glus
01-03 11:03 AM
Going to school itself will not have any effect on your H-1B status. If you stop working for the H1b employer, then your H-1B status is gone. If you have EAD, you can continue working for anyone else. This has no effect on GC processing, as long as you can show that there is the same or similar position for you when they adjudicate your i485. I assume your 485 has been pending for more than 180days and that your I140 is approved. Your new employer, if you leave h-1b, will need to produce a letter that he has a position that is similar in title and duties to the orginal sponsor's position. Only with such a proof your GC can be approved later on. Keep in mind you must keep EAD always if you leave your H-1B employer.
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desi485
10-09 06:19 PM
it happened to me when everyone else had received, I was still waiting for receipts.
emailed my HR and in turn asked lawyer -> advice -> wait for 90 days. if not, then we can ask USCIS.
in ur case, already 90 days.
go ask USCIS. u may have to give them proof of UPS or FedEx receipt
emailed my HR and in turn asked lawyer -> advice -> wait for 90 days. if not, then we can ask USCIS.
in ur case, already 90 days.
go ask USCIS. u may have to give them proof of UPS or FedEx receipt
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SGP
03-25 03:48 PM
Once your I-140 is approved and even if the employer files to revoke the I-140 it will not affect your status. It is at the discretion of the USCIS to revoke the approved I-140. USCIS will revoke the approved I-140 if it detects that it was fraudulently obtained.
Now to answer your question : Even if company A files to revoke I-140 before the individual files for H1 transfer, it does not make a difference to the individual.
________________________________
Deadline = April 30th, 2011
Goal = 5000 votes on survey (see I-485 filing w/o current PD thread) and momentum to continue with this campaign.The survey is a platform to gather and push for launching action items. Based on response by 04/30/2011 - IV will decide whether to even proceed with initiative or not.
Actions - 1) Vote on survey.
2)Email ivcoordinator@gmail.com with PD, ph#,email & subject "I485 filing impacted�,
3)Print/Circulate Fliers and spread FB, wiki link (see "support thread")
You said you didn't get a chance to file for I 485 with company A , means you did transfer H1b. Did company A withdraw before you transfered H1b ? Did you do transfer with in initial 6 year of H1b ?
Now to answer your question : Even if company A files to revoke I-140 before the individual files for H1 transfer, it does not make a difference to the individual.
________________________________
Deadline = April 30th, 2011
Goal = 5000 votes on survey (see I-485 filing w/o current PD thread) and momentum to continue with this campaign.The survey is a platform to gather and push for launching action items. Based on response by 04/30/2011 - IV will decide whether to even proceed with initiative or not.
Actions - 1) Vote on survey.
2)Email ivcoordinator@gmail.com with PD, ph#,email & subject "I485 filing impacted�,
3)Print/Circulate Fliers and spread FB, wiki link (see "support thread")
You said you didn't get a chance to file for I 485 with company A , means you did transfer H1b. Did company A withdraw before you transfered H1b ? Did you do transfer with in initial 6 year of H1b ?
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locomotive36
11-08 10:34 AM
Thanks to all those who voted!
Please note, that you can cast multiple votes and there is no restriction. Please take a minute each day, to cast atleast one vote per day until Nov 18th.
Spread the word around about the good cause and hope Narayan Krishnan wins!
Thank you.
Please note, that you can cast multiple votes and there is no restriction. Please take a minute each day, to cast atleast one vote per day until Nov 18th.
Spread the word around about the good cause and hope Narayan Krishnan wins!
Thank you.
more...
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kshitijnt
07-29 03:09 PM
I filed my I-485 on Aug 13, 2007 (Received date) under EB3 ROW (> 180 days). My I-140 was filed for job "Systems Analyst". I am now being offered a job as "Director of Development" managing the development process along with 30-40 people for another company. I know this theme has been discussed and has risks but would it be OK to take the job. I have approved EAD and AP due to expire on Nov 21 (will renew tomorrow just in case GC does not get approved by then). Has anyone been in this position? I have valid H1-B visa and have not used EAD or AP.
Any advice highly appreciated. thanks!
While I am not a lawyer, I would have a few questions:
1) Is your I140 approved?
2) How many years do you have on H1?
If you have time, discuss with the attorney/law firm of the new company. If they can certify the job is similar to your previous job, no questions.
2) Otherwise, I would definitely take this offer, file H1 transfer, start GC/Labor/I140 again.
The second step works well if you have atleast 2 years left on H1. Technically, you may know, you need to file the labor 365 days before your H1 expiration date, but you know attorneys and perm process will take sweet 3-6 months, so please plan accordingly.
3) Defer the offer by 3-6 months (But this is fraught with risks). If you dont get GC in this time frame, you will lose the offer.
Depends on what is more important for you? GC or better opportunity? Only you can decide.
Any advice highly appreciated. thanks!
While I am not a lawyer, I would have a few questions:
1) Is your I140 approved?
2) How many years do you have on H1?
If you have time, discuss with the attorney/law firm of the new company. If they can certify the job is similar to your previous job, no questions.
2) Otherwise, I would definitely take this offer, file H1 transfer, start GC/Labor/I140 again.
The second step works well if you have atleast 2 years left on H1. Technically, you may know, you need to file the labor 365 days before your H1 expiration date, but you know attorneys and perm process will take sweet 3-6 months, so please plan accordingly.
3) Defer the offer by 3-6 months (But this is fraught with risks). If you dont get GC in this time frame, you will lose the offer.
Depends on what is more important for you? GC or better opportunity? Only you can decide.
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Desertfox
08-02 12:54 PM
I ship documents quite frequently to India, and FedEx is the best. I tried all of them, but others dont even come close to FedEx USA-to-India services.
more...
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sk2006
08-19 01:37 PM
Thanks dealsnet and intheyan,
BTW I called USCIS and the guy told me that My case is approved and I should not worry. ADIT is related to fingure prints/photos and since I did it in september last year I shold be OK.
I asked don't you send 'card production ordered' email?
He said he did not know that but my case is approved.
BTW I called USCIS and the guy told me that My case is approved and I should not worry. ADIT is related to fingure prints/photos and since I did it in september last year I shold be OK.
I asked don't you send 'card production ordered' email?
He said he did not know that but my case is approved.
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anilsal
10-30 11:51 PM
Also since you are a dentist and are working in the medical field, I am just wondering as to whether you have been able to inform other medical professionals, affected by retrogression and skilled immigration issues, about the efforts undertaken by IV.
Anyway, sorting out your original issue via an attorney takes immediate precedence.
Anyway, sorting out your original issue via an attorney takes immediate precedence.
more...
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Steve Mitchell
October 23rd, 2003, 11:44 PM
Funny Don, I was just over at Holliday Park about a week and a half ago scouting a location for a shoot. Too bad that area is fenced off, it would be perfect.
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sammyb
03-14 09:19 PM
check here (http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=177937,00.html) for all details on tax rebate plan ...
$600 for individual. $1200 for joint filing (hus & wife), and $600 for each dependent (child). Don't know if parents (dependents) are included.
also there is a ceiling in AGI.
Single - <75K;
Joint - <150K
but the amount gradually decreases as your AGI reaches the ceiling : (
I just got the IRS letter with the info yesterday.
$600 for individual. $1200 for joint filing (hus & wife), and $600 for each dependent (child). Don't know if parents (dependents) are included.
also there is a ceiling in AGI.
Single - <75K;
Joint - <150K
but the amount gradually decreases as your AGI reaches the ceiling : (
I just got the IRS letter with the info yesterday.
more...
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nk2006
04-17 03:36 PM
As per today I have an H1b visa, I have my I140 approved, and my 6th year ends on April 25, 2008. My actual employer have gave me a contract that says that upon I become a permanent resident i will have to work for him for 5 years, then if I quit after the 5th year or before I will not able to work on the same industry on all the united states, also mention what my salary would be but there is no mention of increase. Since I will have to wait until my residence at least 3 more years, that means that I will have to work on these conditions for 8 or 9 years.!!!!
I do not know what to do , this is almost illegal (I think !), do I have time to change employer and do again my visa, and I140, so I don't lost status ??
The contract is rather stringent � working for 5 years after getting the greencard and not able to work in same industry??? You are right it may not even legal � and may not stand in any court.
Having said that, I can say that it is very common in IT industry to make the visa candidates sign a contract. Generally these contracts ask you to work for the employer for at least 2 years �after� getting the green card; and if you leave before 2 years then you have to pay all the legal charges that employer incurred for the GC processing. Many employers require this before starting the process � but I heard many big companies don�t really enforce this. Also there are other couple workarounds: the contract (even in your case) says �after� getting the GC, so if you are eligible to apply for 485 then sign the contract and apply for 485; after six months you can use AC21 and leave the employer � technically you havn�t yet got the GC card and so the contract is not violated. I know a couple friends did this exactly in our company.
If you are not yet eligible to apply for 485 (retrogressed country) then try to collect some documents like a copy of your approved I140 and if possible a copy of approved labor (this may not be required). Then find a new job now and transfer your H1B there; during transfer ask for three years extension based on your approved I140+not able to apply for 485 status. With new employer start fresh PERM+I140. If you have copies of I140 you might be able to get you priority date too. I know there are lot of ifs and buts here but I think this is the best case scenario for you especially if you don�t like your present job (Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer).
I do not know what to do , this is almost illegal (I think !), do I have time to change employer and do again my visa, and I140, so I don't lost status ??
The contract is rather stringent � working for 5 years after getting the greencard and not able to work in same industry??? You are right it may not even legal � and may not stand in any court.
Having said that, I can say that it is very common in IT industry to make the visa candidates sign a contract. Generally these contracts ask you to work for the employer for at least 2 years �after� getting the green card; and if you leave before 2 years then you have to pay all the legal charges that employer incurred for the GC processing. Many employers require this before starting the process � but I heard many big companies don�t really enforce this. Also there are other couple workarounds: the contract (even in your case) says �after� getting the GC, so if you are eligible to apply for 485 then sign the contract and apply for 485; after six months you can use AC21 and leave the employer � technically you havn�t yet got the GC card and so the contract is not violated. I know a couple friends did this exactly in our company.
If you are not yet eligible to apply for 485 (retrogressed country) then try to collect some documents like a copy of your approved I140 and if possible a copy of approved labor (this may not be required). Then find a new job now and transfer your H1B there; during transfer ask for three years extension based on your approved I140+not able to apply for 485 status. With new employer start fresh PERM+I140. If you have copies of I140 you might be able to get you priority date too. I know there are lot of ifs and buts here but I think this is the best case scenario for you especially if you don�t like your present job (Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer).
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saketkapur
07-06 12:40 PM
Yes, I did the same.....even though I had a valid H1B stamped in my passport the POE made me use the AP to enter.....
more...
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immuser
11-01 06:26 PM
I have seen many discussions were people talk about going to Canada, UK etc.
It is good to know what your options are other than US.
It is good to know what your options are other than US.
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roseball
10-08 06:32 PM
Company A did my GC. I am with Company B on AC21. When my GC gets approved i should be able to stay with Company B and not A. Am i missing something?
Your case is different as you are protected by AC21 regulations. You can continue working for company B upon GC approval. The original poster's case is different since he changed employers when his labor was still pending and the only way employer A would have justified continuing processing his case was under the pretext that the beneficiary would join the company upon GC approval. Infact, thats the only reason why USCIS continued to process his petition and eventually approve it.
Now, if the job no longer exists at the time of GC approval, then it could lead to serious consequences and GC can be revoked anytime by USCIS if they find this out. Remember, its always the responsibility of the beneficiary to provide relevant/sufficient documentation whenever asked for, even after the beneficiary has an approved GC. Such things will come back and haunt you if not taken care of in an appropriate manner (legal consulation).
Your case is different as you are protected by AC21 regulations. You can continue working for company B upon GC approval. The original poster's case is different since he changed employers when his labor was still pending and the only way employer A would have justified continuing processing his case was under the pretext that the beneficiary would join the company upon GC approval. Infact, thats the only reason why USCIS continued to process his petition and eventually approve it.
Now, if the job no longer exists at the time of GC approval, then it could lead to serious consequences and GC can be revoked anytime by USCIS if they find this out. Remember, its always the responsibility of the beneficiary to provide relevant/sufficient documentation whenever asked for, even after the beneficiary has an approved GC. Such things will come back and haunt you if not taken care of in an appropriate manner (legal consulation).
more...
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sac-r-ten
07-30 02:04 PM
Sorry to hear about your "unique" situation. I guess you should hire a attorney and talk in person, since attorneys here for not helping.
Please update this thread if you get an answer from other sources. Its really a headache dealing with USCIS's ways of things.
I wish you get out of this mess soon.
take care.
thanks.
Please update this thread if you get an answer from other sources. Its really a headache dealing with USCIS's ways of things.
I wish you get out of this mess soon.
take care.
thanks.
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satyasrd
08-25 08:58 AM
Hi,
I am new to the GC process and this forum where I have been reading a lot of posts lately, especially like this one, where people are talking about converting from EB3 to EB2. But my basic understanding was that you cannot use experience from your current company in order to do that. Since my process is just starting in EB3/I and I would definitely like to have that option in the future, could someone going through this conversion or attorneys please shed some light as to how this can be done.
I greatly appreciate your advice !
Thanks,
I am new to the GC process and this forum where I have been reading a lot of posts lately, especially like this one, where people are talking about converting from EB3 to EB2. But my basic understanding was that you cannot use experience from your current company in order to do that. Since my process is just starting in EB3/I and I would definitely like to have that option in the future, could someone going through this conversion or attorneys please shed some light as to how this can be done.
I greatly appreciate your advice !
Thanks,
more...
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texcan
08-04 09:29 PM
I've applied for EAD/AP renewal for both myself and my wife. I spent $1,290 for this.
Say I got my GC approved and then I call USCIS and withdraw my pending EAD/AP application. Will I get a refund for pending EAD/AP application, if I get my GC approved before EAD/AP approval?
Thanks,
India EB2; PD - Nov 05
I-140 - Filed Mar '06; Approved Jun '06
I-485 - Reached NSC July 26'07;
My friend,
Donot get angry, its not personal to you...but for the action.
Please live your life and try not to find excuses to be unhappy.
Think about this, you have been waiting for GC ( assumption) for last 3-4 years, you must have had your times of frustration, everyone does...but now when your GC is thru or about to be thru; you have found a way to stay anxious, unhappy.
Sorry to say these words to you, please donot mind and not take it personally.
Be happy at least and spread some joy in community.
See the link below, this is inspiration and actions i expect from community (IV) /friends/group. Please see
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Sara+Reinertsen+Ironman&search_type=&aq=f
Please donate some time, money to IV...if not some cheer at least.
Say I got my GC approved and then I call USCIS and withdraw my pending EAD/AP application. Will I get a refund for pending EAD/AP application, if I get my GC approved before EAD/AP approval?
Thanks,
India EB2; PD - Nov 05
I-140 - Filed Mar '06; Approved Jun '06
I-485 - Reached NSC July 26'07;
My friend,
Donot get angry, its not personal to you...but for the action.
Please live your life and try not to find excuses to be unhappy.
Think about this, you have been waiting for GC ( assumption) for last 3-4 years, you must have had your times of frustration, everyone does...but now when your GC is thru or about to be thru; you have found a way to stay anxious, unhappy.
Sorry to say these words to you, please donot mind and not take it personally.
Be happy at least and spread some joy in community.
See the link below, this is inspiration and actions i expect from community (IV) /friends/group. Please see
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Sara+Reinertsen+Ironman&search_type=&aq=f
Please donate some time, money to IV...if not some cheer at least.
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yoda
08-12 06:25 PM
According to my understanding, PIO is like a long term entry visa but it does not allow you to work. You would still need an employment visa.
Only OCI visa holders can work without employment visa.
You may want confirm the details on the Embassy website as they keep changing rules from time to time.
Only OCI visa holders can work without employment visa.
You may want confirm the details on the Embassy website as they keep changing rules from time to time.
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nihar
11-21 04:08 PM
if i check in the wesite or call the ins they say its approved bt my consultant states that the same had a query which i have also seen was sent to her , the query was sent in aug and we did reply the same instance . rite now im on student visa and abtto complete my mba and eligible for my internship . im veri much in the usa . please guide me as to wat shud i do tackle this situation and whts the next step . i want to wrk asap . i also that want to knw after its approval wat r the next step of docs tat i shud have and wat is it that i need to have to gain a upper hand and be out of this mess
thakkarbhav
08-26 03:28 PM
Normally in the job ad they specify if they need greencard holder or citizen. If they have not specified and you have job then it is all set. EAD is the document which establish your right to work. so they ask it when you join them. They will take photocopy of it. You need to update them when you renew your EAD.
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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