I had a question regarding my PERM petition. Rajiv graciously offered me a courtesy call to answer my question. As I was working with Rajiv's team in the past couple of months, their response was excellent. Thanks to Rajiv and Heather for their assistance. I would definitely recommend Rajiv's firm for any immigration related work.
It has hardly been a couple of weeks we started working with Mr. Khanna & his closely knitted team. We already got the confidence that we are shielded with strong support and great care! What else does a client need! Thanks to the team!
Rajiv was really helpful. He patiently heard my issue and gave to the point resolutions. I strongly recommend him.
For success in any area, you need a team of good people around you. For spectacular results, you need a team of great people. This is true in all facets of life. Finding the right team is key. I think I was very lucky to come across Rajiv and his company, almost 10 years ago. Not only has Rajiv been phenomenal, I belive his team is his real core asset. And in working with immigration.com, I was lucky to have this team on my side. Over the years, I have utilized their services for many projects for myself as well as many others in my company. H1's and Green Cards primarily. What has been key is: 1) Accessibility - it's very easy to approach Rajiv or any one else on his team. Rajiv has even hosted free conf calls for clients on weekends when the situation has necessitated it. And has been easily available for personal conf calls at short notice. 2) Knowledge - the breadth of knowledge that he and his team have in their expertise areas is amazing. They know the answers or know where to get them quickly. I see Rajiv as someone who is well networked and is a subject matter expert appearing on prominent news channels to help educate lawmakers and community. 3) Candor - I see Rajiv as a very straightforward and factual person who will provide all options and best advice / recommended course of action. 4) Focus on customer service - the focus is always on customer service. I (and all the people I referred to Rajiv) never had to face a problem with customer service issues - we always had quick responses to our questions. Rajiv's team understands that they help clients with decisions that impact their life and companies with decisions that can help their bottomline. A lot of times these are time sensitive. I have seen the team putting in extra long hours and working through weeknds when it was critical - especially in 2007 when all priority dates became current and many many clients had to file completed applications in a matter of days and weeks. 5) People - the biggest asset - and I can say that the core of his team has been there for atleast, almost a decade. Heather, Leslie, Anna, Judi- they all have been exceptional in their interactions and follow through. It is truly a pleasure to know them :) Thank you, Mudit
This is a question about after the return to normalcy from the pandemic. From an immigration perspective, are L-1B visa holders allowed to work remotely/work from home from within the U.S.? Does it matter whether the employee's house (where she will work from) is near the designated company office location or not?
And lastly, would you expect difficulty with getting the L-1B visa in the first place if the intention is to work remotely/from home (but within the U.S.)?
L-1B holders, unlike H-1B employees, are not geographically tied down. You can work from anywhere. Further, if you work and report in-house and not to a client, you should even be able to change locations without any amendments to your L-1B petition. Only L-1B visa holders who work at third-party sites are subject to certain limitations; the most important one is that you continue to be an "employee" under the company's control that petitioned for you. I can see no reason why the location should interfere with a visa at the consulate.
Note: Where transcribed from audio/video, this is a verbatim transcript of the referenced audio/video media delivered as oral communication, and, therefore, may not conform to written grammatical or syntactical form.
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.
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:
DOL persuades users to use the new iCERT
The old LCA system will be extended by DOL starting from May 14, 2009 to June 30, 2009. Hence DOL urges users to use the new iCERT during the transition period and to send a feedback on bugs by email.
Some of the new features implemented by DOL with the launch of the new system
I had my H1 visa extension stamping appointment on Feb 21, 2018. Initially it was put under Administrative Processing and later on May 23rd my petition was send back for revocation. As per the inquiry with embassy they told me that "Based on the documents you submitted and the information elicited in your interview with a consular officer, you were determined ineligible for an H1B work visa. Your petition was returned to the Kentucky Consular Center (KCC) on May 24. Currently H1 status website shows KCC received the application on June 8. Once KCC receives a petition, it is returned to the approving USCIS office for review and possible revocation. At this point, USCIS can either reaffirm the petition or issue a notice of intent to revoke it. What are the options available with me now?
Note: This is a verbatim transcript of the referenced audio/video media delivered as oral communication, and, therefore, may not conform to written grammatical or syntactical form.
As of August 28, 2009, approximately 45,100 H-1B cap-subject petitions and approximately 20,000 petitions qualifying for the advanced degree cap exemption had been filed. USCIS will continue to accept both cap-subject petitions and advanced degree petitions until a sufficient number of H-1B petitions have been received to reach the statutory limits, taking into account the fact that some of these petitions may be denied, revoked, or withdrawn.
Discussion Topics, Thursday 11 January 2018:
FAQ: Submitting adjustment of status, form I-485, When the applicant is in between projects/not working || H-4 EAD rules change and H-1B extensions rules change || Change in job title after getting a green card approval || Transferring H-1B while an RFE is pending || How to find an accredited university to get Master’s degree to process an EB-2 green card. Other: Wage requirements under the H-1B LCA ||Converting back to H-1B from a compelling circumstances EAD ||Extending H-1B from outside the USA with an approved I-140 || RFE pending delay in an adjustment of status case || Applying for adjustment of status while in authorized period of stay||Status while an H-1B extension spending ||Questions about EB-5 green card through investment/investment visa ||H-1B quota exemption if approved within
Mr. Khanna, Anna and Judi patiently answered all of our questions and returned our calls quickly, always providing the information we needed with professionalism and PATIENCE. Thank you for all of your assistance!
Great Pleasure working with Mr. Khanna.
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!
Mr Khanna and his team have been outstanding in their service. Fran, Anna helped me a lot with my case, this is second year they helped and guided me in LCA filing and cleared many clarification regarding the 6 years of H-1B period. The SLA from Fran is very excellent in email response as well as answering the immigration questions. I would like to thank Rajiv and his team for such a great work and would strongly recommend their services to anyone. Best Wishes!
Hello, everyone. This is Rajiv S. Khanna for the Law Offices of Rajiv S. Khanna, P.C, immigration.com. We are discussing with some of our clients the issue of what to do now that the H-1 quota has expired. What are my options?
Well we can look at the options two ways or three ways. Actually, there are several variables.
Variable one: Can I continue to work? The answer is yes, if you have the STEM extension option. In this case, we are working towards 17 months of the STEM extension anyway.
What is the STEM extension?
Some people who are F-1 OPT can get further 17 months of OPT if they are in the discipline of Science, Technology, Engineering or Mathematics (STEM). Any one of these disciplines, if you are in STEM, you can get a further 17-month extension.
So can you continue to work? One way is STEM extension. If that is not an option, some people go back to school and they get something called CPT (Curricular Practical Training). That is an option that I don’t advise. Why? Because this option has come under the gun. USCIS has become very suspicious of it because the regulations say, if somebody wants to get a CPT by going back to school in the first semester itself, then the curricular practical training, the CPT, must be integrally related to the education. In other words, you cannot really get a good education without that CPT and because of the “misuse” or the perceived misuse that government sees, they have come down hard upon universities that have been giving CPTs too liberally. So CPT has become a suspect option, unless you are going to join a university that is well-recognized, a good university, or a good school that is fully accredited. And I actually have a video on our website, our blog, on how to see if the school is accredited. (http://www.immigration.com/media/eb2-green-card/accreditation-distance-…)
So 17-month STEM extension, CPT not recommended, but possible. You can, of course, go back to school and stay until you are ready to file for the H-1 again. If you have an option, for example, if your spouse is on H-1, you can convert to H-4, or L-2 if your spouse is on L-1. That would be another option. One option is to go back to your home country if the work can be outsourced to you. It is perfectly legal for you to work for your employer from your home country and they can pay you either as an independent contractor or on a project basis or even as an employee. You can work out the details with your CPAs, but that is certainly a possibility.
Now the last option that I see is there is a very fine distinction between what jobs are quota and what jobs are quota-exempt. The interesting thing is the way that the government looks at it is even though the employer is a quota employer, but if the job is quota-exempt, you are not subject to the quota. Let’s take an example of a quota-exempt job. If you are working for a university in a research position or any academic position, you are quota-exempt. But what if your employer places you to work in a university research facility? Because the job is quota-exempt, that H-1 will be quota-exempt, even though your employer is a quota employer. So look for a job that is quota-exempt. That’s another possibility.
Those are the options as I see them.
Question--How do they go about applying for a STEM extension?
The way it works is the company that you are working for has to agree to be e-verify compliant. That means they open an account with the government office for being an e-verify company. You sign a bunch of contracts with them and you say every person that we hire, we will run them through the e-verify program, which is basically a way of ensuring that they have proper authorization to work in the US. For larger companies, I would probably be reluctant to go e-verify, especially if you are a multi side company that has its own problems, so we need to assess that very carefully. For smaller companies and one-side companies, it’s much easier to go through e-verify. It’s not a problem. E-verify basically involves agreeing to go through verification of every employee you hire from now on. You have put them on the e-verify database.
To get the STEM extension, they don’t have to go back to school. They notify the school office, and the school issues new paperwork based on their existing paperwork. They don’t have to go back to school.
If you already have your STEM extension, after that expires, you could take classes for CPT, work from your home country, try to convert to a spousal visa, find a quota-exempt job, or wait for next year’s quota.
One more question that people have asked me. Is it okay for me to volunteer? What if I want to work, but I don’t want to get paid for it? I don’t want to lose all this experience that I have.
The answer is that that’s risky. However, the way it works is, if the person volunteers, let’s assume they’re on H-4. They work, but they neither expect to be paid nor do they have any benefits coming to them. Health insurance, for example. Then, it’s okay to volunteer.
I am planning to apply for H-1 through multiple employers. What are the precautions I need to take. I have my project end date in August, one of my employer will be representing with my current job. Will it be a problem later if the client details does not match ?
If you are a quota applicant, you can apply through as many unrelated companies as you like. Do not be a party to any misrepresentation.
Premium Processing for Cap-Subject Petitions to Begin by April 28, 2014
This checklist is optional to assist FY 2015 H-1B petioners submit an I-129 H-1B petiton.
Please click on the attachment to view the checklist.
Had a very good experience while processing my GC with you.
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.
We have provided consultation and completed some DoD H-1B cases. In one of these, the beneficiary was about to reach the six-year limit of his H-1B status, and changed to a H-1B2 in order to be eligible for an additional four years of stay. It appears USCIS itself is unfamiliar with H-1B2 visas. We often end up educating CIS on even the most basic legal issues in this area.
Some folks are predicting that H-1 quota may last a lot longer than just April.
Remember also, if there is a lottery, ALL cases received by and including 5 April will be included
I had an accident and am on disability while my green card adjustment of status application ( form I-485 ) has been pending for over 4 years. My I-140 had been approved about 5 years back but my case has been caught up in the visa backlogs at USCIS and Department of State. I wanted to know if there was any provision for help in the immigration laws, in case I am sent for long term disability or my employment is terminated before I receive my green card. I learnt that employment and disability are subjects to be discussed with a benefits or employment attorney. The only immigration benefits are via AC 21 or via a private bill. Also, that one should not loose the advance parole anytime while the AOS is pending. I want to thank Mr. Rajiv Khanna for his generosity with time and expert guidance. Over the phone I found him to have a very pleasant personality. he had me feel comfortable and didnt seem money minded at all.