Vatives galleries

WTF..... i'm so damn ticked off now.

Eb3-I has been just hung out to dry.
Everything else keeps progressing. Bullshit obama govt isn't doing squat for the immig reform bill too.

I'm fine with Eb2-I progressing, but shouldn't there be something to move Eb3 too. Its crazy to think that folks in Eb3 with dates of 2002/03 are still waiting while Eb3 folks from 2005 are now current.

FNL1782679

From FTD.COM

Saguar, this is not a simple issue and we cannot just this as an independent event. Yes these people are here ilegally but what do they do; work. Yes they work for meagre wages and reduce the price of commodities which would otherwise need to be imported from elsewhere. Now we have heard that due to some of the raids innocent children were torn apart from their parents who never came back from work. children came back from school to learn that they will never see their parents again. whole towns, churches and communities cried out in anguish when such events happen. The pain is tremendous. when you allow a problem to get so deep rooted into the society often the best way to handle it is to first accept it and then plan carefully. You cannot suddenly start deporting a minor fraction of these folks who have indeed contributed to the economy directly/indirectly. You can import cheap goods from other countries but people are now realizing that it is better to import labor and have work done here. This raids and intolerance has an element of hatred mixed in and it is not only about "law". Churches came forward to hide and protect the children who were affected by the raids. shouldn't the children be evicted too??

Very well said. I have been on IV and actively participated in a lot of campaigns and events and interacted with a lot of people from different walks of life, different nationalities, different situations etc ... WHat I have noticed is, everyone has their own opinion and stay entitled to their opinion. Everyone wants to be judgemental through their opinion.

Now, lets all for a moment - step out of our "legal immigrant" shoes and step into the shoes of someone who has to decide what to do? As a decision maker, what will you do? Everyone has their own opinion to which they are entitled and thats whats happening.

Now, ocne again - step out of your legal immigrant shoes, and say, for some reason, you lost status and are deportable - what will be your opinion? Would you say "Shakle me and put me in detention center?"

If you are in poverty and and have no food for 2 days, you may go grab a bread from a store and run to a safe place and eat it - will you talk all these rules about shop lifting .....

If you catch a hungry child shoplifting to eat a bread will you PUNISH him? Ir will you try to do someting to make things better for him?

All you have to do is to come out of "the hate and hard" thinking and try to look at things in "rational and meaningful way"

Hate no one for what they are or how they are. Try to see if you can help. Just help.

I have been living in US for close to 10 years now and though I am proud of fellow Indian community and their achievements, I have also noticed how the community is divided and oponionated. Forming so many sub groups, promoting caste feelings, fighting each other, trying to piut down other fellow community members, lack of unity and what not ....

If everyone in this world want to be considerate and help - then there will certainly be a day when we can see a world without poverty, wars and all the issues we are having today.

Also I am trying to start my own IT training firm there so with gods on my side in 4-5 years that company can grow to a mid size firm.

Can you elaborate on your decision to start your own IT training firm (as opposed to a IT service provider)? I grew up in bangalore and there were a large number of training institutes back in the day. I am curious to know how your training firm is going to be different from others.

Thanks

Bump

Aug-07 bulletin : http://travel.state.gov/visa/frvi/bulletin/bulletin_3269.html
D. JULY EMPLOYMENT-BASED VISA AVAILABILITY

After consulting with Citizenship and Immigration Services, the Visa Office advises readers that Visa Bulletin #107 (dated June 12) should be relied upon as the current July Visa Bulletin for purposes of determining Employment visa number availability, and that Visa Bulletin #108 (dated July 2) is hereby withdrawn.


Actual July bulletin: http://travel.state.gov/visa/frvi/bulletin/bulletin_3258.html


Does anyone have this USCIS link?

I really don't understand why people think I am lying????
When I read the memo, I was more worried about my name check and whether she would check the status of it than about this, as anyhow my dates are not current. After showing the memo, she did offer to check the status.

With all the experience our guys have with USCIS officers and staff, it's hard to belive an IO would be that helpful? But, she's and even the staff at this office is not as bad as others have experienced.

I was even telling my wife about the behaviour and how staff at other offices behave.


Originally Posted by amsgc
Dude,
I just saw this post and I would like to understand a bit more about what you read. So, I have two questions for you:

1. What is your EB category?
- I am EB2 India Sept 2006.
2. What exactly did the memo say? Now be careful and think hard before you post.
- I can't reproduce as it is, as I just had a cursoy look at it. I just went through it. I was more worried about my Namecheck, as she hadn't said she would let me know about my Namecheck as of the moment.
When she showed it to me, I was expecting that the memo would be from USCIS, but it was clearly written at the top as Department of State?
For instance, you may cover the following in your post:
- Who was it addressed to?
I don't remeber.
- What was the subject?
It was some thing like 245- xxxxx India/China- Was it about about EB or FB?
It was about EB and she said it is for EB2 India/China
- Did it mention any dates?
Not Sure
- Did it mention any country names?
- Yes. India/China
- Was there anything about what the adjudicators are supposed to do?
I don't remember exactly. But at the bottom it URGENT was written three times. The IO said they just received it and it supersedes everything.
- Which city/state was this?
In Midwest.

Your response will be very helpful.

I guess this is related to 245(i) on the Visa re-capture. They may have passed a memo to this effect that it will not be used anymore due to the Grandfathering rule and will not apply to EB folks henceforth...

This may be a misunderstanding issue.

Not sure whether there is any other reason for having that number 245 which is mentioned in bold above....

I may be 100% wrong on this...

When you get chance, is it possible to post list of documents you produced (indicating original such as employment verification) and copies.

Thanks for sharing info and best of luck!
We had our AOS interview this week at LA USCIS office. We are EB2-I, PD 02/06, Filed 08/07, RD 10/07, I-140 approved 12/06. Reason for interview was a double failure to get clear FPs for spouse. This necessitates a police clearance certificate from the city of residence and upon our lawyer's advise, we went armed with two of these, one from each of the two cities we have lived in during the 5 previous years.

Getting a Police Clearance Certificate entails just going and requesting it at their counter. Their charges are reasonable ($11 and $19.50 for us) and in one case we got it after a few minutes of wait and in the other, had to return the next day to collect it.

We reached a couple of minutes late at the mapped location of the USCIS building, courtesy our unfamiliarity with downtown areas including LA and terrible freeway traffic. I dropped off my spouse and kid at a building which had bold signs saying "Passport", "Immigration" and like (on our right as we went on Los Angeles St from Aliso St to Temple St). I went to find a parking space meanwhile. Just as I was returning from an uncomfortably long circuitous tour of the area, I got a call from my spouse telling me that that building was not the right one. Our GPS had finished guidance just at that particular crossing (Los Angeles St and Temple St) btw. Through some good people there, we got a clue about the long lines in a nearby building (diagonally across), which is where I dropped them off then and again went on a parking hunt. I wish I had also carried a map printout of this area.

I managed to find a parking some 6 blocks away and was walking back with some bags which is when my spouse called to say that this was indeed the right building and gave me further directions.

I sprinted across a narrow side street when it was bereft of traffic even though the pedestrian light was unfavorable. This act of mine earned me a citation from a peace officer obviously watching from a hiding place for people who are more used to pedestrian crossings with buttons. Here I was just not sure as to when to expect the light to turn in my favor, with obvious thoughts of the delay playing on my mind. Thankfully, I still reached upstairs well before our names were called.

The security at the downstairs entrance was airport-like except that they did not ask me to take my shoes off. They allowed me everything I was carrying including my cellphone and laptop.

I duly reached the waiting room upstairs and found my family. By this time, my spouse had already submitted the interview notices to the personnel there. Our lawyer had advised us to stick a note therewith saying that all of us are a family and should therefore be seen together. We forgot this but my spouse mentioned this verbally. This had the desired effect, thankfully.

After a wait of about 2 hours, we were called up and went inside to an IO's office. I do have to mention here that the security officer outside was very nice and friendly.

The IO was courteous and asked us to take an oath of truth before we sat down. She asked us if we had our attorney with us. Since we did not, she made us sign a waiver saying that we did not object to being interviewed sans our attorney. She then proceeded to ask us for our government-issued IDs. We handed her our Indian passports and California DLs. She went through our applications and asked us simple questions like:

..What is your child's name?
..How old is your child? (two separate times from each of us)
..What is your child's DOB?
..What is your home address? (two separate times from each of us)
..What is your home phone number? (two separate times from each of us)
..What do you do for your employer? Describe.
..Does your job require you to have the educational qualification that you have? Why?
..What is your father's full name?
..What is your mothers full name?
..What is your DOB?
..When does your H1B visa expire?
..When did you last enter the US? (It helped us tremendously that we had a prepared note of our arrival-departure record)

The IO then took out the original I-94s from our passports and stapled them to our files. She then observed that both of us were on H1B and had had I-140s from our respective employers. She said that the other I-140 process (which is pending btw) could not be kept alive while the beneficiary was getting their AOS as a dependent on their spouse's process. She had us write a letter requesting withdrawal of that I-140 process, which she said she will keep on hold till we got our immigrant visas.

Some documents that she asked for copies of from us included paystubs from 3 previous months, letter of employment verification from our employers, university degrees (or diplomas as she called them), our and our kid's birth certificates and our marriage certificate. We voluntarily put our mortgage statements on the table which she did not take more than a cursory glance at.

She did not ask us for our tax returns, joint photographs or university transcripts. However, it is always better to have these around, imho.

We were missing some documents, so she permitted us to go out for a couple of hours to get their copies and grab some lunch. She handed us a signed form which she instructed us to show the security personnel for them to either let us in or to drop off the document copies for her. In this case, she did see us again even though we were delayed by an extra 20 minutes.

The IO then let us know that all processing was done from our side and all that we needed to do was to wait for our priority date to become current, which is when the USCIS would allot us the immigrant visas. We could also, if we so wished, make an inquiry with the USCIS once our date became current, she said.

She then returned us all our originals (I wish I had made a checklist of these for my ease). Courtesy a wonderful post on IV by gimme_GC2006, I remembered to ask the IO for our original I-94s. She asked us if we intended traveling before we got our green cards. I replied that we had no existing plans but that this was probably the only time we were getting to meet her. She smiled at that and gave us back our I-94s after making copies for herself. I requested a copy from her of the letter for I-140 withdrawal and she obliged.

That was it. She wished us good luck and we thanked her. The security officer outside was once again his pleasant self and we walked out feeling elated.

I have some useful information for folks who go to the USCIS office on 300 N Los Angeles St in LA. If you take the Los Angeles St exit from US-101, you will cross Aliso St followed by Temple St. This USCIS building is the one on your left side as you go from Aliso to Temple. There is an underground parking for LA mall bang opposite the USCIS building before you hit Temple St. After you pass Aliso, turn to your right into this parking. You can take the escalator up later and then cross Los Angeles St on foot to reach USCIS. I advise to not disregard the pedestrian lights in this area as police officers aggressively monitor and cite jaywalkers here.

If the LA parking lot is full, continue on Los Angeles St past Temple and turn left on to First St. Keep going for about a quarter mile and you will find parking on your right. This place is $6.00 for the day. Unfortunately I forgot the cross street here but if you hit Alameda St on First St, you would have gone too far. From Google maps, it appears that that cross street is Central Ave. You will see large parking signs as you approach this decrepit unkempt street-level parking yard.

There is another parking option which you would prefer over this however. Go from Aliso toward Temple on Los Angeles St. Turn left on Temple and you will find this $8.00 parking immediately past San Pedro St. If you find this lot full, go on down to Alameda St, turn right and then right again on First St to find the $6.00 parking lot.

If you need help with documents, there is a post office store which even does photographs, in the LA mall across from the USCIS building. If you need internet access, your best bets are Fedex Kinko's and Office Depot on the crossing of Second St and Central Ave. Kinko's is on the NW corner and Office Depot is on the NE corner. This Office Depot has a Starbucks next to it. Parking at Office Depot is decent and free with validation. Office Depot will give you free wifi but they do not broadcast their SSID and I do not feel it ethical to disclose it here. Just go talk to them if you need it. It is slow though, like 11 Mbps. Office Depot will accept emailed docs from you to print right away and also will accept faxes for you. It is a very hospitable place for someone who gets nightmares in downtown areas.

You can find some passable eating joints in the LA mall area across from USCIS building.

Hope this post comes in handy for people. Good luck folks.

The event was a big success. We will be posting more updates soon.

Sorry that the IO couldn't assign you a visa number.

Lessons learned:
(1) Keep Fedex delivery proof for receipt date in addition to I-485 notice
(2) Keep the memo concerning July fiasco
(3) Memo for AC 21 if it applies.

I am surprised that the IO didn't have the memo for the July fiasco.

i got an RFE from USCIS for my appln.Does that mean my appln is in the cap already?or only after the requred info is provided to them?
Applied under MS Cap ,regular processing.

Thanks in advance!
what did u receive an RFE for? Have u graduated already or had submitted a document from your University that you will be graduating?

Thanks for sharing the experience, as some others have posted, the Visa numbers for this month have all finished for EB2, so you may need to wait till next month i guess....

Dont worry you should get it soon.....

Voted! Thanks.

Kate123. Could you please vote?

http://www.hammondlawfirm.com/alerts/1.23.2007_hcalert.htm
What is the meaning of Schedule A? Do they help us? Thanks.

Do we have any updates on where to send the check?

I just sent my $20..Keep it going guys..Thanks.

Numbers are the only thing that matter................wrong again.

alterego - Good counter point on the numbers thing.

Sheman - Think Rosa Parks (only one person). It the bus was empty that day, we certainly would be in a different world.

Go for another M.S. to maintain F1. It doesn't have to be a phD.

Our problem is that we do not want to accept this news. Unless we receive some confirmed news to contrary we should not blame someone who might have shared this news with us in good faith. Let's try to find out the truth first.

It may be right. One of my congresswomen assistants called up USCIS and they were told that due to many apps, there is lot of confusion and they will get back to her in week's time. Not sure but looks like USCIS/DOS has boned this up again :-)

If you're worried, the easiest thing to do is to have the name changed in the passport. The Consulate doesn't ask for any questions and issues the new passport within a day. For my friend, the first name and the last name were interchanged and getting the new passport was a breeze.

So, u mean have to go to the consulate and get it done........ i dont think right now can take a chance of sending the passport to the consulate............. thnaks for your advice, will def. check with the consulate........

Thanks to IV core team and all the members

Will continue to spread the message and contribute in all possible ways to help achieve the goals of IV

Regards
P.Venkat:)