grifforama

This from my lawyer today.

Renewing you L-1B

• You do not need the employment confirmation letters for the purposes of the L-1B, but we will certainly aim to have them completed and signed as soon as possible.

• If you simply must go to the U.K in November, I recommend that xxx use premium processing.

• Since you will be travelling after your visa has expired, please bear in mind that you (and your wife, if she accompanies you) will have to obtain new L visas before reentering the U.S. This will mean going to a visa interview at the U.S. Embassy in London. Assuming that visa is granted you should plan on leaving your passport at the Embassy for approximately five business days while the visa stamp is processed. All travel plans should be made accordingly.

The Green Card process
As mentioned in the e-mail that xxx forwarded to you on July 16, we must wait until after the Department of Labor (DOL) has granted certification to submit the I-140 immigrant visa petition.

Given that xxx started advertising in March, the very last day on which we can submit the PERM application to the DOL is September 18, 2009. Once the final application has been submitted, the DOL will adjudicate the case. If everything runs completely smoothly then we should expect a processing time of roughly six months. If, on the other hand, the DOL decides to audit the case, it will take somewhere in the region of seventeen to twenty months. Given the economic climate the DOL is auditing more cases than before.

When labor certification has been granted we can submit the I-140 immigrant visa petition to USCIS. Normal processing times are around nine to ten months.

After the immigrant petition has been approved, we will have to wait for a visa number to become current before submitting the I-485 application to adjust status (the last step in the green card process).

Because you do not have a degree, you will be in what is known as the third employment based preference (EB-3). EB-3 visa numbers are currently unavailable, but are expected to reappear in October. Please bear in mind that the relevant date is that on which the PERM application was filed with the DOL. We must wait for this date to be current in the visa listings before submitting the application to adjust status and should consequently expect a delay of approximately six years.

In summary, because you will be applying under the EB-3 program, we cannot file the I-140 and the I-485 concurrently. In fact, we will have to wait somewhere in the region of six years from the date that we submit the PERM application (i.e., roughly four years after the I-140 is granted) before filing the I-485 application to adjust status.

JCraigFong

Griff:

Everything written by your attorney makes sense. I have only a couple of comments. First, why keep you as L-1B when your PERM and EB-3 application are going to take years? You'll max out of L-1B time at 5 years. Why not -- if you can -- change to H-1B, then use the pending PERM/EB-3 to get extensions?

Although it is true that in changing from L-1B to H-1B, you'll not get a full 3+3=6 years on the H-1B, you will be able to apply for one-year extensions, if you meet the conditions under AC-21 for the extensions-when-you-have-application-pending.

You mentioned that you do not have a degree, so that can/will make the H-1B a bit more complex, but if you're good, if you're experienced, it may be possible to argue that you have the equivalent of a bachelors degree, and THAT would qualify you for the H-1B.

If you company will allow you to have a chat with the immigration attorney, I recommend doing so. You should satisfy yourself that the immigration attorney they're using is cognizant of the time crunch you'll be in, given the processing time for the EB-3. AND the attorney should have a proposal or proposals for you about how to deal with that time crunch when it comes.

The question would be phrased something like this: "If it's going to take 4-6 years from today for me to get my EB-3 green card, then what do I do when, in x years from now, my L-1B time runs out and I cannot get another L-1B extension?" Watch those dates! And don't be so sanguine that the company or the attorney will do it for you!

Failure to get an answer to this question leaves your cheese hanging out there with no protection.

--J

grifforama

OK,
Does anyone know anything about these guys ?

http://www.originaldegrees.com/

I had this chat with them today....not sure what to think.

Ian: This is Ian Roberts, Senior Student Counselor at Rochville University is there anything that i can help you with ?
Ian: Hi, How are you doing today and what may I help you with?
you: i
you: Hi
you: Do you know if the degrees that you can buy from Rochville would be recognised by the USCIS for visa application purposes ?
Ian: Yes
Ian: We are Internationally Accredited through Board of Online Universities Accreditation (BOUA) and Universal Council for Online Education Accreditation (UCOEA). Both are Internationaly accrediting bodies which are recognized by the Higher Educational Accreditation Commission (HEAC).
Ian: http://www.heac.org
Ian: we have Graduates working for the British Army and the US Military aswell, way up to the Officer level
Ian: what is your name?
you: David Griffiths
Ian: what exactly are you looking for ?
Ian: a Bachelor degree or a Master degree?
you: a BAchelor Degree
Ian: okay
Ian: how old are you?
you: 39
Ian: What we do is we take down your life experience, that is your working experience and your past educational qualification, convert them into credit hours,if these credit hours are equivalent to the credit hours that are require to complete your desired degree then you qualify and we award the degrees accordingly, if you are successfully evaluated we start with the registration process registering you and your documents with the university and the Accreditation bodies and after that we make sure that the documents are shipped out to you in the next 14 days
Ian: do you have a Resume?
you: Yes I do.
you: But not on this laptop. It is at home.
Ian: okay
Ian: What you need to do is fill out the free evaluation form on the web site, get your self evaluated and if you qualify you can go ahead with the payments, so we can have the documents shipped out to you.
you: OK. And you are sure that the USCIC would see this as a valid degree for visa application purposes ?
Ian: Yes
Ian: 100%
Ian: xxxxx
Ian: is this your email address?
you: yes it is
Ian: you are on the approval list
you: OK. I need to check with my lawyers that they are comfortable with this.
you: Then I may proceed
Ian: we have received your application
Ian: yes sure
Ian: no problem

JCraigFong

David: First, let me be clear: I have never qualified someone for H-1B with one of these on-line degrees, so I cannot speak to USCIS acceptance. Having said that, perhaps someone on line here has heard of such.

The other option is to proceed WITHOUT the degree. We are working RIGHT NOW on the H-1B case of a fellow who has 20+ years of experience in his field, but no bachelors degree. We will be arguing that his years of experience are the equivalent of a BA. Indeed, this fellow has been the signal individual to DEFINE his field. Although he is not quite up to the O-1 standard -- although we had thought about arguing this -- the letters we are getting make it clear that this fellow has the progressive experience necessary to demonstrate the equivalent of a BA. My law partner is an H-1B genius, and if SHE cannot figure a way to make an H-1B, then I would take her word for it.

Check with your attorney to see if they'll work with you and a credentials evaluator. This might be more direct and possibly cheaper than the on-line degree.

Here's another thought: for all I know, maybe what the on-line university is doing is EXACTLY what a credentials evaluator is doing -- reviewing your credentials and experience -- concluding that you have the equivalent of a BA, and then taking the ADDITIONAL step of issuing a diploma. Perhaps, however, the "acceptable to USCIS" part is some letter or something that they issue that says that the person has the equivalent of a BA. In other words, perhaps the part that is "acceptable" to USCIS is the equivalency evaluation, and the actual BA issued by the on-line university is gratuitous. And if it's gratuitous, why pay for it? (Not that there's anything wrong with having the sheepskin hanging on the wall.)

Am I as clear as mud here?

--J

grifforama

My lawyers I believe are definitely getting my previous experience accredited, they have requested letters from many of my previous work colleagues.

I just wondered if this was a fast track way around my lawyers doing it ? It does look like the university (if they are?) does perfom some sort of accreditatino check themselves, but how thorough that is, I don't know.

I have asked my lawyers for their advice.

emartin

I've arranged for many evaluations of experience and/or education for H-1B purposes, but never heard of this http://www.originaldegrees.com/ company. I would be wary of them.

It seems that your lawyers are very knowledgeable and experienced, so they probably know what they are doing and are using a reliable evaluation service such as http://www.trustfortecorp.com/. There is no fast way of doing this - you need evidence of any 3rd level education plus experience letters. For every one year missing from a 4-year degree, you need to show 3 years' experience.

Folinskyinla

J:

No need to downplay Eileen's skills. She is a lot better than that when it comes to H-1b's. My knowledge in the area is stale and rusty -- but Eileen knows how to milk my institutional memory and make better use of it than I can.

Boy, I really like sharing space with you two!

grifforama

It just got a whole lot more complicated....
My wife when she began work 3 years ago (she doesn't work any more) did not get an authority to work - her employer at that time told her that they would deal with it, and they just took her passport and social security card and she started paying taxes immediately.

Our lawyer is now saying that to file an extension of our L1-B she would have to answer a question about violating her immigration status as a yes, because she didnt get authorisation to work ?

If we did that, it's an immediate failure ??

So, the lawyer had advised me that my wife should leave the country before her visa expires and come back in as a visitor ?

Needless to say, I am completely confused now. It seems to be getting worse.

emartin

If your wife has not left the US since she worked without authorization, then she has not been maintaining status since she worked. Once she worked in L-2 status without the correct authorization, she violated the L-2 status. If she had entered on her L-2 visa since then, and not violated status, she is OK. However, the I-539 does ask questions that will show that she violated status. To get an extension of status, she needs to show that she is maintaining status, and she doesn't seem to be maintaining L-2 status.

If she atill has an L-2 visa stamp, why doesn't she re-enter in L-2 status?

meauxna

Elaine, I had a bit of a hard time understanding this, can you clarify please?
If the L-2 works without authorization and remains in the US, they are .. in violation of their L-2? Or are 'out of status'?
The L-2 then departs the US and returns with their L-2... they are at that time NOT in violation, they just get a wash on the unauthorized work/breaking status?

What is the incentive for the L-2 to NOT work without authorization, if they can turn around and leave + return to reinstate and have no consequence?

Sorry if it's basic, just a new one on me I want to make sure I understand.

emartin

Both, it's the same thing. There are lots of different terms used for violating immigration laws - "out of status", "violating status", "overstaying", being "unlawfully present", etc. They don't all mean the same thing, but the first 2 are synonymous.

Effectively, yes. the L-2 holder has reinstated their L-2 status by re-entering in that status. This assumes she doesn't do anything after that entry to violate status again.

The incentive is that working without authorization is illegal and there could be serious consequences if you are caught. People violate status all the time and then reinstate themselves by leaving and re-entering the US. CIS even tacitly "forgives" this in the law that allows a person to adjust status once they have not violated status for more than 180 days since last lawful entry. It's an incredibly forgiving section of the Immigration Act (245(k)), and was probably inserted without anyone realizing how sweeping it was, but it's there.

meauxna

aha! I've never seen it put so clearly; thank you.



Not that any of you kids should be trying this unsupervised!
/general warning

grifforama

My wife has not worked since November 2008, so that is over 180 days ago.
However, her I94 record states that she is allowed to only stay until August 2nd, as that is when my L1 visa expires.

We have been advised that she MUST return via JFK, i.e fly back to London, and come back to New York with a return ticket. So we must buy a three way ticket....

I just don't get this....

Why is my lawyer saying my wife must fly back this weekend ???

grifforama

OK, I'm confused now

As my L1 expires on Monday, August 2nd, and my wife's I-94 states she must leave by august 2nd, my lawyers are saying that my wife has to leave the country, via JFK, and come back in WITH a return ticket.

I, however, can stay in the country.

How does this work ? Why does my wife have to leave and I can stay ?

meauxna

I think (I'm guessing) that it has to do with the renewal.
You can remain in the US while filing your L-1 renewal. Your wife can not do a renewal because she has not re-entered in valid status since her unauthorized employment.
Your wife needs to re-enter the US to regain her valid status, so she needs to leave.

However, there is not enough time for her to leave and re-enter as an L-2 because your L-1 is expiring and you'll be waiting for the extension.
I think that is why you're being counseled to have her return as a visitor.

When your L-1 is renewed, she can do a change of status (?) to L-2 if she is still within her allowed period of stay as a visitor (if she is admitted as a visitor at all). The return ticket is a requirement of her use of the Visa Waiver Program (tourist entry). She must also complete an ESTA online electronic pre-clearance.
Ask your lawyer if there are any complications for your wife in completing ESTA. IE, is she still able to use the VWP even though she had the u/a employment. Also ask what is the plan if your renewal takes more than the 90 days your wife is allowed as a visitor.

And hopefully someone else will answer your post too!