Discussion Topics, Thursday 2 November 2017:
-H1B Amendment Approved without I-94 attached
-Changing from Non-Profit (Cap-Exempt) H1 to Profit (Cap-Subject) H1 and GC filing
- Family based second category GC (F2A)
- Transfer J-1 Visa
- H1 and H4 Extension approvals
- Upgrading H-1 B to premium processing
I am now in the last stage of Green card and attending interview in Consulate in India for Employment based green card interview.<br>
I have the recent offer letter from my employer. I saw from your 2012 blog you have mentioned that the employment based consular interview is difficult from foreign country consulate with some example.
Has it improved anything better recently. What type of questions can I expect. Also I have recently relocated to another city in India because of which I have resigned my current job and at the same time waiting for this green card. I have not worked with the prospective employer till now but have the offer with recent date. So did not try for any job. I am an experienced person of 15 yrs exp and just out of job for the past 5 months. Will that hurt anything? Do I need to have one on one consultation with attorney better to be safe?
Video Transcript
Note: 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 got a speeding ticket ( It is not related to DUI and no arrest, just a ticket) recently. I didn’t contest the ticket and plead guilty by paying fine of 170$, I have receipt of payment. Do I have to wait for another 5 years from the date I got a ticket (Good moral character period of 5 yrs as per USCIS) to apply for US citizenship to show good moral character?
Watch the Video on this FAQ: Effect of a speeding ticket on green card or naturalization/citizenship
Video Transcript
Note: 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 am staying here in the US from last 4 years 10 months and have I-140 approved (Received approval Jun '17). To fulfill personal commitments, I am going back to India in Dec '17 for some time however my H1B extension is still in progress (Filed in Aug '17). I am not sure whether the result will be out before my travel.
My question is -<br>
1. If I change the employer in India, is there any way I can come back? What all options I will have?<br>
2. Can my new employer eligible to transfer my H1B from India in case current extension gets approved or RFE or Denial?
Watch the Video on this FAQ: Effect of moving abroad while still on H-1B visa
Video Transcript
1. Yes, I think you can keep that H-1B alive as long as that job is there.
Note: 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.
1. I have joined a company based on H1b transfer receipt and have got RFE of LCA wage level 1. If, by any chance, the petition gets denied then can the same employer file for new h1b transfer with LCA wage level 2, right after the denial? <br>
2. Is it advisable to find another employer and start a new h1b transfer processing while the current one is still under RFE received/response status?
Watch the Video on this FAQ: Denial of H-1B on Level 1 wage issue
Video Transcript
1. Now if somebody's H-1 gets denied for level 1 job the same employer can file for level 2. But there should be a good reason or explanation if the government asks questions like: why are we going to level 2, why did we not go with level 2 the first time around.
Note: 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.
PERM Processing Times (as of 10/31/2017)
What is the latest development for Employment-Based Immigrants?
In employment based the last step in the green card process is something called Adjustment of Status (AOS). If you are already in the United States in legal status it is done through the form I-485. Earlier employment-based applicants were hardly interviewed by the USCIS. You file the forms and you get your green card approval and maybe you might get an inquiry or two from the government and ultimately anybody going to the USCIS personally would get the green card approved.
Note: 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.
On Nov. 9, 2017, the Department of State stopped accepting new applications for the Central American Minors (CAM) refugee program. USCIS will stop interviewing CAM cases on Jan. 31, 2018. After that date, individuals with pending applications who have not been interviewed will receive a notice with further instructions.
The 100 civics (history and government) questions and answers for the naturalization test are listed below. The civics test is an oral test and the USCIS Officer will ask the applicant up to 10 of the 100 civics questions. An applicant must answer 6 out of 10 questions correctly to pass the civics portion of the naturalization test.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has received reports that the U.S.
FAQ: Is interview required for compelling circumstances EAD? || Can we open a company while on EAD? What kind of questions/documents will be needed in the I-185 AOS interview? || Does H-1B extension denial invalidate an existing H-1B? || What can be done if an H-1B is denied while in the USA? ||Impact of taking a long break while on H-1B.
Other: Traveling while an H-1B is pending || Impact on naturalization of an incorrect name in the past ||Working from home on and H-1B ||Name updated on form I-140||Applying for L-2 EAD and change of status to H-1B ||Erroneous name on passport, visiting on a tourist visa ||Applying for H-4 EAD, I 140 withdrawn before 2017 ||H-1B issued without an I 94||I 485 delay, etc.
Due to technical issues, the registration period for DV-2019 is being restarted, and all entries made prior to October 18, 2017, will need to be resubmitted for the entrant to be considered.
Recently USCIS announced that when a I-485 application is filed the Candidate has to go through the interview process. Is this applicable to the COMPELLING CIRCUMSTANCES EAD as well?
Watch the Video on this FAQ: Is interview required for compelling circumstances EAD?
Video Transcript
No. Not so far. The government has not indicated that they will be requiring an interview before issuing a Compelling Circumstances EAD. That's only confined to the I-485 applications. More
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1. I recently filed I-140 under EB1 as I am on L1A, my spouse is on L2-EAD, can I open a company on my spouse name?<br>
2. When I file my I-485 do I have to provide any documents (W2, Tax Returns) related to my spouse company?<br>
3. As USCIS has announced In person interview from 10/01/2017, what kind of questions can I anticipate if I open a new company?
Video Transcript
Note: 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.
On Yoga of Action -- Karmayoga
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) started implementing the automated version of Form I-94, Arrival/Departure Record, at air and sea ports of entry and will by week’s end include Charlotte Douglas International Airport in North Carolina, Orlando International Airport in Florida, McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas, Chicago O’Hare International Airport, Miami International Airport and George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston. Implementation will continue across the nation through May 21, to include air and sea ports of entry that support international arrivals.
Question 1:
The husband has a company. Wife and husband are both U.S. citizens, and they want to get her brother over to the United States on some kind of a work related visa. Assuming the husband’s company is small and the brother is professionally qualified can they get him through the husband’s company.
Answer will depend on qualifications of the brother, and what sort of a company that her spouse has. For example: Is the company large or small? How many employees? How long has the company been in business? What kind of work do they do? Does the company have any branches outside of the U.S.?
Answer: If the company's business and the brother’s qualifications are both professionally oriented we could seriously think about an H-1 Visa. If there is a branch outside the U.S., then we could get the brother employed outside the U.S. and think about an L-1 Visa in a year. Also under the new laws, as they are being considered, we should be able to have more options than what I have just discussed. So I am right now I am examining the matter only under the current scheme of laws, and H-1 and L-1 are two obvious options. Of course I am assuming that everybody here is an India born citizen of India because if you are citizen of another country you might have other options like E visa, etc. So bearing this in mind, there are some assumptions I am making and I am also clarifying that I am looking at the current schemes of the laws. Future schemes of the laws might be different and might be much more beneficial for us.
Question 2:
What is the chance of an L-1A Visa holder with nine years of experience qualifying for EB1 category. Can I apply for a Green Card for myself in the EB1 category?
There are three kinds of EB-1's. Let’s start with the EB1 category that is the easiest to understand.
1. Outstanding researchers or professors - given the designation of EB-1-2 or EB-1B.
Under EB-1, the second category is outstanding researchers or professors. Basically we are looking for people who are highly qualified in their own field and there are certain criteria. Look at our website for more information.
http://www.immigration.com/greencard/employment-based-green-cards/emplo…
So one category is for outstanding researchers or professors, for which you need a research or professorial position.
Then there is another category EB-1C or EB-1-3 category for international executives and/or managers. People who are on L-1A can pretty much qualify for EB-1C category. This is another great category.
Then there is the first category, extraordinary ability aliens. This is not for everyone. Here we are looking for sustained national or international recognition. Somebody who is hailed as a leader in their business For example, Bill Gates would qualify, but Rajiv S. Khanna would almost certainly not qualify. So we are looking for people who are nationally and internationally recognized.
So the question asked was can I do it on my own out of these three categories. The only one in which you can apply on your own is the first category EB-1A, which is extraordinary ability aliens. You are nationally or internationally recognized, and you have articles written about you and have international awards. Again there is a list of criteria and you have to meet three out of the ten listed criteria or similar. All this information is on our website as well.
http://www.immigration.com/greencard/eb1-green-card/eb-1-extraordinary-…-
In your situation the best option is to apply for EB-1C if you can get your employer to apply for you since you are already on L-1A getting a EBC green card is absolutely perfect choice and you got your Green Card within a year. EB1 is the fastest way of getting our Green Card.
It was a pleasure to work with attorney Rajiv Khanna and his dedicated team members, specially Diane. They have helped filing my green card application effectively, cleared all the queries on time, and provided appropriate guidance at every critical moments towards the approval of our immigration visa in the EB1A category (now E11). We filed the I-140 petition from India in Oct. 2016. I was kind of nervous when got the I-140 RFE. However, the excellently drafted RFE response was sufficient to convince the USCIS personnel to get approval of I-140 in Feb. 2017. Consequently we applied for immigration visa to National Visa Center (NVC) through consular processing and finally the immigration visa got approved in Oct. 2017. So it took exactly 1 year from the filing of I-140 to the approval of immigration visa. During this period, I contacted Rajiv, Diane and Suman (another dedicated team member) hundred of times and got the necessary and effective suggestions promptly. They were also available for multiple video calls through Skype for discussing the major issues. I never felt I am outside of US. I'll highly recommend 'Law Offices of Rajiv S. Khanna' if you are planning to apply for US green card (immigration visa) or even other types of visa, either from US or even from outside, like me. Thank you very much Rajiv Ji and the team :)