USCIS Implements Employment Authorization for Individuals Covered by Deferred Enforced Departure for Hong Kong Residents
Release Date
Eligible Hong Kong Residents May Apply for EADs and Travel Authorization
Release Date
Eligible Hong Kong Residents May Apply for EADs and Travel Authorization
Release Date
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services is issuing updated and comprehensive guidance in the USCIS Policy Manual on adjudicating applications for T nonimmigrant status (or T visas) submitted by victims of human trafficking, including clarifying how applicants establish eligibility.
As part of the credit card payment pilot program, the Vermont Service Center is now accepting credit card payments using Form G-1450, Authorization for Credit Card Transactions, for petitioners filing Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker, for O and P nonimmigrants.
My parents have been here on visitor's visas since the beginning of August. If they are here for the entire six months, can they come back again within six months of leaving the U.S.?
The CBP (Customs and Border Protection) may find this pattern an unacceptable use of the visitor's visa. Generalizing for the sake of making a point, if in any twelve months your parents have spent more than six months in the United States, the CBP can hold that it appears your parents are living in the United States and visiting their home country instead of the other way around. More...
Note: Where transcribed from audio/video, 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.
Q: 1.Can I run my second W2 on my own company? Keeping my primary W2 with the same employer who filed the GC?
2.If I start a business on GC-EAD, if they call for a GC interview what type of question do they ask related to business?
3.If I-485 is denied, can we come back to H-1B again and do we have to refile I-485 again?
Note: Where transcribed from audio/video, 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.
Was just wondering if there could be any issues with my prospective PERM application if I am living and working remotely in Minneapolis (consistent with my H-1Blocation) and my employer in Dallas files the PERM application using Dallas as the work location. I am open to eventually relocating to Dallas, so just wondering if this could cause any delays or RFEs for the PERM. Do you think it would be a better option to file an H-1B amendment with Dallas as the work location, and then go through with the PERM or it doesn't matter?
It is not a problem as long as these two scenarios are followed. First of all you could be working in location X and the PERM is filed for location Y as long as you have the intention to join the location Y you can file even though you are currently working at location X.
The interesting thing is once the I-485 is filed and the I-140 is approved after 180 days of the I-485 you can choose to be wherever you want to be because you are allowed to port your green card. The only requirement is when you start the PERM. File the I-140 and the I- 485. Your intention throughout was to work at location Y but after 180 days if the intention changes it is absolutely no problem.
The second scenario which is very common is when you have consulting jobs and you could be moving from a month to a year with no predictability where you are going to be, it is normally recommended and legally allowed to file the PERM application as though your job is located in the corporate headquarters or principal place of business. More...
Note: Where transcribed from audio/video, 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.
Q: 1. If the Priority date is current in EB-3 then my I-140 and I-485 can be filed EB3 (Lower it) but you said that after EB-3 will come then I should file I-140 in EB-2. Not sure about the whole concept, if possible can you elaborate in more detail?
2. Can I-140 be filed in EB-2 and EB-3 together? Or I-140 can be filed in EB-3 first once it gets approval in EB-3 and then need to file in EB-2 or vice versa.
3. My company attorney told me that once I downgrade to EB3 then I can't upgrade to EB2.
A: 1. You can always downgrade if you start your case in a higher category, but if you file your case in the lower category it's not possible to upgrade without refiling.
2. The answer is yes, although I like to do it separately for several reasons, most of all to avoid confusion, but now the government is well aware of these downgrades and I think you could file both of them together as two separate filings.
3. They must be saying something different as that is not true. If your PERM was filed as an EB-2 and I-140 was approved as an EB-3 you can always go back to EB-2 by filing another I-140 under EB-2. More...
Note: Where transcribed from audio/video, 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.
Our offices will be closed for Christmas break from December 24, 2019 through January 1, 2020. The offices will reopen on Thursday, January 2, 2020. If you are a client, in case of an urgent matter, please leave a message at (202 )909-1110, ext. 1001. Our team members will also regularly check their own emails and messages. If you need to speak with someone urgently please leave a message and you will hear back from them.
Happy Holidays to all of you from our team!
I got my I-140 approved in about 6 months under EB1 category. I am very impressed with the sincere and efficient services provided by Mr. Rajiv Khanna and Ms. Diane Lombardo. Thanks a lot
Many Many Thanks to Aruna & Subha...for all the earnest replies & Support for our 100's and 1000's of queries !!!!
Greatly appreciate your help!!
I got my PERM certified. Excellent job , Richa & Mohana. Thank you very much for your prompt responses, quick call backs, and providing me very helpful information throughout the PERM process
I would like to thank Mr. Vijay Durgam and Ms. Pramita for the effort they put in to get my labor approved. Great work !
What would you expect for what you pay? Quality? Thats right. If you want quality of work, I would say Rajiv Khanna's law office is the right place.
You wont believe it until you experience or meet a person who experienced.
Special Thanks to Mr.Khanna, Richa and Mohana. Richa and Mohana, you have done a great job. I saw dedication and sincerity in your work.
These people are incredibly great.
Thank you again.
I am pleased with the outcome of my PERM application. Thanks to Vijay Durgam
Good job by my manager Vijay Durgam and Pramita. They were always prompt in getting back to me with answers/comments. They worked diligently in getting all the documentation done in the rightway and helped my case.
Thank you very much Vijay and Pramita.
My sincere thanks for all the wonderful work that you all did and "five star" quality service you provided.My labor is cleard from BPC; Special thanks to Amrita, Now I look forwrad for my
GC to get done; Thanks again
I'm writing to inform your firm of a successful 7th year H1 petition approval. My 7th year H1 was perhaps a little tricky because my H1 expired on the 365th day of LC pendency. However, the team at the NIV section was able to recover vacation days and also advised me on responding to an RFE on my case. I attribute the successful outcome of the petition on the sound advice and experience of your team. Overall, my experience with your firm has been very positive. Responses to even the simplest of queries are always professional and timely. Thanks for your efforts (Ursula, Anna)
I got my PERM approval. Excellent Job! Richa,Mohana Thanks for the that.
Hi Richa and Mohana,
Thanks for your help. My labor got approved in a month.
Appreciate your work.
I would like to thank the labor Certification team for my case: Richa, Mohana and Lakshmi for their timely help and support. My labor got approved on April 7th 2006 and thank you all for this great news. I appreciate your team work and help at all the times.
Just wanted to add, the day Mohana gave me this news, just an hour ago I recommended this website as 'Attorney for H1/GC' to someone. I am so Glad that I picked you as my attorney.
Thanks once again!!!
Published by: The Times Of India - Date: October 02, 2021
Quotes and Excerpts from Rajiv in the article:
I received my green card two days ago. I work 40 hours a week in IT company A as a full-time software engineer from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to Friday. Can I work on another full-time job 40 hours a week in IT company B as a software engineer from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the same time while working for company A if I can manage because I am working remotely? While I am employed with company A full-time 40 hours a week, can I work on another part-time IT job like 20 hours a week assuming that some hours of IT full-time job overlap with some hours of IT part-time job? Can I work on another non-IT full-time or non-IT part-time job during weekends/holidays, or after my other job working hours while I am employed with company A full time?
I believe if you want to take up a second job by not leaving your main job (that got your green card) you could do it. You could have a part time or a full time job. More...
Note: Where transcribed from audio/video, 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.
I have a delayed birth registration certificate issued by municipal authority with place of birth: hospital name, city. My passport just got the city name as place of birth. Do I need to submit secondary evidence when I file I-485 because of delayed registration?
In many countries especially India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, it can happen that the birth occurred much earlier but the registration of the birth was done much later. Remember it was not the law that you have to register every birth, it was a voluntary action. So if a child was born in 1980 or 1970 you registered the birth in 2015 because that’s when you needed to get the green card. Now those are not acceptable registration. What you should do in those cases is get a letter from the municipal corporation, or local government, that says before this was registered there was no other registration. Like a non-availability before the registration. Along with that get two affidavits, from your parents or other people, who were alive when you were born, that will take care of it.
Secondary evidence becomes acceptable only when you can’t get non-availability from the municipal corporation and that’s a much more complicated area. I think you should get the non-availability.
I am holding a Canadian student visa, now is my second year in Canada. I was issued a B-1/B-2 visa last year. Then I was charged of Theft under $5000 this June, and the charge goes withdrawn-diversion in July. When I went to US Embassy for visa renewal this October, the officer asked my about the charge, and I answered honestly that I did it on purpose and I really regret my behavior. He rejected my class B visa, gave me a pink paper, which says the denial is under Section 214(b), which says that alien doesn't show strong ties with home country. After I carefully searched online resources, I found that my admission of the offence will make me inadmissible to enter US, as a moral turpitude. But the officer didn't say that I need waiver to enter US.
1. So my question is:
does this mean that their denial is not based on the Crime of Moral Turpitude, but I really didn't show strong ties? Or they just don't reject me explicitly with the real reason? I will marry a Canadian citizen next year so it would be a strong tie then. Or do you suggest me to apply for Waiver of Ground of Inadmissibility like I-106 whatsoever?
2. Another question is:
I got an offer of a big well-known US company for summer internship, and I need to apply for J1 Visa. How will the charge affect me J-1 application?
First of all, not every crime leads to serious consequences in USA. There are two kinds of crimes. Misdemeanours which are small crimes, punishment is typically less than a year and the other felonies where the punishment is a year or more, those are more serious crimes. In immigration law we look if the crime is of moral turpitude or not. If a crime is not of moral turpitude, I believe it has absolutely no consequences, unless it is a drug offence. Moral turpitude simply means that you are doing something, which reflects on your poor moral character.
The next step: is it misdemeanour or felony. If it is a felony, we almost certainly have a problem. It could lead to deportation, non-admission, and then you will need a waiver of some kind. Waivers are usually available for green card only for family based reasons. You cannot get a waiver just because you want to come to USA. So in an employment based case, and you have a felony conviction for moral turpitude crime you will not be able to come to USA.
Remember the rules are different for deportation, what is called removal and admission. So when you try to enter you could be subject to different laws, sometimes you think you are in USA and I am safe, because your lawyer told you are not going to be deported, but when you come back they won’t let you in and now you have to go back, the reason is the rules for admission are different. This is a very complex area of the law.
Question: What if I am convicted of misdemeanour involving moral turpitude?
First, how many misdemeanour convictions do you have. If you have multiple convictions, then that itself is ground for deportation removal as well as no admission. But if you have only one offence, a misdemeanour, and the actual punishment imposed was less than six months you are covered by something called petty offence exception. Which says we forgive you entirely as long as it was just a single misdemeanour.
The rules under immigration law and the rules under criminal law for conviction are very different. Sometimes you have a criminal defence counsel. He will tell you this is not a conviction. It may not be a conviction under criminal law but is a conviction under immigration law. Any kind of plea bargain you set up with the government where you are admitting directly that you committed the crime would be considered in all probability to be a conviction. So be careful when you discuss this with your immigration lawyer as well as criminal counsel.
Question: What is 212(d)(3) waiver?
Say if you got the kind of conviction where you cannot come back we can let you in on a temporary basis for a non-immigrant visa. 212(d)(3) applies only to non-immigrant visa and the situation has been a little uncertain, especially for Canadians. I think there is a certain timeframe where you can get it or for one visit you can get it.
Question: I am holding a Canadian student visa, now is my second year in Canada. I was issued a B-1/B-2 visa last year. Then I was charged of Theft under $5000 this June, and the charge goes withdrawn-diversion in July.
Normally diversion means some kind of a plea bargaining has been made.
Question: When I went to US Embassy for visa renewal this October, the officer asked my about the charge, and I answered honestly that I did it on purpose and I really regret my behaviour. He rejected my class B visa, gave me a pink paper, which says the denial is under Section 214(b), which says that alien doesn't show strong ties with home country. After I carefully searched online resources, I found that my admission of the offence will make me inadmissible to enter US, as a moral turpitude. But the officer didn't say that I need waiver to enter US. So does this mean that their denial is not based on the Crime of Moral Turpitude, but I really didn't show strong ties?
That is correct because they denied it based upon their inability to verify that you will come back.
Question: I will marry a Canadian citizen next year so it would be a strong tie then. Or do you suggest me to apply for Waiver of Ground of Inadmissibility like I-106 whatsoever?
Definitely that will make it a much stronger tie and you can try again. You might be covered by a petty offence exception.
Question: I got an offer of a big well-known US company for summer internship, and I need to apply for J1 Visa. How will the charge affect me J-1 application?
If you are covered by petty offence exception, then even J-1 is not affected but the 214(b) denial, affects your J-1. If you had a 214(b) denial, it will bar your entry for J-1, F-1, B-1, B-2. It will not bar your entry for H-1 or L-1. I suspect the officer realised you were covered by petty offence exception.
We are very thankful for Rajiv Khanna and team for handling my tough H1B renewal case. This was my 4th Extension that was denied before we approached Mr. Khanna to take over the case. Ms. Kalpana Panuganti was very thorough with case details and responded to any of our queries promptly. We were updated on our case in a very transparent manner and Kalpana always responded to emails/calls immediately while working on RFE response. Their insight and attention to detail in regards to our case was commendable. We would highly recommend Law Office of Rajiv S. Khanna PC for any immigration related matter.