USCIS Changes Secure Ink Color in Certain Immigration Document Stamps
On July 1, 2014, U. S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) began using a new secure blue ink for many of its secure stamps.
On July 1, 2014, U. S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) began using a new secure blue ink for many of its secure stamps.
Do we need to send an LCA for H-1B1 Singapore quota?
Yes, you do. E-3 visas for Australia and H-1B1 for Singapore and Chile, all require an LCA.
What happens if I travel without visa or advance parole while my I-485 is pending? I want to go to India.
That would lead to abandonment (sort of like cancellation of I-485). You will have to enter USA under some legal status (like H-4/H-1/L-2/L-1) and then file I-485 again when the priority dates becomes current.
The USCIS Electronic Immigration System (USCIS ELIS) is a streamlined online account-based system that allows customers to view their applications, petitions or requests, receive electronic notification of decisions, and receive real-time case status updates.
USCIS ELIS allows applicants to:
DV 2016 Program: Online registration for the DV 2016 Program will begin on Wednesday, October 1, 2014 at 12:00 noon, Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) (GMT-4), and will conclude on Monday, November 3, 2014 at 12:00 noon, Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) (GMT-4).
USCIS Automatically Extends Validity of Employment Authorization Documents
If I have 3 years of college from the UK and 7 years of professional experience, can they give me E-3 visa? The employer has given me a job offer in USA. All degree and work is in IT systems
If the degree and at least three years of professional experience are in the same field, E-3 should be available.
I have my I-140 approved(in my 6th year of H-1). But my employer is not handing the approval notice to me. I have both Receipt Number and my Labor number (starting with A.). I have filed FOIA to get copy of I-140 approval notice. I wanted to know
1) Can I transfer my H-1 to another employer by just giving I-140 receipt number to them?
2) Can my new employer use this number to file my GC and keeping the PD based on this number?
As long as your I-140 is not revoked BEFORE approval of H-1 extension/transfer, the receipt should be enough to get an extension with another employer. The priority date transfer is "automatic" and done at the USCIS level; that should not even need a receipt.
I am working for company X as a full time employee on H-1B visa. They have filed my green card and my I-140 has been improved. Company Y to hire me as a part time on W2 but I need to work as and when required. So sometime I have to work 20-3- hours in a week and sometime, I will not have work for months. I can work from home too during off hours. Company Y is going to file concurrent H-1B. I have few questions regarding my visa:
<br>
1) Will it affect my current full time H-1B with Company X<br>
2) Will it affect my green card process<br>
3) Is it ok if I don't work for months for company Y without affecting Company Y's H-1B<br>
4) If I get new I-94 through company Y, will it affect my current status?<br>
5) Will company X know about H-1B filed by Company Y?
This is not likely to work. Filing a concurrent H-1 is perfectly acceptable in this case and it does not affect your green card process, nor your current H-1. I dont know of any way an H-1 can be approved for an intermittent employment.
DHS will allow 13,999 CW-1 nonimmigrants for FY 2015
USCIS Federal Register Notice of Filing Procedures for Employment Authorization and Automatic Extension of Existing EAD for Liberians Eligible for DED.
Immigration.com Client Testimonial - Dr. JoAnne Woodard , Director of Sallie B. Howard School for the Arts & Education
Good morning, my name is JoAnne Woodard; I am the Founder and Executive Director of the Sallie B. House School for the Arts and Education in Wilson North Carolina for the past seventeen years. I am happy to give a reference and recommendation for the “Law Offices of Rajiv S. Khanna”.
We have been working with him for the past three years and the work that he has done for us has been Excellent. In the past, we have had a large number of immigrant teachers here at Sallie B. Howard, the entire time we have been in operation, large numbers. And we have used various attorney's over the years some good, some not so good, some very knowledgeable, some not so very knowledgeable and that resulted in complications and problems time to time, though we were able to get through those.
One of our staff members brought Rajiv's business to our attention. He actually had done some research and found a great record, well regarded, highly regarded in the industry and consultant some times for the government. It was really a Great Resume for the office. Even though he was in Washington D.C. and we are in North Carolina we took the trip up there to meet with him and to discuss what the service would be for us.
What we typically do are H-1B visas and green card petitions. And so we started out with him and found his services to be well beyond our expectations. More than that, for me I found him to be just stunningly brilliant, when it comes to the immigration laws and processes. We have had over the time some pretty difficult cases that the teacher had given upon on and we all said “wow “this is the shot in the dark to see if we can clean this part up or clear this up and get the right result. But Rajiv's folks were very confident and they always tell you exactly what you can expect. They don't promise something they can’t deliver and they were able to help us in every single case for past three years.
So, I highly recommend his company, they are people of integrity and they tell you exactly what to expect and we were pleased with their service.
There are several characteristics of the service that we get from this company that I want to point out. One is that timeliness and the responsiveness to our applications and to the conversations if we have to consult, then they get right back to us but more than that their meticulousness in which they do their work.
Everything is checked and double checked and nothing is submitted with errors and mistakes as we have experienced that many times in the past with other attorney's. I don't know if they are not as careful as they need to be sometimes or what happens but in the case of Rajiv's team they check and double check, they are careful. I don't think we ever had any application which returned or denied because of some error, even a telephone number, everything is exactly the way it is supposed to be and that means everything in this particular business when you are working with Federal government.
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.