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)).
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:
Parents came to the USA on a B-2 Visa in March 2021. I have requested an I-539 extension in August 2021 due to COVID and they stayed till Jan 2022. Eventually the extension got denied. Is this a problem?
The government will say as one has overstayed their I-94, they will now be subject to section 222(g). If you overstay your I-94 the visa stamp on your passport is automatically canceled, so you have to apply for a new visa. For more details on this issue, visit my author page on The Economic Times.
How much time does the EB-2 green card process take for a Chinese born?
For the Chinese born, it is getting more difficult. It is definitely longer for people who are born in India and shorter for China born so far as of this month.
Can you work on H-4 Visa?
Not without an employment authorization which comes only at a certain level of maturity of your spouse's green card.
Question 1: The company has laid off the employee but have put them on payroll until March 2023. In this case, can the employee travel internationally and will he be able to re-enter the USA?
Question 2: Is it the right time to move to the USA from India on H-1B since one is beginning to hear a lot of layoffs took place in big MNCs?
Answer 1: Do not travel until you get a job as you could have problems when you come back.
Answer 2. : If you are working for a big MNC then you need to think about it. But if you are working for a smaller company or a company that is not affected by the layoffs (example the healthcare industry) then you do not need to worry.
Is it not recommended to travel outside USA when you are on H-1B and I-140 filed and approved ?
Absolutely no problem, you can travel.
I have Dropbox appointment in India and going alone. My husband has a valid I-797A but an expired visa. Will that affect my stamping?
I do not know. It depends upon which way they are feeling on the day you go. Earlier there was no problem but now in some cases they have insisted you must have an H-1 visa stamp.
A friend of mine went to the U.S. on F1 last year but due to some personal problems she came back home but she wants to go to the U.S again this year to a different university. Will there be a problem to get F1 again?
Depends upon individual cases. Difficult to say.
Is there a possibility of getting approval for H-4 visa work authorization act this year?
Nothing is going to happen on immigration this year.
My I-140 and I-485 is pending, my OPT has expired. Can I stay back in the U.S until I get my green card EAD ?
Sure, because you have your I-485 pending. Having a pending I-485 gives you the right to stay in the United States.
Can I visit Canada with a valid F-1 Visa or do I need to take another visa ?
If you are on F-1 status, you can definitely go to Canada.
If I were to file for F-1 but my H-4 was going to expire would I have to file for an H-4 extension?
No. So if within the life of your H-4 you apply for F-1 change of status and if the H-4 expires that's fine. By the way, H-4 allows you to go to school. As soon as you file for the F-1 you should be able to continue going to school. Also check with your DSO.
If someone is on L-1 and got laid off, what are the alternatives?
Pretty much the same as H-1. 60 days grace period and if you still cannot find a job, leave the country or convert to student status if you want to go to school or B-1/B-2 if you want to just wait it out and look for jobs.
The Office of the Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsman (CIS Ombudsman) assists individuals and employers in resolving difficulties they are experiencing with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). This page covers what CIS can and cannot help with and how you can submit a request for case assistance with the office.
Discussion Topics, Thursday, February 02, 2023:
FAQ: Criteria for national interest waiver || NIW for physical therapists || Multiple companies applying for H-1B Cap registration - H-1B lottery || Can H-4 visa (no EAD) holders take an unpaid internship? || Can H-4 EAD start a Business in any State? Can a relative's company file H-1B? || H-4 visa dependent children change of status to F-1 before 21 || Filing H-4 and H-1 simultaneously || Status of F-1 once H-4 is approved || Most efficient way to get EAD F-1 or H-4?
Have any rules changed regarding getting a spouse visa through H1, L1, or O1? Also is traveling on a tourist visa to the US after marriage not ok, with a pending GC application? Finally, does the US have any special agreements with the UK, EU, Singapore, Dubai or Australia for visas that may qualify in this scenario?
Regarding the rules for getting a spouse visa through H-1 L-1 or O-1 nothing has changed.
It is certainly fine traveling with a tourist visa to the US after marriage, if you can convince the government that you are not going to break the laws which means staying in violation of your visa.
Regarding the US having any special agreements, there are only two kinds of visitor visas: regular ones and visa waiver or ESTA visa. There are special visas for example in Australia there is something called an E-3 visa which is very much like an H-1B and more or less a dual intent visa.
My concern is about the Applying for Citizenship for myself and spouse, and with our passport and GC expiring criteria.
My GC and my spouse’s GC have a expiration date of Sep-2023
My Indian Passport have expiration date of Jul-2024 and my spouse’s on Mar-2026
I am pretty much ready with all the documents (been working on it for some time) to start our citizenship application by myself, according to the U.S Naturalization website for my region (New Jersey) it shows the processing time as 16 months. And if I apply now, during the processing period my GC will expire.
Is it okay to apply for citizenship now and then around July start my renewal of GC? Are there a process to update GC info after a citizenship application is submitted and is in processing? Would any part of GC numbers change when I get renewed? Or would you suggest that I renew the GC first as soon as I can and then apply for citizenship? If I do this then I will have to renew my Indian Passport as well I think, if there is not enough time.
The situation has changed a couple of months back. Now the government says if you apply for naturalization even in the last month of your green card USCIS will send you a receipt that says your green card is extended for two years. With the receipt, you can work as well as travel.
Currently working with Employer B.
My PD - EB2 India, Aug 2013 with old employer A
Sep 2022 - Filed I485 with Employer A's I485J (which he provided that I will join his consultancy company)
1. It is not required by the law.
2. Probably a NOID and if USCIS wants to be nice to you they will send you an RFE giving you more time.
3. If USCIS issues an RFE you have to wait 180 days from the date of filing and after that you should be able to submit any employers I-485 Supplement J.
Video Testimonial - Dr. JoAnne Woodard, Director, Sallie B. Howard School
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.