DareYouFireMe
03-09 04:18 PM
Doesn't matter....If he is from India/China, Without immigration refrom he is screwed either way....
If he is EB2 ROW then go with Nov 2006...
In any case please tell your friend to join IV and contribute to IV.....
Not sure what you meant by your statement "screwed either way"
Also, please let me know what does EB2 ROW means. Thanks!
If he is EB2 ROW then go with Nov 2006...
In any case please tell your friend to join IV and contribute to IV.....
Not sure what you meant by your statement "screwed either way"
Also, please let me know what does EB2 ROW means. Thanks!
wallpaper on May 19,. Jersey Shore
pamposh
09-15 03:42 PM
Just doesnt make sense at all.
Even EB1 is way behind EB2.
Maybe they are being sadist and trying to divide n rule.
I don't think they are going to have any success in that. They have been building our stamina for this kind of stuff for a long time now.. and as sad as it gets but the fact is it just made me laugh so hard....coz this is just plain "impossible" and can not be true... they can't get this efficient, it is against their policy :eek:
Even EB1 is way behind EB2.
Maybe they are being sadist and trying to divide n rule.
I don't think they are going to have any success in that. They have been building our stamina for this kind of stuff for a long time now.. and as sad as it gets but the fact is it just made me laugh so hard....coz this is just plain "impossible" and can not be true... they can't get this efficient, it is against their policy :eek:
snathan
05-19 09:10 PM
Dude snathan,
I am not responding to you for this response, I have seen your responses before.
You definetly need to consider taking this How to Communicate with Diplomacy, Tact and Credibility (http://www.amanet.org/training/seminars/How-to-Communicate-with-Diplomacy-Tact-and-Credibility.aspx)
Take it easy buddy, trying to help you....
Thanks for the link...Btw are you taking the same class...:)
I am not responding to you for this response, I have seen your responses before.
You definetly need to consider taking this How to Communicate with Diplomacy, Tact and Credibility (http://www.amanet.org/training/seminars/How-to-Communicate-with-Diplomacy-Tact-and-Credibility.aspx)
Take it easy buddy, trying to help you....
Thanks for the link...Btw are you taking the same class...:)
2011 2010 Jersey Shore Italy: kartikiran. 05-28 03:21 PM. I did it on May 1st and
MrWaitingGC
05-22 04:20 PM
If you have I140 cleared from company A you can use Priority date if you change Job and apply fresh GC from Company B in any catergory.
How will this change if the new legislation/amendment that are discussed passes.
Any ideas guys.
How will this change if the new legislation/amendment that are discussed passes.
Any ideas guys.
more...
chanduv23
05-04 04:49 PM
Thanks for the reply. You're right, emotion or logic has nothing to do with USCIS:):)http://immigrationvoice.org/forum/images/smilies/smile.gif
I don't have the letter with me but the denial is based on a law pertaining to me only submitting a partial answer to their request. How true that is is up to debate as my cosponsor says no but really, it doesn't matter what we say when the USCIS say something different.
We will not be getting a lawyer, we cannot afford that right now but we will probably file for the motion to reopen my case. I have a somewhat good understanding of what I need to do but not sure how successful we will be. Hopefully, they will accept our fee waiver form becuase we probably won't be sending them money. We would still like to know if anyone has tried to have their case reopened and how long it took and how it went.
Depends on what is in the denial letter. Usually such things need an experienced Attorney to handle MTR.
MTR has few choices and Attorneys pick the choice based what they want to do to open up ur case. Remember, if u check the wrong box, your MTR may go to appeals office.
The first step however is to get the denial letter in hand, and then talk to an experienced Attorney to handle ur case.
I don't have the letter with me but the denial is based on a law pertaining to me only submitting a partial answer to their request. How true that is is up to debate as my cosponsor says no but really, it doesn't matter what we say when the USCIS say something different.
We will not be getting a lawyer, we cannot afford that right now but we will probably file for the motion to reopen my case. I have a somewhat good understanding of what I need to do but not sure how successful we will be. Hopefully, they will accept our fee waiver form becuase we probably won't be sending them money. We would still like to know if anyone has tried to have their case reopened and how long it took and how it went.
Depends on what is in the denial letter. Usually such things need an experienced Attorney to handle MTR.
MTR has few choices and Attorneys pick the choice based what they want to do to open up ur case. Remember, if u check the wrong box, your MTR may go to appeals office.
The first step however is to get the denial letter in hand, and then talk to an experienced Attorney to handle ur case.
solaris27
08-14 03:31 PM
1) find another employer and trasfer H1B
2) send regt letter to old employer for all salary.
3) report by filling form provided by javadeveloper
4) he will beg you to take complain back
5) you will get ur money --happy :)
what is company name ?
2) send regt letter to old employer for all salary.
3) report by filling form provided by javadeveloper
4) he will beg you to take complain back
5) you will get ur money --happy :)
what is company name ?
more...
atul555
03-25 05:40 PM
Yes, very good question. Everyone vote for this question.
Good question.. I asked similar one.
"Mr. President,
I am patiently waiting for my employment based LEGAL green card to get processed for over 6 years and looking at 3-5 years more, putting on hold my plans to buy home, be an entrepreneur. I expect to wait but can it be reasonable? "
I voted for other questions for legal immigration.
Good question.. I asked similar one.
"Mr. President,
I am patiently waiting for my employment based LEGAL green card to get processed for over 6 years and looking at 3-5 years more, putting on hold my plans to buy home, be an entrepreneur. I expect to wait but can it be reasonable? "
I voted for other questions for legal immigration.
2010 four of quot;Jersey Shorequot; has
pappu
05-23 08:27 AM
This question was asked yesterday and I answerd it on another thread. There are several such questions for which USCIS will have to issue a regulation to interpret the law when it passes.
Please do not start new threads for every comment these days. Its tough to manage threads and it gets confusing. lets stick to CIR discussion and action alert threads these days for any comment and discussions we may want to do on CIR.
Thanks
Please do not start new threads for every comment these days. Its tough to manage threads and it gets confusing. lets stick to CIR discussion and action alert threads these days for any comment and discussions we may want to do on CIR.
Thanks
more...
JP McMahon
November 10th, 2004, 08:19 AM
Have you tried inserting a different Compactflash card?
hair jersey shore italy photos.
logiclife
02-05 05:04 PM
This article has an overall competitiveness argument saying that the American Competitiveness is not under a threat.
The PACE act is to protect that IN ADVANCE from happening...ie. having the american competitiveness under a threat from India and China.
I am going to discredit one argument in his article:
He says: We do an outstanding job of education for people ages 18 to 65. I beg to differ. If that is his argument to claim that there is no shortage of talent, then he ought to read a survey report funded by Pew Charitable research. The tools used was the same used by National Assessment of Adult Literacy, the government's examination of English literacy among adults.
More than 50% of students at four-year schools and more than 75% at two-year colleges lacked the skills to perform complex literacy tasks.
That means they could not interpret a table about exercise and blood pressure, understand the arguments of newspaper editorials, compare credit card offers with different interest rates and annual fees or summarize results of a survey about parental involvement in school.
The survey examined college and university students nearing the end of their degree programs. The students did the worst on matters involving math, according to the study.
Almost 20% of students pursuing four-year degrees had only basic quantitative skills. For example, the students could not estimate if their car had enough gas to get to the service station. About 30% of two-year students had only basic math skills.
The full article was published recently on all major media outlets including CNN, MSNBC and USA today.
http://www.cnn.com/2006/EDUCATION/01/20/literacy.college.students.ap/
http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2006-01-19-college-tasks_x.htm
The PACE act is to protect that IN ADVANCE from happening...ie. having the american competitiveness under a threat from India and China.
I am going to discredit one argument in his article:
He says: We do an outstanding job of education for people ages 18 to 65. I beg to differ. If that is his argument to claim that there is no shortage of talent, then he ought to read a survey report funded by Pew Charitable research. The tools used was the same used by National Assessment of Adult Literacy, the government's examination of English literacy among adults.
More than 50% of students at four-year schools and more than 75% at two-year colleges lacked the skills to perform complex literacy tasks.
That means they could not interpret a table about exercise and blood pressure, understand the arguments of newspaper editorials, compare credit card offers with different interest rates and annual fees or summarize results of a survey about parental involvement in school.
The survey examined college and university students nearing the end of their degree programs. The students did the worst on matters involving math, according to the study.
Almost 20% of students pursuing four-year degrees had only basic quantitative skills. For example, the students could not estimate if their car had enough gas to get to the service station. About 30% of two-year students had only basic math skills.
The full article was published recently on all major media outlets including CNN, MSNBC and USA today.
http://www.cnn.com/2006/EDUCATION/01/20/literacy.college.students.ap/
http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2006-01-19-college-tasks_x.htm
more...
insbaby
08-10 08:23 AM
Only 45 votes so far. EB3-I people dont have 5 seconds to vote even, how can we expect any help from Govt.
There are couple of issues:
1. You are trying to form a small group inside a big one.
2. You PD should be in Jan/Feb/Mar so you worry about people just blocking your way.
Where would the people after 2004-Jan PD go, as we are reaching Jan-2009.
There are couple of issues:
1. You are trying to form a small group inside a big one.
2. You PD should be in Jan/Feb/Mar so you worry about people just blocking your way.
Where would the people after 2004-Jan PD go, as we are reaching Jan-2009.
hot May 16, 2011 @ 10:00
Beemar
12-08 09:38 PM
Somebody recently gave me a red dot for one of my posts, which is alright, but the person qualified it with a highly offensive Hindi expletive. The words are too obscene to be posted in open forum so I will refrain from reproducing them.
I want IV to reveal the name of the culprit, and ban him/her immediately. Failing which, I will have to evaluate other options to seek redress.
Needless to say, this whole dot mongering is seriously flawed and needs rethinking.
I want IV to reveal the name of the culprit, and ban him/her immediately. Failing which, I will have to evaluate other options to seek redress.
Needless to say, this whole dot mongering is seriously flawed and needs rethinking.
more...
house May 09, 2011 · #39;Jersey Shore#39;
gjoe
08-02 01:47 PM
I always use USPS and all that I have mailed so far to India has reached on time.
tattoo Italy, here we come!
austingc
12-24 10:32 PM
H1b extensions can be done based on approved Labor alone. You need i140 only if you need 3 year extensions.
You mentioned the extension filed is based on approved labor. You I140 status does not matter for 1 year renewals. This is my own experience.
Best of luck on your 140
Cheeers !
Varumo_varatho,
Your 140 is filed based on your labor and it is denied now. How will USCIS allow you to extend your H1B with a denied I-140? Technically once you filed I-140 then the labor has no value and you have to take action based on I-140. The rule is you can extend your H1B based on your pending labor or pending I-140 or approved I-140. That means once you file I-140 then do not hold your breath to file an H1B extension based on your labor.
Can you tell us your personal experience that how you got your H1B extended with your I-140 denial?
If you don�t know anything please do not give your 2 cents here. Nobody asked your wrong opinion and no one is longing for you to post some false information here.
I would suggest you to change your screen name to Thriyumo_Thriyatho
You mentioned the extension filed is based on approved labor. You I140 status does not matter for 1 year renewals. This is my own experience.
Best of luck on your 140
Cheeers !
Varumo_varatho,
Your 140 is filed based on your labor and it is denied now. How will USCIS allow you to extend your H1B with a denied I-140? Technically once you filed I-140 then the labor has no value and you have to take action based on I-140. The rule is you can extend your H1B based on your pending labor or pending I-140 or approved I-140. That means once you file I-140 then do not hold your breath to file an H1B extension based on your labor.
Can you tell us your personal experience that how you got your H1B extended with your I-140 denial?
If you don�t know anything please do not give your 2 cents here. Nobody asked your wrong opinion and no one is longing for you to post some false information here.
I would suggest you to change your screen name to Thriyumo_Thriyatho
more...
pictures Jersey Shore cast starts
hmehta
05-30 05:18 PM
As such there is no fix rule on who should get the visa and who shouldn't! It all depends on the Consular officer's Judjement of the case.
Can you list the documents that you sent and reason why the visa was denied?
Recently I sponsored my sister and her family to visit us in Summer of 2006. I had sent all the papers as required for applying for visitors visa. But the application was denied as consular was not satisfied.
Please suggest any ideas that could have helped in getting the visa. Since I was sponsoring her and taking full charge of her stay related expenses then why was it denied? What else is needed?
Thanks
Can you list the documents that you sent and reason why the visa was denied?
Recently I sponsored my sister and her family to visit us in Summer of 2006. I had sent all the papers as required for applying for visitors visa. But the application was denied as consular was not satisfied.
Please suggest any ideas that could have helped in getting the visa. Since I was sponsoring her and taking full charge of her stay related expenses then why was it denied? What else is needed?
Thanks
dresses Mon May 30, 2011 9:30 PM EDT
pappu
05-11 01:09 PM
http://www.npr.org/templates/rundowns/rundown.php?prgId=3
has some other story
NPR Program Stream
link on http://www.npr.org/
plays something else rt now
has some other story
NPR Program Stream
link on http://www.npr.org/
plays something else rt now
more...
makeup May 9, 2011 →. #39;Jersey Shore#39;
immig4me
04-29 08:32 AM
we r coming to a full circle here..... over 90% americans also supported & practiced slavery back in 1786...... the declaration of independence was agreed by all americans and it said - "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.... but over 90% americans supported slavery which wasthe biggest mockery of what everyone believed..... it just proves that just becoz majority of the people support something doesn't make it right or doesn't make it just.... in the end this nation had to go in for a civil war between the north & the south to end slavery.....
fast forward.... the current immigration debate is no different...... this country ought to have learned from the experience of the civil war..... for all the men, women and children who died in the civil war.... this country & this world provides for abundance of resources for everyone..... we can all cohabit this planet and live happily.... some people just don't want too..... the real question is...... will these facist forces stop with the undocumented or will they next try to squash another group who don't look like them..... my guess is that after they take care of the undocumented..... we r next.... its the generation old question that was asked during 2nd world war.... will the nazi forces of hitler stop within europe or will they next attack the US or soviet etc.... we all know the answer to that question.... and hence the 2nd world war.... the debate for the undocumented is of the same kind.... do we stop the negative fascist forces right here or will they be allowed to expand their wings.... i know the final outcome..... its just a matter of time.....
now u can throw out all the bull arguing that these are "illegal" people or they crossed the border etc.... these r the same sort of arguments presented for slavery or for mistreating women or immigrant groups, who were treated as slaves back then.... these negative fascist forces said the exact same things against abolishing slavery or giving equal rights to women, african americans and different immigrant groups..... u may think u are on the right side of this debate but u have no freaking clue that above human law there is another law... and that greater law supersedes every other human law.... every action in contradiction to the greater law will eventually lose.... wait & watch.... its just a matter of time....
Totally true....agree with every point you make
Go Utah! ... Go Texas !
Yes, Arizona, Texas and Utah get ready for the backlash and a host of lawsuits!!!!!!!!!!!
fast forward.... the current immigration debate is no different...... this country ought to have learned from the experience of the civil war..... for all the men, women and children who died in the civil war.... this country & this world provides for abundance of resources for everyone..... we can all cohabit this planet and live happily.... some people just don't want too..... the real question is...... will these facist forces stop with the undocumented or will they next try to squash another group who don't look like them..... my guess is that after they take care of the undocumented..... we r next.... its the generation old question that was asked during 2nd world war.... will the nazi forces of hitler stop within europe or will they next attack the US or soviet etc.... we all know the answer to that question.... and hence the 2nd world war.... the debate for the undocumented is of the same kind.... do we stop the negative fascist forces right here or will they be allowed to expand their wings.... i know the final outcome..... its just a matter of time.....
now u can throw out all the bull arguing that these are "illegal" people or they crossed the border etc.... these r the same sort of arguments presented for slavery or for mistreating women or immigrant groups, who were treated as slaves back then.... these negative fascist forces said the exact same things against abolishing slavery or giving equal rights to women, african americans and different immigrant groups..... u may think u are on the right side of this debate but u have no freaking clue that above human law there is another law... and that greater law supersedes every other human law.... every action in contradiction to the greater law will eventually lose.... wait & watch.... its just a matter of time....
Totally true....agree with every point you make
Go Utah! ... Go Texas !
Yes, Arizona, Texas and Utah get ready for the backlash and a host of lawsuits!!!!!!!!!!!
girlfriend Originally posted on May 16th,
satishku_2000
05-26 07:43 PM
This new law in its current form affects everyone who is here legally whether someone is a Student or H1B
1. Some one who is a student he gets extended OPT
2. The moment student want to file for H1, his employer should be willing to shell out nearly $10,000
3. Every extension subsequently costs same amount unless they dont increase it further.
4. Some one on H1b cant do consulting.
5. Some one whose EB petition is pedning and nearing 6th year is scrwed because of the reduction in VISA numbers and repealing of AC21.
6. Employers have to shell out $10000 every year to get extension.
A spoke with at least 10 people and have them signed up for IV.
Folks , Please talk about this issue when you make weekend calls. No one from EB community is spared from this draconian bill .
Make phone calls and have your people signed up for IV
1. Some one who is a student he gets extended OPT
2. The moment student want to file for H1, his employer should be willing to shell out nearly $10,000
3. Every extension subsequently costs same amount unless they dont increase it further.
4. Some one on H1b cant do consulting.
5. Some one whose EB petition is pedning and nearing 6th year is scrwed because of the reduction in VISA numbers and repealing of AC21.
6. Employers have to shell out $10000 every year to get extension.
A spoke with at least 10 people and have them signed up for IV.
Folks , Please talk about this issue when you make weekend calls. No one from EB community is spared from this draconian bill .
Make phone calls and have your people signed up for IV
hairstyles #39;Jersey Shore#39; Girls are Italy
tiger05
03-01 11:41 PM
Thanks for you valuable information.
My last entry was on Mar 2008. So as per your reply, even if i have less pay on my W2 for 2006 it wont effect my H1 transfer?
Kindly reply
Thanks
Tiger
My last entry was on Mar 2008. So as per your reply, even if i have less pay on my W2 for 2006 it wont effect my H1 transfer?
Kindly reply
Thanks
Tiger
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.
username007
06-27 11:21 AM
My lawyer asked me to write my A# from my OPT card that I used in 1999-2000. According to him A# is assigend once for an individual and if you were assigned before you can continue to use that in future. Though I never used that in the past 7-8 years.
My wife got an OPT card last month and we used A# from that card for her dependent I-485 application
Is this information true?
My 140 is pending and I don't have the A#. Can I use that from my OPT card?
My wife got an OPT card last month and we used A# from that card for her dependent I-485 application
Is this information true?
My 140 is pending and I don't have the A#. Can I use that from my OPT card?
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