This bulletin summarizes the availability of immigrant numbers during May.
My sister is a naturalized US citizen and she is planning on applying for my GC. I have 2 questions:
1. If my company decides to sponsor my L1-A visa (after my GC application is submitted) will my L1-A be denied because of my GC application?. I have a multiple entry 10 year tourist visa that will expire in 2017. If I apply for a new tourist visa in 2017, will that be denied?
2. Furthermore, my father's GC (consular processing) is being processed currently. Once he becomes a GC holder, can he apply for my GC (I am single over 21 years of age) in such cases Processing time is also much less. If my father can sponsor my GC, what happens to my application in the unfortunate event of my father's demise during this period?
See clip from Attorney Rajiv S. Khanna's conference call video that addresses this question.
https://youtu.be/R4-_pic6TzY?t=103
FAQ Transcript
I worked for ABC Company for last 3 years. They extended my H-1B at the end of 3rd year. But during my 4th year (this year) I changed my employer and updated my H-1B too. At the same year, ABC Company was sold to another company. ABC Company decided to give bonus to its current and formal employees. I got a bonus
check from ABC Company. Since, I was not on their payroll they issued me a 1099
misc form for tax purposes for this tax year. My understanding is H-1B employee
can file only W-2 form with current employee. If I file my tax with this 1099 misc
form from ABC Company? Am I violating the H-1B rules?
See clip from Attorney Rajiv S. Khanna's conference call video that addresses this question.
Discussed: FAQ on Requirements for Extension of H-1 beyond 6 years; applying for visa from third country (TCN); after getting green card, how soon can I change jobs; birth certificate problems; H-4 EAD COS pending; File green card while on H-4; H-4 EAD - Can we own our business? Do we have to run own payroll? And Applying for H-1 visa; US options for Canadian; applying H-1 through multiple employers; EB-5 for ; dentist; affidavit of support; EB-2 with 10 years of experience; EB-5 buy existing business; error on EAD; ; E-2 visa; priority date carry over; L-1A org chart, etc.
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PERM Processing Times (as of 4/16/2015)
On April 15, 2015, the federal district court in the Northern District of Florida issued an order effectively permitting the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) to continue issuing temporary labor certifications under the H-2B visa program through May 15, 2015. As a result, DOL will continue to process temporary labor certification applications under its 2008 H-2B regulations through May 15, 2015.
1. Can I apply for H-4-EAD on May 26 2015 even if my H-4 COS is still pending ? Or I will have to wait till it get approved ?<br>
2. My employer already filed my PERM and they are OK to come back with them on H-4 EAD. Can I apply for I-140 after H-4 EAD is approved ?
Is it ok if I will stay on H-4 EAD to continue processing of my GC ?
See clip from Attorney Rajiv S. Khanna's conference call video that addresses this question.
https://youtu.be/3Heaadpk1Ik?t=809
FAQ Transcript:
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Director León Rodríguez and Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed signed a letter of agreement today to begin a partnership to strengthen citizenship education and awareness efforts. The agreement will remain in effect until December 2017.
A lawsuit has been filed against the H-4 EAD regulations. I am attaching the complaint with my comments. Follow my tweets for updates. If you want to discuss this matter, join our next free community conference call on Thursday. Details are here.
Beginning Friday, May 1, 2015 USCIS will accept only the new version (edition date: 10/23/14) of Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker. The edition date is printed at the bottom of every page. We will reject previous editions of this form if you submit them on or after May 1.
USCIS issued the new version in January and have continued to accept old versions during the transition period, which ends Thursday, April 30.
In response to recent court decisions that have created significant uncertainty around the H-2B temporary foreign nonagricultural worker program, the U.S. Departments of Labor and Homeland Security today announced an interim final rule to reinstate and make improvements to the program and a final rule to establish the prevailing wage methodology for that program.
1.Can we own our business?
2. Do we have to run own payroll?
See clip from Attorney Rajiv S. Khanna's conference call video that addresses this question.
https://youtu.be/3Heaadpk1Ik?t=933
FAQ Transcript:
1. Yes you can.
2. You do not.
Radio show April 28, 2015:
Question1: My spouse is on H-1 visa and his former employer filed I-140 and then my spouse changed his employment to another employer and transferred his H-1, the I-140 has not been revoked by former employer. So my H-4 is with the former employer valid for three years, and current employer for my spouse has not filed H-1 for me. Is the H-4 from the former employer valid for file EAD or do I have to apply for H-4 again and what would be the documents that would I need to file H-4 EAD ?
Answer: Every time the H-1 holder changes job, the H-4 holder does not need to re -apply for H-4. Your H-4 is good. You don't have to have different H-4 for the employer. Of course, every time the H-1 holders change their job they have apply for new H-1 but as long as you never violated status and H-1 holder has never violated status that H-4 continued to be good from job to job to job, you are good.
Your second question was what document need to file H-4 EAD?
Answer is we don't know yet. When the instructions for the new form I- 765 come out along with the form I-765 they will tell you exactly what you need to submit . I suspect probably marriage certificate along with evidence of couple of last pay stubs of your husband's, copy of H-1 receipt and a copy of your H-4 receipt or approval or visa stamped. That typically they should be looking for. But I don't have any basis for saying, this is just my guess.
Question 2: I got my H-1B petition approved last year, it got extended as well. I have never used any of these visas to work in the U.S. though I have travelled few times to U.S. but on B-1 visa for meetings with the customers. So the question is when do I become exempt from the H-1 quota?
Answer : In your situation when you are outside the USA, you become exempt from the H-1 quota when you get your visa stamped. So I think USCIS interpretation of law is faulty and incorrect, because in my view as soon as H-1 is approved you should be exempt from the quota but USCIS has taken the position that unless you get the visa stamped from the consulate we will not consider you exempt if you are outside the USA. So it appears to me that you should be exempt from the quota.
Question 3. I just got my citizenship and now wants to apply for my younger sister, who is alone in India. I lost my parents few years back so she is all alone but she is above 18. Is there any way I as a brother and only relationship here in United States apply for her Green card in such a manner that she can be here in United States as soon as possible.
Answer: Siblings Green Card is like planting mango trees, in India we used to have saying that mango trees takes so long to bring fruit that one generation plants the tree and the second generation eats the mangoes. It's kind of that for sibling cases, it takes 13 years for the Green Card to come through and there is no way we can expedite that Green Card. However leaving the option of Green Card filing you could look at the things like sponsoring her for her student visa if she wants to study or if she is an professional or intent to be professional soon she can come on H-1 or L-1 visa, like other people do. f you have money you can gift her half a million or million dollar depending upon what kind of money you have that you can invest in her. So Investment visa could be an option but there is no way you can expedite sibling green Card.
I got my green card base on EB-2 category. I got mail from USCIS mentioning they change my status in to Permanent resident. As well as I got my Green Card in mail this year March. But I filed my I-485 last year July.I want to change my employer. (New Employer offering similar salary as well as similar position ). Is there any legal issue. Do I have to worry about this junction ?
FAQ Transcript:
Green card which is employment based does not require you to enter into slavery. It requires only this. On the date your green card was approved it was your intention to work at your job indefinitely, not permanently. So if I got my approval today and today I continue working indefinitely for the next few days or years but a week later I got a better job can I leave and the answer is yes. I think you can. But let’s say I already have an offer at hand and I got my green card and I want to go and would that be considered indefinite. Probably not. The government can take an objection but even there if the job was same or similar to what the green card job was I think a good argument can be made under AC21 portability. Currently the law requires only to have indefinite intention but on the date you got your green card. However once the green c ard is approved and if your intention changes, then I do not see any problem with it.
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.
Immigration.com has been tremendous in my Green Card processing so far. Their professionalism and prompt approach has been very helpful.