I have taken immigration services from Rajiv S. Khanna and his team for H1 extension and GC processing. Their service is excellent and timely. Thanks a lot Rajiv and your team for all efforts in making me Green. I will truly recommend them to my friends.
I would like to thank Rajiv for his exceptional service in my I-485 case, he fixed the porting issues which couldn't be done by my previous attorney. It's very easy to get the help from Rajiv's office and his entire team is very responsive, I would definetly recommend Rajiv's office for any immigration matters. I have recommended Rajiv's firm to many of my friends and will continue to do as I am very happy with thier service. thanks Chandra
I have a 4 year bachelor's degree from India and 7 years experience. My company has applied for GC in EB-3 and my I-140 is approved. My PD is Sep 2010.My company name is now changed and they are saying that the process has to be restarted from the perm but I can keep my same PD.I checked with the lawyers to see if I'm eligible for EB2 and they said no. My job description says bachelors' degree and 3 or 5 years of experience and hence the lawyers are saying no. Their argument is that the USCIS will deny the application indicating that the job could be done by a person with 3 yrs experience. Am I qualified for EB-2?
The annual limit in the EB-2 category for India and China has reached. This has been confirmed by the State Department. A notification sent to USCIS on April 11, 2012 states that no further visas for the above mentioned categories will be authorized. On the basis of cut-off dates published in the April and May Visa Bulletins USCIS will continue to accept adjustment applications.
I am not just happy with the way the law firm of Atty. Rajiv took care of my case. I am more than satisfied that no adjective is deserving enough to describe the way they handled an impossible case like mine. After countless denials that I have received from my previous lawyers, I only got approvals from Atty. Rajiv. My family and I are just waiting for our greencards, which might come before the end of this year. This law firm deserves more than what they ask for their fees. And no monetary compensation could ever pay nor match the excellent job they have done for me. They saved my children's future, the primary reason why I want to be in America. Thank you very much from the bottom of my heart! :)
We have recently received an EB2 approval for a Physical Therapist. EB2 classification has become especially important now that EB3 category cases for severely backlogged countries are delayed so much. The good news with PT’s is that they do not have to go through the PERM process. But the bad news is that USCIS seems to question whether or not truly a Master’s degree or BS+5 years level job is being offered. The I-140 approval took 1.5 months in regular processing.
I would like to thank my case manager Pramita and Roopa for getting my labor approved in EB2 Category. They prepared my labor certification perfectly and it got approved within a week after they applied my petition. I am quite thankful to Roopa and Pramita for their patience in answering my questions, and getting things done quickly from my employer. They had shown keen interest in my case and followed up with my employer with patience to get things done promptly.I once again thankful to the law office of Rajiv Khanna for getting my labor petition approved.
Great Job!!! I Got my Perm Certified in 5 days in EB2 Category. Thanks to Pramita and Roopa for their excellent work.
Rajiv has been of incredible help to me for the last few years. I'd applied for the 485 Adjustment of Status and it looked like I'd be stuck in the queue for years before my greencard arrived. So, as I thought about my career, I decided to go back to school for a Ph.D. However, I was told by most everyone that getting an F-1 visa to go back to school would be very difficult. Rajiv gave me excellent advice to still go ahead and apply for the F-1 -- I ended up getting it with no trouble whatsoever. As the years went by, I then ended up getting the greencard as well -- Rajiv has been really helpful in letting me know the specific requirements (in terms of the job classifications, travel etc) related to obtaining permanent residency. I have been following his advice and I have been really pleased -- he's been absolutely accurate in all of his advice and I'm certainly counting on him in times to come as well.
Thank you Mr Khanna for providing such a spectacular service in assisiting and making me understand in detail about the issues related to F1 and GC process. Thank you.God bless!!
Job requirement says BS in engineering + 5 years of exp. No alternatives mentioned in PERM.
Educational qualifications: Diploma + AMIE + M.Tech
Experience: 7 Years exp. post M.tech from previous employer and 5 years from current employer. Does this can be classified under EB-2 for the above job requirement keeping AMIE degree in view? Would it be any issue during I140 regarding the education?
The AMIE is iffy. In fact I recall an AAO decision that said they will not recognize AMIE, but then a more recent decision was a bit more wishy-washy. Anyhow, I think an EB2 must be tried. The MTech will help.
The Department of State recently posted its July Visa Bulletin indicating that the cut-off date for EB-2 Worldwide, Mexico and the Philippines has regressed to Jan. 1, 2009. The June cut-off date for EB-2 Worldwide, Mexico and the Philippines is "C" for "current." This means that a cut-off date is not specified for these categories through the end of the month.
Rajiv and his whole team were a very great support. They know their job and handeld my wife's H1 & my H4 applications very professionally. My wife and her employer are also engaging his services for her green card. I would recommend his services to anyone who has any immigration matters to be handled.
Ours is a long story. My green card was filed under EB3 India with a PD of May 2006. My husband's green card was filed under EB3 India in 2005. When our dates became current sometime in 2007, my I-140 was already approved and his was pending. So, we decided to go ahead with my case and filed for I-485 for both of us. However, the dates then retrogressed and our lawyer informed us that my husband's case is no longer valid since his LC expired 3 months after it was approved. We didn't know that LC expires if not used within a specific time frame and the lawyer did not inform us either. Anyways, my husband's GC was again filed, this time through Rajiv's firm with proper guidance and through EB2. Rajiv also guided us to go through Consular Processing instead of I-485 since in our case, my husband could legally work using EAD via the I-485 applied through my case. In all these years, the company I work for has increased in size and wants to promote me. I consulted with Rajiv regarding this and inquired about possibility for porting from EB3 to EB2. Rajiv answered all our questions and guided us appropriately this time too. We are now waiting to hear about the Priority Dates for October 2012 bulletin and will make a decision about EB3 to EB2 porting. It feels so good to be able to talk to Rajiv regarding these questions related to immigration and his knowledge and experience in this field is very very valuable for people like us. Every time we have talked to him we have received excellent response and guidance. My husband and the company he works for had a very good experience with EB2 filing. Everything was very professional and was checked and rechecked before it was sent through. Thanks to Rajiv for all his help with our case so far!
EB3 to EB2 conversion
EB3 to EB2 porting
EB3 to EB2
Good afternoon, everyone. This is US Immigration Attorney, Rajiv S. Khanna for immigration.com, the Law Offices of Rajiv S. Khanna, P.C.
This is a community information call. It is not intended to create an attorney/client relationship. Whatever we say here remains merely an informational conversation.
This is a follow-up to the August 30 Community Conference Call.
We are talking about issues related to converting from EB3 to EB2.
What is this idea of EB-3 to EB-2 conversion?
Most of you know that EB-3 for countries like India and China are very backed up and EB-2’s are better. Actually, for the rest of the world also, EB-2 is much better. So sometimes even though you have obtained a Labor Certification (PERM certification) and then you obtained an I-140 approval or you are on the path to that, you feel, “Oh, maybe I should have filed an EB-2, or maybe circumstances have changed and now I can file under EB-2.” So, in those cases, when we get the priority date from an EB-3 case and put it on top of an EB-2 case, thereby essentially converting an EB-3 case to an EB-2 case, we refer to that loosely as a conversion. Really, it is not a conversion. It is a new case filed under EB-2, and essentially the priority date is being transferred.
One relevant question here. Can priority dates be transferred if an employer revokes my old I-140?
The answer is “Yes.” USCIS has said that they will allow transfers (carryovers) of priority dates even if the old I-140 is revoked, as long as the revocation is not for fraud.
So, when you do this analysis of EB-3 to EB-2 conversion, the first question you want to ask yourself is “Am I currently qualified for EB-2?”
Why is this question important? Remember a Green Card is for a job in the future, which means today I am working as a programmer; tomorrow’s job could be a project manager, and even though I continue to work as a programmer for the next three years or until I get my Green Card, it is not a problem. The future job of project manager can be given to me once the Green Card is approved. Or before. That is up to the employer, but it is not required. So the idea is a Green Card is for a future job. However, you must be qualified for it on the date you filed the PERM application.
So let’s say you have three years of experience after Bachelor’s Degree, and you know that the Green Card will take three or four more years, can you file under EB-2 today?
No, because you are not qualified. You may be qualified in two years or three years, but that does not mean you can file an EB-2 right now.
So are you currently qualified for EB-2?
One of the recommendations I have is for people who are not qualified and don’t have the five-year experience or have a three-year Bachelor’s Degree, you may consider doing a Master’s Degree online. I have a video on this. It’s on my blog. It tells you how to choose an appropriate on-line Master’s Degree program that is accredited and that will help you get into EB-2.
Here is a link to the video and a transcript:
Accreditation of distance education for EB-2
The next question you want to ask yourself is Do I want to process my EB-2 case with the same employer who petitioned the EB-3 or some other employer?
It is a little bit easier to do it with another employer, but given the choice between going with a totally new employer and going with an employer who is totally, solidly behind me, who is going to pay the attorney’s fees. This is a considerable expense. If they’re on my side and they want to cooperate fully with the law, then of course I would stay with the same employer.
The next question you have to ask yourself is Do you need a promotion--present or future?
What does that mean? What if you have three years of experience before you joined this employer, you want to process your Green Card through this employer, and you’ve got two years with this employer now? Now you’ve got five years but two years are with the same employer through whom you are going to file your EB-2 who also did your EB-3 earlier. In order to use that experience, you must be offered a job which is more than fifty percent different than what you were doing before. Let’s say the old job was all coding and the new job is mostly providing project management, so that’s a promotion and then the experience that you have gained with this employer can be applied towards your EB-2.
I hope I’m making myself clear. Most of you already know the concepts, but still I want to put it out there so that you are sensitized to the issues. You can ask your lawyers the right kind of questions and make sure your case is being properly approached. These concepts are difficult. They can be complicated. Even we can make mistakes. Lawyers are not perfect, as all of you know. Be educated and take your lawyers’ help in making these decisions.
It is very important to have a bona fide job.
What does that mean? If you have a three-employee company and the employer says, “I will you a promotion.” That’s a little difficult to establish and believe. It can be true but, if you are a 300-employee company or a 3,000-employee company, probably a better case for a promotion, but of course it all depends upon the facts of the case. I’m just giving you an example. This does not mean smaller companies cannot process promotion cases.
How do I eliminate the risk of problems of EB-3?
What does that mean? I already have my EB-3 approval. I don’t want to do anything that’s going to mess that up.
What you can do is, you can make sure, taking the example of the programmer under EB-3 who wants to go for project manager under EB-2. If your EB-3 was for a programmer, make sure you continue working as a programmer until the I-140 for the new case is approved. So don’t change jobs, because, if you take a promotion to project manager, then the Government could question, "This guy has already taken a promotion, then why would he come back to the lower job which is the Green Card job?” Do not take a promotion until the I-140 for the new case is approved. That would be important.
What if I used AC-21?
This is a very tricky situation. You are one of the lucky ones who’s got your I- 485 pending and I-140 is approved under EB-3. You changed from IBM to Sun Microsystems. You changed employers. Your job was programmer. Now, for AC-21, the job that Sun gives you has to be the same or similar to the job IBM gave you. So it’s got to be a programmer or thereabouts. Now the problem here is this. In order for Sun Microsystems to process your case under EB-2, they have to assess whether they have to promote you so that an EB-2-level job can be given to you or can they use the same job. This can be tricky.
So for AC-21, the key question is can the same job which was the subject of AC-21 be used to file an EB-2 case?
Tricky question. Depends upon the facts of the case.
Now, to the posted set of Questions from the Community Conference call of August 30th.
First Set of Questions
Question: I have an I-485 pending on EB-3. I have been with my company for 12 years. They are planning to apply for EB-2. Same company. I have a Bachelor’s four-year engineering degree from India. Can I qualify for EB-2?
Answer: Yes if the job that is being offered to you is sufficiently dissimilar from the EB-3 job.
Question: Is there any audit risk?
Answer: No. Filing for a conversion (again, I am using the term “conversion” loosely) does not create any additional audit risks.
Question: If we apply in EB-2, will my EB-3 application processing stop?
Answer: No, it does not stop.
Question: What happens to the EB-3?
Answer: It goes on. Don’t take up a promotion. I just mentioned that.
Question: My wife is working on EAD. Will her EAD be affected?
Answer: No, not at all. No problem at all.
Question: If I get EB-2 I- 140 approved, can I use EB-3 priority date?
Answer: Yes.
Question: At that time, will I get another EAD from EB-2 processing?
Answer: No. What you do is, you take the EB-2 I-140 approval and put it on top of the existing I-485. So your old I-140 gets knocked out and the new one now sits on top of your I-485. So I-485 does not need to be re-filed.
Second set of questions
Question: He is preparing for his I-140 for EB-2. Can this be done premium processing?
Answer: Sure.
Question: Do we have to specify the pending EB-3 case information?
Answer: You will have to, because if there is an I-140 approved or pending under the old case, you have to mention that. There is a question I think on the form.
Question: Should we do it during the I-140 filing?
Answer: Yes. On the form itself, there is a question. If there is only a Labor Certification pending, there is nothing to say. If the I-140 is either pending or approved from the old case, you have to say it in the new I-140.
Question: When I started filing for my EB-2 case, my attorney mentioned not to file AC-21.
Answer: I think that’s a personal choice. I like to file AC-21’s and then I like to assess whether I would need a promotion case or I can go ahead with the same AC-21 job for EB-2. I would like your lawyer to decide that as I do not know the case.
I'm very much impressed with the service and professionalism. All the cases were given good attention and Mr Rajiv's knowledge is really great. We have filed several Green Cards and never had any concern.
Dear Rajiv, Thank you and your team for an EXCELLENT service and help through my green card, as well as the citizenship process. I really appreciated that you made yourself available whenever I needed to talk to you and want to thank you for your honest advice through this long and arduous process. I also want to thank your team for their punctuality and responsiveness in handling my case. Despite your busy practice, you and your team really made me feel special. Much appreciated!! Best regards, Amit
I have a three year Bachelors from India and 16 years of experience in US. Currently I have a pending EB-3 with a PD of 10/2006. I am wondering, if I do MS here (Online or Executive course), will I then qualify for EB-2 or do I need to show progressive experience from the time I get my MS?
If the Master's degree is accredited, you do not need post-Master's experience for EB-2. There can be some issue about the 3+2 pattern of education, but an accredited Master's should fix it.
Eligible nationals of Haiti who currently have Temporary Protected Status (TPS) must re-register for TPS by May 2, 2014. Failure to re-register by this deadline may result in the loss of your TPS and your work authorization.
I have two Bachelor's degrees from US universities. A 3-year Bachelor degree in Science and a 2-year Bachelor's degree in engineering. Will I be considered for a EB-2 visa with this?
In case I don't qualify for EB-2, my dilemma is that, I have worked approx 4 years at my current job. Should I wait another year to file EB-2 or should I just file EB-3 now? Also, do internships qualify when counting the number of years of work after school?
Internships do qualify as experience. You need to get your degrees evaluated under AACAO EDGE standards first .
My current employer is failing the GC. Below is the job requirement. My total experience is with the current employer only (2.5 years in INDIA+4.5 years in USA)<br>
Job requirement:<br>
Education: Master’s degree, or equiv., in computer information systems or related field
Experience: At least 1 year in position offered or in design defect fixes/enhancements
I have US equivalent Master degree. My attorney said for the experience, we can show your current employer INDIA experience(2.5 years for which i worked in India for the same employer and came USA for the same employer).
Can we show current employer India experience while filing PERM?
Generally speaking, you can use the experience gained with an employer who has a tax ID number other than your petitioning employer.
I have worked with Mr. Khanna's law firm over the past 4 years for my Green Card process and the experience has been extremely satisfying ! Everyone that has to go through immigration process knows how stressful the whole situation can be and you need to have a lawyer by your side who puts you at complete ease. Mr. Khanna and his team is very friendly, professional, knowledgeable and outstanding in their service. I appreciate their invaluable advice/legal counsel and their promptness in every matter. The whole team is meticulous, very responsive and it's comforting to know that you have such a great lawyer by your side. I'm glad that I made the right decision in switching to Mr. Khanna's law firm and I strongly recommend them to anyone that needs immigration counsel !
I am very thankful to Rajiv Ji for his supporting to approve my GC.
I am working with Rajiv ji last 9 years from filing my labor to I-485 approval.
Rajiv suggestions approaching in these 9 years is very valuable and way approaching filing and there is no chance any mistakes from there end.
Rajiv and his team has handled my case on both H1b and GC so far and they have been fantastic. A thouroughly professional team with a systematic approach towards each individual case. Nice work!