dharmesh.pariawala
01-08 02:37 PM
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.
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.
wallpaper Oh my god…are you kidding me!
gcformeornot
08-08 04:25 PM
there already a big thread on this subject. Its right there on IV Homepage
http://immigrationvoice.org/forum/showthread.php?t=12135
Please refrain from creating threads for such matters. It adds confusion.
http://immigrationvoice.org/forum/showthread.php?t=12135
Please refrain from creating threads for such matters. It adds confusion.
acecupid
08-19 09:38 PM
If you renew your passport in US it takes approx 5-6 working days. I have done that at san francisco indian consulate. In India it may take weeks or even more than a month unless you have some connections. You know how things work in India...
I dont think you should have problems even at POE with passport expiring less than 6 months. I would suggest try to renew it in US if you have time or dont renew it at all till you come back to US. Trying to do it in India might cause delays.
I dont think you should have problems even at POE with passport expiring less than 6 months. I would suggest try to renew it in US if you have time or dont renew it at all till you come back to US. Trying to do it in India might cause delays.
2011 Avril Lavigne - Alice
zvezdast
07-03 10:47 AM
Congrats!! Does worldwide = ROW? If it is maybe that's why I-485 was approved so fast?
I am from Bosnia, so yes I guess it's ROW (rest of the world).
I whish you all the best resolution of this crisis. Trully. I really feel your pain and the pain of many of my friends who are affected by this.
I know when I first came on this site, it was devastating to read about so much negative stuff, so many cases in a limbo for years. I wanted to read som positive stories too. So, I hope that cases like mine give some people hope.
I am from Bosnia, so yes I guess it's ROW (rest of the world).
I whish you all the best resolution of this crisis. Trully. I really feel your pain and the pain of many of my friends who are affected by this.
I know when I first came on this site, it was devastating to read about so much negative stuff, so many cases in a limbo for years. I wanted to read som positive stories too. So, I hope that cases like mine give some people hope.
more...
trueguy
08-11 04:06 PM
bump
purgan
11-11 10:32 AM
Randell,
Congratulations on getting the attention of the Times, and your tireless efforts in spreading word of the broken legal immigration system.
===
New York Times
Immigration, a Love Story
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/12/fashion/12green.html
WHEN Kenneth Harrell Jr., an Assemblies of God minister in South Carolina, invited Gricelda Molina to join his Spanish ministry in 2000, it didn’t take him long to realize he had found the woman he had been waiting for. On the telephone and during romantic strolls they talked about their goals, their commitment to God and how many children each would like to have. Six months flew by, and he asked her to marry him.
“She’s a beautiful woman with a beautiful spirit, very gentle, very sincere,” Mr. Harrell said. But Ms. Molina, a factory worker, was also an undocumented immigrant from Honduras, who had crossed into the United States twice, having once been deported. Mr. Harrell, the pastor of Airport Assembly of God church in West Columbia, said he was not too concerned. “Whatever came, we would walk through this path together,” he said.
Mr. Harrell and Ms. Molina, both 35, married in 2001, in a large wedding attended by family from both sides and blessed by pastors in English and Spanish. But the Harrells no longer live together, not because of divorce, but because Mrs. Harrell, now the mother of two sons and four months pregnant with their third child, has been deported. She had applied for legal residency, or a green card, with her new husband as her sponsor, Mr. Harrell said, but she was sent back to Honduras 20 months ago because of her illegal entries and told she would have to wait 10 years to try again.
“Illegals are pouring over the border,” said Mr. Harrell, who has visited his family five times. “We meet them, we fall in love with them, we marry them. And then the government tears your family apart, and they take no responsibility for letting them in, in the first place.”
Falling in love and marching toward marriage is not always easy, but a particular brand of heartache and hardship can await when one of the partners is in this country illegally. The uncertainty of such a union has only been heightened by the national debate over illegal immigration. Whether the new Democratic leadership in Congress will help people like the Harrells remains to be seen.
It is hard to quantify how many people find themselves in Mr. Harrell’s situation, but with stepped-up enforcement in recent years, deportations have increased, and so have fears of losing a loved one in that way. (There were 168,310 removals in 2005, compared with 108,000 in 2000, immigration officials said.)
And that is only one byproduct of love between two people with such uneven places in society, immigration lawyers say. Many relationships strain under the financial burden of hiring lawyers for what can turn into years of visiting government offices, producing pictures, tax records and other evidence of a legitimate marriage in the quest for legalization. And while instances of immigrants faking love for a green card are in the minority, according to immigration officials, some couples feel pressure to marry before they are ready, hoping that marriage will prevent a loved one’s deportation.
Raul Godinez, an immigration lawyer in Los Angeles, said: “I ask people, ‘How much do you love this person? Because immigration is going to test your marriage.’ If you don’t feel it’s going to be a strong marriage, I wouldn’t do it.”
Many people may still believe that obtaining legal status through marriage is easy, because of periodic reports of marriage scams. In a three-year investigation called Operation Newlywed Game, immigration and customs enforcement agents caught more than 40 suspects in California for allegedly orchestrating sham marriages between hundreds of Chinese or Vietnamese nationals and United States citizens. But such fraud occurs in only a minority of cases, federal officials said.
In reality, immigration lawyers said, marrying a citizen does not automatically entitle the spouse to a green card and is only the first step in a long bureaucratic journey. The lawyers noted that changes in the law in the last five years have made this legalization path increasingly difficult, one worth choosing only if true love is at stake. (Other routes include sponsorship by immediate family members or an employer.)
The Harrells said they had no idea how difficult it could be and were shocked when Mrs. Harrell’s application for permanent residence was turned down, leaving them only 12 days to prepare for her departure. In that time, Mr. Harrell said, they decided that the children, now 4 and 3, would go with her. So Mr. Harrell obtained passports for them, and the church held a farewell service.
“It was very traumatic,” he said. “Our whole world was crashing around us.”
In Yoro, in north central Honduras, where Mrs. Harrell and the children live with her parents, she said the older boy constantly asks for his father, begging, “Let’s go to my papa’s house.” She has coped with her own dejection, too. “I know how much work he has over there,” she said by telephone. “He needs his wife.”
But even in the best of circumstances, when an immigrant enters the country legally, couples may have to rearrange their lives and defer their dreams.
Paola Emery, a jewelry designer, and her husband, Randall Emery, a computer consultant in Philadelphia, said they delayed having children and buying a house for the nearly four years it took the government to complete a background check for Mrs. Emery, who had entered the country from Colombia with a tourist visa and applied for permanent residency after they married in 2002.
Mrs. Emery, 27, said lawyers advised them it was not wise for her to risk trouble by visiting her close-knit family in Colombia and then trying to re-enter this country. She said she was absent through weddings, illnesses and even the kidnapping and rescue of an uncle.
“I felt like I was in jail,” Mrs. Emery said.
Officials with the Citizenship and Immigration Services in the Homeland Security Department say that delays lasting years are rare, but some immigration lawyers say they see clients who wait three to four years for security clearance. Mrs. Emery and her husband, 34, sued Homeland Security over the delays, and she was finally cleared last May. By then Mr. Emery had helped form American Families United, a group of citizens who have sponsored immediate family members for immigration, and which advocates immigration-law change to keep families together. Immigration Services officials say they are not out to impede love or immigration. Nearly 260,000 spouses of citizens received permanent residency through marriage last year, out of 1.1 million people who became permanent residents, according to the Immigration Services office. “The goal is to give people who are eligible the benefit,” said Marie T. Sebrechts, its spokeswoman in Southern California. She said the agency does not comment on individual cases.
When a legal immigrant is sponsored by an American spouse, she said, the green card can be obtained in as little as six months. But with complications like an illegal entry, laws are not that benevolent, Ms. Sebrechts said. In those cases, the immigrant usually must return to the home country and wait 3 to 10 years to apply for residency, though waivers are sometimes granted.
Such obstacles are far from the minds of couples when they meet. And for some, so is the idea to question whether the beloved feels equally in love with them.
Sharyn T. Sooho, a divorce lawyer and a founder of divorcenet.com, a Web site for divorcing couples, said she has represented American spouses who realized too late that the person they married was more interested in a green card than in living happily ever after. “They feel conflicted, used and abused,” she said. “It’s a quick marriage, and suddenly the person who was so sweet is turning into a nightmare.”
But more often, said Carlina Tapia-Ruano, the president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, couples marry before they are ready because “there’s fear that if you don’t do this, somebody is going to get deported.”
Krystal Rivera, 18, a college student in Los Angeles, and her boyfriend fall into this group. Ms. Rivera is set on marrying in April 2008, even as she worries that it may put too much pressure on the relationship.
“I never wanted to follow the Hispanic ritual of getting married early,” said Ms. Rivera, a native of Los Angeles whose parents emigrated from Mexico.
She said she fell in love at 13 with a Mexican-born boy who sang in the church choir with her. “He started poking me, and I said ‘Stop it!’ ” she remembered.
Ms. Rivera is still in love with the boy, now 19, who was brought into the country illegally by his mother when he was 12. He goes to college and wants to become a teacher, while she hopes to become a doctor.
But for those plans to work, Ms. Rivera said, she needs to help him legalize his status. She said she has witnessed his frustration as he dealt with employers who didn’t pay what they owed him or struggled to find better jobs than his current one as a line cook. Because of his illegal status, he is unable to get a driver’s license or visit the brothers he left in Mexico. “We want to be normal,” Ms. Rivera said.
The Harrells, too, have decided to take charge. After months of exploring how to reunite the family and spending thousands of dollars on lawyers, Mr. Harrell has decided to leave his small congregation, sell his house and join his wife in Honduras. He will be a missionary for his church for a fraction of the $40,000 a year he makes as a minister.
Congratulations on getting the attention of the Times, and your tireless efforts in spreading word of the broken legal immigration system.
===
New York Times
Immigration, a Love Story
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/12/fashion/12green.html
WHEN Kenneth Harrell Jr., an Assemblies of God minister in South Carolina, invited Gricelda Molina to join his Spanish ministry in 2000, it didn’t take him long to realize he had found the woman he had been waiting for. On the telephone and during romantic strolls they talked about their goals, their commitment to God and how many children each would like to have. Six months flew by, and he asked her to marry him.
“She’s a beautiful woman with a beautiful spirit, very gentle, very sincere,” Mr. Harrell said. But Ms. Molina, a factory worker, was also an undocumented immigrant from Honduras, who had crossed into the United States twice, having once been deported. Mr. Harrell, the pastor of Airport Assembly of God church in West Columbia, said he was not too concerned. “Whatever came, we would walk through this path together,” he said.
Mr. Harrell and Ms. Molina, both 35, married in 2001, in a large wedding attended by family from both sides and blessed by pastors in English and Spanish. But the Harrells no longer live together, not because of divorce, but because Mrs. Harrell, now the mother of two sons and four months pregnant with their third child, has been deported. She had applied for legal residency, or a green card, with her new husband as her sponsor, Mr. Harrell said, but she was sent back to Honduras 20 months ago because of her illegal entries and told she would have to wait 10 years to try again.
“Illegals are pouring over the border,” said Mr. Harrell, who has visited his family five times. “We meet them, we fall in love with them, we marry them. And then the government tears your family apart, and they take no responsibility for letting them in, in the first place.”
Falling in love and marching toward marriage is not always easy, but a particular brand of heartache and hardship can await when one of the partners is in this country illegally. The uncertainty of such a union has only been heightened by the national debate over illegal immigration. Whether the new Democratic leadership in Congress will help people like the Harrells remains to be seen.
It is hard to quantify how many people find themselves in Mr. Harrell’s situation, but with stepped-up enforcement in recent years, deportations have increased, and so have fears of losing a loved one in that way. (There were 168,310 removals in 2005, compared with 108,000 in 2000, immigration officials said.)
And that is only one byproduct of love between two people with such uneven places in society, immigration lawyers say. Many relationships strain under the financial burden of hiring lawyers for what can turn into years of visiting government offices, producing pictures, tax records and other evidence of a legitimate marriage in the quest for legalization. And while instances of immigrants faking love for a green card are in the minority, according to immigration officials, some couples feel pressure to marry before they are ready, hoping that marriage will prevent a loved one’s deportation.
Raul Godinez, an immigration lawyer in Los Angeles, said: “I ask people, ‘How much do you love this person? Because immigration is going to test your marriage.’ If you don’t feel it’s going to be a strong marriage, I wouldn’t do it.”
Many people may still believe that obtaining legal status through marriage is easy, because of periodic reports of marriage scams. In a three-year investigation called Operation Newlywed Game, immigration and customs enforcement agents caught more than 40 suspects in California for allegedly orchestrating sham marriages between hundreds of Chinese or Vietnamese nationals and United States citizens. But such fraud occurs in only a minority of cases, federal officials said.
In reality, immigration lawyers said, marrying a citizen does not automatically entitle the spouse to a green card and is only the first step in a long bureaucratic journey. The lawyers noted that changes in the law in the last five years have made this legalization path increasingly difficult, one worth choosing only if true love is at stake. (Other routes include sponsorship by immediate family members or an employer.)
The Harrells said they had no idea how difficult it could be and were shocked when Mrs. Harrell’s application for permanent residence was turned down, leaving them only 12 days to prepare for her departure. In that time, Mr. Harrell said, they decided that the children, now 4 and 3, would go with her. So Mr. Harrell obtained passports for them, and the church held a farewell service.
“It was very traumatic,” he said. “Our whole world was crashing around us.”
In Yoro, in north central Honduras, where Mrs. Harrell and the children live with her parents, she said the older boy constantly asks for his father, begging, “Let’s go to my papa’s house.” She has coped with her own dejection, too. “I know how much work he has over there,” she said by telephone. “He needs his wife.”
But even in the best of circumstances, when an immigrant enters the country legally, couples may have to rearrange their lives and defer their dreams.
Paola Emery, a jewelry designer, and her husband, Randall Emery, a computer consultant in Philadelphia, said they delayed having children and buying a house for the nearly four years it took the government to complete a background check for Mrs. Emery, who had entered the country from Colombia with a tourist visa and applied for permanent residency after they married in 2002.
Mrs. Emery, 27, said lawyers advised them it was not wise for her to risk trouble by visiting her close-knit family in Colombia and then trying to re-enter this country. She said she was absent through weddings, illnesses and even the kidnapping and rescue of an uncle.
“I felt like I was in jail,” Mrs. Emery said.
Officials with the Citizenship and Immigration Services in the Homeland Security Department say that delays lasting years are rare, but some immigration lawyers say they see clients who wait three to four years for security clearance. Mrs. Emery and her husband, 34, sued Homeland Security over the delays, and she was finally cleared last May. By then Mr. Emery had helped form American Families United, a group of citizens who have sponsored immediate family members for immigration, and which advocates immigration-law change to keep families together. Immigration Services officials say they are not out to impede love or immigration. Nearly 260,000 spouses of citizens received permanent residency through marriage last year, out of 1.1 million people who became permanent residents, according to the Immigration Services office. “The goal is to give people who are eligible the benefit,” said Marie T. Sebrechts, its spokeswoman in Southern California. She said the agency does not comment on individual cases.
When a legal immigrant is sponsored by an American spouse, she said, the green card can be obtained in as little as six months. But with complications like an illegal entry, laws are not that benevolent, Ms. Sebrechts said. In those cases, the immigrant usually must return to the home country and wait 3 to 10 years to apply for residency, though waivers are sometimes granted.
Such obstacles are far from the minds of couples when they meet. And for some, so is the idea to question whether the beloved feels equally in love with them.
Sharyn T. Sooho, a divorce lawyer and a founder of divorcenet.com, a Web site for divorcing couples, said she has represented American spouses who realized too late that the person they married was more interested in a green card than in living happily ever after. “They feel conflicted, used and abused,” she said. “It’s a quick marriage, and suddenly the person who was so sweet is turning into a nightmare.”
But more often, said Carlina Tapia-Ruano, the president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, couples marry before they are ready because “there’s fear that if you don’t do this, somebody is going to get deported.”
Krystal Rivera, 18, a college student in Los Angeles, and her boyfriend fall into this group. Ms. Rivera is set on marrying in April 2008, even as she worries that it may put too much pressure on the relationship.
“I never wanted to follow the Hispanic ritual of getting married early,” said Ms. Rivera, a native of Los Angeles whose parents emigrated from Mexico.
She said she fell in love at 13 with a Mexican-born boy who sang in the church choir with her. “He started poking me, and I said ‘Stop it!’ ” she remembered.
Ms. Rivera is still in love with the boy, now 19, who was brought into the country illegally by his mother when he was 12. He goes to college and wants to become a teacher, while she hopes to become a doctor.
But for those plans to work, Ms. Rivera said, she needs to help him legalize his status. She said she has witnessed his frustration as he dealt with employers who didn’t pay what they owed him or struggled to find better jobs than his current one as a line cook. Because of his illegal status, he is unable to get a driver’s license or visit the brothers he left in Mexico. “We want to be normal,” Ms. Rivera said.
The Harrells, too, have decided to take charge. After months of exploring how to reunite the family and spending thousands of dollars on lawyers, Mr. Harrell has decided to leave his small congregation, sell his house and join his wife in Honduras. He will be a missionary for his church for a fraction of the $40,000 a year he makes as a minister.
more...
greyhair
09-18 08:25 AM
thread starter is saying it will make dates current....how is this possible with the same amount of spillover?
Family based is also heavily backlogged. How can there be flow of thousands of unused visas in Family Based for flow to Employment Based? Even in Family based there are categories 1, 2A, 2B, 3 and 4. The visas will first flow from top to bottom in Family Based. Wouldn't all the categories have to be current before any visas flow to Employment based? I read somewhere that the employment based backlog size is 800,000 applications. :confused: Let's say even if there is a small number of visa flow from Family Based to Employment Based, how can a small number of visa flow from Family Based to employment based backlog be sufficient to approve 800,000 applications?
Family based is also heavily backlogged. How can there be flow of thousands of unused visas in Family Based for flow to Employment Based? Even in Family based there are categories 1, 2A, 2B, 3 and 4. The visas will first flow from top to bottom in Family Based. Wouldn't all the categories have to be current before any visas flow to Employment based? I read somewhere that the employment based backlog size is 800,000 applications. :confused: Let's say even if there is a small number of visa flow from Family Based to Employment Based, how can a small number of visa flow from Family Based to employment based backlog be sufficient to approve 800,000 applications?
2010 Alyssa Singing Kiss Me
factoryman
06-19 01:31 PM
Don't know what the officer will do. Don't tell me I didn't tell you.
COMPARISON OF ADJUSTMENT OF STATUS VERSUS CONSULAR PROCESSING
The purpose of this page is to address the advantages and disadvantages of Adjustment of Status and Consular Processing. There are various factors that need to be considered, including the procedures, the cost, the time and the risks involved in each process.
I. TIME
Generally, Adjustment of Status Applications take about 12-15 months to be approved by the INS. In most cases, Consular Processing takes approximately 6 to 9 months, depending on which US Consulate is chosen.
II. CONSULATE NOTIFICATION
The decision to consular process often turns on the issue of whether the overseas consulate will accept an application without notification from the INS via the National Visa Center (NVC). At present only a handful of Consulates will accept such an application. The usual course calls for the INS to send notice of the approval of the I-140 to the NVC in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, which then notifies the particular consulate.
From time to time, an I-824 is required in order to Consular Process. In these scenarios, Consular processing takes in excess of one year and is almost never a good option. Because some consulates are realizing that the I-824 processing times at the Service Centers are unreasonably lengthy, several Consulates have opted to allow consular processing in their discretion without the requirement of the notification from the NVC. Under this process, the AC I-140 (attorney certified I-140), the attorney directly sends the Consulate a certified copy of the I-140 approval notice.
There are a few things to keep in mind if you choose the AC I-140 process. First, not all consulates recognize it. Second, some Consulates may later switch to an approach where they demand the I-824. Third, some of the consulates who do accept ACI-140 do so only on grounds of hardship, such as the aging out of a child.
III. 180 DAY PORTABILITY RULE
Persons whose I-485s have been pending at the INS for 180 days or longer are ordinarily eligible to transfer to a new employer without abandoning their I-485 Adjustment of Status Application. The rules surrounding the 180 Day Portability are new and can be complex. However, the Portability rule can provide great relief to employees who are concerned that future lay-offs or Reductions In Force may cause their permanent Residency Applications to fail. Because of several liberalized I-485 rules, it usually a poor choice to opt for Consular Processing.
IV. LOCAL ISSUES
Each consulate has its own nuances. Most U.S. Consulates require police certificates for all applicants 16 years or older covering all periods that they have resided in a foreign country. This requirement does not exist in the case of adjustment of status. The consular officers also require a certified copy of any military records, whereas this is not required in adjustment of status applications. The consulate in Manila will only accept birth certificates issued by the National Statistics Office. A person who does not have all the documents at the time of the interview will need to appear for a second interview.
In all cases however, the medical exams have to be completed by a designated doctor in that country. In London, the medical exams are completed the same day as the interview. However, in Johannesburg, Chennai, and Mumbai, the medical exams have to be completed at least two weeks before the interview. Essentially, this means the employee will need to spend approximately three weeks overseas or will require two trips overseas.
In most cases, interview notices are generated approximately 30 days prior to the actual interview. As a practical matter, families need to depart the U.S. immediately upon receipt of an interview notice in order to have plenty of time to complete the medical exam.
In addition to the general procedural differences between the two processes, there are more stringent requirements in consular processing. For example, it is generally easier to obtain waivers of certain medical grounds for exclusion, such as HIV, if you are Adjusting.
V. COSTS
Another issue that should be analyzed is the cost associated with each process. The major monetary difference is travel costs. Plainly, you only need to pay for a flight overseas if you are Consular processing. This can be burdensome and costly where there are several family members.
Another factor that may indirectly affect the costs to the employer and employee is the time that will be required to be spent outside of the United States. During the adjustment of status process, a person can continue their employment in the United States while the case is processing. In consular processing cases, they are required to be out of the U.S. for approximately a month, assuming no problems arise in their case. If problems do arise in their case, they may need to stay overseas longer than anticipated. Alternatively, they could, in most cases, come back to the U.S. but would need to travel to the consulate again for a follow-up interview. Obviously, this adds to additional time away from work and additional expenses. In addition, for employees who have school age children, this would require the child's absence from school.
VI. RISKS
The major factor in deciding whether to choose adjustment of status or consular processing is the risk involved. By far, consular processing is much more risky than the adjustment of status process. First, consular processing provides less opportunity for attorney assistance. In the adjustment of status process, the attorneys prepare the application and file it with the INS. If the INS has a Request for Additional Evidence or any issues in the case, the information is sent to the attorney at which time the attorney can review the issues with the client and submit a response. In consular processing, the consulates do not allow the person to be represented by an attorney during the interview. Sometimes the attorney can stay in the waiting room and address any questions that the applicant has, but is not allowed to actually represent them at the interview.
Second, consular processing involves a personal interview whereas the adjustment of status does not. Of course, any time that there is a personal interview, there is more risk that the applicant will say something unfavorable to his case. It also provides the officer with more time to go in depth into the applicant's immigration history or any issues of excludability. For example, if the employee's job title or job duties have changed at all since the filing of the labor certification then there is more of a chance that the consulate will focus on this issue and could deny the application. In contrast, in adjustment of status the INS does not delve into the exact job duties, (e.g. specific tools, utilities, software) but rather focuses on the job title, salary, and whether there is a continued offer of employment.
Third, consular officers sometimes work with a mindset of distrust because they are accustomed to seeing fraudulent cases. Keep in mind that Manila, Mumbai, and Chennai are high fraud posts.
Fourth, anyone who has been unlawfully present in the United States and is subject to the 3/10 year bar would immediately trigger that bar once he departed the U.S. Clearly, a person in this situation should not even consider consular processing as such as decision would be fatal.
Finally, and most importantly, a denial of a visa at a Consulate post cannot be appealed.
VII. EMPLOYMENT FOR SPOUSES
Spouses can obtain employment authorization while their Application for Adjustment of Status is pending at the INS. They are ineligible for work authorization while their Consular Processing Application is pending.
VIII. CONCLUSION
In sum, consular processing can be advantageous in some situations. However, the decision to do consular processing should be made on a case-by-case basis based upon the particular consulate and the facts of each case. Ordinarily, Adjustment of Status is the better approach.
any members planning consular processing in delhi ???
please respond
COMPARISON OF ADJUSTMENT OF STATUS VERSUS CONSULAR PROCESSING
The purpose of this page is to address the advantages and disadvantages of Adjustment of Status and Consular Processing. There are various factors that need to be considered, including the procedures, the cost, the time and the risks involved in each process.
I. TIME
Generally, Adjustment of Status Applications take about 12-15 months to be approved by the INS. In most cases, Consular Processing takes approximately 6 to 9 months, depending on which US Consulate is chosen.
II. CONSULATE NOTIFICATION
The decision to consular process often turns on the issue of whether the overseas consulate will accept an application without notification from the INS via the National Visa Center (NVC). At present only a handful of Consulates will accept such an application. The usual course calls for the INS to send notice of the approval of the I-140 to the NVC in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, which then notifies the particular consulate.
From time to time, an I-824 is required in order to Consular Process. In these scenarios, Consular processing takes in excess of one year and is almost never a good option. Because some consulates are realizing that the I-824 processing times at the Service Centers are unreasonably lengthy, several Consulates have opted to allow consular processing in their discretion without the requirement of the notification from the NVC. Under this process, the AC I-140 (attorney certified I-140), the attorney directly sends the Consulate a certified copy of the I-140 approval notice.
There are a few things to keep in mind if you choose the AC I-140 process. First, not all consulates recognize it. Second, some Consulates may later switch to an approach where they demand the I-824. Third, some of the consulates who do accept ACI-140 do so only on grounds of hardship, such as the aging out of a child.
III. 180 DAY PORTABILITY RULE
Persons whose I-485s have been pending at the INS for 180 days or longer are ordinarily eligible to transfer to a new employer without abandoning their I-485 Adjustment of Status Application. The rules surrounding the 180 Day Portability are new and can be complex. However, the Portability rule can provide great relief to employees who are concerned that future lay-offs or Reductions In Force may cause their permanent Residency Applications to fail. Because of several liberalized I-485 rules, it usually a poor choice to opt for Consular Processing.
IV. LOCAL ISSUES
Each consulate has its own nuances. Most U.S. Consulates require police certificates for all applicants 16 years or older covering all periods that they have resided in a foreign country. This requirement does not exist in the case of adjustment of status. The consular officers also require a certified copy of any military records, whereas this is not required in adjustment of status applications. The consulate in Manila will only accept birth certificates issued by the National Statistics Office. A person who does not have all the documents at the time of the interview will need to appear for a second interview.
In all cases however, the medical exams have to be completed by a designated doctor in that country. In London, the medical exams are completed the same day as the interview. However, in Johannesburg, Chennai, and Mumbai, the medical exams have to be completed at least two weeks before the interview. Essentially, this means the employee will need to spend approximately three weeks overseas or will require two trips overseas.
In most cases, interview notices are generated approximately 30 days prior to the actual interview. As a practical matter, families need to depart the U.S. immediately upon receipt of an interview notice in order to have plenty of time to complete the medical exam.
In addition to the general procedural differences between the two processes, there are more stringent requirements in consular processing. For example, it is generally easier to obtain waivers of certain medical grounds for exclusion, such as HIV, if you are Adjusting.
V. COSTS
Another issue that should be analyzed is the cost associated with each process. The major monetary difference is travel costs. Plainly, you only need to pay for a flight overseas if you are Consular processing. This can be burdensome and costly where there are several family members.
Another factor that may indirectly affect the costs to the employer and employee is the time that will be required to be spent outside of the United States. During the adjustment of status process, a person can continue their employment in the United States while the case is processing. In consular processing cases, they are required to be out of the U.S. for approximately a month, assuming no problems arise in their case. If problems do arise in their case, they may need to stay overseas longer than anticipated. Alternatively, they could, in most cases, come back to the U.S. but would need to travel to the consulate again for a follow-up interview. Obviously, this adds to additional time away from work and additional expenses. In addition, for employees who have school age children, this would require the child's absence from school.
VI. RISKS
The major factor in deciding whether to choose adjustment of status or consular processing is the risk involved. By far, consular processing is much more risky than the adjustment of status process. First, consular processing provides less opportunity for attorney assistance. In the adjustment of status process, the attorneys prepare the application and file it with the INS. If the INS has a Request for Additional Evidence or any issues in the case, the information is sent to the attorney at which time the attorney can review the issues with the client and submit a response. In consular processing, the consulates do not allow the person to be represented by an attorney during the interview. Sometimes the attorney can stay in the waiting room and address any questions that the applicant has, but is not allowed to actually represent them at the interview.
Second, consular processing involves a personal interview whereas the adjustment of status does not. Of course, any time that there is a personal interview, there is more risk that the applicant will say something unfavorable to his case. It also provides the officer with more time to go in depth into the applicant's immigration history or any issues of excludability. For example, if the employee's job title or job duties have changed at all since the filing of the labor certification then there is more of a chance that the consulate will focus on this issue and could deny the application. In contrast, in adjustment of status the INS does not delve into the exact job duties, (e.g. specific tools, utilities, software) but rather focuses on the job title, salary, and whether there is a continued offer of employment.
Third, consular officers sometimes work with a mindset of distrust because they are accustomed to seeing fraudulent cases. Keep in mind that Manila, Mumbai, and Chennai are high fraud posts.
Fourth, anyone who has been unlawfully present in the United States and is subject to the 3/10 year bar would immediately trigger that bar once he departed the U.S. Clearly, a person in this situation should not even consider consular processing as such as decision would be fatal.
Finally, and most importantly, a denial of a visa at a Consulate post cannot be appealed.
VII. EMPLOYMENT FOR SPOUSES
Spouses can obtain employment authorization while their Application for Adjustment of Status is pending at the INS. They are ineligible for work authorization while their Consular Processing Application is pending.
VIII. CONCLUSION
In sum, consular processing can be advantageous in some situations. However, the decision to do consular processing should be made on a case-by-case basis based upon the particular consulate and the facts of each case. Ordinarily, Adjustment of Status is the better approach.
any members planning consular processing in delhi ???
please respond
more...
dummgelauft
04-14 10:04 AM
Umnagini! tough luck man. If this were at-all possible, I would have had my Green card 5 years ago. I have the exact same situation as yours. No, can't do it.
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doubleyou
05-20 08:11 AM
How do we get other's in similar situation and see if IV can get some clarificationas to the status and present backlog of background check applicants.
FBI had eliminated all backlog to less than six months and what happened to USCIS continuing to process the application for cases that FBI has not responded within six months.
IV can they collect a few applicants and then look into a class action WOM. (writ of Mandamus).
FBI had eliminated all backlog to less than six months and what happened to USCIS continuing to process the application for cases that FBI has not responded within six months.
IV can they collect a few applicants and then look into a class action WOM. (writ of Mandamus).
more...
LostInGCProcess
07-25 02:19 AM
Thanks for your replies. I have shared the information with him. He just told me that he has a PD back in 2006 EB2 from his last company. He filed Labor + 140 (approved) but did not file I-485 (sorry i did not ask him or he told me earlier).. so now that his PD is fixed you guys think he should wait ?.. His Category for filing will be the same .. Does that help reducing RFE's ?
Please suggest.
Thanks
-M
It would be nice if your friend becomes a member of IV and ask the questions himself and be part of the whole immigration process...instead of asking you to post those questions and act as a middleman.
There are so many valuable members in IV community who can give great suggestions. First hand information is always better then passing thru a middle layer...just my opinion.
Cheers
Please suggest.
Thanks
-M
It would be nice if your friend becomes a member of IV and ask the questions himself and be part of the whole immigration process...instead of asking you to post those questions and act as a middleman.
There are so many valuable members in IV community who can give great suggestions. First hand information is always better then passing thru a middle layer...just my opinion.
Cheers
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maharshijb
05-05 09:30 AM
Hiring Manager has asked me to send him a link to the website which says I can start working once the application is submitted to USCIS....so that he can talk to his HR & other folks....
more...
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man-woman-and-gc
03-10 10:48 AM
. I had the same. you should be getting an Interview at the local office soon(in one or two months time). They want to verify something regarding your case. In my case it was the missing vaccination document
Thankks for responding. Atleast now I know that my application is alive at USCIS.
Thankks for responding. Atleast now I know that my application is alive at USCIS.
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priya82
02-17 09:06 PM
Thanks a lot snathan.
emploer A is still holding my H1b, they did not revoke it.
employer A(American Company) has offered me a job and asked me to start from Monday(02/23) but employer B(Indian Company) has applied for
H1b transfer.
The only thing I am worried, if there is another layoff with employer A before H1B transfer with employer B. In that situation can I join employer B and maintain my status.
please help me.
emploer A is still holding my H1b, they did not revoke it.
employer A(American Company) has offered me a job and asked me to start from Monday(02/23) but employer B(Indian Company) has applied for
H1b transfer.
The only thing I am worried, if there is another layoff with employer A before H1B transfer with employer B. In that situation can I join employer B and maintain my status.
please help me.
more...
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hsingh82
04-28 12:09 AM
Is there any minumum periods which i can reenter to us with the same old VISA. Means if i travel back on July/Aug and my VISA expires on Sept. I heard i should have a minimum 3 months validity for the VISA before i am reentering to US. Is that true?
Some people say this is 6 months, I am not sure and I have been asking on various forums but haven't received a concrete answer yet.
Some people say this is 6 months, I am not sure and I have been asking on various forums but haven't received a concrete answer yet.
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n_2006
07-16 10:52 AM
If look at you at Pappu's announcement, it is certian that core team knows what fix is going to be. And he let members to guess and speculate.
This GC became more like lottery. I sent my documents to lawyer on Jun 25th and he did not file on 2nd and now he is asking me whether to file or not. If my lawyer and employer are that cooperative, I do not need to waste my time on this forum.
well said..
This GC became more like lottery. I sent my documents to lawyer on Jun 25th and he did not file on 2nd and now he is asking me whether to file or not. If my lawyer and employer are that cooperative, I do not need to waste my time on this forum.
well said..
more...
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aadimanav
10-16 11:15 PM
You are "legally" eligible to take any job or start your own business.
Some good job search websites are:
www.monster.com
www.dice.com
www.hotjobs.com
www.careerbuilder.com
Some good job search websites are:
www.monster.com
www.dice.com
www.hotjobs.com
www.careerbuilder.com
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TomPlate
11-16 04:18 PM
Who defeated who?
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raj1998
05-20 09:55 PM
Its been real fast. Yesterday I received my Approval letter, today I received my Card in mail.
Application was approved on 13 may after opening SR on 6th may. So canceling INFOPASS... :)
Application was approved on 13 may after opening SR on 6th may. So canceling INFOPASS... :)
ArkBird
06-08 01:53 AM
u got it all wrong there, there is goin to be an h1b increase, the business community wants it, they'll get it wether anyone likes it or not and with that will come all those durbin/ron hira amendments and all this will happen b4 the next h1b date so its a matter of time b4 it all happens again
Could not agree more with you on that... Devil is gone. Now the Deep Sea!!!
Love my(our) life.....
Could not agree more with you on that... Devil is gone. Now the Deep Sea!!!
Love my(our) life.....
485Question
10-29 03:21 PM
Give a try if they can update it.
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