bradley emmanuel

since I have lot of reds ..I will post less frequently ...but my view is that we need several campaigns and mass participation !!
so in addition to lobbying efforts ..we probably need letter or flower campaign ..for letter, we need to send it to media or congress too ..
I had another less expensive and local idea ..but it need mass participation ...it is as simple as meeting your local realtors ..show interest in buying a house, show deep interest (even if you are a home owner) and then back out at the last moment ..saying that you were expecting GC this summer but it has been delayed due to visa wastage ..and hence you are backing out
who knows the NAR and Yun may start talking about faster GC's !!!
(remember simplicity works ..thats how Newton discovered the laws of physics !!)

I use my pigeon for delivery. It reaches on time every time.

Congrats...Book the ticket and fly to india to give big hug to your wife and son and motherland...

I just did....keep it coming guys.....

50,000 visas were recaptured for Schedule A occupations - nurses and physical therapists. That is why both India and Philippines got more numbers in FY 2006.

The # for 2006 excludes schedule A recapture for nurses etc. Here is the breakdown
EB1 - 3K
EB2 - 3.7k
EB3 - 3.1K
EB4 - 0.6K
EB5 - 0.02K
Total EB - 10.7K

Schedule A - 6.7K

Am I missing something?

Ok.. I spoke to the USCIS customer service. They want me to refile I -131 either e-file or paper based and send the original (wrong picture AP) along with it and also all the supporting documents (passport copies, etc)

What a pain....

If I were you, I will definitely do infopass before sending anything. Local USCIS office is likely to be helpful in this case.

Good Luck.

I think you will not be able to apply for Visa renewal. You will be applying for H1 stamp for the first time hence it is a new visa applicaiton. this is per my understanding, please check with your lawyer. You can also send an email to the consulate (email address on VFS website). They will answer withing 3 business days...Goodluck
VFS website for booking H1B stamping appointments in India seems to have added a new question when booking a H1B appointment.
The question is "Are you applying for same visa class that expired in the last 12 months?*" and they have defined the Visa renewal criteria (which I have pasted below) in order to answer this question. Yes- means you are seeking a appointment for visa renewal and No - means your appt is NOT for visa renewal.

Can somebody advice if me and my wife would fall under the visa renewal category. The last US visa on my passport is F1. My H1b status started in May 2004 and I am now in my 4rth year of H1B. In between I changed employer and my H1 is now valid upto October 2008. But I have NOT travelled outside the country after my H1B status began in May 2004. Hence I am going to get my H1B stamped for the first time. In my wife's case also her last stamp is F1 and she went from F1 to H4 this year so she is also going to get her H4 stamped for the first time. Do we answer YES (appt for visa renewal) or NO(appt not for visa renewal). We are booking a appointment at the Mumbai consulate.

The below is the visa renewal criteria as defined on the website:
Visa renewal appointments are available to visa applicants who:
have a U.S. visa that has expired less than 12 months ago.
wish to apply for the same category visa (work, business, tourist, etc.)
are Indian nationals (hold Indian passports)
are resident in the New Delhi, Chennai, or Mumbai consular districts (this category is not available to Kolkata based applicants).

The following applicants do NOT qualify for appointments in the visa renewal category:
Applicants who have never had a US visa.
Applicants who have a U.S. visa that expired more than 12 months ago.
Applicants applying for a different category visa (e.g. had a student visa, now applying for a work visa).
Non Indian passport holders
Applicants applying at the U.S. Consulate in Kolkata.
First time H4 or L2 applicants under 18 years of age. (If you have recently married a H1b or L1 visa holder but have never had a visa interview for a visa in the H/L category, you may not schedule in the renewal category.)
Applicants applying for more than one visa at the same time (e.g. F and B1/B2).
Applicants applying for entertainment/performance visas(P3 category).
Applicants applying for unskilled worker visas (H2b category).

All visa renewal applicants should bring the following documents to the Embassy/Consulate Consular Section on the day of their appointment:
Current, valid passport
Passports containing previously issued U.S. visas
As applicable, I-797 (H and L), I-20 (F & M students), DS-2019 (J visa applicants)

How difficult is it to find info about the old cases. It is a simple search query on the database. (One single query)

We never know. They keep changing systems. Believe me - their systems are not perfect.

Once I was vacationing in Lake George and happened to get stuck at the border post - we were asked for proof of valid status and all we had was drivers lisence. Then they scanned their computer and told us
My wife - they found that she is in status - currently on h1b (first h1b)
My case - they say my status was legal from May 2000 to July 2001 - My first h1b and after that I took h1b transfer and they cannot locate it in their system and unless I show my documents, they have no way to find out. Then struggled for like 30 min doing all kinds of searches on their computer and did some querying based on current employer etc.....and finally got the info and started chit chatting with us like friends.

This is the advice they gave us - Please keep ALL documents with you - keep originals, copies etc.. very useful when govt agencies cannot locate your information.

Thats why they rely on outside agencies.

What if someone is not using AILAs attorney? Are they screwed?

Please check with your local Indian consulate if they can issue a BC. If you have a current original passport which includes the names of both your parents, it should work fine. Your original BC is not required.

Link to this service provided by the Consulate General in San Francisco
http://www.cgisf.org/visa/indian_services.html#mis-bc

Thank you Samir, but this format won't help to me. Can some one clarify to me while submitting our I-485 , do we need our birth certificate which contains both parents information or only father's name is okay?

I need to know clearly on this subject, In my present BC contains only Fathers information only.

Pls help me if some one have that specific format which contains both parents information.

EB3, PD = Apr 2003


by the way on - http://immigrationvoice.org/index.php?option=com_tracker&Itemid=63
sort by PD is sorting on alphabet of the month rather than year...so to get all the EB3 in 03 you may have to look in all the pages.

roger... now that you raised some panic and got cleared away, why not atone by contributing back to IV??????

;) :mad:

My lawyer did receive the RFE for new H1 application.

Since we did not mention whether embassy case or consulate case, they have asked to prove my legal immigrant status while filing the new H1. The reason, we did not chose the above option as I wanted to avoid consulate case & avoid traveling outside the country.

But, since now we have no choice but to chose consulate case, I was wondering if you all could guide whether to choose Home country or Third country (Canada or Mexico).

I personally want to go to neighboring country instead of home country as that would save lot of time.

Can somebody please provide with pros & cons to get it stamped from Home Country V/S third country.

Also,

1) what are the chances of stamping of approved H1 being denied in Home Country V/S Third Country.

2) In worst scenario, how many days can they make us wait outside USA before they approve or disapprove?

3) What are the chances of them disapproving my case?

4) Am I allowed to take my U.S citizen kids along with me to the consulate?

5) Which consulate is a safer option in terms of stamping my approved H1 & port of Entry.
Canada - port of Entry thru road.
Mexico
India - Port of Entry in NJ or NY or Atlanta or Boston

Also, would highly appreciate if people could post their experiences of recent H1 stamping along with the location of consulate.

Advices from the expert lawyers, senior & junior members is appreciated.

Thanx in Advance

we have to make USCIS more transparent and effective...

First thing is stop issuing student visa

last year around 700,000 student visas were issued , why issue move visas .....because international students pay 200% tuition ;) :D:eek:

thanks

Why dont we take voting for name change and see what % of members will opt for the change.
not in favour. IV has established an identity with all the hard work from the founders, they are people like you and me who are putting their valuable time. Changing the name now will only add to confusion in the minds of all thousands of people who are involved or talked to from contributions, to news letter articles, appearing on news channels, to talking to law makers and so on. It will take extra efforts to say this " the newly called ... which used to be IV... ". In my opinoin IV is fine, just add a phrase below, as "legal aliens for immigration reform" or something like that.

I read on www.immigration-law.com

01/08/2009: Bill Introduced in the House for Comprehensive Immigration Reform

Rep> Sheila Jackson-Lee of Texas introduced H.R.264 yesterday to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to comprehensively reform immigration law, and for other purposes. For the full text of the bill, please stay tuned.

Keep the fingers crossed :)

Help!
I divorced my husband after 14 months of marriage. I have a green card with conditional residency (the I-751 90 day 'window' to remove conditions starts Sept 2010). My husband was abusive mentally and physically, I have no contact with him.

I cannot prove the abuse definitively as I covered it up at the time (no photos or police reports, only my testimony and perhaps that of the counselors we saw together). The advice I have received on how to proceed has been conflicting; some say wait and apply during the 90 day window to remove the conditions and it MIGHT be ok; some say I need to file now and prove the abuse.

I have no money for a lawyer as my husband also stole most of my money and I just got laid off as well. Any ideas?!? Does anyone know if it is riskier to try and prove the abuse or how hard that is and if I'm more likely to lose my green card that way? Is there any way at all do to this without thousands to spend on a lawyer?

Many thanks in advance for all help and advice.

P.S. I've tried the local bar association, legal aid and a thousand other options, all of which have either been dead-ends or given me yet more conflicting info.

Folks - everyday I go to sleep I wish that tomorrow the sun will rise in the west. When I wake up I see that nothing has changed.

Change is hard - but change definitely brings new hope and prosperity.

With bad economy, Green Card issues, visa retrogression, layoffs, bad stocks, housing crisis and with growing inflation - all we do is hope and strive towards betterment.

Diwali is a celebration of the victory of good over evil and I wish this Diwali will bring victory to the well deserved.

Lets all be together in turbulent times and work towards the change that we always want to see.

IV has helped us all and continue to help us. IV is nothing but all of us together. Lets all pledge our support to IV on this thread.

Hey! What about handsomes like me? Just kidding :). Wish you all Happy Diwali and properous new year.

I Wish God Give me Strength to Fight Legal Immigration Injustice.

When I Asked God for Strength, He Gave Me Difficult Situations to Face - Swami Vivekanad

So, I know god is with me.

Wish all so deserved people Green Card this year.

Do u have to inform USCIS everytime u change job or just first time would be sufficient?

Thank you.

What my Attorney (Prashanti Reddy - who does free sessions on IV) said

Please note that even after sending this out, you might get an intent to deny or denial notice on your I-485 as soon as your employer revokes the I-140. In which case we must respond within 30 days with the same documentation. This happens because the docs often dont find their way to your file as they have not been requested for by the USCIS. Also the intent to revoke might be sent to your old attorney, you should get a copy of the same also. However, i advice you keep in touch with the USCIS by checking status of your case online and keep in touch with the other attorney also, so that we dont miss the deadline to respond in case you do get an RFE or intent to deny or denial on your I-485.

What will happen in this case.

We are planning to travel India and getting stamped at Mumbai (H1, H4). After taking an appointment, how to send papers to Mumbai consulate from USA? I heard that someone has to go personally to submit the papers. Also, should we send papers to VFS or US Consulate?

Can anyone please guide or help?
Thank you so much.
Jignesh