Vatives galleries

Whoa guys, now we are talking... you just convinced me to forgo six 6-packs! My 40 bucks are on their way in cyberspace. Best of luck and let me know if I can help in any way...

I hope there are others out there like you, we might have already reached a century!

first: my use of an extreme exemple to explain the EB category difference seems to have caused misunderstanding and offence amomg some people. this was not the intention, no slight was intended to anyone. sometimes one uses an extreme situation to make a point (3 yr degree in this case). I was not trying to stereotype and if that is how it came through...here is my humble apology.

i did reply to some of the posters by pm and had some intersting comments/discussion. its one of the nice things about this forum that people bring different insights into a problem...

qvadis, there is fundamental difference between allotting Employment based Gc on the basis of country of birth and based on job classifications/requirements. One happens to pertain to employment, the other is simply a way to mantain ahem "purity".
having said that, i do not favor the removal of country quotas in isolation- the redistribution of dates would make things better for long suffering people but it would not change the overall picture. therefore i support the package in its entirity (as does IV), ie recapture + STEM exemption + removal of country quotas. this would bring in substantially increased numbers and resolve the problem with ROW dates.

now that its established that this thread will not go back to its original intent, do the OPs mind if i close it? may be best to restart the discussion in a new thred?

Hello Pascal
I tend to agree with every word you said, it is not EB2 or EB3, in general it is EB community as a whole. Recapture+STEM+removal of country limit, will help us all a lot. Lets just focus on this chore. And not get swayed away with winning and complaining.


Take care

This is not a legal advice to anybody, just explaining who I did!! Risk is yours!!.

On my passport "Surname" was empty. Complete name was under "Given Name". Assuming on passport:
Given Name: �Harjinder Singh"
Surname: ......empty....

Just went to Embassy of India - Washington DC. Filled a "Miscellaneous form" and under purpose pick OTHERS and write �Name Split". Then write on form what you want.
I requested " Split my name as Given Name = Harjinder; Surname = Singh".
Attach a photo on form, pay 20$ fee and collect a corrected passport next day.

As long as you are not changing the name this should be fine otherwise what will be in advertisement " My name is Harjinder Singh and I want to declare my new name is Harjinder Singh???" unless changing a name it seem simple 2 day task via Miscellaneous form.

Rest EAD / 485 I don't know because I am not at that stage yet.

Regards

Hi,
My wife is in F-1 status, but I�m afraid to change to F-2 right now and loose the opportunity of transfer the H1 to a new employer... unluckily finding a job has not been an easy task, since I am in Puerto Rico and here the situation is not good.
My last paystub is June 14th, and I was wondering to apply on July 2nd, but because on delays with the medicals I got trapped in the Visa Bulletin fiasco mess.
I've talked with several local lawyers and none of them has given me hopes beyond the F-2 status.
Some friends recommended to file I485, but I don't want to risk for an RFE :(

I'm trying to be strong for my family specially for my kids, the older one cries everytime he hears us talking about leaving PR.

Good luck to you all.

Vzlan

Do you happen to know anyone who has been granted visa with this document saying that the student has completed all the degree requirements? Also, if I get another document from my University can I add it to the file I have already submitted to immigration?

No. I am trying to find out if anybody in this forum applied in advanced degree quota with this type of letter

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Hi, I am applying for a re-issue of passport to split my given name into Surname and First name (NO spelling changes.. just the name split).

1) While filling the online application form, what do I need to fill in "Other Address" field? Is it my residence address in the US OR can it be same as the permanent address in India?

2) How do I indicate my mailing address to the consulate to ship the passport back to me? (I stay far from NYC and I am planning to apply for new passport via FedEx).

-----------------------------------
I applied online. Sent the required documents using FedEx, got my new passport back in 3 days. Simple.

Its almost cleared till Feb 2004 for EB2. So i am thinking from September 1st 2009, its from March 2004 to December 2004. Not sure how many pending cases are in this time period.
I saw a couple of cases from 2003 updating their status yesterday in EB2 India Texas..... in

Just sharing info...

That is incorrect for my local ASC. I know that for sure. When I went to ASC for FP I do not think they were capable of answering any case related questions. All they do there is take FP notice , stamp it and do FP. They ask you to goto local office for any questions related to your case.

Secondly how come the IO had the authority to show an internal memo to a customer. Does it make sense?

Many are saying there won't be any IO at ASC. Not true, when I went in for Finger prints, I asked the lady who takes the finger prints about enquiring about my I-485 status! She said, she can't help, as she does not have the access and told me to call the 1-800 number and also try asking the IO at the window as there are not many people waiting and is the IO is free she might help.
SO, after finger prints, I went back into the office and there was only one guy talking to the IO another lady was waiting. I asked the lady, if she was waiting for the IO, she said she is here with her husband. She's an African American lady and her husbandwas inside the Fingerprinting room, I am guessing this as that guy sounded like from Africa and may he's a Family Based visa applicant.

Aftert the guy at the counter finished his work, I went to the counter as no one else was waiting there. I asked IO, a nice lady, if she could help me with the Status of our Name Check. SHe asked me, if I had an appointment, I said no, but I had a finger print appointment and I could not get an Infopass appointment around the same time (I had finger print appointment at 3 PM and I did try to get an Inforpass appointment around that time so that I could enquire about the status too, but there was none around that time and the closest one was around 12:45 PM, so I thought I would just try my luck).

She then said, we just received this memo and let me read it and said this supersedes everything and even everything is clear for you nothing will happen, asking me if I was from India/China hesitantly as she could fingure out I was from India, untill new visas are allocated in October. She then took our I-485 receipts and went inside to check the status of our applications.

I am in Midwest and not all the USCIS/ASC offices treat as bad, as these guys may not have that many applicants coming to the office, like int Northeast or California.

I had talked to her earlier also, after taking an Infopass appointment, as I had receive someone else's EAD and went to return so that the actual person would get her EAD. Last year USICS had sent some one else's EAD to me, the EAD was some one else's, but the letter it comes with was in my name (I had also received my EAD separately, strange are the ways USCIS works and I don't have to tell the guys at IV). Then also, she check status of our applications and told out namechecks were not cleared and finger prints were cleared. SHe even told, even if my wife's checks are cleared they would not apporve her untill my applications is approved. SO, I had this hope that this lady might help this time without Infopass appointment.

Hope this helps.

Thank you every body for all your efforts. Special thanks to Active Core members. You made us proud for the leadership you provided.

Outstanding thing is "Gandhigiri still works".

Usually IV allows only 100 dollars payment using a credit card through the website. How to get around this issue.

Thanks

The above part of your submission is not true. If you read the I-485 Adjudicator's Manual, you will find that the file is already opened and input into the system at this stage. Otherwise dwhuser would not have received I-797 Notice of Action.

In theory action on a case should be sequenced by priority date and then received date within the priority date batch. However, nobody knows for sure how USCIS works each case.

fromjaija, When data is entered, and the notice is generated, only limited information is entered in the system. PD is not one of them. When I said "file is not opened", I meant that no one has yet reviewed the file. Note that for most cases PD is not a controlling factor. It is only the unfortunate ones from retrogressed countries that they have to wait for PD to be current. For everyone else, once file is reviewed, if all documentation is in order, case is cleared. Once a file is reviewed, if it has to wait for PD to be current, it is placed in sequence of PD. See USCIS SOP on the link below, which even tells what color of paper clip to use, etc. (though it is a bit out of date).

http://www.ilw.com/seminars/august2002_citation2b.pdf

I know I will get red dots for this since you are super moderator, but again IV is a free speech based org, I am a Masters (advanced education) from a very prestigious US university with full scholarship with 4.0 GPA and in EB3 employment category. Eduation and EB catergory are two different things, one would think that would be clear by now.


it goes deeper than that. first let me point out that this is philosophical- you argument is not about law, it's about a point of view.

so if i ask you why EB2 filers should spend extra years getting educated and never getting this all important magic "PD" and then get in line behind someone who got a job the day they entered the country- and got a PD soon enough- what would you say?

ask me. it took me 11 years to get a PD. why? for 7 of those years i was getting my advanced education. so why should i suffer behind the 3 year Indian degree person (against my 7 years there as well) who came in 5 years after me and filed right away?

there are reasons why the EB priorities were set up. by simply extending your logic EB1 should also wait for a turn and not have priority. what's good for the goose....

having said that, it is absolutely insane to ask people to wait indefinitely and we must do something about it.

today the EB3 folks (and I have nothing against them, their waits are insane- and it's absolutely not right) are porting to EB2 with those bachelors degrees and 5 years experience. and just because they could APPLY for a GC earlier and all their years get counted in the PD, they keep lining up ahead of me. why do all my years count for NOTHING?

please spare us "fortunate" EB2s a thought too. think of when in life our careers are finally freed from waiting for a GC.

and now please concentrate on ways to end retrogression and stop the EB2 vs EB3 crap. we all have our problems.

it goes deeper than that. first let me point out that this is philosophical- you argument is not about law, it's about a point of view.

so if i ask you why EB2 filers should spend extra years getting educated and never getting this all important magic "PD" and then get in line behind someone who got a job the day they entered the country- and got a PD soon enough- what would you say?

ask me. it took me 11 years to get a PD. why? for 7 of those years i was getting my advanced education. so why should i suffer behind the 3 year Indian degree person (against my 7 years there as well) who came in 5 years after me and filed right away?

there are reasons why the EB priorities were set up. by simply extending your logic EB1 should also wait for a turn and not have priority. what's good for the goose....

having said that, it is absolutely insane to ask people to wait indefinitely and we must do something about it.

today the EB3 folks (and I have nothing against them, their waits are insane- and it's absolutely not right) are porting to EB2 with those bachelors degrees and 5 years experience. and just because they could APPLY for a GC earlier and all their years get counted in the PD, they keep lining up ahead of me. why do all my years count for NOTHING?

please spare us "fortunate" EB2s a thought too. think of when in life our careers are finally freed from waiting for a GC.

and now please concentrate on ways to end retrogression and stop the EB2 vs EB3 crap. we all have our problems.


Sorry but I don't agree with your point that if EB2 benefits today EB3 would benefit tomorrow. It looks plain and simple but it's not so in reality. Unless all EB2 categories become current and EB3 ROW get the overflow and become current, EB3 I (or China or Mexico) is not going to be benefitted from EB2 getting a VISA! You are basically saying to EB3 filers to wait for another 10 years so that the EB2 queue may reduce so that EB3 queue would start moving. That's not a practical solution.

I think once there is an overflow (from EB1), then it should:

1. go to the category that's retrogressed more or
2. split the overflow among retrogressed categories and
3. go to EB2 if both EB2 and EB3 have the same cut off date.

Does US need more EB2 (than EB3) or need them sooner (than EB3)? If they need more EB2, then EB2 can get more numbers (but the restriction should happen at H1/L1 level). If they need them sooner, then they can be on a fast track. But by approving a EB3 or EB2 I140, the Govt. is saying that they need that particular applicant. A vast difference between these two categories at the last queue (485) does not make sense.

It is insane to ask a EB3 I 2001 filer to wait forever just because he filed under EB3 and grant a VISA to EB2 2004 filer! It is not different from granting a VISA to a EB3 2007 ROW filer and making EB3 I 2001 wait. EB2 is taking all the overflow which, in my view, is not correct. EB2 is benefitting at the cost of EB3 I (China and Mexico). EB3 ROW is benefitting at the cost of EB3 I (China and Mexico). Just my opinion.

I love the mild tone of your message. Jobs are no water in sun that they will evaporate. But if they do, I am not stopping you to take those jobs back home�.
And I do notice large number of engineers, doctors, architects who are immigrants, and that�s what concerns me.
I would re-insist that Rallies are worthless and not worth your time. Your country is growing economically and you should spend you time looking for a job back home instead.

America is the country of immigrants . Except native americans.
Pls read the front page of http://www.nativeamericans.com/

How the ancestors of mr Tribiani came and settled.

I think the IO just say anything that comes into their mind because they know nobody's there to hold them accountable during the interview process. Thats why I think one should take an attorney along during the interview process if they think their case maybe little complicated. At least the attorney can step in when it comes to the IOs denying your application improperly. Does anyone think this is a good idea to be on safer side?

yes..totally agree...it might cost around 1000$ but I think ppl shud take attorney..I felt the same after the interview.

I had every damn document for the last 6 years..every paycheck..all 94's..all empl..letters..
I felt it was a clean case..but you never know.

If possible, take attorneys with you

I'm not sure if I'm eligible to apply for Master's quota. I'm done with all my degree requirements and I've scheduled my thesis defence on MAy 20th. Is it still possible that I can apply in Master's quota. I've a letter from my schools which states that I'm done with all my degree requirements and I'll be finishing thesis on May 20th. Is this letter enough to apply for MAsters??


since master's quota is still available, you can apply now. some lawyers say you can apply with that letter from school.Later if you get RFE you can submit your masters degree at that time. Anyways talk to your lawyer

Thanks fatjoe,

R u the primary applicant...so your wife got the interview...were u able to accompany her...so all the questions dealt with her....that's strange...I thought dependent applicant r not asked questions abt employment et al...

SoP

Yes, I'm the primary app. Both of us went for the inetrview..., we can do that... the questions were regarding both of us, like both of our employment letters, paystubs, W2s, since both of us are working, and also EAD, H1/H4 797s, etc of both us.
I have heard from the forums and also the attorney, that it is not unusual to call only the "derivative of the applicant"(spouse) for interview. But husband/wife may choose to accompany the spouse for the interview. Since I was there, I answered some of them too.

We have reached 40%. To reach 50% we need $6000 more. If more people can contribute, we can reach this in no time.

The core and a lot of serious members have already contributed.

There are 2 mind sets of people on this forum:
1) I have contributed $500+ , I do not need to contribute $20 more, In anycase what is my
$20 going to do?.
2) I have never contributed, but I am ashamed of making my first contribution of only $20.
(Although that is what I am comfortable doing at this time.)

Both the above mindsets are wrong because If we have 7000+ members, out of which say 1000 have already contributed, that leaves us with 6000 members. If 6000 members contribute $1 each, we are at $ 6000 - 50% met.
Now all are not going to do it.
So you see $20 is still a good amount to start.

(104*25)+(11*50)+(4*100)=3550
need 1450 more

Having diversity AND country quota for skilled employment is affirmative action gone waco. EB skilled immigration is to allow businesses to hire foreign labor for jobs they can't find American Citizens. Now to restrict businesses to discriminate based on the country of birth is just riduculous. Next do Universities apply affirmative action to their international student recruitement?

Indians and Chinese make up the largest group of international students in Engineering and Science. US citizens make up less than 50% of those graduating in Science and Engineering in Master's and PhD programs. Now businesses should not be penalized if they can't fill their highly skilled jobs with Iranians and Tongans and any other ROW countries.

We have a diversity lottery for nationals of those countries who would not make it out on merit and need a leg up. There may be a few Indian consulting companies who favor Indians, but they are the people who pay wages and know best. Similarly just because Americans prefer to buy Japanese cars we can't create an "affirmative action" and prevent americans from buying Japanese cars. We can't prevent walmart from stocking chinese products. So why force employers not to hire Indians and Chinese through creating quotas for highly skilled jobs?

No meaningful immigration reforms can be achieved as long as skilled immigration is based on country quotas. Next we know there will be quotas for marrying foreigners to add to diversity. If you marry a mexican there is retrogression but if you marry a citizen of Vanuatu then green card is processed in ROW:)

I was just making my point how ridiculous it is to have quotas for skilled immigration but not for others including asylum cases.


How do you come to these conclusions what congress intended. AC21's main provisions were to recapture unused visas for certain years; extend h-1b beyond six years; allow someone to change a job after 485 pending for more then six months; allow unused visas to be allocated to oversubscribed countries on a quarterly basis rather then in the fourth quarter.

Above is what was changed. There was no lifting of country cap. If you go to the earlies visa bulletins listed; you will see that Dominican Republic at one time was retrogressed. I haven't looked at it in a long time but if someone goes to the historical visa bulletins pre ac21 then you may see significant movement in retrogressed countries in the fourth quarter of uscis fiscal year (july to september). This is what changed.

However, the ac21 part about unused visas only stipulated if in any quarter there were less applicants then visas available then spillover can happen in that quarter. However, as can be seen in 2005 that weasn't the case and there shouldn't have been spillover.

In another posting you mentioned that your employer doesn't care whether you are Indian or chines or pakistani or anything else. This is true they want you for your skill. However, how did you get into USA. Chinese generally go to school here and will work wherever they get a job. However, Indian nationals have designed a system to get their realitves here through h-1b. Selective recrutiing is performed to get fellow compatriates here that couldn't otherwise get here becuase they have no connections. I ask some of my clients how they get employees. They tell me they are sponsoring their classmates, their cousins, etc. for h-1b.

Therefore, you may think it is not fair; and perhaps it is not fair but perhaps government knows that certain systems have been designed and they value diversity.

In business definition a skilled worker is not someone with two years of experience, a bachelors or even a masters. A skilled worker is someone with substantial experience. That is 15 years and makes $200K to $300K. Employment base immigration is just an accomodation to allow a certain number of people into USA. In my mind it is just an accomodation or goodwill.

If the EB system was designd to attract the best and brightest minds; skilled worker definition or eb2 or eb3 definition would have a much different meaning and would follow business rather then USCIS definition. It would be much different. There would be no quota. It would follow normal business practicses. That is we, can't find a us citizen or greencard holder and we need you. In real business sens it would be an offer, acceptance and you would start in a couple of months. However, it doesn't follow normal business rules/practices because maybe the powers that be look at it as just an accomodation rather then a real necessity.