Interview today in Seattle. Arrived 8:10am was called in at 8:30 - really nice guy reviewed my file, asked me a couple questions about my name change.
Just want to share my experience.
Application sent: June 12 2012
Applied on my own, no lawyers.
Interview Experience:
My interview was scheduled at 7:45 am on April 5th in SF. Got there 15-20 minutes early and there were probably only 10-15 others in the waiting area at the time. At about 8:15 am, an officer came out and called me. The interview was a breeze - he went through my answers in the N-400 application, made me repeat all the Yes/No answers filled in in the form.
I owe this one to this forum. Went in for the interview today. Got sworn in.
6 Questions:
1.
N-400 Average Cycle Time
This report provides the service-wide military naturalization average cycle times by month.
N-400 Performance Data
This report provides the number of Naturalizations N-400 Regular and Military Service. It includes office locations, receipts, approvals, denials and pending by fiscal year with current year-to-date figures.
I am exploring my options to file a new H1B and would be great if you could provide any suggestions or insights on my current situation.
My details are -
1) I have my I140 approved in 2013 with an Employer (XXX IT Services Inc) and had multiple successful H1B extensions until 2017.
2) My latest.H1B had an I-94 expiry date of May 30, 2017. The extension was timely filed on May 16, 2017.
3) The work location changed in October 2017 and an Amendment was filed when my above H1B extension petition was still pending.
4) Amendment Petition was upgraded to premium service in December 2017.
5) I continued to work for it until September 2019 as no decision was made by USCIS on my amended petition.
6) I exited the USA in October 2019 to join my wife and kids who were stuck in India for all these years.
7) In the middle of the year 2020, administrative processing was lifted on my petition and an RFE was issued. However, as I was already out of the USA, no response was given.
At this point, I came to know that my Employer (XXX IT Services Inc) got into a visa fraud and money laundering case and served a jail sentence as well by 2020. Employees weren't made aware of it at all. Probably that's the reason for not hearing this long.
My questions are-
(A) Will USCIS consider my stay between May 2017 and October 2019 as unauthorized, will there be a 10-year bar on me?
(B) Can I apply for a waiver of inadmissibility on the grounds of an administrative processing hold on my last petition and I left before the decision was taken?
(C) Will my employer's visa fraud case impact my H1B approval in the future?
Visa fraud by an employer typically doesn't affect individuals if they aren't involved. As long as you were not complicit, your stay shouldn't be considered unauthorized, and there's no 10-year bar. Future H-1B approvals might have delays, but if you weren't implicated, there should be minimal impact on your immigration status.