USCIS recently published revised Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker. The revised Form I-129 is labeled with an Oct. 23, 2014, edition date. You can download the revised form and details about who may file Form I-129 from the USCIS forms website.
AAO Processing Times as of January 1, 2015 |
||
Form Number |
Case Type |
[Congressional Bills 113th Congress] [From the U.S. Government Printing Office] [S. 169 Introduced in Senate (IS)] 113th CONGRESS 1st Session S. 169 To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to authorize additional visas for well-educated aliens to live and work in the United States, and for other purposes. _______________________________________________________________________
I am still in the process of getting a green card. During this process I want to change my job from a present one to another one that is more challenging than the present one. Would this in any way affect getting the green card or is it advisable not to shift jobs now?
FAQ Transcript
The Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC) has updated the FAQ page of its official website with a new keyword search function, Search FAQs. Users may now search the FAQ page by using a single keyword or exact phrase to identify items in the FAQ database that correspond to keywords or characters specified by the user. A Tip sheet has been developed to assist with use of the Search FAQs tool. To access the FAQs page and Search FAQs Tip Sheet, click here.
If you request either initial or renewal Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), you must submit Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization and required fees. USCIS will reject your request if you fail to submit Form I-765, the required filing fee, Form I-765 Worksheet, and Form I-821D, Consideration of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals.
The final rule, Notices of Decisions and Documents Evidencing Lawful Status, published on Oct. 29, 2014, is effective today, Jan. 27, 2015. This rule amends regulations governing when USCIS will:
an applicant, petitioner, or requester, and/or an attorney of record or accredited representative.
Beginning today, 27 January 2015, USCIS will follow the following policies in sending out notices, approved documents etc.
1. When unrepresented, notice to the applicant only. USCIS will send notices only to the applicant or petitioner when the applicant or petitioner is unrepresented. (8 CFR 103.2(b)(19)(i)).
Good Morning, I am the Founder and Executive Director at Sallie B. Howard School at North Carolina for the past 17 years. I am happy to give the reference and recommendation for the Law Offices of Rajiv S. Khanna.
We have been working with him for past 3 years and the work he has done for us has been excellent. In the past, we have had large number of immigrant teachers here at Sallie B. Howard . We have used various attorney's over the years some are good some not well, some very knowledgeable and some not so very knowledgeable and that resulted in complications and some problems time to time we get through those.
One of our staff members brought Rajiv’s business to our attention. He actually had done some research and found great record, well regarded, highly regarded in the industry and consultant some times for the government. It was really 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.
Typically, we do 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 pretty difficult cases that teacher had given upon and we all said wow! This is the shot in the dark to see if we can clean this part or clear this up and get the net result. But Rajiv's folks were very confident and they always tell you exactly what you can expect. They don't promise something that they can't deliver and they have been 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 services. 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 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. 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 the telephone number everything is exactly the way it supposed to be and that means everything in this particular business when you are working with Federal government.
The Administrative Appeals Office (AAO) conducts administrative review of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) officers’ decisions regarding immigration benefit requests in order to promote consistency and accuracy in the interpretation of immigration law and policy. We have appellate jurisdiction over approximately fifty different types of immigration applications and petitions.
The AAO Practice Manual describes rules, procedures, and recommendations for practice before the AAO. It is organized into seven chapters, including:
I have a delayed birth registration certificate issued by municipal authority with place of birth: hospital name, city. My passport just got the city name as place of birth. Do I need to submit secondary evidence when I file I-485 because of delayed registration?
In many countries especially India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, it can happen that the birth occurred much earlier but the registration of the birth was done much later. Remember it was not the law that you have to register every birth, it was a voluntary action. So if a child was born in 1980 or 1970 you registered the birth in 2015 because that’s when you needed to get the green card. Now those are not acceptable registration. What you should do in those cases is get a letter from the municipal corporation, or local government, that says before this was registered there was no other registration. Like a non-availability before the registration. Along with that get two affidavits, from your parents or other people, who were alive when you were born, that will take care of it.
Secondary evidence becomes acceptable only when you can’t get non-availability from the municipal corporation and that’s a much more complicated area. I think you should get the non-availability.
I am holding a Canadian student visa, now is my second year in Canada. I was issued a B-1/B-2 visa last year. Then I was charged of Theft under $5000 this June, and the charge goes withdrawn-diversion in July. When I went to US Embassy for visa renewal this October, the officer asked my about the charge, and I answered honestly that I did it on purpose and I really regret my behavior. He rejected my class B visa, gave me a pink paper, which says the denial is under Section 214(b), which says that alien doesn't show strong ties with home country. After I carefully searched online resources, I found that my admission of the offence will make me inadmissible to enter US, as a moral turpitude. But the officer didn't say that I need waiver to enter US.
1. So my question is:
does this mean that their denial is not based on the Crime of Moral Turpitude, but I really didn't show strong ties? Or they just don't reject me explicitly with the real reason? I will marry a Canadian citizen next year so it would be a strong tie then. Or do you suggest me to apply for Waiver of Ground of Inadmissibility like I-106 whatsoever?
2. Another question is:
I got an offer of a big well-known US company for summer internship, and I need to apply for J1 Visa. How will the charge affect me J-1 application?
First of all, not every crime leads to serious consequences in USA. There are two kinds of crimes. Misdemeanours which are small crimes, punishment is typically less than a year and the other felonies where the punishment is a year or more, those are more serious crimes. In immigration law we look if the crime is of moral turpitude or not. If a crime is not of moral turpitude, I believe it has absolutely no consequences, unless it is a drug offence. Moral turpitude simply means that you are doing something, which reflects on your poor moral character.
The next step: is it misdemeanour or felony. If it is a felony, we almost certainly have a problem. It could lead to deportation, non-admission, and then you will need a waiver of some kind. Waivers are usually available for green card only for family based reasons. You cannot get a waiver just because you want to come to USA. So in an employment based case, and you have a felony conviction for moral turpitude crime you will not be able to come to USA.
Remember the rules are different for deportation, what is called removal and admission. So when you try to enter you could be subject to different laws, sometimes you think you are in USA and I am safe, because your lawyer told you are not going to be deported, but when you come back they won’t let you in and now you have to go back, the reason is the rules for admission are different. This is a very complex area of the law.
Question: What if I am convicted of misdemeanour involving moral turpitude?
First, how many misdemeanour convictions do you have. If you have multiple convictions, then that itself is ground for deportation removal as well as no admission. But if you have only one offence, a misdemeanour, and the actual punishment imposed was less than six months you are covered by something called petty offence exception. Which says we forgive you entirely as long as it was just a single misdemeanour.
The rules under immigration law and the rules under criminal law for conviction are very different. Sometimes you have a criminal defence counsel. He will tell you this is not a conviction. It may not be a conviction under criminal law but is a conviction under immigration law. Any kind of plea bargain you set up with the government where you are admitting directly that you committed the crime would be considered in all probability to be a conviction. So be careful when you discuss this with your immigration lawyer as well as criminal counsel.
Question: What is 212(d)(3) waiver?
Say if you got the kind of conviction where you cannot come back we can let you in on a temporary basis for a non-immigrant visa. 212(d)(3) applies only to non-immigrant visa and the situation has been a little uncertain, especially for Canadians. I think there is a certain timeframe where you can get it or for one visit you can get it.
Question: I am holding a Canadian student visa, now is my second year in Canada. I was issued a B-1/B-2 visa last year. Then I was charged of Theft under $5000 this June, and the charge goes withdrawn-diversion in July.
Normally diversion means some kind of a plea bargaining has been made.
Question: When I went to US Embassy for visa renewal this October, the officer asked my about the charge, and I answered honestly that I did it on purpose and I really regret my behaviour. He rejected my class B visa, gave me a pink paper, which says the denial is under Section 214(b), which says that alien doesn't show strong ties with home country. After I carefully searched online resources, I found that my admission of the offence will make me inadmissible to enter US, as a moral turpitude. But the officer didn't say that I need waiver to enter US. So does this mean that their denial is not based on the Crime of Moral Turpitude, but I really didn't show strong ties?
That is correct because they denied it based upon their inability to verify that you will come back.
Question: I will marry a Canadian citizen next year so it would be a strong tie then. Or do you suggest me to apply for Waiver of Ground of Inadmissibility like I-106 whatsoever?
Definitely that will make it a much stronger tie and you can try again. You might be covered by a petty offence exception.
Question: I got an offer of a big well-known US company for summer internship, and I need to apply for J1 Visa. How will the charge affect me J-1 application?
If you are covered by petty offence exception, then even J-1 is not affected but the 214(b) denial, affects your J-1. If you had a 214(b) denial, it will bar your entry for J-1, F-1, B-1, B-2. It will not bar your entry for H-1 or L-1. I suspect the officer realised you were covered by petty offence exception.
What is I-485 Pre-adjudicate/Pre-adjudication?
How soon must I join my future green card employer?
Situation -
I have my EB2 India PD as March, 2008. I applied for I-485 in Oct 2014 (Future based GC application). My PD is not current as of yet but I have got an RFE for expired medical form I-693 ONLY in Oct, 2015.
Question: What is I-485 Pre-adjudicate/Pre-adjudication?
You are at the last step of the green card process. Your priority dates became current, you filed the I-485, then the priority dates slipped back two years, at this time USCIS has two choices. They can either put your file in their filing cabinet and forget about the case, until the priority dates become current again. Or they can sit down and can say look we have time, let’s go over the case, adjudicate all the details, decide that the case is completely qualified to receive a green card, so we pre-adjudicate, decide that the person is entitled to get the green card. Make a note on the file. If you need some documents, we send an RFE get the documents so when the priority dates become current again all we have to do is issue the green card. That’s pre-adjudicate.
Question: How soon must I join my future green card employer?
There is really no rule of thumb. But within a commercially reasonable period of time. Three to four months maybe, after approval of the green card, you should join the future green card employer. In your particular case that appears to be a requirement sometimes it may not be a requirement because of AC21 and remember AC21 portability is available even in future employer green card cases.
My wife is on H-1B visa working for a consulting firm. We are expecting baby in Feb 2016. What could be the maximum allowed time period on FMLA. Can my wife continue on H-1 status without pay checks on FMLA period?
If she considers to be in H-1 status FMLA (Family and Medical Leave Act) allows up to 12 weeks of guaranteed employment leave in 12-month period. It can be more or less also depending on the state law and remember if there is a medical need, for e.g. if the doctor says you have some medical issues you need to stay extra 6 weeks you will still be in status.
I am living in Lexington, Ky. My wife and I filed N-400 for citizenship on 2nd Feb 2015. Our 5 years’ green card date was 14th April 2015. My wife already got her interview, oath, passport done 3.5 months back but I am still waiting for my interview. Its already 9.5 months. Our field office is in Louisville, KY and their website shows that their processing time is 5 months. My application is way beyond 5 months. I did submit case inquiries and first time (9/11/15) they told me that “Due to workload unrelated to your case there is a delay” and second time 10/15/15 they told me that “security clearance is being done”. I took the infopass and went to Louisville field office. They told me that my case is with “national service center” I think and they are waiting for security clearance. Just wondering, is there a time limit to the security clearance?
Typically, there is a law on the box that allows you to file a lawsuit against the government. If there has been an unreasonable delay and there has been a certain time period provided. But some courts (depends on which place you reside) have said that the time for which we start counting the delay does not begin until the security clearance are received.
Question: I am living in Lexington, Ky. My wife and I filed N-400 for citizenship on 2nd Feb 2015. Our 5 years’ green card date was 14th April 2015. My wife already got her interview, oath, passport done 3.5 months back but I am still waiting for my interview. Its already 9.5 months. Our field office is in Louisville, KY and their website shows that their processing time is 5 months. My application is way beyond 5 months. I did submit case inquiries and first time (9/11/15) they told me that “Due to workload unrelated to your case there is a delay” and second time 10/15/15 they told me that “security clearance is being done”. I took the infopass and went to Louisville field office. They told me that my case is with “national service center” I think and they are waiting for security clearance. Just wondering, is there a time limit to the security clearance? I was reading over the web that some people in my situation did something called “writ of mandamus” with the help of a Lawyer. Do you think, this is something an option for me?
I think what you should do is get with your congressmen’s office. Call your congressmen, tell them to follow up the case. Let’s see what they say. That would be the quickest and zero cost method for you.
Video Testimonial, Reza Zarafshar, President, Advanced Computer Concepts
Advanced Computer Concepts (ACC) is an IT solutions provider and we have been established in Northern Virginia right outside the Washington DC for the past 30 years. When we cannot find talent in the US we depend on talent and expertise available overseas. A few years ago we needed to hire networking engineering talent from outside United States. A friend of mine whose company had done a lot of hiring in this area recommended Law Offices of Rajiv S. Khanna to me.
That year we hired two very capable network engineers outside the United States using the H-1B visa programe. The Law Offices of Rajiv S. Khanna handled these H-1B cases for ACC. Since then in addition to H-1B they have handled permanent residency application for a few of our employees. They have also given us very valuable advice on many immigration matters.
We at ACC are very pleased with the work Law Offices of Rajiv S. Khanna have done for us. They are very thorough and meticulous and properly handling and completing the applications so that the applications could process in expedite manner without any problems. They have always been very prompt in answering our questions and do an excellent job of documenting the progress of each case.
I would recommend Law Offices of Rajiv S. Khanna for others looking for a US immigration attorney. Rajiv Khanna is a very knowledgeable immigration attorney. He is an expert in his field. His firm has a very high success rate and is very precise and thorough in filing the applications. Their fees are reasonable and they are easily accessible. I have interacted with them via email and phone calls many times. They have always been very prompt responsive and accurate and treat us as a client very well.