The Office of Foreign Labor Certification has posted new and updated Labor Condition Application (LCA/ ETA Form 9035/9035E) Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) for the H-1B, H-1B1 and E-3 programs.
For the new FAQs click here.
Discussion Topics, Thursday, 11 February 2016:
FAQ: Traveling on EAD, Advance Parole, H-4; Does changing jobs require restarting green card; Returning to H-1 after I-485 EAD; Birth certificates and affidavits of birth, non-availability certificate, secondary evidence; E-3 visa change of employers and filing green card; Options after 6 years of H-1 are completed; Extending B-2 visa and status for dependent parent; Effect of change in project on EB-1C (International Managers/Executives) green card.
Other: H-4 for autistic son over 21; H-1 amendment location has changed; Using B-1 B-2 visa after Advance Parole expire, I-485 is abandoned; H-1 reuse and quota; I-140 priority date transfer and returning to old employer; H-1 quota if no visa was stamped; I-485 RFE; Correcting errors on Form I-130; Starting green card with new employer, porting (transfer of) priority date; AC21 changing jobs while RFE is pending; Denial of Form I-751, conditional permanent residence (green card); Resetting the clock on H-1B and L-1B; H-4 EAD issues; Applying for change of status from H-3 to F-1.
The travel bans necessitated by the COVID pandemic have created much flux and uncertainty. Synthesizing the information now finally available from various US government sources, it is clearer now that many intending travelers can seek and obtain an exemption from the ban under a series of provisions for a National Interest Exception (NIE).
You should be able to apply for an NIE to overcome the ban on travel to the USA if you meet any one or more of the following categories:
We are usually called upon by G visa holders for consultations. Click here to consult us.
If you attend an SEVP certified school that has been automatically withdrawn from SEVIS certification as a result of SEVP’s ongoing recertification process please:
1. I'm on a G4 and have an offer to move to a US based company in a management role. They have offered to file for an H1B in the next few days on premium processing. Although premimum processing requires 15 days or so for an approval, the visa stamping does not happen until October 2010. That's too long to wait to move. What are my options to transition more smoothly from G4 to H1B?
2. Can they apply for a GC after I have an H1B approval?
If you are subject to the quota, I cannot think of how you can start earlier than 1st October, unless you have unique skills or circumstances. Once on H-1, you are like anyone else. Your green card can be filed because you would already have waived your privileges and immunities.
We responded to a Form I-485 Request for Evidence to prove that approximately a decade ago the permanent residency applicant had, in fact, attended two U.S. universities as he had claimed in previously approved petitions. Both universities had been certified by ICE under its Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) during the applicant’s attendance.
We responded to a Form I-485 Request for Evidence to prove that approximately a decade ago the permanent residency applicant had, in fact, attended two U.S. universities as he had claimed in previously approved petitions. Both universities had been certified by ICE under its Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) during the applicant’s attendance.
This is the buzz going around in techie town. If you have already heard it then pl. ignore if not this is interesting.
A techie based of Jersey goes to India to visit his family recently. Techie is assumed have lived in the US for quite some time. He is currently working on his work permit as an alien worker. Techie also has a temporary un-approved/un-guaranteed green card called the EAD.
While re entering an immi-officer that if they can call his manager. Techie then hands all the contact information. Officer gives him a call and asks if they really need a H1B worker for his position. Officer also ensures if the H1B possesses exceptional skills. Manager replies back with a YES!
Officer then calls an office that could tell how many citizens posses the same skill and are unemployed. Officer is told numerous unemployed. Officer now decides to send the techie back. Techie then pleads that he has a house on mortage, a car out of a loan. He needs time to return. Officer then grants him a month on a visiting visa. Techie once again pleads and successfully bargains a 3 month on a visitor visa to return back.
If this is all what happened, then the govt. has acted illegally. There is no question in my mind about it.
An H-3 classification applies to an alien who is coming temporarily to the United States:
(1) As a trainee, other than to receive graduate medical education or training, or training provided primarily at or by an academic or vocational institution, or
(2) As a participant in a special education exchange visitor program which provides for practical training and experience in the education of children with physical, mental, or emotional disabilities.
On Sept. 1, we will change the direct filing addresses for certain petitioners filing Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker. The changes apply to the following cap-exempt H-1B petitions:
1. | Legal fees(for our Office): $2,200 |
USCIS reminds F-1 students on Optional Practical Training (OPT) that transferring to another school or beginning study at another educational level (for example, beginning a master’s program after completing a bachelor’s degree) automatically terminates their OPT as well as their corresponding employment authorization document (EAD).
WASHINGTON – The Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) announced modifications Monday to temporary exemptions for nonimmigrant students taking online classes due to the pandemic for the fall 2020 semester. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security plans to publish the procedures and responsibilities in the Federal Register as a Temporary Final Rule.
On March 23, 2018, the Student and
ICE updated its list of Student and Exchange Visitor Program approved schools.
Can You Do Business In the USA on Your Current Visa?
Hello, everyone. This is Rajiv S. Khanna for the Law Offices of Rajiv S. Khanna, P.C, immigration.com.
You can post comments and questions on immigration.com. I usually respond within three or four days, sometimes a week. I’m going to answer one of the questions someone asked us on immigration.com.
Can I start a business on an H-1 visa?
The bottom line is yes, as long as you are in a situation where, even though you are working for your own company, somebody in the company can file. It must be a true employer/employee relationship. How does that work? What if you have a board of directors or if you have a CEO to whom you report, even though you are a stockholder or maybe even you even have majority of stock in the company, but somebody in the company can file, you’re okay. USCIS has indicated that is their present stance. You must have an employer/employee relationship if you want to be able to start your own business on H-1.
In addition to that, remember H-1 is for a specific employer. So if you want to have a concurrent employment with your own company or you want to change companies and go over full time to your own company, you can do that, but you have to process a H-1, either a concurrent H-1 or a successive H-1. One of the things you need to remember is, if you own majority stock in the company, or if you have influence over the management of the company, it will be very difficult if not impossible for you to do a Green Card through PERM through your own company.
Where does that leave us? There’s a whole history behind this H-1. I won’t go through the history. USCIS has gone up and down. “You can do it.” “You cannot do it.” There is a whole history behind this. But the bottom line today is, you can do it, but it definitely requires some in-depth consulting with a lawyer. Make sure you are not getting into a situation which is going to hurt your stance.
Here is another question I get asked.
I have an EAD through 485. Can I now start my business?
Sure. On the side, you can, as long as you don’t leave your current job. But, remember, you will then no longer be on H-1. You will be on EAD if you start working for your own company.
I actually have a whole list of visas.
Can I do business on E-2?
Yes, of course. E-2 visas, which are treaty investor visas, are meant to do business. E-1, treaty trader, the same thing. But only a few countries in the world have a treaty with the United States to do E-1/E-2 visas, so you have to make sure that the country you come from has that.
If I’m here on a tourist visa or a B-1, which is called a business visa, can I do business?
The answer is, you can negotiate contracts, you can shake hands, and you can even set up a company, but, if you actively participate in business, you are violating the terms of B visa. B-1, which is the business visa, is a misnomer. You start thinking, I have business visa; maybe I can start a business. But you can’t do it on B-1.
Can I start a business on F-1 visa?
Of course not. You are a student.
What if I am on my optional practical training and I have my F-1 EAD?
Maybe, but only for the time you have the EAD. Again, that is something to be explored. Don’t just jump into it. Make sure you understand the ramifications of what you’re doing.
What about on a G visa?
On G-4, of course, the primary applicant of G-4 is engaged in working for a multinational organization such as the World Bank or the IMF. They cannot do business, but what about their dependents? I haven’t looked into it specifically. I suspect that they can, because they do get an EAD and that EAD is not confined to a specific purpose, but I would have to check on that. I’m just speaking off the top of my head. I was primarily answering the H-1 question, but I want to share with you what I know. So, G-4, probably yes.
H-4? Absolutely not.
H-1? As long as you can be fired.
I visa? No.
J-2 visa? Yes, as long as you have an EAD.
K visa? K visas are all work authorized, so, yes, you can do business.
L-1? No, because you’re working for a company.
L-2? Yes, because you get an EAD.
M Visa? No.
I went through the whole gamut, just to give you a rough idea; more so, to sensitize you to who can and who cannot do business.
Thank you for listening.
The guidance for issuing B-1 visas in lieu of H is currently under review bur remains in effect until further notice. In order to avoid delays at the port of entry, consular officers are to annotate the B-1 visa with “B in lieu of H, 9 FAM 41.31 N11.”