I had a conference call with Mr. Rajiv Khanna. My question was regarding time lines for Green Card processing. I am in my 6th year of H1-B and was planning to change my Job with 9 Months left on my Visa. I have not started my Green Card Processing yet. The call was quick and to the point. He detailed me of the options available. He didn't promise me that everything will be done but the call gave me the required confidence in my decision making. He is a [i]walking encyclopedia of immigration[/i]. Note: The call was a free call and he was there on call even before I dialed in. On the whole it was a good experience.
The DHS Office of Immigration Statistics issued its Annual Flow Report on U.S. Naturalizations for FY2011. In 2011, there were a total of 694,193 persons who became naturalized citizens of the U.S.
Please check the attachment to view the report.
Fact Sheet
Office of the Spokesperson Washington, DC
April 15, 2012
The State Department is pleased to announce an increase in the validity of visas for Colombians traveling on a temporary basis to the United States from five years to ten years. This means that most Colombian applicants who qualify for a B-category non-immigrant visa may be issued a 120-month, multiple-entry visa.
I wanted to more about diffrent options on my wife's re-entry back into the USA. I contacted Mr. R. Khanna's office in this regard. I had a conferance call with Mr. Khanna and his associate Ms. A. Baker. They both were very helpful and clear in explaining our options. Mr. Khanna gave me couple options and told me to try a more economical option before starting on longer and a somewhat expensive process. Very professional in their approach and helpful. My sincere thanks to Mr. Khanna, Ms. A Baker and Ms. Leslie H. I will be starting the process very soon with them and hope to have a smooth and fast one. Sandeep K
Transcript: Working Outside USA While in Green Card or H-1 Process
April 17, 2012
Hello, everyone. This is Rajiv S. Khanna for immigration.com, the Law Offices of Rajiv S. Khanna, P.C.
I have in front of me a couple of questions from two different people. They’re related so I thought I would club them together. The basic idea is this:
Can I, as an H-1 holder or as Green Card pending status individual, work outside USA instead of being inside USA?
I am just going to do a quick talk on the implications of a person working outside USA while he or she is an H-1 or a Green Card applicant.
The first question relates to somebody who has an EB-3 Green Card pending. As you know, that’s a decade-long wait. So, people have to make some plans about their lives.
So this gentleman says, actually, he’s one of our clients, both myself and my wife are working on EAD and traveling on Advanced Parole. So they have got an I-485 pending but they are EB-3. He is the primary. She is the dependent. The wife wants to move to India for longer than one year and is planning to come back before her EAD gets expired.
First of all, is this okay? Yes, of course. As long your Advanced Parole is alive, EAD doesn’t matter if you are working outside USA with I-485 pending. Only thing we care about is your Advanced Parole or your H-1 visa. Under the circumstances, I would recommend Advanced Parole. Keep it active. Keep it alive. For a derivative, there is absolutely no problem if they are working outside USA. If you are the primary applicant for an I-485, things could be a little different. Now, what happens is that there’s a decision tree.
You can have two situations. One, you are still working for your Green Card sponsoring employer, but you’re working outside USA. The second situation is you’re working outside USA for somebody other than your sponsoring employer. What happens then? There is nothing illegal about it. Both of these situations are allowed. But there is a common sense rule here. The government could say, “Why is it if you have a permanent job in USA, your sponsoring employer can get the job done without you?” Now, there could be many reasons for this. One of the reasons could be the nature of the job is such that could be done anywhere for the time being. So the employer is willing to accommodate you. But, whatever the reasons are, be prepared to be sensitive to that question. Is there really a job? They can ask you that. The idea is that you could be working from anywhere. That is not the main issue here. The most important thing here is that there should be a good explanation that you have a job in USA that is ready and open for you.
One of the issues here is keep in mind that certain technologies don’t allow people from outside USA to work. Most people don’t know that. I think there is some restriction, for example, on encryption technology. I think certain encryption technology is considered weapons grade. Just look into that.
Otherwise, just ordinary commercial jobs, ordinary software development, ordinary financial consulting, can be done from anywhere. That is not an issue. Remember whether or not you have proper work authorization in USA. This is very important to also keep in mind. For example, if you are working from, for example, India, it is not required that you have proper work authorization in USA. I don’t care if you have an EAD. That’s perfectly legal. You are working on Indian soil, not on American soil. I don’t care if you have an EAD. I don’t care if you have an H-1. And that will bring me to my next question in a minute or two.
It also does not matter whether you come to USA periodically or not, as long as the job is alive and well and waiting for you, you should be okay. For the primary and the derivative. For the derivative, it is absolutely no problem. Her job is not implicated at all. She can work from anywhere. But, for the primary applicant, this idea that job is still there and waiting has to be kept in mind. And don’t make things up, guys. We’ve to be truthful about this.
The same situation for H-1 people. I’ve got people who go to India or go to their home countries and get stuck in long, long adversarial processes that go on to three months, four months, five months, six months. What should they do? If you can get your job outsourced and you can work from your home country while the H-1 process is going on, it’s absolutely no problem. You can continue working. Now there can be tax aspects that you’ve got to figure out with your CPA’s. How you do you get paid? Where do you pay taxes? Things like that. But those are tax issues and they can be figured out. People do it all the time. In fact, our own office has a couple of employees from other countries. I don’t think that’s a problem. That can be worked out.
The more important question--What is the impact on my H-1?
For example, I am outside USA for more than one year. What happens to your H-1 is that, after one year outside USA, you can reset the clock and have six years of H-1 all over again, or you can go with something like a remainder option. It’s called the remainder option. I’ll explain the rule in a minute. The idea here is this. If you are outside USA for more than one year, you get six years of H-1 back, but then you are subject to the H-1 quota. If you’re outside, good news is six years back. Bad news is quota. If you don’t want to be subject to the quota, you have to give up your right to six years of H-1 and take whatever is remaining in your H-1 six years initially. That’s called the remainder option. Those are the choices you have. There is nothing wrong in working outside USA.
Bear in mind these principals. If a primary applicant, make sure there’s a job available. If a derivative on an I-485, work from anywhere. No problem. If on H-1, you can outsource the job. You can work from anywhere in the world. Doesn’t matter where you are. The only thing is, at some point, if it’s more than one year outside USA, you have to make a choice of either a remainder or resetting the clock and being subject to the quota.
I hope that explains things adequately, guys. As always, it’s good talking with you. I will speak with you folks soon.
On March 14th, 20th and 27th, the Department conducted three webinars intended to educate program users and other interested stakeholders on the requirements of the 2012 H-2B Final Rule. Today the Department posted Round 1 of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs). The FAQs are largely based on questions received from the webinar participants and other members of the regulated public and are published to assist employers, workers, and other interested parties in understanding the 2012 Final Rule as it goes into effect.
DOS reminder that nonimmigrant and immigrant visa application fees will change on April 13, 2012. The fees for most nonimmigrant visa applications and Border Crossing Cards will increase, while all immigrant visa application fees will decrease. All visa applicants must pay the fee amounts in effect on the day they pay, including immigrant visa applicants who pay fees to the National Visa Center (NVC).
Please click here to view State Dept. notice on Fees for Visa Services.
It is HIGHLY unusual for a PERM case to have such a convoluted history, but here is one where success came after two denials.
We filed a PERM application under EB-2 for a Physicist’s position for which no formal training was required. The job also did not require employment experience, but did require hands-on work in a university research laboratory with a particular equipment. DOL denied the application stating essentially that the job requires training. According to them, “hands on work” is the same as formal training.
Media Note
Office of the Spokesperson
Washington, DC
April 18, 2012
Earlier this year, President Obama called for a national strategy to make the United States the world’s top travel and tourism destination, generating jobs and revitalizing our economy. The Department of State is well on the way to meeting the President’s goals of increasing visitor visa processing capacity in China and Brazil by 40 percent in 2012.
I have a 4 year bachelor's degree from India and 7 years experience. My company has applied for GC in EB-3 and my I-140 is approved. My PD is Sep 2010.My company name is now changed and they are saying that the process has to be restarted from the perm but I can keep my same PD.I checked with the lawyers to see if I'm eligible for EB2 and they said no. My job description says bachelors' degree and 3 or 5 years of experience and hence the lawyers are saying no. Their argument is that the USCIS will deny the application indicating that the job could be done by a person with 3 yrs experience. Am I qualified for EB-2?
Did mine in Chicago on the 22nd last month. First I was asked swear under oath that you're telling the truth and nothing but the truth, and then came a quick firestorm of questions about things in my application. The whole thing was mostly painless. Because I'm a college student who goes to school out of state, they asked me to show them my state ID or driver's licence, and I gave them my licence from my home state with an explanation of my situation, and showed them my proof of enrollment and current class schedule from my school.
Hi everyone!.I filed N-400 application on 11/21/11 based on the 3 year rule. Interview was scheduled on 3/19/12 at NYC (Federal Plaza). I was a little nervous because everybody was telling me that the NYC office is really hard on marriage based citizenships. Interview was scheduled at 7:00am, there were like 100-150 people on the room (7th floor). I was called in at 8.10am. The first thing the officer asked me (even before saying good morning) was "did you bring your wife and a lot of evidence with you?" I said yes she is here, would you like me to call her?
Had my interview in Detroit office this morning. The interview went off really well.
While I was entering, the IO told me that I have come on a really good day because if I got thru the interview today, my oath ceremony can be as early as next week.
I wish to thank Rajiv Ji and other members of his team for brilliantly handling my F1 visa reinstatment case, which I lost due to Tri Valley fraud. Rajiv Ji stepped in as an angel in the toughest times in my life and painstakingly prepared and filed the I 539 application. He is very kind and went a step ahead and as a true samaritan, he filed it pro bono. I am very very grateful to him and his highly qualified and thoroughly professional staff for the timely help, guidance and the success, which I owe to immigration.com.
The annual limit in the EB-2 category for India and China has reached. This has been confirmed by the State Department. A notification sent to USCIS on April 11, 2012 states that no further visas for the above mentioned categories will be authorized. On the basis of cut-off dates published in the April and May Visa Bulletins USCIS will continue to accept adjustment applications.
[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 78 (Monday, April 23, 2012)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 24137-24138]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-9612]
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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Employment and Training Administration
20 CFR Part 655
RIN 1205-AB58
Hello, everyone. This is Rajiv S. Khanna for immigration.com, the Law Offices of Rajiv S. Khanna, P.C.
I am very pleased to report this morning that I saw a news report from USCIS Nebraska Service Center teleconference on April 12, 2012, that clarified you can carry forward the Priority Date from one I-140 approval to another 1-140 approval for another employer, even if the old employer revokes the I-140. USCIS has flip-flopped on this issue several times.
Let me first bring you to the news. Right here it says. If you look at the question number two. The answer is, both centers adhere to retaining the earlier priority date, unless the I-140 was revoked for fraud or willful misrepresentation. So the idea here is this: even if you go from Employer A to Employer B, and Employer A revokes the I-140 approval, the Priority Date is yours to carry forward to any employer you like--B,C,D,E--unless the employer A’s I- 140 was revoked for fraud or misrepresentation.
The history of this interpretation is strange. A few years ago, this was the position. USCIS always said you can carry the Priority Date forward. A couple of years ago, they started saying, “No, you cannot.” We had several cases in which they raised this issue, so anybody who has had this issue decided against them can actually go back and file a motion to reopen/reconsider. I advise you to think about this very carefully. You could actually go back and ask USCIS for the Priority Date to be carried forward if they had earlier denied it. There’s a whole lot of people who went through this. File a motion to reconsider. Then USCIS started saying, “Well, you cannot do it.”
Now they are back to their old, very good interpretation, which is in line with Congressional intention for AC-21, where Congress wanted to create room for people to leave their jobs and move on to other jobs because Green Cards were taking so long. So Congress said, “We’ll put in AC-21.” That will make it easier for employees to change jobs without losing their Green Card benefits.
This is excellent news, folks. Once again, I am summarizing it for you. You can carry your Priority Date forward, even if the old I-140 is revoked, unless the I-140 is revoked for some fraud or some willful misinterpretation.
One more thing I wanted to add. This is not good for H-1. Don’t think that if the I-140 is revoked, you can still use it for H-1 extensions. You cannot. If you want H-1 extensions beyond six years, you’ve got to have something else going. You cannot rely on the revoked I-140.
That’s all I have to say on this issue. I will speak with you folks soon.
Thank you for listening.
H-1B, H-1B1, E-3 Helpful Resources:
The Department has posted a contact list for the H-1B, H-1B1 and E-3 Programs to assist employers with their applications. To view or download a PDF copy of the Helpful Resources for the H-1B, H-1B1 and E-3 Programs, please click the attachment below.
USCIS Reminds the Public to Avoid Scams and Unauthorized Practitioners of Immigration Law
USCIS estimates that as as of 9 April 2012, approximately 25,600 H-B cases had been receipted. Out of these petitions, 17,400 are for bachelor's degree and 8,200 for for people with advanced degrees. These numbers are considerable hire than the last year's at this time.
USCIS has indicated that 22,323 cap-subject H-1B petitions had been received as of April 4, 2012. Approximately one quarter (1/4) of these cases are for advanced degrees. According to USCIS, the number of filings received is almost double the number of filings received by USCIS during the same time last year. It would appear that H-1B numbers are likely to get exhausted a lot earlier than last year.
Rajiv S Khanna, Managing Attorney at law firm Immigration.com, said, “Rate of denials have gone up across the board in all legal immigration cases, especially (relating to) H-1B visas. The government has created an environment where the responses for the RFEs have increased from 30-50 pages to 600-1,000 pages for an H-1B case. It has increased its own burden of processing cases and that’s why cases are taking much longer to process than they used to.”
“A STEM-OPT employer must not assign, or otherwise delegate its training responsibilities to a non-employer third party such as the client’s employees,” explains Rajiv Khanna, Managing Attorney at Immigration.com
I would like to thank Rajiv for his exceptional advice for my case, It's very easy to get the help from Rajiv's office and his entire team is very responsive, I would definetly recommend Rajiv's office for any immigration matters. I am very happy with thier service. Thanks Venkat