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What happened to the thread on Emilio Gonzalez?

Editted to say: My bad it's under IV Agenda and Legislative Updates

I landed on December 2009 on a Sunday and did the visa stamping on monday, for the h1 they asked status in canada and i said i landed yesterday; got the visa stamp but in the annotations it says canadian resident; got through the POS without problems

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/newcomers/about-pr.asp

"Your permanent resident status allows you to live in Canada, but there is also a time limit on how long you can live outside the country. To keep your status as a permanent resident, you must live in Canada for at least two years within a five-year period."

Looks like you landed just a month after me. So we have the same time lines.


Hi Lasantha,

Not that i want to question your input but would greatly appreciate if you could point me to the official ruling or link where i can find this information. I tried to search for this on official canadian immigration web site but could not find one.

Thanks again !!

All:

I received an email on 8-8 saying card production ordered and on 8-9 about the welcome kit.

My PD is April 2 2004 EB2 (US educated for the idiot who tried to divide us b/w US and non US educated)

As a token of appreciation - I have contributed $100 to IV just now.Receipt ID: 1467-8132-5592-9911. Request all of those who get GC this month to contribute some $ amount. Although I was not very active in the forums I have contributed at least $400 to this cause and I will do the same in the future. Please do not try to divide b/w EB3 EB2 US educated etc. which I am noticing lately.

WE REALLY NEED TO HELP OUR EB3 FRIENDS. PLEASE CONTRUBUTE ONCE IN AN YEAR ATLEAST. I HAVE NOTICED THE MOMENT THEY GET GC THEY FORGET THE PAST DIFFICULTIES AND MOVE ON WHICH IS FINE. BUT IF POSSIBLE CONTRIBUTE ONCE IN AN YEAR.

As far as I can tell from this thread, no one who was eligible to file 6/1 has had receipts yet.

I was told, attorney / employer will receive notice of receipt for I 485, not employee. For EAD / AP - that goes to employee, not attorney / employer

Moderators,
Please merge this thread with the other depression thread. Don't let collective wealth on depression therapy advice get lost.

....
That's where AC21 comes to rescue, and you can become "self-employed" rather than "unemployed." Question is, why can't self-employment in same/similar occupation as your I-140 petition be considered to satisfy I-140 requirement?....

Yes, one can be self-employed for AC-21 job, as long as conditions mentioned in the same memo are fulfilled

"Question 8. Can an alien port to self-employment under INA �204(j)?
Answer: Yes, as long as the requirements are met. First, the key is whether the employment is in a "same or similar" occupational classification as the job for which the original I-140 petition was filed. Second, it may be appropriate to confirm that the new employer and the job offer are legitimate through an RFE to the adjustment applicant for relevant information about these issues. ...... "

I hope this is true. I am getting tired of waiting for visa bulletins.
Anyone close to my priority date out there?

pd2001_12...i can understand your pain. In a usual gregorian calendar date terms, my pd might be close.

But in USCIS Retrogression calendar terms, I might be millions of miles away from your priority date...:mad::(:confused:

I'm currently on my 4th EAD & AP, and I used AC21 twice so far to switch jobs (similar job descriptions, including the specific technologies I worked on). On both occasions, I have not informed USCIS. My attorney said one is not legally required to do so, and that we could respond if there is any RFE.

But I also know that there are lot of attorneys out there who recommend informing USCIS about the job change. I don't personally know of anyone who have used AC21 and went on to get the green card, so I can't really tell which approach is better. In either case, make sure to have all relevant paper work with you - specifically the experience letters from old employers with proper job descriptions.


As for the salary increases when changing jobs, I did talk to more than one attorney about this. And what I heard consistently was that higher salary is not as much of a problem as lower salary could be. In my case, I had salary increases of more than 30% each time I changed jobs, and I am doing fine so far. Whether that becomes a problem for me or not, I will deal with it when it happens.

I traveled out of the country a couple of times using AP. On my return to US, at the port of entry (SFO), I was asked if I still worked for the company that originally sponsored my GC application. I told them I changed employers using AC21, and that I was not legally required to inform USCIS about the job change. And they let me go without causing any trouble. Not sure if anyone else had different experiences in such case, but the immigration officers at SFO seem to be somewhat easier to deal with (assuming you haven't done anything wrong, of course).

I did have trouble with AC21 once. I ended up having a gap between my 2nd and 3rd EADs (so did my wife too), as we tried to do too much 'optimization' of EADs. Well, we learned the hard way that 'optimization' effort is bad, as both of us had to stop working during the gap. It's not a very pleasant feeling having to explain our respective employers that we had such issue. We lost money too, as we couldn't be legally paid during the gap - in addition to the unnecessary stress. I wish USCIS issues EADs with longer validity period - something like 3 years (but I once heard Aman say that they couldn't do so due to a software glitch in their system!!). In any case, we are now filing for EAD renewals well in advance of the current one's expiry.

Other issues with AC21 that we faced are things like having to pay for EAD and AP renewals every year, which is quite expensive. I guess you could negotiate this with your new employer when changing jobs. And the sheer inability to change your job roles or take on more responsibilities (on paper too!) is frustrating, but that is more of a lengthy GC processing symptom than an AC21 issue.

All things considered, I think AC21 is good. It's got it's set of issues, especially if you don't use it wisely, but it at least lets you have some kind of progress in your careers. The way I see it, if there is no career progress, I can at least make more money. You got to gain something over years of waiting to keep you going!


Let me ask you a question.

When you renew EAD what will be the start date. For example:
Lets say current EAD Expires 12/31/2007.
I apply for renewal in July say 07/01/2007.

When I get the new EAD would it start from 12/31/2007 to 12/31/2008 or sometime in July/August/September when it gets approved?

Basically would the renewal date start from where the current one is expiring or from the dat it got approved?

Thanks

Dude... Whatz up?

If someone ports from EB3 to EB2, then they deserve to be in the front of the queue. Nothing wrong in the process..

If someone ports from eb3 to eb2 they should get the priority date of the day they were eligible to file an eb2 and not be able to carry the date from eb3.
Porting makes sense in a family based visa where your petitioner can file for an application while he is still a green card holder and then becomes a citizen which upgrades the beneficiary's category as well.
On an employment visa you file for an eb3 when you are eligible for an eb3 job, you file for an eb2 when you are eligible for an eb2 job. Why would you be able to jump ahead in the eb2 line when you were clearly did not have an eb2 job ? Just because you filed an application at some point of time in eb3 and waited a decade to get a better job doesn't mean someone else has to pay for your (pick one - laziness, ineptitude, lack of skill or lack of knowledge).
Most of IV Core is made of eb3 applicants and therefore there has never been any push from the core on this matter. And as someone said .. You ARE eating my lunch..

Mehul - No worry as our prayers are with you. there are somethings beyond our control. only prayers can help.

I'am pretty sure you will be alright. enjoy life's every moment.

Hi guys,
i got my FP notice on Jan 10 in NJ at 1.00pm.At which time do i need to go for FP in Arizona (M.S.T).

Hey all,

I completed my landing in Toronto some 4 weeks ago. My pertinent details:
-No valid H1B stamp in passport
-485 was filed
-Planned on using AP to return

The risk at the time (since there was no clear consensus here) was returning to the US using AP with a Canadian Immigrant visa stamp in my passport. I should point out that my passport was literally a year old, and the Canadian visa was bang in the middle pages; it popped out as soon as the passport was flipped open. It couldn't be missed.

Toronto immigration was smooth. The only comment the officer made was that I had only a week left before my Canadian visa was due to expire, and she was surprised I had waited till the last minute (I suspect she'll be seeing quite a few more cases like this soon though!). I provided a Canadian address to receive my PR card over there.

I spent two days only in Canada. I decided to travel across the Atlantic and meet up with the family since I was leaving the U.S. anyways. Plus I figured on returning, if I was asked what the purpose of my travel was, I could honestly say "visiting family" as opposed to beating about the bush about the Canadian PR.

I returned 2 weeks later to NY-JFK. At the immigration counter I was asked to go to a separate desk to have my AP paperwork done. The Officer there asked me what my area of employment was, which I responded to. I was then asked to wait. 20-30 minutes later I was called again and my passport and AP documents were returned. No other questions were asked.

I was extremely paranoid about the whole thing, but there were literally no issues. Of course luck plays a big part, so it's up to you to roll the dice; chances of problems arising seem low though.


It's been almost 4 weeks and I still haven't received the Canadian PR card; if anyone else has an idea of how long it takes, I'd appreciate it if they could apprise me. Also I'm under the impression that since I'm not earning any income in Canada, there is no tax paperwork to be filed there. Is this correct?

Everybody has been waiting for his/her green card and congratulations to all those who has got their GC. On the other hand it is really unfair and to some extent unethical on the part of USICS not follow a fair system.
There are several people in 2004, 2005 who have been paitently waiting for their turn only to see that people behind them getting approved.
Several of us have writtent to Ombudsman, Director but of no avail.
Not sure what else can be done? Any Idea? Do we have any liaison with AILA who can take up this matter.

I can understand the frustration here. The problem is, USCIS has been doing this for several years and everyone knows this.
Even Ombudsman mention this in his report! So I dont think we can write much of letters about this...it is a well known and acknowledged fact!

Now what is the solution? The problem is USCIS claims that they do not have enough resouces to implement FIFO. Or may be they do not have a system to utilize available resources to do so.

This is not likely to change in next couple of months. So with all due respect, everyone with current PD but still waiting for GC will just have to wait and hope for the best. I wish my good luck to all. The best we can expect from USCIS at this point is to use all the visa numbers and not to waste any.

On a long run, this does need to change. It will take several months or years to change and it is worthwhile to attempt our efforts in that direction. Or suggest something in that line to include in upcoming CIR next year.

any thoughts?

Amit,

This is nice but I feel we should mention briefly about how we inspired from Mahatma Gandhi and his philosophy.




Flowers to Convey Hopes and Concerns of Skilled, Legal Immigrants
July 9, 2007
What
Hundreds of legal, highly-skilled workers, who feel disappointed by the recent "flip-flop" enacted by the Department of State (DoS) and the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS), with regards to eliminating the Green-Card processing delays, plan to send flowers to the USCIS Director, Emilio Gonzalez as a part of a symbolic and peaceful protest.
Where
The flowers are scheduled to be delivered to his office at 20 Massachusetts Avenue, NW Washington D.C. through various flower vendors.
When
July 10th, 2007.
Why
With this effort, they hope to create awareness about their predicament and express their anguish and frustration at the reversal and the lack of action from the Government. These are the highly skilled workers who have been driving the innovation in the US for many decades and have been living in this country legally and yet, they feel that their issues, concerns and contributions to the economy have largely gone unnoticed.
There are 140,000 Green cards allocated for highly-skilled workers and their dependents in a fiscal year (unused visas may not be rolled over to the next year). However, due to over-subscription, thousands of highly-skilled workers, including engineers, scientists, MBAs and health care professionals have been waiting patiently for years in order to be eligible to apply for their Green cards.
On June 13th, 2007, DoS provided a glimmer of hope to these aspiring legal immigrants, by announcing in their visa bulletin that all Employment-based green card applicants and their dependents would be eligible to apply for their Green cards, during the month of July 2007. Following this announcement, most of these future Americans and their sponsoring businesses, began a scramble to compile the documents and complete medical examinations required for their applications. After overcoming several hurdles and enduring hardships, these applicants eagerly waited for July 2, 2007 to send out their applications to the USCIS. However, to their dismay, the DoS, in an unprecedented move, issued an addendum to the visa bulletin, on the very day that the USCIS should have begun accepting their applications, stating that all available visa numbers for the current fiscal year had been used up and that no new applications would be accepted.
This sudden reversal has resulted in emotional distress and financial losses for these individuals and businesses.
Now, these highly-skilled professionals have decided to call attention to the "broken" immigration system in the U.S. for legal immigrants, by sending flowers to the USCIS Director, Emilio Gonzalez. They request that the USCIS honor the original visa bulletin and accept applications received through the month of July. In addition, they hope to encourage the U.S. Government to create more fool-proof immigration policies for the forthcoming year or at the least pass a legislation allowing the continual use of unused employment-based immigrant visa numbers from previous years.
Dilip Tekkedil who came to the US in 1998 for graduate studies and is still waiting for his green card hopes to send a simple message with this campaign � �fix the system�, he says. On various online discussion forums, most skilled, legal immigrants want to send this message to USCIS and more broadly to the US lawmakers � �I understand that your agency does all it can to do the best job. I hope you empathize with a legal immigrant's frustration. A small token of peaceful symbolic act and hoping for the best.�
Media Contact: This symbolic protest largely grew out of grassroots discussion on various forums on the website hosted by the group Immigration Voice. Some volunteers who work with Immigration Voice have been loosely directing this event.

References:
This article on the South Asian Journalist Association's forum explains the issues facing skilled, legal professionals in the US.

Media coverage
The Wall Street Journal: Reversal Frustrates Green-Card Applicants by MIRIAM JORDAN. July 5, 2007; Page A2
The New York Times: Suit Planned Over Visas for the Highly Skilled by JULIA PRESTON. July 6, 2007
The Times Of India: Green Card Hopefuls Resort to Gandhigiri in US by Chidanand Rajghatta. July 7, 2007
The New York Times: Immigration Malpractice. July 7, 2007

What drives the decision for a bill to be considered in Congress/Senate? WHY can't we pitch SKIL or TALENT Bills as a means to separate legal immigration from the ongoing CIR debate?

If politicians are introducing these bills, they should be willing to back them up separtely instead of saying that these come into picture only if CIR fails. Or is the introduction of other bills a sign of CIR's imminent failure? Since the top IV team has the visibility with politicians, this hypocrisy should be resolvable. Please tell us why these bills cannot be taken up while CIR is pending? Isn't that what the lobbying company is supposed to help us with?

No one is prepared to jeopardize their political careers over 12 million illegal immigrants. Thought I have said in my earlier posts that we cannot alienate ourselves from the illegal issue I think we need to take the next step and start to contact the senators who have introduced and backed the SKIL, PACE and TALENT act to see if this can be pushed through senate and congress as seperate bills.

Is the core team looking in to this? There have been a lot of heated arguments on this thread as to the lack benefit to ALL LEGAL IMMIGRANTS with these bills, but we need to look at the bigger picture.PLEASE REMBEMBER THAT IF THE SKIL,PACE OR TALENT goes through a lot of people will benefit directly and will clear the way for folks that will not get immediate benefit from the passage of the bill.SO ALL OF US WIN,and that's important.

Dear Mr. XXXX
Thank you for getting in touch with me regarding the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act (S. 729).

The DREAM Act is a bipartisan and narrowly-tailored bill that would allow undocumented immigrants who have completed two years of military service or college to petition the Secretary of Homeland Security for legal permanent residency. These individuals are required to have entered the United States prior to their sixteenth birthday, graduated from high school, and lived in the United States for at least five consecutive years.

As the Senate continues to work on the National Defense Authorization Act and its amendments, I will keep your thoughts in mind.

Thank you again for sharing your views with me.

Sincerely,

Sherrod Brown
United States Senator

P:S: DOES the ADMIN want me to send a response to this mail asking specifically to include the kids of Legals too or wait? Admin pls. reply..

Hi Everybody

I'm almost at checkout for sending flowers. Interestingly I noticed that there are other forums where people are discussing the immigration issues and also where people are effected.

Lets make it a massive campaign. We can have a link on the immigration voice home page with exact details on the address and date (final) and impress on people that it shall work.

I noticed that many Chinese use other forums in Chinese language. In fact I requested one of friends to post these details in their forum as well. May be each one of us can forward the details to others by E-mail or other wise. Try to make 10th July as big day for USCIS leaving all document packages aside but busy handling the roses.

Media would definitely be happy discussing the approach for days and in way discuss the issue as well.
Flowers do bring smile and a little bit of introspection to every one.

Lets do it big way.

Thanks

I think it is fair to go by EB level than priority date. Usually the levels mean qualifications. I think they deserve to get GC first! That makes more sense to me.

Not sure Why IV Core should respond when a category goes off... They are working united for all overall suffering and pain for all categories...

What is IV Core? Sorry! I am new to this forum.I meant the flower campaign for all employment(Eb2 and Eb3) categories

thanks neelu8, good to know we'll be seeing more people in DC.

Total Contributions...........$8,325.00
Amount to be raised.......$41,675.00
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