Anne Hathaway Catwoman

To all Experts/Gurus, please advice on this issue.

I hold a H-1B status as well as I-485 Adjustment of Status Pending.
I am the primary applicant in this Eb-2 petition PD July 2006. I am with the same employer for the past four years and they are the sponsor of the green card petition as well.

I have got admit to PhD in EECS at MIT (Top program in US) and would like to pursue that option.

1. Can i continue full time PhD on my I-485 pending visa status? The PhD will be a natural progression of my current research job with my employer.
2. Do i need to change to a F-1 Visa? From what i understand, I think one cannot change from I-485 to F-1.
3. From what i understand, i can keep my I-485 pending status while doing full time study provided i have an offer from my current employer/other employer willing to hire me upon approval of the I-485. Is this correct?
4. Regarding the procedure to do this, do i need to get an offer in writing from my current employer/future employer before i start the full time study? Or do i need to get this written offer from the employer if and when i receive an RFE from USCIS?
5. Do i need to proactively invoke AC21 for doing this and let USCIS know?
6. How long do i need to stay with the employer once my I-485 is approved? I hear 6 months as a good period.
7. If the I-485 gets approved in the middle of a semester, how soon do i need to start working for the employer?
8. Any other creative ideas to sail through this like keep engagement with current employer say by consulting few hours a week etc.?
9. Do i have any realistic chance of I-485 approval before September 2009? From the recent infopass, i was told that name check, FP check, background check are done but my FP have expired. I was told that i will receive a FP notice but i don't know when.

These might have already been discussed in previous threads, but i would appreciate response from experts/gurus.

Thanks.

You can't change from 485 status to F-1 within the country. You can only change from non immigrant to another non immigrant visa within the country.

If you wanted to get on F-1; you would have to go for visa stamping and re-enter on F-1. However, consulate probably wouldn't give you F-1 since you have shown immigrant intent. Even if they somehow gave it to you; then uscis would deny your 485 eventually by entering on F-1 visa.

You can go full time to school while 485 is pending. You just have to be able to demonstrate that you have a permanent full time job waiting for you upon greencard approval (ie., AC21).

There was a legal case from a long time ago; where a person was getting sponsored for a particular position and he went to school full time for a totally irrelevant occupation to what he was getting sponsored for (he went to school to be a dentist). USCIS denied his case saying that they didn't believe his intent to go into the job since he was being trained/educated in a totally different field.

Long story short; was that it went to court and the candidate won...

If you want to put up with the inevitable hassles from uscis that you may get over doing this then go ahead. At the end you should prevail but USCIS likes for you to go through a bumpy road

Legal immigration IS all about competitiveness. Why there is an EB based immigration category at all? It's primary because they want to be able retain talent. As such, one of the strong argument for the current EB situation will be that if they do not do it, this country's competitiveness edge will diminish. This is the truth and I think most law maker is able to understand that.

remember that PACE bill is not primarily about legal immigration .. it is about US S&T competitiveness .. what is to say that the anti-immigration guys wont make the pitch that immigration issues should be kept out of such a bill, as they did with S1932 ? Agreed PACE act in its current form is favorable to us, but there is no gaurantee all our provisions will go through unopposed ... rest assured the likes of numbersUSA are as busy as we are.

Very useful information and thanks for sharing.
Truly i have no idea that people on H1B (for example) are also eligible for some sort of benefits.
Good to know

Satya
Satyasaich you are wrong on multiple levels. People with an EAD are in fact eligible for unemployment insurance. Here (http://nelp.3cdn.net/5727e33f7447025233_1ym6b9eh4.pdf) is a document with more information. This is not to say that availing of that benefit might not harm your green card prospects. What you are, in fact, referring to are social security benefits which are different from unemployment benefits.

guess what i have a question. this is what happened. we are married in india quite sometime back, however, we had no marriage certificate and could not get one from india after trying for a long time. so we got married again here itself some weeks back. we had been filing tax as a couple until now. how to amend that?

I would like to share my I485 experience.

1.Brief History and Denial reason.

Did I485 interview at local office in Jan 2009.
Got Denial notice stating that I485 filed when dates are not current.
This is not true. Filed I 485 in 2007 July Fiasco.
Immigration office recived application in AUg 2007, well before deadline Aug 17'2007.
Got I485 receipt in October.

it was denied due to clear error.

2. Filed Service MTR with out filing Fee ( as this is service error)
Did not get any communication for 3 months.
In between took info pass couple of times and it did not help.

Wrote letter seeking help of senator explaining situation.

Immediately got reply that case was reopened and I797 Notice of action was mailed to me stating that case was reopend and finger prints expired.

Did finger printing in May.

Since dates are not current, I am not expecting any approval.
AT least I am happy that. case was reopened.

I heard that some 485 was denied ( 2007 July Fiasco) due to same error. I posted this experience as it would be helpfull for any other denials cases.


.

Good thing. Please let me know if you are interested in helping IV in a new campaign addressing issues similar to this? Send me a private message with your contact info and I will contact you.

Should address on Drivers license and Address that we provide for USCIS should it match ?

I am a consultant hence i have given a friends address who own a home so that i dont need to change it often. Now i live in a different state (ofcourse temporarily) and since its USCIS i gave this address for any correspondence to USCIS. Now in future if i apply for any new forms many people have mentioned sending Drivers License but if i sent it it has a different address on it. is copy of drivers license mandatory? how does it work ?

If it is in the same state I think you are fine, I went for FP rececntly and I had a DL which had my three year old address( though i did change online on DMV website and they send me a paper card satting my new adress) as for a new card they charged some money so i never changed it.It is 3 years since i have moved to my current address. I was not even asked anything at FP.

Siva, this is not new. I had such a request back in 2004. I was transferring my visa at the time. My attorney had a university professor state exactly the same thing in a letter. The letter took care of the problem.

I have a Master's program in US and had 3 years previous work ex. Filed my H1B transfer on Sep, which was recently converted to premium processing. Got the RFE as listed below:


If it is your contention that the beneficialry is qualified to perform services in the specialty occupation yu have described through a combination of education, specialised training and/or work experience in areas related to the specialty . you must submit an evaluation from an official who has the authority to grant college-level credit for training and/or experience in the speciality at an accredited college or univeristy, which has a program for granting such credit based on an individual's training and/or work experience.

With the evaluation, the official must include a letter from the dean or provost of the official's affiliated education instutions, stating that the evaluating offical has the authoriity to grant college-level credit for training and/or experience. The dean or provost must also state in the letter whether the affiliated educational instutiion has a program for granting credit based on a indicidual's training and/or work experience, If the evealuator bases the evaluation partly or completely on the beneficiary's work experience. the evaluation must vlearly demonstate that:

) The beneficiary''s training and/or work experience included the theoretical and practical application of specialized knowledge required by the specialty;

2) The claimed experience was gained while working with peers, supervisors, and/or subordinates who have a degree or equivalent in the specialty

3) The beneficiary has recognition of expertise in the specialty evidenced by at least one type of documentation

A) Recognition of expertise in the specialty occupation by at least two recognized authorities in the same specialty occupation;

B) Membership in a recognized foreign or United States association or society in the specialty
occupation;

C) Published material by or about the alien in professional publications, trade journals, or major newspapers;

D) licensure or registration to practice the specialty occupation in a foreign country; or Achievements



if any one has similar problem please share

Thanks

my experience with all carriers including fedex/dhl and others have been bad. Infact no one can guarantee a timely delivery for international shipments, as there is customs check, that can delay the delivery. Customs clearance is not controlled by these carrier companies, though they can only expedite it.

my 2 cents.

US of A does not allow bonded labor, such type of agreements are not valid and void. Get your GC if possible; the more you bend the more they would like you to bend.

"Better to starve free than be a fat slave."
- Aesop

^^

Situation - During the month of July, I filed my 485 when all categories were current. Got my receipt too. Missed wife's application because her papers were not ready. Now priority dates have retrogressed again.

Saving grace - Our H1/H4 are in order with many long years left on them.

Question - Can I file my wife 485 now as a dependent, even though "my" PD is not current yet. The core point is that, does the concept of PD applies to the dependent 485 applications too?

unfortunately under current laws/regulations the dependent can only file when the PD of the primary applicant is current. So you'll need to wait for your PD to become current again to be able to file your wife's petition.

Hi Gurus,

I have a question regarding the Labour and I 140, I have joined company A with a promise of approved labour.

My company has filed for my I140 and it got approved.

I have asked for a copy of my Labour and I 140, the company representative says, these documents are Employer Centric, so they cannot give me those documents.

I am really shocked to hear this, As these documents are related to my GC, I thought they should be with me,or alteast a copy of it, but that i snto the case.

I would like to know if any of you guys had faced this problem, or is the reason given by the representative a genuine one.

Thanks

I'm moving from MI to TX and need to do something address. Does premium mail forwarding service works for USCIS notices? I know regular mail forwarding doesn't work and they'll be returned to INS. Please let me know if premium service works or not.

Thanks.

Ok.. I spoke to the USCIS customer service. They want me to refile I -131 either e-file or paper based and send the original (wrong picture AP) along with it and also all the supporting documents (passport copies, etc)

What a pain....

If I were you, I will definitely do infopass before sending anything. Local USCIS office is likely to be helpful in this case.

Good Luck.

That probably was unnecessary and may triggered the additional check due to export control of high end researches.

I can imagine.. I work on Assisted GPS platform on US Wireless Carrier Phones. So When he heard GPS, he (VO) must have raised the flag. Having said that, I am a direct employee, not through any consulting company or so. it is just a matter of time. Just wait and watch.

I will update any reply I would get.
D

is it safe to apply change of status from H1b to H4 while staying in US and once she gets a job can get stamping out of US as H1B with supporting docs.

H1b-H4-H1b

Thanks for the replies !! I have everything ready as I was planning for concurrent filing. But since the decision was changed on July 2nd, my attorney just filed I 140.

sure, I would sign up for the contribution.

I thought you applied under the "Labor Certification" system not PERM. If you did PERM (only then can you file concurrently), nothing stops you from filing for AOS rightaway, so go for it!

Me too...it was posted 15th of June... This is not the July one :p

That is why this GCKabhayega has so many red dots....

Dark Child has no votes, someones gotta vote for him, hes got a really good layout.

thx man :thumb:
but it doesn't matter that much, dave's is better, i can handle that ;)

Got to the forums menu and select I-485 reciept tracker and you will find that you are not the only one sailing. There are bunch of July 2nd filers who have not got their reciepts yet to start with. I am one among them . Filed on July 2nd no activity yet, no checks cashed .

bump...