Dear Rajiv,
I would like to thank every one in your office who is working my green card case. The first two major steps in my green card process, Labor and 140 have been completed. Special Kudos/thanks to my case manager Aruna Marthi. She did put awesome effort in preparing my case, did necessary follow-up with INS and very patient in answering my calls with detailed information. I’d highly recommend law offices of Rajiv for every one who are looking for future green card process. Thank you all once again.
Thank you for all your assistance. After 10 years in the US and almost 5 years after filing for our green cards we can now relax and enjoy our lives. Would recommend you to anyone needing immigration assistance
Heather and Mathew were most efficient, personable and timely in the processing of the application and clarification of any doubts I had. The total time for a Schedule A worker Permanent Residency/Green Card took under 4 months from filing.
I also appreciated the reasonable payment option.
The H-1B Program
U.S. businesses use the H-1B program to employ foreign workers in specialty occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise in specialized fields, such as scientists, engineers, or computer programmers.
For more information about the H-1B program, see the link to the left under temporary workers for H-1B Specialty Occupations and Fashion Models.
How USCIS Determines if an H-1B Petition is Subject to the FY 2013 Cap
My wife and I got the I-485 approval in March 2008. We filed the I-140 & I-485 in February 2006. The LC PERM was done by Rajiv’s law firm too. The I-140 was approved in 4 months without any issues.
Mostly I dealt with Prerna Mehta and Jitesh Malik. Both provide me excellent help and support during the process. Malik called me on my cell phone to answer my questions, and he was polite, fast and correct. Also, I praise Prerna for checking my documents and forms thoroughly and providing correction/feed back immediately.
My sincere thanks to you Mr. Khanna, for all the help and guidance that you gave us through out the application process. You were always ready to answer all my questions and I really appreciate all the help that you provided.
In future if I need any immigration help I would definitely go for Rajiv firm. If anybody has any help needed about immigration I would highly recommend Rajiv firm.
I would like to thank the law offices of Rajiv S. Khanna for doing an outstanding job to help me get Labor Certification.
Here is what happened:
-My case was filed in feb 2008 under EB2
-Audit was sent on the 4th of March'08
- Response to the Audit was sent on 2nd April'08
- Labor was certified on 8th April'08.
I would specially like to thank Seema And Sheena for doing an outstanding job in preparing the appilication and the audit response letter. They were very polite and responded to all my queries promptly.
Also would like to thank Pramita in helping me out in the initial stages of process.
Thanks to Rajiv and his team for doing a terrific job.
I would like to thank Rajiv, Mathew, and Suman for their work on my case.
My 485 was denied and I had only 15 days to respond back or else I would have lost my EAD too! I came to know about Rajiv from a friend and emailed him right away, the same evening I got the denial letter. Next morning, Rajiv called me personally and collected all the details from me. At that time, he wasn't even sure if he is going to take the case or not. My 485 was based on family and I had done all the paper work myself. I had my initial interview 2 years back (in 2006) where I was asked to provide my original birth certificate within next 90 days. That was the only thing needed for approving my 485. I had sent my hospital issued birth certificate shortly after that. Since then I never heard back from USCIS. After a few info-pass appointments, I got a denial letter in Feb 2008.
The USCIS procedure mandates to send a letter of "Intend to deny" if the evidence they ask for (birth certificate in my case) is not satisfactory. I never got the intention letter. Instead, I got the denial!
The case was complicated but Rajiv took the time to research how to proceed and finally he suggested we appeal via form 290B (Motion to Reopen/ Reconsider). Mathew and Suman promptly created all necessary paperwork. I managed to get the municipality issued Birth Certificate and we files the Motion to Reopen within 10 days of receiving the denial letter. USCIS took a little over a month and approved my motion.
Now I just have to wait for my 485 to get approved. I was very pleased to find Rajiv and his team. I wish them all the best in the endeavor to help thousands of people with USCIS.
Law offices of Rajiv S. Khanna has provided excellent service in getting my I-140 approved (EB1-OR) within a few months.
I have dealt with other law firms before and I have no hesitation in reserving the highest praise for the supporting staff and attorney Rajiv Khanna. Mr. Khanna has been very straightforward, understanding, committed,
and singularly knowledgeable.
Incredibly, he agreed to a consultation (where he reviewed my eligibility under this
category) even before I had hired his services !
EB1 has its own set of complex requirements for both the
candidate and the employer. I have been very impressed with the way Mr. Khanna could explain these and appeased the doubts/hesitation of my managers. I have found him to be very approachable, generous and always willing to help in just about every issue regarding my immigration and legal status in the US.
My case manager, Diane Lombardo, has been extremely patient, supportive and prompt in responding to my innumerable
queries. She was instrumental in preparing the petition very meticulously . Over the last several months I have
been amazed at her committment and helpfulness.
As I understand, EB1 cases are difficult and I believe Mr. Khanna and Diane Lombardo have used all their experience to handle this I-140 petition in the most professional and satisfactory manner.
Thank you very much to attorney Khanna and his team !
Many thanks to everybody for their patience, perseverance, and professionalism over the last 6 very long years. Sometimes I was about to give up, but this morning when I walked out of the DHS office, it's all been worth it.
Hi Rajiv ji,
I want to thank you and your maginificent team (Specially Prerna, Richa,Sheena, Mathew, Joseph ) for helping me see this day. You were my strong baiston of hope when I was down. You all helped me keep my morale up through this 5 year one month 4 days ordeal. No wonder you all are what you are :->. All of you are so special in your own way. So please accept my deep and sincere gratitude.
You and your team was very sensitive and responsive to my needs. And I appreciate that a lot.
Once again thanks to you all great folks!! Long live immigration.com !!!!
Thanks and Warm Regards,
Neeraj.
I think Law office of Rajiv S Khanna has done a very good job in answering the RFE. After the RFE was answered, I got the approval in 15days.
Thank you Mr Khanna for providing such a spectacular service in assisiting and making me understand in detail about the issues related to F1 and GC process. Thank you.God bless!!
I had scheduled Citizenship interview at 8:10 A.M. today, i went in around 7:20 A.M. and there were around 10 people before me. I had to wait for 10 mins and my name was called by the IO. The IO took me to his office and told me to raise my right hand and asked me that i am telling all but truth.
I travelled from Colorado Springs and it takes about an hour and 15 minutes to reach the Denver USCIS. I reached the USCIS office at 5:50am
WASHINGTON—Today the formal public comment period closes for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ (USCIS) Provisional Unlawful Presence Waivers of Inadmissibility for Certain Immediate Relatives rule. The proposed rule, published in the Federal Register on April 2, 2012, proposes a new filing process for certain immediate relatives of U.S. Citizens (i.e.
Job requirement says BS in engineering + 5 years of exp. No alternatives mentioned in PERM.
Educational qualifications: Diploma + AMIE + M.Tech
Experience: 7 Years exp. post M.tech from previous employer and 5 years from current employer. Does this can be classified under EB-2 for the above job requirement keeping AMIE degree in view? Would it be any issue during I140 regarding the education?
The AMIE is iffy. In fact I recall an AAO decision that said they will not recognize AMIE, but then a more recent decision was a bit more wishy-washy. Anyhow, I think an EB2 must be tried. The MTech will help.
I work under the EC (Employer-Client) model. I went for visa stamping at Hyderabad, India and my case was put under 221(g) administrative processing. On April 18th, I got an e-mail from Consulate stating that based on the information provided during visa interview my nonimmigrant visa case has been refused and the petition has been returned to USCIS for re-evaluation. The consulate would wait for the judgment from USCIS on weather or not the petition should be reaffirmed. Is there anything I could do to ensure that my case gets reaffirmed and expedite the process from USCIS?
You will need to wait (or start another H-1). The employer will receive from USCIS an intent to revoke. They will then have 30 days to respond. Based upon the response, USCIS will affirm or revoke. This process can easily take 3-6 months.
My mom had applied for my green card in March 2001 and the date became current in Nov 2008 which is when I received a letter asking me to confirm the address and to pay the fee of 400$. But unfortunately I got married in Dec 2008 thus didn’t pay that amount as I wont be eligible to do so. I am in USA right now on E3 visa and my dad has become a citizen, not my mom. My question to you is can I adjust the status to a green card or will I have to wait for my mom to become a citizen.
As far as I know, there is no way to transfer the priority date over from your mom's to your dad's petition. He can, of course, start another case for you.
I am a US citizen and I filed I-130 & I-485 for my mother to gain her permanent resident. She's in the United States as well as my little sister who is under 18. Would my little sister get her status upgrade as well because of her age? Or do I have to file separately for her?
You will have to file separately. Your mother can also file once she gets her green card. But note that your sister will not have any status in USA during the multiple years her green card application would be pending.
Hello, everyone. This is Rajiv S. Khanna for immigration.com, the Law Offices of Rajiv S. Khanna, P.C.
I wanted to talk with you folks about requirements for naturalization for people who get their Green Card based upon employment and then have to stay outside USA for a certain period time. Many of the criteria here are common to people who have obtained their Green Card through any other method such as through marriage or through political asylum. Pretty much, it is the same law. But I want to focus primarily on people who have gotten an employment-based Green Card, because those are the inquires I receive the most and I don’t want to miss anything, because N-470 typically does not apply to people in non-employment situations, except for missionaries. I’ll get to that in a second.
So, first of all, let’s look at the requirements for somebody to get naturalized in USA. What are the normal requirements?
Right here. You must have received your Green Card approval five years ago. Actually, it is a little bit more complicated than that. You can apply 90 days before your 5th year anniversary of Green Card. In case you got your Green Card through marriage, then it is three years, when you are married to a US citizen. After that, you must have stayed in USA for at least 30 months physically. 2 ½ years. Half the time. You should not have visited outside USA for a year or more. If you go outside USA for a year, your Green Card is gone. It’s difficult to get it back. Not impossible, but what you will have to do if you end up staying for a year or more outside USA is, you will have to go to the consulate and convince them that you have not abandoned your US permanent residence, your Green Card, and you can do that by a process called SB-1 (Returning Resident Permit). I’m not going to go into that in too much detail, but just to give you an idea. If you are outside USA for one year or more, for naturalization purposes, you have to start your five years all over again, except in the following two circumstances, I-131 and N-470, which are these. I’ll get to that in a second as well.
So, physical presence of 2 ½ years, no visit outside USA for a year or more, any visit outside USA for six months or more but less than one year, you have to explain. Why were you gone that long? So this is for people who have not filed these special forms called I-131 and N-470. I also want to make a quick note about I-131 and N-470.
What is I-131?
It’s the same form you used for filing for Advanced Parole when you are in need of Advanced Parole during your Adjustment of Status. It’s also the same form used for protecting your Green Card through a process called Reentry Permit. So you use your 1-131 to apply for a Reentry Permit, which is typically given for two years at one go, and you can get that extended, depending on the circumstances. Basically, the I-131 tells the government, “Look. I am not abandoning my permanent residence. I am just going outside temporarily.” Once you file the I-131, things change for naturalization purposes.
Did you stay outside USA for one year continuously?
If you did, ordinarily, if you had not filed I-131, you would have to start five years all over again, if you have not lost your Green Card. You could have even lost your Green Card. But, if you had filed your I-131, you don’t lose your Green Card, and you also get a respite of one year. When you come back, you have to establish your US residence for four years and one day instead of five years and apply after you have accumulated physical presence in USA for 2 ½ years. It gives you one year off from those five years. That’s an added advantage of I-131. It protects your Green Card as much as humanly possible. There’s more to it. I would always advise you to talk with a lawyer before you take any steps of going outside USA for an extended period of time. It also shortens the time of five years that you would have to otherwise accumulate for naturalization.
Did you stay outside USA for one year continuously after I-131?
If the answer is no, then these same requirements that apply to normal people will apply to you. Physical presence of 30 months, no visit outside USA for a year or more, six months or more will have to be explained.
Then comes N-470.
N-470 is one of those tricky strange forms. It’s applicable to a certain group of people. I would strongly encourage you to read up on the instructions on N-470. They’re pretty informative.
The way this works is, if you’re going to work for a US company abroad and, again, I am talking about employment context. There are other reasons N-470 can be filed. Read the instructions. What N-470 does is it allows you to stay outside USA for a year or more and not have a break that will restart your five years all over again. Let me explain. Let’s say I file I-131 and N-470. I do it together. Usually, in most cases, we do both forms together. When you file I-131 and N-470 together, let’s say you stayed outside USA for 1 ½ years. Normally, when you come back, you have to start that five-year period all over again, because you were outside USA for one year or, in case of I-131, you have to start the four year, one day period all over again. But N-470 says, “We forgive your stay outside USA for one year or more for naturalization purposes. We don’t forgive your requirement of 30 months of physical presence.” But it stops the discontinuity that would normally restart the five-year clock or the four year, one day clock after having stayed outside USA for one year. It is a clock-stopping device. It is a very good device. One problem though. N-470 has one strange requirement. You must have at least one year anywhere during your stay in USA as a Green Card holder where you did not travel outside USA for even for one day. Makes no sense to me. I don’t know why it is there, but it’s there. Go figure, but keep that in mind.
I hope this has been informative. I had told one of our posters. Somebody had posted a comment on immigration.com wanting to know more about this. And I told him that I’ll record something, but I’ve had some technical issues. They’re working on our website developing some new material that will make it easier for us to post our videos. I hope to be doing this a lot more, and I’ll continue to do so.
Thank you for being here. I hope to speak with you very soon.
Can You Do Business In the USA on Your Current Visa?
Hello, everyone. This is Rajiv S. Khanna for the Law Offices of Rajiv S. Khanna, P.C, immigration.com.
You can post comments and questions on immigration.com. I usually respond within three or four days, sometimes a week. I’m going to answer one of the questions someone asked us on immigration.com.
Can I start a business on an H-1 visa?
The bottom line is yes, as long as you are in a situation where, even though you are working for your own company, somebody in the company can file. It must be a true employer/employee relationship. How does that work? What if you have a board of directors or if you have a CEO to whom you report, even though you are a stockholder or maybe even you even have majority of stock in the company, but somebody in the company can file, you’re okay. USCIS has indicated that is their present stance. You must have an employer/employee relationship if you want to be able to start your own business on H-1.
In addition to that, remember H-1 is for a specific employer. So if you want to have a concurrent employment with your own company or you want to change companies and go over full time to your own company, you can do that, but you have to process a H-1, either a concurrent H-1 or a successive H-1. One of the things you need to remember is, if you own majority stock in the company, or if you have influence over the management of the company, it will be very difficult if not impossible for you to do a Green Card through PERM through your own company.
Where does that leave us? There’s a whole history behind this H-1. I won’t go through the history. USCIS has gone up and down. “You can do it.” “You cannot do it.” There is a whole history behind this. But the bottom line today is, you can do it, but it definitely requires some in-depth consulting with a lawyer. Make sure you are not getting into a situation which is going to hurt your stance.
Here is another question I get asked.
I have an EAD through 485. Can I now start my business?
Sure. On the side, you can, as long as you don’t leave your current job. But, remember, you will then no longer be on H-1. You will be on EAD if you start working for your own company.
I actually have a whole list of visas.
Can I do business on E-2?
Yes, of course. E-2 visas, which are treaty investor visas, are meant to do business. E-1, treaty trader, the same thing. But only a few countries in the world have a treaty with the United States to do E-1/E-2 visas, so you have to make sure that the country you come from has that.
If I’m here on a tourist visa or a B-1, which is called a business visa, can I do business?
The answer is, you can negotiate contracts, you can shake hands, and you can even set up a company, but, if you actively participate in business, you are violating the terms of B visa. B-1, which is the business visa, is a misnomer. You start thinking, I have business visa; maybe I can start a business. But you can’t do it on B-1.
Can I start a business on F-1 visa?
Of course not. You are a student.
What if I am on my optional practical training and I have my F-1 EAD?
Maybe, but only for the time you have the EAD. Again, that is something to be explored. Don’t just jump into it. Make sure you understand the ramifications of what you’re doing.
What about on a G visa?
On G-4, of course, the primary applicant of G-4 is engaged in working for a multinational organization such as the World Bank or the IMF. They cannot do business, but what about their dependents? I haven’t looked into it specifically. I suspect that they can, because they do get an EAD and that EAD is not confined to a specific purpose, but I would have to check on that. I’m just speaking off the top of my head. I was primarily answering the H-1 question, but I want to share with you what I know. So, G-4, probably yes.
H-4? Absolutely not.
H-1? As long as you can be fired.
I visa? No.
J-2 visa? Yes, as long as you have an EAD.
K visa? K visas are all work authorized, so, yes, you can do business.
L-1? No, because you’re working for a company.
L-2? Yes, because you get an EAD.
M Visa? No.
I went through the whole gamut, just to give you a rough idea; more so, to sensitize you to who can and who cannot do business.
Thank you for listening.
[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 110 (Thursday, June 7, 2012)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 33625-33630]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-13762]
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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives
27 CFR Part 478
I must say that having Mr. Khanna as my attorney was a great experience. He filed my EB1 I-140 and the case got approved without an RFE. Before filing I had several conversations with Mr. Khanna. He was always available to talk and would give advice, backing it up with rules and regulations. He knows the requirements well and is great with clients...making sure your concerns are addressed at any point in the process and that the process goes as it should. I will recommend him whole heartedly.
USCIS policy memo provides guidelines on how USCIS processes requests to expedite the adjudication of Forms I-601, Application for Waiver of Grounds of Inadmissibility, filed by individuals outside of the U.S.
To read memo please check attached document.
I sincerely thank Rajiv Khanna and his team of professionals for their work on my PERM (Labor) stage of my Green card process. I would extend my heartiest thanks especially to Subha, Roopa and Pramita who were actively involved in my case. I got my approval in 2 weeks. I would like to mention that I work for a medium sized company and this is the first time my employer was filing for permanent residency. We were patiently educated and guided through the entire process. Mr. Khanna’s team did all paperwork professionally. I am very happy with the services of The Law Offices of Rajiv Khanna and would definitely recommend them for any immigration case.