sodh
07-24 10:17 PM
Thanks for the responses.
I have the affidavits and the birth certificate with me. The problem is with the misspelled names on those when compared to my passport.
Get an affidavit signed by a magistrate from your country which has the corrected names, the Lawyers will have the format for that.
I have the affidavits and the birth certificate with me. The problem is with the misspelled names on those when compared to my passport.
Get an affidavit signed by a magistrate from your country which has the corrected names, the Lawyers will have the format for that.
wallpaper hair why i love you quotes for
jthomas
10-17 08:40 PM
I filled on July 11th no receipt, no check cashed. My lawyer told me, that my lawyer has 50 more candidates waiting to get receipts in month of July.
I think there are many waiting for receipt. Take it easy.
I think there are many waiting for receipt. Take it easy.
spicy_guy
09-15 01:27 PM
If you have not been happy with your employer, kick your employer's butt! :D
2011 cute i love you quotes for him
anilsal
09-11 10:45 PM
and chose standard shipping ( just 1.50 or so more than regular), it is arriving tomorrow.
So people who are attending the rally, you still can make it.
BUY IV Merchandise immediately.
So people who are attending the rally, you still can make it.
BUY IV Merchandise immediately.
more...
unitednations
05-19 03:24 PM
background checks can mean all sorts of things
1) someone has similar name to you who may have applied for immigration benefit in the past (they think you may be that person and they have to manually rule it out; this involves finding files, examining them, etc.)
2) even though 140 is approved they could be going back and checking this. I personally know of one person who had eb3 approved, he had masters degree with priority date in 2002 and 485 pending. His case had been transferred to local office; he went for interview, they didn't know why he had been called for interview and just sent the case back to nebraska service center.
he then decides to do eb2 labor/140. gets it approved, swaps priority date, etc. He then gets 485 rfe for paystubs/w2's, etc., and then oddly they ask him for a better copy of his masters diploma.
He sends the rfe response. his case gets transferred again to local office. local office tells him that he is in background check and they are verifying the genuineness of his masters degree and have sent the information to consulate in India for investigation. This was two years ago and he has not received any result.
Background check means all sorts of things...
1) someone has similar name to you who may have applied for immigration benefit in the past (they think you may be that person and they have to manually rule it out; this involves finding files, examining them, etc.)
2) even though 140 is approved they could be going back and checking this. I personally know of one person who had eb3 approved, he had masters degree with priority date in 2002 and 485 pending. His case had been transferred to local office; he went for interview, they didn't know why he had been called for interview and just sent the case back to nebraska service center.
he then decides to do eb2 labor/140. gets it approved, swaps priority date, etc. He then gets 485 rfe for paystubs/w2's, etc., and then oddly they ask him for a better copy of his masters diploma.
He sends the rfe response. his case gets transferred again to local office. local office tells him that he is in background check and they are verifying the genuineness of his masters degree and have sent the information to consulate in India for investigation. This was two years ago and he has not received any result.
Background check means all sorts of things...
paskal
07-08 08:49 PM
Any Drive in Minneapolis???
could not find one.
btw are you signed up to the state chapter (MN) ?
could not find one.
btw are you signed up to the state chapter (MN) ?
more...
seekerofpeace
10-05 11:05 PM
that was hilarious GCN007...BTW my wife got approved to finally....
Years ago or should I say ages ago not even in the US of A but at Heathrow at the American Airlines counter (that time I was a student for MS) the lady was going thru my I-20 and was asking for additional documents et al...so I had this bunch of documents in my folder...and her eyes landed on my degree certificate...she asked me you have a degree from IIT and you couldn't get a job still ? that's why you are going for your MS....i was like well I wanted to do research....why not in India? I was like this is not even USA and this is my 2nd visit to USA (after the Christmas break in the 2nd year)....why are they asking so many questions and this is pre-9/11.....
I was like why is she harassing me....Do you have intentions of staying back in the USA after you finish your MS....I said no I plan to do my PhD in the UK...She gave me a ugly look and stamped my passport and let me go....
SoP
Years ago or should I say ages ago not even in the US of A but at Heathrow at the American Airlines counter (that time I was a student for MS) the lady was going thru my I-20 and was asking for additional documents et al...so I had this bunch of documents in my folder...and her eyes landed on my degree certificate...she asked me you have a degree from IIT and you couldn't get a job still ? that's why you are going for your MS....i was like well I wanted to do research....why not in India? I was like this is not even USA and this is my 2nd visit to USA (after the Christmas break in the 2nd year)....why are they asking so many questions and this is pre-9/11.....
I was like why is she harassing me....Do you have intentions of staying back in the USA after you finish your MS....I said no I plan to do my PhD in the UK...She gave me a ugly look and stamped my passport and let me go....
SoP
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Milind123
07-27 03:34 PM
Kasi,
I had the same situation and asked my attorney last month. He replied "I-94 # is always the # on the white card which is stapled in your passport", meaning the latest I-94 (white card) given to you at the port of entry. It doesn't matter whether it is expired or not. Hope this answers.
I think the I-94 Numbers should be the same on all I-94's.
I had the same situation and asked my attorney last month. He replied "I-94 # is always the # on the white card which is stapled in your passport", meaning the latest I-94 (white card) given to you at the port of entry. It doesn't matter whether it is expired or not. Hope this answers.
I think the I-94 Numbers should be the same on all I-94's.
more...
morchu
04-27 05:18 PM
No. Applying for new H1-visa-stamp at a consulate, invalidates your existing H1-visa-stamp.
If the new visa is not granted or somehow one goes into 221(g)
waiting for some check, what happens then? Can you still come back on current visa?
Thanks.
If the new visa is not granted or somehow one goes into 221(g)
waiting for some check, what happens then? Can you still come back on current visa?
Thanks.
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RDB
08-26 12:09 PM
Nope, you are the not the only one unlucky! Same thing for me, 1 year EAD though PD is not current.....may be that indicates we will get our GCs soon :)
I will be surprised if I am the only unlucky guy
I will be surprised if I am the only unlucky guy
more...
pappu
01-15 11:00 PM
Any body else from Alabama? Please sign up here if you are from alabama. Lets start our state chapter activities. I am willing to take the lead to start the activities. So all you alabama residents please sign up.
Thanks Harsh.
Thanks Harsh.
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meg_z
08-14 02:54 PM
Any cuban sets foot on US land is allowed to stay legally.
This is wierd.
so they can change laws for cubans without getting it passed in house and senate. President can just sign a law on his own??
Wow, this goes to show how powerful the cuban lobby is!!
With all respect to all cubans, this is only directed to the political machinery and its bias than individuals from Cuba--
Cubans are more important to the country than high skilled best and the brightest immigrants who have been waiting in line!!!!
or for that matter cubans are more important than N Koreans, Vietnameese etc from communist countries!!
or cubans are more important than people from other latin american countries who are also trying to immigrate to usa!!
This is wierd.
so they can change laws for cubans without getting it passed in house and senate. President can just sign a law on his own??
Wow, this goes to show how powerful the cuban lobby is!!
With all respect to all cubans, this is only directed to the political machinery and its bias than individuals from Cuba--
Cubans are more important to the country than high skilled best and the brightest immigrants who have been waiting in line!!!!
or for that matter cubans are more important than N Koreans, Vietnameese etc from communist countries!!
or cubans are more important than people from other latin american countries who are also trying to immigrate to usa!!
more...
house house i love you quotes for
cnachu2
09-16 02:52 PM
I DONT SEE ANY PROBLEMS, AS LONG AS YOU KEEP YOUR AP, LETTER FROM YOUR EMPLOYER AND LAST 3 PAY STUBS AND COPY OF I485,EAD,AC21 COPY IF YOU HAVE ONE
Hi,
I am also planning to travel on AP to India. I changed my employer, but didn't file AC21. AP's are still from the time when i was working for my old employer who sponsored me. Will it be any issue, if i travel with these AP's. What type of letter do i need to take from present employer durimg my travel. Please advise...
Hi,
I am also planning to travel on AP to India. I changed my employer, but didn't file AC21. AP's are still from the time when i was working for my old employer who sponsored me. Will it be any issue, if i travel with these AP's. What type of letter do i need to take from present employer durimg my travel. Please advise...
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Sunx_2004
10-17 07:16 PM
July 17th no receipt yet
Just chill
;)
My application was filed on 19th July .However I have not received my receipts yet. Has your friend contacted the USCIS and inquired since 90 days are over?
Thanks,
Kapil
Just chill
;)
My application was filed on 19th July .However I have not received my receipts yet. Has your friend contacted the USCIS and inquired since 90 days are over?
Thanks,
Kapil
more...
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manand24
10-15 01:55 PM
I had LUDs on 10/05/2007, 10/07/2007, 10/09/2007 on my I-485 application after my FP appointment. I do not know what it means though.
dresses 2010 i love you quotes for him
dvb123
11-21 11:06 AM
[Federal Register: November 21, 2007 (Volume 72, Number 224)]
[Notices]
[Page 65588]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr21no07-75]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
[CIS No. 2426-07; DHS Docket No. USCIS-2007-0043]
RIN 1615-ZA61
Cuban Family Reunification Parole Program
AGENCY: U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, DHS.
ACTION: Notice.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: This Notice announces U.S. Citizenship and Immigration
Services' Cuban Family Reunification Parole Program. Under this
program, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services is offering
beneficiaries of approved family-based immigrant visa petitions an
opportunity to receive a discretionary grant of parole to come to the
United States rather than remain in Cuba to apply for lawful permanent
resident status. The purpose of the program is to expedite family
reunification through safe, legal, and orderly channels of migration to
the United States and to discourage irregular and inherently dangerous
maritime migration.
DATES: This Notice is effective November 21, 2007.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Manpreet S. Dhanjal, Refugee Officer,
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Department of Homeland
Security, 111 Massachusetts Avenue, NW., 8th Floor, Washington, DC
20529, Telephone (202) 272-1613.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
In furtherance of the U.S.-Cuba Migration Accords, the United
States endeavors to provide a minimum of 20,000 travel documents
annually to aspiring Cuban emigrants. See Joint Communiqu[eacute] on
Migration, U.S.-Cuba (Sept. 9, 1994) (known together with the May 2,
1995 Joint Statement as the U.S.-Cuba Migration Accords (hereinafter
``Migration Accords'')). In so doing, the United States offers a safe,
legal, and orderly means of coming to the United States. To date, the
majority of travel documents issued under the Migration Accords fall
into one of three programs: family-based immigrant visas; refugee
resettlement; and parole under the Special Cuban Migration Program,
also referred to as the Cuban Lottery. For information on the Cuban
Lottery, see http://havana.usinterestsection.gov/diversity_program.html
.
Two aspects of the existing array of migration programs limit the
ability of the United States to effectively promote safe, legal, and
orderly migration as an alternative to maritime crossings. First, with
the exception of ``immediate relatives'' (e.g., spouse, unmarried
child) of U.S. citizens (USCs), the number of family-based immigrant
visas that are available in any given year is limited by statute. See
Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) sections 201(c), 202(a) & 203, 8
U.S.C. 1151(c), 1152(a) & 1153. The statutory caps have resulted in
long waiting periods before family members remaining in Cuba may rejoin
the USCs and lawful permanent residents (LPRs) residing in the United
States who petitioned for them. Second, the United States has not been
permitted to hold a new registration period since 1998 due to
constraints placed on the Cuban Lottery program by the Cuban
Government. This greatly reduces the pool of individuals to whom the
United States may issue travel documents.
For these reasons, this Notice adds the Cuban Family Reunification
Parole (CFRP) Program to the list of migrant programs based on which
the United States issues travel documents under the Migration Accords.
II. The CFRP Program
Under the CFRP Program, USCIS may exercise its discretionary parole
authority to permit eligible Cuban nationals to come to the United
States to rejoin their family members. See INA section 212(d)(5)(A), 8
U.S.C. 1182(d)(5)(A) (permits parole of an alien into the United States
for urgent humanitarian reasons or significant public benefit); see
also 8 CFR 212.5(c) & (d) (discretionary authority for granting
parole). Granting parole to eligible aliens under the CFRP Program
serves the significant public benefit of enabling the United States to
meet its commitments under the Migration Accords as well as reducing
the perceived need for family members left behind in Cuba to make
irregular and inherently dangerous attempts to arrive in the United
States through unsafe maritime crossings, thereby discouraging alien
smuggling as a means to enter the United States. Whether to parole a
particular alien remains, however, a case-by-case, discretionary
determination.
III. Participation in the CFRP Program
USCIS will offer participation in the CFRP Program to Cuban
nationals who reside in Cuba and who are the beneficiaries (including
any accompanying or following to join spouse and children (see INA
section 203(d), 8 U.S.C. 1153(d)) of a properly filed Form I-130,
``Petition for Alien Relative,'' that has been approved, but for which
an immigrant visa is not yet immediately available.
Under the CFRP Program, USCIS or the Department of State's National
Visa Center (NVC) will mail written notice to U.S.-based USC and LPR
petitioners whose Forms I-130 have been approved regarding their
beneficiary's eligibility to participate in the CFRP Program and the
procedures for requesting parole. However, participation in the CFRP is
voluntary. If USCIS exercises its discretion to grant parole, it will
issue the necessary U.S. travel documents to the beneficiary in Cuba.
These travel documents will enable the beneficiary to travel safely to
the United States to rejoin his or her family members.
Participation in the CFRP Program is not available to aliens who
qualify as ``immediate relatives'' under section 201(b)(2)(A)(i) of the
INA, 8 U.S.C. 1151(b)(2)(A)(i). The extraordinary benefit of parole is
not needed for these aliens, since they may seek visas for travel to
the United States immediately upon the approval of Form I-130.
Additional information about the CFRP Program will be posted at
http://www.uscis.gov.
Dated: November 15, 2007.
Emilio T. Gonzalez,
Director, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
[FR Doc. E7-22679 Filed 11-20-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4410-10-P
[Notices]
[Page 65588]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr21no07-75]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
[CIS No. 2426-07; DHS Docket No. USCIS-2007-0043]
RIN 1615-ZA61
Cuban Family Reunification Parole Program
AGENCY: U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, DHS.
ACTION: Notice.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: This Notice announces U.S. Citizenship and Immigration
Services' Cuban Family Reunification Parole Program. Under this
program, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services is offering
beneficiaries of approved family-based immigrant visa petitions an
opportunity to receive a discretionary grant of parole to come to the
United States rather than remain in Cuba to apply for lawful permanent
resident status. The purpose of the program is to expedite family
reunification through safe, legal, and orderly channels of migration to
the United States and to discourage irregular and inherently dangerous
maritime migration.
DATES: This Notice is effective November 21, 2007.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Manpreet S. Dhanjal, Refugee Officer,
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Department of Homeland
Security, 111 Massachusetts Avenue, NW., 8th Floor, Washington, DC
20529, Telephone (202) 272-1613.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
In furtherance of the U.S.-Cuba Migration Accords, the United
States endeavors to provide a minimum of 20,000 travel documents
annually to aspiring Cuban emigrants. See Joint Communiqu[eacute] on
Migration, U.S.-Cuba (Sept. 9, 1994) (known together with the May 2,
1995 Joint Statement as the U.S.-Cuba Migration Accords (hereinafter
``Migration Accords'')). In so doing, the United States offers a safe,
legal, and orderly means of coming to the United States. To date, the
majority of travel documents issued under the Migration Accords fall
into one of three programs: family-based immigrant visas; refugee
resettlement; and parole under the Special Cuban Migration Program,
also referred to as the Cuban Lottery. For information on the Cuban
Lottery, see http://havana.usinterestsection.gov/diversity_program.html
.
Two aspects of the existing array of migration programs limit the
ability of the United States to effectively promote safe, legal, and
orderly migration as an alternative to maritime crossings. First, with
the exception of ``immediate relatives'' (e.g., spouse, unmarried
child) of U.S. citizens (USCs), the number of family-based immigrant
visas that are available in any given year is limited by statute. See
Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) sections 201(c), 202(a) & 203, 8
U.S.C. 1151(c), 1152(a) & 1153. The statutory caps have resulted in
long waiting periods before family members remaining in Cuba may rejoin
the USCs and lawful permanent residents (LPRs) residing in the United
States who petitioned for them. Second, the United States has not been
permitted to hold a new registration period since 1998 due to
constraints placed on the Cuban Lottery program by the Cuban
Government. This greatly reduces the pool of individuals to whom the
United States may issue travel documents.
For these reasons, this Notice adds the Cuban Family Reunification
Parole (CFRP) Program to the list of migrant programs based on which
the United States issues travel documents under the Migration Accords.
II. The CFRP Program
Under the CFRP Program, USCIS may exercise its discretionary parole
authority to permit eligible Cuban nationals to come to the United
States to rejoin their family members. See INA section 212(d)(5)(A), 8
U.S.C. 1182(d)(5)(A) (permits parole of an alien into the United States
for urgent humanitarian reasons or significant public benefit); see
also 8 CFR 212.5(c) & (d) (discretionary authority for granting
parole). Granting parole to eligible aliens under the CFRP Program
serves the significant public benefit of enabling the United States to
meet its commitments under the Migration Accords as well as reducing
the perceived need for family members left behind in Cuba to make
irregular and inherently dangerous attempts to arrive in the United
States through unsafe maritime crossings, thereby discouraging alien
smuggling as a means to enter the United States. Whether to parole a
particular alien remains, however, a case-by-case, discretionary
determination.
III. Participation in the CFRP Program
USCIS will offer participation in the CFRP Program to Cuban
nationals who reside in Cuba and who are the beneficiaries (including
any accompanying or following to join spouse and children (see INA
section 203(d), 8 U.S.C. 1153(d)) of a properly filed Form I-130,
``Petition for Alien Relative,'' that has been approved, but for which
an immigrant visa is not yet immediately available.
Under the CFRP Program, USCIS or the Department of State's National
Visa Center (NVC) will mail written notice to U.S.-based USC and LPR
petitioners whose Forms I-130 have been approved regarding their
beneficiary's eligibility to participate in the CFRP Program and the
procedures for requesting parole. However, participation in the CFRP is
voluntary. If USCIS exercises its discretion to grant parole, it will
issue the necessary U.S. travel documents to the beneficiary in Cuba.
These travel documents will enable the beneficiary to travel safely to
the United States to rejoin his or her family members.
Participation in the CFRP Program is not available to aliens who
qualify as ``immediate relatives'' under section 201(b)(2)(A)(i) of the
INA, 8 U.S.C. 1151(b)(2)(A)(i). The extraordinary benefit of parole is
not needed for these aliens, since they may seek visas for travel to
the United States immediately upon the approval of Form I-130.
Additional information about the CFRP Program will be posted at
http://www.uscis.gov.
Dated: November 15, 2007.
Emilio T. Gonzalez,
Director, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
[FR Doc. E7-22679 Filed 11-20-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4410-10-P
more...
makeup i love you quotes for him from
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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markelli
02-26 11:34 PM
Anysia,
Hi! Do you think this rule will apply if you were to apply for H1-B extension? I'm a PT too and my H1 will expire in October. My I-140 petition was filed last December and was approved this February. So I was wondering if USCIS uses the same standard for H1-B and I-140s. Which service center did you apply to? I'm really scared of what's happening. I hope that you get thru this....
Hi! Do you think this rule will apply if you were to apply for H1-B extension? I'm a PT too and my H1 will expire in October. My I-140 petition was filed last December and was approved this February. So I was wondering if USCIS uses the same standard for H1-B and I-140s. Which service center did you apply to? I'm really scared of what's happening. I hope that you get thru this....
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diptam
08-04 12:02 AM
We July2nd filers called them this morning and they couldn't find us in DB by FN,LN, DOB...
And in the evening they are saying we are in DB but receipts are yet to be generated ???
See the disclaimer at the bottom of the page. It says it might take another 14 days to receive the receipt even though they might have issued it. What I understand from this is that USCIS has completed the data entry for the dates given and issue the receipts (essentially means, receipt date has been marked against your application in the database) but the receipt will take another 14 days to reach.
So guys keep patience as USCIS is going to give us update every week now...mentioned in the news letter.
And in the evening they are saying we are in DB but receipts are yet to be generated ???
See the disclaimer at the bottom of the page. It says it might take another 14 days to receive the receipt even though they might have issued it. What I understand from this is that USCIS has completed the data entry for the dates given and issue the receipts (essentially means, receipt date has been marked against your application in the database) but the receipt will take another 14 days to reach.
So guys keep patience as USCIS is going to give us update every week now...mentioned in the news letter.
logiclife
12-16 05:43 PM
No one can predict anything.
It depends on how many applicants are actually going to apply or intend to apply for 485 between the PD now and your PD.
That depends on how many labor certs are pending in backlog centers. Then again, no one knows how many of those labor certs are duplicates with same person applying for GC from 2 or 3 different companies. Then, no one knows how many of those who are going to get their labor approved have left USA in the economic recession of 2000 thru 2002. And no one knows how many of those pending labors belong to people from India versus people from China or Phillipines or rest of world for that matter.
So if you get answers for PD prediction, taking it with a grain of salt. There are too many unknown variables in that equation and even the people who set the visa bulletins in the Department of State have no idea where this would go.
It depends on how many applicants are actually going to apply or intend to apply for 485 between the PD now and your PD.
That depends on how many labor certs are pending in backlog centers. Then again, no one knows how many of those labor certs are duplicates with same person applying for GC from 2 or 3 different companies. Then, no one knows how many of those who are going to get their labor approved have left USA in the economic recession of 2000 thru 2002. And no one knows how many of those pending labors belong to people from India versus people from China or Phillipines or rest of world for that matter.
So if you get answers for PD prediction, taking it with a grain of salt. There are too many unknown variables in that equation and even the people who set the visa bulletins in the Department of State have no idea where this would go.
ksrk
01-21 06:48 PM
Yes, you get I-94 with 1 year and states AOS Pending...Basically, means, you are allowed to stay till the outcome of your I-485.
Yes, as long as you are working for the same employer. I did the same, I am on H1 right now, but used my AP last year to travel to India.
If your I-94 says AOS Pending, how are you on H1B?
If you enter the US on AP, your I-94 is stamped as "Adjusting Status" or "AOS Pending" and the expiration date on it is 1yr from date of entry (regardless of when the AP itself expires). And for this you don't need an H1B visa stamp in your passport.
With the "AOS Pending" (or equivalent stamp) on your I-94 and passport, you can't be in the country on H1B. You are "Adjusting Status" and legally in the country. Of course, to (continue to) work under this status, you will need an EAD.
Yes, as long as you are working for the same employer. I did the same, I am on H1 right now, but used my AP last year to travel to India.
If your I-94 says AOS Pending, how are you on H1B?
If you enter the US on AP, your I-94 is stamped as "Adjusting Status" or "AOS Pending" and the expiration date on it is 1yr from date of entry (regardless of when the AP itself expires). And for this you don't need an H1B visa stamp in your passport.
With the "AOS Pending" (or equivalent stamp) on your I-94 and passport, you can't be in the country on H1B. You are "Adjusting Status" and legally in the country. Of course, to (continue to) work under this status, you will need an EAD.
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