texcan
08-04 09:29 PM
I've applied for EAD/AP renewal for both myself and my wife. I spent $1,290 for this.
Say I got my GC approved and then I call USCIS and withdraw my pending EAD/AP application. Will I get a refund for pending EAD/AP application, if I get my GC approved before EAD/AP approval?
Thanks,
India EB2; PD - Nov 05
I-140 - Filed Mar '06; Approved Jun '06
I-485 - Reached NSC July 26'07;
My friend,
Donot get angry, its not personal to you...but for the action.
Please live your life and try not to find excuses to be unhappy.
Think about this, you have been waiting for GC ( assumption) for last 3-4 years, you must have had your times of frustration, everyone does...but now when your GC is thru or about to be thru; you have found a way to stay anxious, unhappy.
Sorry to say these words to you, please donot mind and not take it personally.
Be happy at least and spread some joy in community.
See the link below, this is inspiration and actions i expect from community (IV) /friends/group. Please see
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Sara+Reinertsen+Ironman&search_type=&aq=f
Please donate some time, money to IV...if not some cheer at least.
Say I got my GC approved and then I call USCIS and withdraw my pending EAD/AP application. Will I get a refund for pending EAD/AP application, if I get my GC approved before EAD/AP approval?
Thanks,
India EB2; PD - Nov 05
I-140 - Filed Mar '06; Approved Jun '06
I-485 - Reached NSC July 26'07;
My friend,
Donot get angry, its not personal to you...but for the action.
Please live your life and try not to find excuses to be unhappy.
Think about this, you have been waiting for GC ( assumption) for last 3-4 years, you must have had your times of frustration, everyone does...but now when your GC is thru or about to be thru; you have found a way to stay anxious, unhappy.
Sorry to say these words to you, please donot mind and not take it personally.
Be happy at least and spread some joy in community.
See the link below, this is inspiration and actions i expect from community (IV) /friends/group. Please see
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Sara+Reinertsen+Ironman&search_type=&aq=f
Please donate some time, money to IV...if not some cheer at least.
wallpaper journey greatest hits limited
.jpg "dresses journey greatest hits")
angelfire76
04-23 01:20 PM
I know it is a loss in priority date. But my point is: "does fighting with the lawyer, give him his time back?" In fact by that he is loosing his valuable time and energy further.
If there is "ANY" method to get his "LC" approved with the same priority date, I totally agree he should do that.
That is what I mean by "focus on your goal". If your goal is to fight with lawyer for a cause, just do it. You will at least feel happy that you did the right thing, whatever you felt right.
Also "you pay the lawyer to represent you and to do things for you". The "payment" is not for a 100% error-free service. It is always back on your shoulder to make sure the lawyer is doing the right thing. Many of you may not agree, but that is my view. It is just a service. Not an "error-free-guaranteed" service.
You must be a lawyer, the ambulance chasing kind. Try the same line of argument with your boss when the system (assuming you are a IT guy) that you built and deployed into production fails and you want more money to fix your errors.
The reason we engage a lawyer and not do the stuff ourselves is because we don't know enough of the (unnecessarily complex) US immigration law. The least thing the lawyer can do is review the form before submitting it to DOL.
No wonder with guys like you, like teli said, we are stuck in an absurdly long immigration queue.
To the original poster, file a MTR (Motion to reconsider) soon with the help of another lawyer if possible with an explanation of the error. If the mistake is genuine, DOL will reopen your case.
If there is "ANY" method to get his "LC" approved with the same priority date, I totally agree he should do that.
That is what I mean by "focus on your goal". If your goal is to fight with lawyer for a cause, just do it. You will at least feel happy that you did the right thing, whatever you felt right.
Also "you pay the lawyer to represent you and to do things for you". The "payment" is not for a 100% error-free service. It is always back on your shoulder to make sure the lawyer is doing the right thing. Many of you may not agree, but that is my view. It is just a service. Not an "error-free-guaranteed" service.
You must be a lawyer, the ambulance chasing kind. Try the same line of argument with your boss when the system (assuming you are a IT guy) that you built and deployed into production fails and you want more money to fix your errors.
The reason we engage a lawyer and not do the stuff ourselves is because we don't know enough of the (unnecessarily complex) US immigration law. The least thing the lawyer can do is review the form before submitting it to DOL.
No wonder with guys like you, like teli said, we are stuck in an absurdly long immigration queue.
To the original poster, file a MTR (Motion to reconsider) soon with the help of another lawyer if possible with an explanation of the error. If the mistake is genuine, DOL will reopen your case.
gcwanter
07-26 01:35 PM
It depends on if you filed the application yourself or thru lawyer authorizing them with a G28
- if thru lawyer they will receive all receipts except EAD cards which comes directly to ur home address. In that case you will be safe because the receipts and EAD cards will be easily spaced out by atleast 6o days.(receipt coming first). So then you can update address with USCIS by phone + AR11 so that EAD comes safely to new address
- if not thru lawyer then receipts will come to address specified which might be your old address. USPS redirection does not work
- you can try these things
- approach postal office and check if you can buy a PO box and deposit all mail coming at old adress there and collect it weekly once.
Hold mail for next x days (whatever maximum)..and renew it once x expires..
also clearly check with them if the govt notifications which do not redirect will be held or PO'ed.
these are just my suggestions. not sure that it will work. but if you try any please post your experiences too
- if thru lawyer they will receive all receipts except EAD cards which comes directly to ur home address. In that case you will be safe because the receipts and EAD cards will be easily spaced out by atleast 6o days.(receipt coming first). So then you can update address with USCIS by phone + AR11 so that EAD comes safely to new address
- if not thru lawyer then receipts will come to address specified which might be your old address. USPS redirection does not work
- you can try these things
- approach postal office and check if you can buy a PO box and deposit all mail coming at old adress there and collect it weekly once.
Hold mail for next x days (whatever maximum)..and renew it once x expires..
also clearly check with them if the govt notifications which do not redirect will be held or PO'ed.
these are just my suggestions. not sure that it will work. but if you try any please post your experiences too
2011 dresses journey greatest hits
David C
August 8th, 2005, 10:43 PM
A good technique idea - sort of a customisable ND filter in result.
This is also a bit of a strange co-incidence for me - in that I had just finished doing a couple of Quantum Mechanics thought experiments using the idea of crossed linear polarizers combined with beam-splitters and then read this thread...
This is also a bit of a strange co-incidence for me - in that I had just finished doing a couple of Quantum Mechanics thought experiments using the idea of crossed linear polarizers combined with beam-splitters and then read this thread...
more...
immigrationvoice1
01-31 09:36 PM
Has anyone analyzed who would be an ideal president from our point of view? Does IV endorse any candidate?
In my opinion IV should not be "endorsing" any candidate and one among the many reasons could be, none of the members of IV have voting rights in this country! Why should IV even think of endorsing anyone in this scenario ?
I guess what you meant to ask was who amongst the current contestants does the IV leadership thinks would be pro legal highly skilled immigrant if he/she happens to get elected to the White House.
Please correct me if I am wrong with the above.
In my opinion IV should not be "endorsing" any candidate and one among the many reasons could be, none of the members of IV have voting rights in this country! Why should IV even think of endorsing anyone in this scenario ?
I guess what you meant to ask was who amongst the current contestants does the IV leadership thinks would be pro legal highly skilled immigrant if he/she happens to get elected to the White House.
Please correct me if I am wrong with the above.
mallu
07-04 06:44 PM
Firstly, congrats!! BTW, when did you get the fingerprinting completed in your case? Want to get an idea as to how fast the whole process was done. Lets hope it is this way when our turn comes ;)
There is chance things get stuck in security check and rot there for years.
Many Indian applicants will attest to this.
There is chance things get stuck in security check and rot there for years.
Many Indian applicants will attest to this.
more...
mnq1979
01-29 10:54 AM
Dear All,
I need urgent information that how to file Advance Parole application. My I485 application is pending with USCIS and now i need to travel to my country as my uncle is very sick. I am planning to fill out the application by myself and not by the lawyer as he is ripping me off. Can any one help me how to fill out the application although it seems very easy but i dont want to make any kind of mistakes.
In part 1, field (3) of the application it asks me for "Class of Admission" i am not sure wat to write in it. NEED HELP IN THIS FIELD.
In part 3, field (1) and field (2) can i write "Various" as I want my document to be valid for multiple visits OR do i need to put any date.
I also need some guidance that what kind of letter I should make where it asks that "On a separate sheet(s) of paper, please explain how you qualify for an advance parole document and what circumstances warrant issuance of advance parole. * Include copies of any documents you wish considered."
Please, please help me in this regards.
I would really appreciate if any one can help me out in this matter.
Hi,
My wife's I-485 is currently pending. Along with the I-485, an I-131, and I-765application was filed on July 31, 2007. As you know, the process time frame for the I-131 is 90 days. The I-131 was being a bit delayed due to the amount of fillings from the new fee increases. Over 120 days later in mid Dec. I still had not received confirmation.
Unfortunately, I just purchased tickets to travel overseas to visit family and friends for after Christmas. I emailed my immigration lawyer about the status and they only said that it's still pending.
Over a period of a few days my wife and I contacted USCIS to check on the status, and we found out that there was an error on her date of birth. That very day the date of birth was corrected and the I-131 was expedited and we received the documents in time to travel a few days later.
The immigration lawyer says that the error in the date of birth had little to none effect on why the I-131 was delayed. Instead he believes the delay was because he didn't receive tax documents from me till Dec. 4., which he believes is why the I-131 and I-765 was approved on the same day.
However, I asked for a fee reduction due to his lack of service. Due I have a valid argument? Any thoughts welcomed!
I need urgent information that how to file Advance Parole application. My I485 application is pending with USCIS and now i need to travel to my country as my uncle is very sick. I am planning to fill out the application by myself and not by the lawyer as he is ripping me off. Can any one help me how to fill out the application although it seems very easy but i dont want to make any kind of mistakes.
In part 1, field (3) of the application it asks me for "Class of Admission" i am not sure wat to write in it. NEED HELP IN THIS FIELD.
In part 3, field (1) and field (2) can i write "Various" as I want my document to be valid for multiple visits OR do i need to put any date.
I also need some guidance that what kind of letter I should make where it asks that "On a separate sheet(s) of paper, please explain how you qualify for an advance parole document and what circumstances warrant issuance of advance parole. * Include copies of any documents you wish considered."
Please, please help me in this regards.
I would really appreciate if any one can help me out in this matter.
Hi,
My wife's I-485 is currently pending. Along with the I-485, an I-131, and I-765application was filed on July 31, 2007. As you know, the process time frame for the I-131 is 90 days. The I-131 was being a bit delayed due to the amount of fillings from the new fee increases. Over 120 days later in mid Dec. I still had not received confirmation.
Unfortunately, I just purchased tickets to travel overseas to visit family and friends for after Christmas. I emailed my immigration lawyer about the status and they only said that it's still pending.
Over a period of a few days my wife and I contacted USCIS to check on the status, and we found out that there was an error on her date of birth. That very day the date of birth was corrected and the I-131 was expedited and we received the documents in time to travel a few days later.
The immigration lawyer says that the error in the date of birth had little to none effect on why the I-131 was delayed. Instead he believes the delay was because he didn't receive tax documents from me till Dec. 4., which he believes is why the I-131 and I-765 was approved on the same day.
However, I asked for a fee reduction due to his lack of service. Due I have a valid argument? Any thoughts welcomed!
2010 journey greatest hits limited
surabhi
05-29 08:21 PM
I have been working for a University for the last 3 yrs(2005-2008). The H1 they have is quota exempted and is non transferable. In 2006 a consultant A offered me a job and filed for H1b in the quota it has got approved.But due to certain reasons i have not joined them and still continued it the university job. In 2008 i got an another job oppurtunity with an another consultant B. They filed a H1 transfer from company A to Company B ,showing my university h1 that i am still in status.This H1 application by company B got denied and i have left the university job. Can i join the company A because they have an H1 approved in my name in oct 2006. I contacted consultant A and they still have not cancelled the H1 they have in my name.
Thank you for the help
YOu were in status until you were with the University. Did you start working with Company B pending approval. In that case you MAY be in status while you were working there. You are certainly out of status since your h1b is denied. Make sure you are not accumulating > 180 days.
USCIS denial seem to be consistent with the fact that you cannot transfer from cap-exempt to cap based job. Even though you petitioned from Company A to B, your H1 in use was from the University.
It should be possible to go back to Company A, assuming it is still valid and it has I-94 attached to it. The case is slightly complex, and a paid telephone consultation with a good attorney will be money well spent.
Thank you for the help
YOu were in status until you were with the University. Did you start working with Company B pending approval. In that case you MAY be in status while you were working there. You are certainly out of status since your h1b is denied. Make sure you are not accumulating > 180 days.
USCIS denial seem to be consistent with the fact that you cannot transfer from cap-exempt to cap based job. Even though you petitioned from Company A to B, your H1 in use was from the University.
It should be possible to go back to Company A, assuming it is still valid and it has I-94 attached to it. The case is slightly complex, and a paid telephone consultation with a good attorney will be money well spent.
more...
gc_on_demand
05-25 08:48 AM
AFAIK DS 156 and DS !57 are no longer required. These have been replaced with DS 160.
My last experience in Mumbai consulate was 2 years back after I changed job and went to India. My experience was very good -- not a single question asked . An Indian lady called me and said your Visa is issued. Collected Passport in evening at VFS Office (BTW, there is a very long queue for passport collection)
However, I do not work for consulting company, never worked for any Desi Consulting and I already had a couple of H1 and L1 visa stamps in my passport.
I am travelling again now but avoiding the hassle of stamping. Returning with current stamp whcih will be valid for 10 more days after my return (I already have the extended 797)
I have I 797 valid til July 2011. Stamp is valid for same time. but my passport was expiring in June 2011 so I got I -94 valid until Nov 2010. My company is planing to apply for ext soon so I will get new I 797. with labor and I 140 approved I am hoping to get 1 or 3 years ext.
Anyway so I will get ext from Nov 2010 to atleast Nov 2011. ( Worst case if I get one year only). I am full time with this company and never changed company in last 5 years. So my question is if I get new I 797 in Nov 2011, and old stamp which is valid until July 2011 can I travel india and come back with old stamp , new I 797 and new passport ?
everything is from same company. Or Do I need to get new stamp since I will get new I 797 ?
My last experience in Mumbai consulate was 2 years back after I changed job and went to India. My experience was very good -- not a single question asked . An Indian lady called me and said your Visa is issued. Collected Passport in evening at VFS Office (BTW, there is a very long queue for passport collection)
However, I do not work for consulting company, never worked for any Desi Consulting and I already had a couple of H1 and L1 visa stamps in my passport.
I am travelling again now but avoiding the hassle of stamping. Returning with current stamp whcih will be valid for 10 more days after my return (I already have the extended 797)
I have I 797 valid til July 2011. Stamp is valid for same time. but my passport was expiring in June 2011 so I got I -94 valid until Nov 2010. My company is planing to apply for ext soon so I will get new I 797. with labor and I 140 approved I am hoping to get 1 or 3 years ext.
Anyway so I will get ext from Nov 2010 to atleast Nov 2011. ( Worst case if I get one year only). I am full time with this company and never changed company in last 5 years. So my question is if I get new I 797 in Nov 2011, and old stamp which is valid until July 2011 can I travel india and come back with old stamp , new I 797 and new passport ?
everything is from same company. Or Do I need to get new stamp since I will get new I 797 ?
hair journey greatest hits limited
WaldenPond
02-09 11:03 AM
Hello,
Could anybody please post the latest going on with today's hearing - Committee on Government Reform Hearing: U.S. Competiteveness.
I am not able to find any news/update on this.
Thanks,
Could anybody please post the latest going on with today's hearing - Committee on Government Reform Hearing: U.S. Competiteveness.
I am not able to find any news/update on this.
Thanks,
more...
.jpg "journey greatest hits limited")
xyz2005
08-14 04:38 PM
I-485 AD: Jul-02-2007
I-485 ND: Jul-31-2007
still waiting for fingerprint notice.
Hi,
Same case like you but got FP notices for me and wife together just yesterday evening. Just wait and you should be getting yours in a day or two.
Best Regards,
I-485 ND: Jul-31-2007
still waiting for fingerprint notice.
Hi,
Same case like you but got FP notices for me and wife together just yesterday evening. Just wait and you should be getting yours in a day or two.
Best Regards,
hot hits limited gold edition.
sankar_203
04-01 04:54 PM
Hello folks,
i need some expert opinion here. These are my primary details.
COMPANY A:
1. Perm Labor - Nov 2006. (EB2)
2. I-140 approved - Nov 2007
3. I-485 filed - July 2007.
4 EAD - oct 2007
5 FP - Nov 2007
6 AP - Oct 2007
H1-B extension denied in dec 2007 due to variety of company A issues.
Invoked AC21 yesterday with company B.
COMPANY B: Bought substitution labor of Feb 2004 EB3.
I-140 filed : NSC : paper based filing no documents has been sent waiting for RFE on July 13 2007.
But my labor substitute on 140 has been used for somebody else by mistake and now company B says they have few other labors to substitute and they say we'll respond to the query saying that the original one has been used and please consider the second one. Attorney has made this mistake since many labors were filed at that time and the labor that they have used for me has been approved . Do you guys whatever the attorney is suggesting is going to work? Please let me know i haven't got an RFE yet..
i need some expert opinion here. These are my primary details.
COMPANY A:
1. Perm Labor - Nov 2006. (EB2)
2. I-140 approved - Nov 2007
3. I-485 filed - July 2007.
4 EAD - oct 2007
5 FP - Nov 2007
6 AP - Oct 2007
H1-B extension denied in dec 2007 due to variety of company A issues.
Invoked AC21 yesterday with company B.
COMPANY B: Bought substitution labor of Feb 2004 EB3.
I-140 filed : NSC : paper based filing no documents has been sent waiting for RFE on July 13 2007.
But my labor substitute on 140 has been used for somebody else by mistake and now company B says they have few other labors to substitute and they say we'll respond to the query saying that the original one has been used and please consider the second one. Attorney has made this mistake since many labors were filed at that time and the labor that they have used for me has been approved . Do you guys whatever the attorney is suggesting is going to work? Please let me know i haven't got an RFE yet..
more...
house journey greatest hits limited
chapsi29
06-27 11:13 AM
I started work on 11/27 and that has been reported as the official start date. We will be talking to the lawyers next week to clarify all these issues. To my knowledge, I should not get a W2 as I did not get paid in 2007. Those wages should appear on my 2008 W2.
Outside of this topic, I have a question. Will I be eligible for the economic stimulus for 2007 if I did not get my W2 ? My husband will be filing the tax return (as joint) but he will not be able to enter my W2 information.
Thanks.
Outside of this topic, I have a question. Will I be eligible for the economic stimulus for 2007 if I did not get my W2 ? My husband will be filing the tax return (as joint) but he will not be able to enter my W2 information.
Thanks.
tattoo journey greatest hits limited
%252BLimited%252BEdition.jpg "journey greatest hits limited")
mrsr
07-07 10:20 PM
How one can help him, what should we do?
more...
pictures Details of Journey - Greatest
.jpg "journey greatest hits limited")
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.
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Raj12
02-05 05:25 PM
I am in Alabama (near Huntsville)
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UKannan
05-23 09:24 AM
Is there anyway to get the I140 Approval or at least the Receipt # other than that off thru employer?
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Munna Bhai
08-24 01:34 PM
Can interfiling done for spouse. I filed 485 based on my PERM labor. Can I interfile this 485 when my wifes labor gets approved from Backlog.
Here is what I got update from my attorney:
"Once the I-140 is approved(EB3, Nov 2004), we will write to the Immigration Service requesting them to apply that priority date to the pending I-485 (EB2, Feb 2006) application."
Hope this helps.
Here is what I got update from my attorney:
"Once the I-140 is approved(EB3, Nov 2004), we will write to the Immigration Service requesting them to apply that priority date to the pending I-485 (EB2, Feb 2006) application."
Hope this helps.
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dallasdude
09-25 10:24 AM
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RedHat
08-30 01:22 AM
response please
Leo07
11-14 09:41 PM
All the thoughts...and suggestions in the heat of the moment is fine....but let'sa ll stick to the same passion and participate in IV efforts with the same enthusiasm.
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