bradley emmanuel

is it from the receipt date or notice date?

Are any of you planning to go to this? Maybe a group of us could drive up there and show our support. I know its a long way but it's worth it (and SF is a beautiful city to visit) :) Maybe we could prepare banners and flyers here and take them with us.

Many blame immigration pressures for young man’s suicide - The Boston Globe (http://www.boston.com/news/education/k_12/articles/2010/05/10/many_blame_immigration_pressures_for_young_mans_su icide/)

MARLBOROUGH � In the grief-stricken search for answers, one thing was clear: Gustavo Rezende had hit a wall. He had dreamed of joining the military, getting a driver�s license, and becoming an American citizen.

But the 19-year-old Brazil native was in the country illegally, a hard fact that put his dreams out of reach.

At Marlborough High School, he was popular, a talented artist. Then his friends went off to college and Rezende stayed behind, stocking bottles of soda at a sports complex. He got into trouble with the law and feared deportation to a country he hardly knew.

On March 4, weeks before Rezende�s 20th birthday, police found him hanging from a tree in the woods near his house, next to Marlborough District Court.

The stunning public act, within sight of court clerks and commuters, has shaken a community and triggered an anguished cry for help from his family and friends, who believe Rezende killed himself in despair over his immigration status.

�He always said, �I�ve been here 11 years and I have no rights. . . . I have no right to a driver�s license, no right to continue studying, I have no rights to anything,��� said his mother, Deusuita, weeping on her couch, near an array of photographs of her son. She added, �I don�t want what happened to my son to happen to someone else.��

Immigrant groups have invoked Rezende�s death in the heated debate over illegal immigration. They have increasingly been pushing for Congress to pass the Dream Act, federal legislation pending since 2001 that would allow immigrant youths to apply for legal residency if they arrived in the United States before they turned 16, lived here for five years, and enrolled in college or the military.

�The story about Gustavo Rezende is one of the most compelling cases for immediate federal action to end suffering in our communities,�� said Kyle de Beausset, a 24-year-old activist who said he met last Sunday with Senator Scott Brown to urge him to support the legislation.

Others say Rezende�s death should not factor into the debate, since nobody can say why he took his own life. Though friends and family said he often worried about his immigration status, he didn�t mention it in a note he left at home saying where they could find him.

�It�s exploiting the dead,�� said Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies in Washington, which favors stricter controls over immigration. �You can�t second-guess that stuff because suicide is not a rational response that you can somehow adjust policy to address.��

Colin Reed, a Brown spokesman, said the senator confirmed the meeting with de Beausset and would review the Dream Act. Reed said Brown told de Beausset that he favors streamlining the process for legal immigrants but remains opposed to amnesty for those here illegally.Continued...

Health care workers say suicide is usually the result of more than one issue, such as undiagnosed depression, mental illness, or drug and alcohol problems. But, they say, undocumented youths may be at greater risk because they are ineligible for many programs that might help them.

Rezende, nicknamed �Goose,�� was born in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso and came to the United States when he was 9 with his parents and younger sister on visas they later overstayed.

In 2000, his mother applied for legal residency through work � she cooked for a Brazilian restaurant � but was denied, she said, because her boss was underpaying taxes. She vowed to continue trying, though her marriage ended because her husband wanted to go back to Brazil.

�The kids didn�t want to go,�� she said. �They liked it here as if it were their country.��

In Marlborough, a small city of tidy houses centered on two scenic lakes, Rezende grew from a chubby boy into a fit and charming teenager who loved to draw, listen to music, and hang out with friends. He and one of his best friends, Kyle Hedin, planned to open an animation company someday.

During most of his schooling, Rezende did not face questions about his immigration status because a 1982 Supreme Court ruling allows undocumented students to attend public schools. But that protection ends after high school, making him ineligible for financial aid for college.

Even before graduation, Rezende felt the pressure of his family�s predicament. He helped his mother clean offices at night, leaving little time for homework. He fell behind in school. When he was 17, police were called to his house after he argued with his sister and punched a hole in a door.

After he graduated in 2008, he tried to find work at a supermarket and fast-food restaurants � but most turned him down because he didn�t have a green card. Finally, through a friend, he found work at an ice skating complex. He also got a part-time cleaning job.

Kyle Hedin said Rezende wished he could have the same opportunities as his former classmates.

�He always said, �These kids go to school. They go to college, and they complain about it and they don�t do anything worthwhile,� �� Hedin said. �He was saying he would trade shoes with them in a heartbeat.��

In February, Marlborough police found Rezende trying to change a flat tire, while allegedly intoxicated. Police arrested him on misdemeanor charges of driving under the influence and driving without a license.

The March 17 hearing in the case weighed on his mind. He had been caught with a fake driver�s license from Brazil, and his mother said he feared he would be deported.

He had talked about suicide in the past, including in the weeks before his death, according to friends and the police report filed after his death.

�He had a hard time asking for help for himself,�� said Jane Hedin, Kyle�s mother. �That�s what�s heartbreaking. . . . He had so many friends he didn�t reach out to. Everybody loved him.��

Mario Rodas of the Student Immigrant Movement, an advocacy group, said immigrant youths often fear deportation if they talk about their problems. The group regularly holds support groups to help the students.

�We tell them not to give up,�� Rodas said.

Two days before he died, his mother said, Rezende couldn�t sleep. He was nauseous and called in sick to work.

The next day, his grandmother arrived for a visit from Brazil, the first time he had seen her since he left in 1999. In the early evening, Rezende hugged his grandmother, kissed his sister, and left the house carrying a rope, according to police, saying only that he �needed it.��

Police found him the next morning about 150 feet into the woods, in a tree he used to climb, a dusting of snow on the ground.

About six weeks after his death, Rezende received a letter from the US government telling him to register for the draft. It wasn�t a mistake: Federal law requires that all men ages 18-26 register with the Selective Service System, including illegal immigrants who cannot serve in the military, said agency spokesman Patrick Schuback.

Registering could help illegal immigrants if they ever apply for legal residency, he said, because it would show that they followed the law.

At home, his mother clutched the letter and wept.

�If that letter had arrived before, he would have been so happy,�� she said.

Maria Sacchetti can be reached at msacchetti@globe.com.

I don't think child's country works.. Most of the guys would have been
out by now including myself.. . But let us know.. I will fly to my lawyers office if it is true ..

In spite of opening SR (Service Request) and Info Pass appointment

Folks,

I would like to share my success story of getting my I-485 application approved with a revoked/withdrawn I-140. We received our Green Cards and Welcome Letters in the mail yesterday. If you go through my profile, you should be able to get most of the information, but here it is anyway:

1] Company A applied for my LC followed by the I-140 application. We never got a chance to file I-485.
2] After I quite company A, they withdrew my I-140 application.
3] Company B started the process again with my labor application, followed by my new I-140 application. We didn't capture the older PD at this stage, but the A# was the same as the old one.
4] When we sent in our I-485 application, we included a letter describing that we would like to retain the older PD (we sent them a snippet of page 27 of the Field Adjudicator's Manual - Yates memo). In the interest of being transparent, we mentioned that the earlier I-140 was withdrawn by the previous employer. After an unrelated RFE, our case was finally approved last Friday (03/18).

I am sharing this information so that others who are stuck in a similar situation can use this as a datapoint in their struggle against the USCIS. I wish you all the very best in your Green Card journey.


You said you didn't get a chance to file for I 485 with company A , means you did transfer H1b. Did company A withdraw before you transfered H1b ? Did you do transfer with in initial 6 year of H1b ?

wow !!! freedom when your wife is in India ....go to strip bar and have fun:) you need to enjoy

Any ideas? (My wife and son are in india now).
Anyway, I will support IV wholeheartedly going forward. Of course, I got benefitted from it. I am a long timer, 2001, EB3.

Neither me nor my wife had US degree. Both went to Canada for stamping. myself in Ottawa and my wife in Toronto with in a gap of five months and had no problems what so ever. 7 of my friends also went to Canada for stamping but no issues with them also.

I think Canada is more safer than going India.

Thanks a lot, Raysaikat.
I appreciate the response.Here are a few of my immidiate thoughts....

1)I have been unemployed for a little over 180 days now.The key question is what is the penalty for remaining in the country for doing so?
This is the year when most people actually did NOT get jobs...I am guessing there are a lot of people in my position.

There are two things: (i) out of status, (ii) unlawful presence. Unlawful presence is a narrower concept (a subset of out of status) with severe consequences: a person who has been unlawfully present for 180 days to 365 days is barred for 3 years from reentering; a person who has been unlawfully present for more than 1 year is barred from reentering for 10 years.

It is a complicated matter to determine if your "out of status" days have become "unlawfully present" days. I am not qualified to make that judgment: you need to ask an immigration lawyer, or your school's International Student's Office. I suspect that you are merely out of status and not yet unlawfully present:

In this document, "out of status" is defined as what I am referring to as "unlawful presence".
212(a)(9)(b) Out of Status Penalty Law: This section of law provides [snip]

* For purposes of this provision of the law only, a person who has violated the terms of their status, but who has not remained in the US past their fixed status expiration date as shown on their papers will not be considered to be “out of status” unless and until a government agency has officially informed them that they are “out of status.” In other word, it is possible for to be “out of status” for purposes of filing an extension or change of status in the US, but not be “out of status” for purposes of this penalty provision of the law.
[snip...]
It is not clear to me what should be regarded as the "fixed status expiration date" in your case. In the best case, that is the time your 12 month OPT expires and from that time you will start to accrue unlawfully present days. In the worst case, that is the time when your 90 days of OPT period expired, which means that you have already accumulated more than 180 days of unlawful presence and you will be barred from reentering US for 3 years.

Again, if you need to know this, please consult an immigration lawyer. Your school's international students' office should also be able to help you. But in my experience, they are not able to deal with complex situations and usually gives too conservative an answer that will save their behind should there be any complications. Once one staff of my school's ISSO asked me to apply for CPT for working in the UK! Thankfully the actual advisor was more knowledgeable. However, the advisors are not immigration lawyers.


2)How does USCIS actually track who is employed and who is not?

They may have multiple methods if they actually launch an investigation, but usually they will check their records the next time you apply for a VISA, inside or outside US. E.g., if you want to apply for H1-B, you will have to show that you are not out of status.



3)If I were to catch the next flight back home (India), will I face problems while leaving the US/or entering India?


Nope. You can merrily exit US. Entering home country of course is in the jurisdiction of the authority of your home country. Assuming you are an Indian citizen, they cannot prevent you from entering.

I.e., you will have no problem at all.



4)Can I get a letter from a firm/company stating that I was doing an unpaid internship with them?(which will be counted towards the employment period)Are there any repurcursions for the company?

Any thoughts/opinions wouldbe most appreciated.
Thanks!

My only suggestion is not to walk the path of doing fraudulent activities for staying in the US. If that means going back to India, please do so. Perhaps you will have an equally bright career in India.

Recently my wife went for finger printing.... none of us except her received FP notice. So she went there and did FP and asked the person over there about why I didn't get FP.
The person asked her my name and A#. He looked into the system and said I didn't get FP because by July you will get your GCs...... my FPs are still valid.... I know what he said is not true.... as you can see my PD.... but I keep wondering why he said that after looking in his system...... :confused:

PS - Sorry for the Title. But I am just quoting him.

EXACT same thing happened with us in Feb. The person taking FP told my wife that we will get our GC in April but the cleaver part was that she never mentioned they year!!! :)

Any more advice,guys I am very tensed.Please help

good one!!!

Fastest way in NIW or Investor quota(1 mil $$)
GCCovet.

Me and my group of friends have used this method and the photos look better than the Walgreen/CVS ones. And they are already on US passports/other stuff.

http://www.dpchallenge.com/tutorial.php?TUTORIAL_ID=22 Photoshop/GIMP required.

Another cheap place is Sams Club, if you dont have a digital camera(pun intended) they give 3 photos for 5 bucks.

Submitted the petition. Works somoothly.

http://www.thedegreepeople.com/eb-petition.html

So go ahead on sign in the petition. Dont know how far it goes but atleast it does something good.