was long and hard, with many pitfalls along the way - but with your guidance and hard work, I am finally united with my fiance and now she is my wife! Keep up the great work!
Dear Mr. Rajiv S. Khanna,
You and your Team has worked tremendous for me getting green card with in 2 years. Dol - 16 months I-140/I-485 = 8 months
I applied my (EB3) State Labor Cert (FL) on 01-2003 AD 03-2003
Dol (AL) on 04-2003 AD 05-2004
I-140/I-485 (Concurrent -TX) on 08/30/2004 AD 01/25/2005
EAD AD 09/27/2005
FP done on 04/07/2005 ( Local Jacksonville Office)
I-485 AD 04/25/2005
(1. I-140 Ref (01/24/2005) - by phone directly to my Attorney proof of my master degree
(Attn. Mathew Chacko immediately responded and sent the fax copy ) Next day I got the approval. This is really tremendous work.
I like to say some other people in your team Subha, Prerna, Hellen.
I140/I485 - assigned my case to Hellen, She is the real professional and very very helping and good customer service.
So for I requested lot of question about my case, she responded with detailed information with in the sane business day.
Hellen - really you done a good job also one of the best in the Rajiv's team.
Finally I thanks to every one on Rajiv's Team where doing the great job to the people for getting H1B & GreenCard faster.
Thanks
First of all, thank you very much Rajiv for all your advise during this greencard journey, especially during this last 2 weeks. Every time we have relied on your advice blindly.
It has been a great morale boost and also professional confidence when I contacted Rajiv khanna's office for providing the professional support for AC21 case.
The documentation and support from Mathew Chako was really good and it was clear and precise to the point.
Also at the time of interview, Rajiv provided good support without any additional economic consideration. It was really nice to have a person next to you at that time of interview process.
Really I am hats off for Rajiv Khanna's team......
I wanted to thank you for all your help - I really loved the petition you had made for me for my I-140. I think the quality of the petition was great and given the complicated nature of my case, your efforts made all the difference.
Some background about my case - my I-I40 petition was earlier handled by another legal firm who filed my case under the wrong category and had screwed up. As a result, my I-140 petition got rejected.
One of my friends referred me to Savita and Rajiv and they did an EXCELLENT job with my case. Rajiv personally counseled me and advised me on the approach that was best suited. Savita prepared the I-140 petition and did a very good job. My case got approved.
Got GC in 18months (RIR Labor application to 485 approval). Rajiv Khanna (RK) helped me out of a mess that I thought was impossible to solve. He helped out an unknown emailer, spent hours analyzing the situation over the phone and devised a game-plan. Guess what, without signing a retainer or expecting compensation. I still remember when I called other “big lawyer” for help, first thing her office wanted was my credit card.
Story began in summer of 2003. When I found out that my earlier lawyer had screwed up the whole 140/485 application and was eventually denied, loss of 4years of waiting. I then emailed RK for help. He patiently heard the story and advised that I should redo the whole application from point A. Even though dread of going through whole labor application all over again was overwhelming, RK was absolutely correct that earlier labor was approved under incorrect language, mistakes many inexperienced lawyers make.
Best thing is that he sticks by the books, remains honest about the situation and never promises miracles. Apart from RK’s excellent competency and vast experience, he has excellent well-trained support team. That really makes a huge difference because game-plan is one thing, while organizational support & efficient execution is other.
1. My employer filed my I-140 and it was approved. They refused to provide me the approval notice but through InfoPass I was able to get my receipt number and Alien #. To port my priority date, I would like to request USCIS for the duplicate copy of I-140 approval notice.
2. Is it possible to request USCIS a duplicate copy of my I-140 approval notice using either G-639 (FOIA) or I-824 (Action on an approved application or petition) or any other method as I have my receipt#?
FAQ Transcript
Answer 1. People typically file a FOIA request. File the Form G-639 (Form G-639 - USCIS). Often you get copies of all kinds of documents. Government gives you copies of documents they have on you. It is not consistent but people have got copies of their 140 approval notices, copies of their H-1 approval notices, the entire perm package. So it is worth filing a FOIA and it doesn’t cost you anything. It can take a little bit of time a couple of months maybe three months but do file it if you don’t have documentation. You can port the Priority Date with your alien number itself and receipt number as well. It should not need a I-140 approval notice. Remember the government has that information already. They don’t specifically need it from you.
Answer 2. By all means file the form. File G-639 and not I-824. File G-639 and let’s see what they give you.
I have been laid off by my current employer, with severance paycheck coming at regular pay intervals until mid January-2016. Finding a new employment is taking time. I am on H-1B which first started on October 01, 2013, latest I-797 valid until December 2017.
1. How long do I legally have, before I become unauthorized to stay? What constitutes as unlawful presence?
2. My I-94 admission validity is until October 2016; with no employment, does this mean anything?
3. Before I transition into a new H-1B, can I travel outside and into the country, without a Change of Status? Can I use severance pay checks if asked, for entry purposes?
4. Can I use my severance pay stubs as pay stubs when my next employer applies for new H-1B?
5. I am hesitating to inform my next employer about my termination, thinking that this may impact my hiring decision or my ability to negotiate. But not indicating terminated employment, is it possible that my H1B transfer or new petition may be considered unethical?
6. In your experience, how long does the USCIS take to update a revoked H-1B petition in their systems?
7. If my new employer files for H-1B transfer before the update but with pay stubs older than 30 days, do I have to mandatory leave the country for new H-1B stamping before starting to work?
8. If such is the case, is it best to change to a B-2 status and have my next employer apply for new H-1B? If yes, I would assume that I will be cap exempt until September 30, 2019 plus the days spent on B2; would this be a fair assumption.
9. Can my employer continue to pay severance checks when I am on B-2 status?
10. What happens if my new employer applies for H-1B transfer with severance paychecks, after USCIS has updated their records?
11. In your experience, what gap in unemployment is generally ignored by USCIS when filing for new H-1B or transferring new H-1B?
12. What other words of wisdom do you have for me?
If you get laid off on H-1B there is no grace period. You get laid off today tomorrow you are out of status.
Answer 1. Not even one day. However when you are getting paid can you not make the argument that since you are getting paid you are still maintaining status. That’s a slightly unpredictable argument. It can cut both ways. An example: I did a consultation on garden leave. Garden leave is very common in the financial industry. The employer lets you resign or if they lay you off they will pay you for the couple of months but they don’t want you to join another employer. The idea is you should not be able to take their information which is current and apply to a competitor. So in that case those pay checks are strongly set to keep you in status because it is full salary and they are maintaining control over you and they are not letting you do what you please . And that’s the assumption.
However severance pay… government has at one point said that they don’t consider severance pay to maintenance of status because severance pay seems to be a part of an arrangement were this is not salary you are basically just getting paid sought of a bonus to part company and I have doubts about that . I do not believe that to be a very good legal opinion from the government. I feel as long as my salary amount is getting paid, my deductions are being made, it is does not matter if I have a job or not. So you can certainly argue that. Severance pay doubtful, something like garden leave or regular leave coming out your way is probably ok to maintain status.
Answer 2. Not really. Understand the difference between out of status and unlawful presence. These are two different concepts. If you are on H-1 and you get laid off you are out of status the next day. But you are not unlawfully present until your H-1 is revoked or until your 1-94 expires. For sure unlawful presence begins when 1-94 expires. So unlawful presence and out of status are two different things. You are out of status the following day but you may not be unlawfully present until you’re I-94 expires or revocation of the H-1 occurs. Consequences of being out of status and unlawful presence are quite different. You are out of status that is no bar from getting another H-1B visa, another H-4, L-1, L-2 maybe a problem for F-1 or B-1 visas that have rather weak basis but for H-,4 H-1, L-1, L-2 or even O-1 or E-3 this is not a problem. On the other hand if you are unlawfully present for 180 days you are barred from green card or work visa for three years to ten years if you are unlawfully present for one year. So you can’t come back without a waiver and waivers are limited.
Answer 3. No because you don’t have a job. If you use the same visa to come back in, that could be fraud.
Answer 4. The answer is yes and why not. Government has never made a formal announcement that they will not accept severance as indicative of violation of status. So definitely use them.
Answer 5. That’s between you and your new employer. Immigration law does not require you to inform your new employer about termination by the old employer.
Answer 6. It can be many months but revocation should be retroactive so if your employer sent a revocation request which reaches USCIS today even if they act on it three months down the line they will back date it to today. Revocation is effective on the date revocation request is received.
Answer 7. It is up to USCIS, they might allow you status if the facts of your case is such that they require some sympathetic consideration but normally if you are out of status even one day government is well within its right to refuse to issue you status within the country. In these cases I always advice people to file premium processing soon so you know rather quickly were you stand.
Answer 8. B-2 application to maintain status is acceptable sometimes and also objectionable by the government. You can try, you can tell them that you were laid off unexpectedly and you have enough money to support yourself and you will not work without authorization, and that as soon as you find another employer you will immediately apply for an H-1. When all these things are said and done I think you can make a case for a B-2.
Sometimes government has come back and said we cannot give you a B-2 but as long as you get it filed before your current H-1 expires at least you have the right to stay in the US. You can argue in what is called authorized period of stay. But the problem is this. Something you need to be aware of. Let’s say your status is expired you have filed for B-2 and it is pending now you found a job remember an H-1 transfer within US will be approved only (most cases) if the pending B-2 has been approved in your favor by the time USCIS decides the H-1 transfer. If the case is still pending they will not give you status within USA, they will ask you to go for visa stamping. That is not a problem. You can do that but be mindful of that. If the B-2 is still pending or the B-2 is denied you will have to leave USA. The only time you get H-1B within USA is if by the time they decide your second H-1and your B-2 is already approved in your favor.
You will be cap exempt. That is not a problem because cap just says if you have been approved anytime in the last six years you are not subject to the quota.
Answer 9. Why not. On the one hand we are arguing that’s keeping you in status. On the other government could take the position that means you are violating status and I would say “no” because that is payment for work already done. They are giving me severance not because I am working for them; it’s because I already worked for them and this is either a payment for work already done or part of the arrangement while I was working. In order for employment to be unauthorized there must be a payment or remuneration as well as work. If there is payment without work or work without payment I think that is a good argument that’s not an unauthorized employment.
Answer 11. There is no consistency. I have seen them ignore not even one day they will come back and say no you were out of status for one day, in some situations they have done for two or three months. Most of the times they are not tolerant of this issue at all.
Answer 12. I think B-2is a good idea as long as you understand the implications of a B-2.
From Labor certificate, I-140 and I-485, Mr. Khanna's team did a very good job on my case. LC was filed in July 2002 and I-485 was approved in March 2005. Everything went smoothly. Mr. Khanna's team is a good one.