kumar1
05-22 08:29 AM
Very few people know that there are categories like EB3-I and EB2-I.
I am kind of glad that I am in EB-3 India. At least my hope never goes up.
I am kind of glad that I am in EB-3 India. At least my hope never goes up.
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Macaca
12-15 01:41 PM
My lawyer had the following lines on this issue:
However, on a positive note, you are eligible for a special benefit for persons born in India subject to immigrant visa retrogression issues. Since you have an approved I-140 visa petition, you will qualify for a 3-year extension of H-1B visa status, with subsequent extensions possible.
It appears that the 3 year extension may not applicable to all countries. If you are not from India, you may like to check. If you check, please post the results for other persons. Thanks.
yes you will eventually get a 3 year extension after you run out of 6 year term (assuming the new company files perm and the retrogression is still there and your I140 is approved then......)
However, on a positive note, you are eligible for a special benefit for persons born in India subject to immigrant visa retrogression issues. Since you have an approved I-140 visa petition, you will qualify for a 3-year extension of H-1B visa status, with subsequent extensions possible.
It appears that the 3 year extension may not applicable to all countries. If you are not from India, you may like to check. If you check, please post the results for other persons. Thanks.
yes you will eventually get a 3 year extension after you run out of 6 year term (assuming the new company files perm and the retrogression is still there and your I140 is approved then......)
Bpositive
04-03 02:26 PM
There is a substantial amount of financial adjustments required. Infact that is the reason why it is being delayed.
The lawyer will know the exact deadline...i think it is a little later than the 12 week count...
The lawyer will know the exact deadline...i think it is a little later than the 12 week count...
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lazycis
12-17 09:52 AM
It depends. What is the reason for the denial? Usually notice of denial says whether you can appeal or not.
more...
sunny1000
11-19 06:10 PM
Application Type: I485, APPLICATION TO REGISTER PERMANENT RESIDENCE OR TO ADJUST STATUS
Current Status: Case received and pending.
On October 14, 2007, we received this I485 APPLICATION TO REGISTER PERMANENT RESIDENCE OR TO ADJUST STATUS, and mailed you a notice describing how we will process your case. Please follow any instructions on this notice. We will notify you by mail when we make a decision or if we need something from you. If you move while this case is pending, call customer service. We process cases in the order we receive them. You can use our processing dates to estimate when yours will be done. This case is at our TEXAS SERVICE CENTER location. Follow the link below to check processing dates. You can also receive automatic e-mail updates as we process your case. Just follow the link below to register.
I have a question. Mine was filed on Aug 15th but, the online status says that it was received on 10/14. Is this common or is this in error? Should I call CS?
Thanks in advance.
Current Status: Case received and pending.
On October 14, 2007, we received this I485 APPLICATION TO REGISTER PERMANENT RESIDENCE OR TO ADJUST STATUS, and mailed you a notice describing how we will process your case. Please follow any instructions on this notice. We will notify you by mail when we make a decision or if we need something from you. If you move while this case is pending, call customer service. We process cases in the order we receive them. You can use our processing dates to estimate when yours will be done. This case is at our TEXAS SERVICE CENTER location. Follow the link below to check processing dates. You can also receive automatic e-mail updates as we process your case. Just follow the link below to register.
I have a question. Mine was filed on Aug 15th but, the online status says that it was received on 10/14. Is this common or is this in error? Should I call CS?
Thanks in advance.
rogerdepena
07-18 01:25 PM
It's a free country and everyone, including Lou Dobbs have a right to voice their opinion - boycotts will not serve any purpose.
If you feel so passionately about it, here's what I suggest. Create a blog/website and every single day after his program, post an article pointing out factual inaccuracies in Lou's reports and views. If you don't want to watch the program, then CNN publishes a transcript a couple of hours later - follow that.
It's hard work but believe me - do it consistently and do it well and you will see that it will work.
Best of luck and post the address of your site/blog here should you decide to do it.
blogging is not a problem. i'll try to make one at eblog. ill post the link when im ready. i would also like to ask others to pm me Lou Dobbs-related issues so that i can look at it and write an article about it.
If you feel so passionately about it, here's what I suggest. Create a blog/website and every single day after his program, post an article pointing out factual inaccuracies in Lou's reports and views. If you don't want to watch the program, then CNN publishes a transcript a couple of hours later - follow that.
It's hard work but believe me - do it consistently and do it well and you will see that it will work.
Best of luck and post the address of your site/blog here should you decide to do it.
blogging is not a problem. i'll try to make one at eblog. ill post the link when im ready. i would also like to ask others to pm me Lou Dobbs-related issues so that i can look at it and write an article about it.
more...
BharatPremi
11-09 04:00 PM
if you have a resume, we'll just ask you to send it along
as i said it's only purpose is to see if we can identify and match skillsets for various action itmes/iv roles/work groups. sometimes some things come up and we find great matches that way...
we are not really interested in your GPA (superlative as i'm sure that is!) :D
:D:D:D I'm sure writing skills can right away be determined from it. Analytical skills, yes... But my career resume would not say how skillful I was dealing with local BJP/Congress/Bahujan Samajwadi corporators or local district magistrates while I was in India:D
Would wait for green signal to send it.
as i said it's only purpose is to see if we can identify and match skillsets for various action itmes/iv roles/work groups. sometimes some things come up and we find great matches that way...
we are not really interested in your GPA (superlative as i'm sure that is!) :D
:D:D:D I'm sure writing skills can right away be determined from it. Analytical skills, yes... But my career resume would not say how skillful I was dealing with local BJP/Congress/Bahujan Samajwadi corporators or local district magistrates while I was in India:D
Would wait for green signal to send it.
2010 2007 Chevrolet Trailblazer SS
aamchimumbai
09-02 01:46 PM
Folks,
Due to the priority data transfer issue my I-485 application was rejected in June'08 (submitted based on June'08 visa bulletin). Anyways.
As part of my application necessary medical exam tests were conducted. If I were to submit my application today based on the new visa bulletin do you think I need to take all medical exams again and re-submit? Won't the first set of medical exams have any validity?
Thanks in advance for all your responses.
Due to the priority data transfer issue my I-485 application was rejected in June'08 (submitted based on June'08 visa bulletin). Anyways.
As part of my application necessary medical exam tests were conducted. If I were to submit my application today based on the new visa bulletin do you think I need to take all medical exams again and re-submit? Won't the first set of medical exams have any validity?
Thanks in advance for all your responses.
more...
santa123
01-26 12:46 AM
/\/\/\
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sk2006
07-03 03:24 AM
Here's an idea that came up in my head:
There's no use working 'towards' EB wait period issues, there will always be thorns in the roses.. Lets work 'against' EB advantages (superficially) - well this could be in parallel to 'towards' part.
Here's the agenda:
"Restrict/Prohibit all non-immigrant class workers (H1, L1 etc) from investing, be it 401k, IRAs, Regular stock investing, Real Estate investing, Forex etc"
(Before you all start bashing this, let me put down some pros & cons)...
Pros:
1. People (with immigrant intent) will not be in limbo. if you want to move back after living 5-6 yrs in US, there's nothing to pay penalty on. Today there's an early withdrawal penalty on 401K, IRA.
Like many of us - who applied for 140/485 waiting endlessly for the magic card.... investing our dear hard earned money in 401ks & other investment vehicles - only to see them lose value or worse stuck in that vehicle (Of course there's another school of thought that says if I invested 10k in 401k, & net value is now 20k & even if I withdraw it paying penalty, I will be in green..but i guess this demographic will be significantly small). My colleagues & I too procrastinated about moving back to India - but since we still have to recover our 401k/IRA losses we have been pushing the magic year a little further - but thats just me.
2. Markets/Businesses will realize the sudden disappearance of funds coming into market because of this new law & Market forces might lobby towards faster Immigrant status changes - remember this law is only for non-immigrants, Permanent residents would have no restrictions on investments.
3. We (IV community) need not work diligently on this issue. We might just have to create some numbers on folks who made good amount of money in speculating oil/natural gas/gold and driving these prices like crazy OR who have been sending profits on investments to their home country. If we at least get this ball roll, anti-immigrants like numbersusa will pick up this agenda & work 'with' us..
4. Home country flourishes.. 401k has an annual limit of 15.5k $ for 2008, 16.5K $ for 2009). Assuming 250K non-immigrants (H1s, L1s) restricted to invest, yearly 3Billion USD just disappears from markets & at least a small percentage would find its way to home country. This is just 401K. If we add IRAs and regular trading accounts, Real Estate.... Wall Street would crap in their pants - they need our money to drive their Ferraris, Lambos you know!! If Wall Street says something, Capitol Hill HAS to listen.
Cons:
1. H1s L1s wont be able to reap profits in investments. Hey at least you wont be losing your money. This is like a pseudo protection of your money if you have H1, L1 cards. Who knows? This might create huge demand for people wanting to convert from EB2/EB3 to H1 :)
If you all see any other sides of this story, you know where to find that 'reply' button.
Disclaimer: I am not looking to crash markets - just trying to leverage our situation with that of markets, with anti-immigrant groups' position as catalyst.
Also:
Ban us from buying land, cars and houses as well and see how fast media, NAR and automobile companies come out in favor of faster GC for us!
There's no use working 'towards' EB wait period issues, there will always be thorns in the roses.. Lets work 'against' EB advantages (superficially) - well this could be in parallel to 'towards' part.
Here's the agenda:
"Restrict/Prohibit all non-immigrant class workers (H1, L1 etc) from investing, be it 401k, IRAs, Regular stock investing, Real Estate investing, Forex etc"
(Before you all start bashing this, let me put down some pros & cons)...
Pros:
1. People (with immigrant intent) will not be in limbo. if you want to move back after living 5-6 yrs in US, there's nothing to pay penalty on. Today there's an early withdrawal penalty on 401K, IRA.
Like many of us - who applied for 140/485 waiting endlessly for the magic card.... investing our dear hard earned money in 401ks & other investment vehicles - only to see them lose value or worse stuck in that vehicle (Of course there's another school of thought that says if I invested 10k in 401k, & net value is now 20k & even if I withdraw it paying penalty, I will be in green..but i guess this demographic will be significantly small). My colleagues & I too procrastinated about moving back to India - but since we still have to recover our 401k/IRA losses we have been pushing the magic year a little further - but thats just me.
2. Markets/Businesses will realize the sudden disappearance of funds coming into market because of this new law & Market forces might lobby towards faster Immigrant status changes - remember this law is only for non-immigrants, Permanent residents would have no restrictions on investments.
3. We (IV community) need not work diligently on this issue. We might just have to create some numbers on folks who made good amount of money in speculating oil/natural gas/gold and driving these prices like crazy OR who have been sending profits on investments to their home country. If we at least get this ball roll, anti-immigrants like numbersusa will pick up this agenda & work 'with' us..
4. Home country flourishes.. 401k has an annual limit of 15.5k $ for 2008, 16.5K $ for 2009). Assuming 250K non-immigrants (H1s, L1s) restricted to invest, yearly 3Billion USD just disappears from markets & at least a small percentage would find its way to home country. This is just 401K. If we add IRAs and regular trading accounts, Real Estate.... Wall Street would crap in their pants - they need our money to drive their Ferraris, Lambos you know!! If Wall Street says something, Capitol Hill HAS to listen.
Cons:
1. H1s L1s wont be able to reap profits in investments. Hey at least you wont be losing your money. This is like a pseudo protection of your money if you have H1, L1 cards. Who knows? This might create huge demand for people wanting to convert from EB2/EB3 to H1 :)
If you all see any other sides of this story, you know where to find that 'reply' button.
Disclaimer: I am not looking to crash markets - just trying to leverage our situation with that of markets, with anti-immigrant groups' position as catalyst.
Also:
Ban us from buying land, cars and houses as well and see how fast media, NAR and automobile companies come out in favor of faster GC for us!
more...
kirupa
01-24 10:07 PM
Hi Matt - no problem. I am currently on a computer that doesn't have Flash installed, so would it be possible for you to e-mail me your SWF file [kirupa.at.kirupa.com].
If not, in a few hours I'll be back on a computer that has Flash, so I can change it then.
:)
If not, in a few hours I'll be back on a computer that has Flash, so I can change it then.
:)
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techskill
08-10 11:49 AM
thats sigh of relief for me.
My friends attorney did'nt file his 485 unless he got new checks with his address imprinted on them.poor guy had to order new set of checks.
Not sure why attorneys do this
If the address in the checks and the applications should match then most of the AOS applications will be rejected for mismatch.
My friends attorney did'nt file his 485 unless he got new checks with his address imprinted on them.poor guy had to order new set of checks.
Not sure why attorneys do this
If the address in the checks and the applications should match then most of the AOS applications will be rejected for mismatch.
more...
house 2008 Chevrolet TrailBlazer SS
rajarao
09-08 10:03 PM
I got the same mail and kept me thinking about it; Just another way USCIS keeps us on our toes and in suspense, since the years of wait is not sufficient.....; Anyway, looks things are moving. Great Job by IV and the teams, starting from July 2007 visa bulletin; the community is great and good source of information. I will do my best to continue my support for IV as before and to all the immigrants or waiting to be one. Good luck to everyone.
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shortchanged
08-03 10:25 PM
I understand everyone is anxious but this is simple language. I am sure you can 'decipher' it
It means you have become an "undocumented or illegal", and you have to learn English and you are qualified for a Z visa :rolleyes: :D
Forget about your I-140; just focus on I-485. I-140 seems to be a foregone conclusion.
Enjoy your weekend man...............
It means you have become an "undocumented or illegal", and you have to learn English and you are qualified for a Z visa :rolleyes: :D
Forget about your I-140; just focus on I-485. I-140 seems to be a foregone conclusion.
Enjoy your weekend man...............
more...
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speddi
08-24 02:08 PM
The scenario is
Company A filed 485 in EB2 with an approved 140. Company B filed 140 with an older PD in EB2. After 180 days(AC21), we change to company B on H1 and company B's 140 is approved in the meantime. We can change the underlying 140 with the new approved 140(old PD). I have couple of questions:
1. Do we have to stick to company B for 180 days again to invoke AC21 or for only the time till the interfiling process is completed and we get a confirmation from USCIS ?
2. Does the new PD need to be current for us to file for interfiling?
Thank you
Company A filed 485 in EB2 with an approved 140. Company B filed 140 with an older PD in EB2. After 180 days(AC21), we change to company B on H1 and company B's 140 is approved in the meantime. We can change the underlying 140 with the new approved 140(old PD). I have couple of questions:
1. Do we have to stick to company B for 180 days again to invoke AC21 or for only the time till the interfiling process is completed and we get a confirmation from USCIS ?
2. Does the new PD need to be current for us to file for interfiling?
Thank you
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GodHelpUs
03-21 10:48 AM
I am really shocked on looking at this article.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/21/nyregion/21immigrant.html?hp
An Agent, a Green Card, and a Demand for Sex
Article Tools Sponsored By
By NINA BERNSTEIN
Published: March 21, 2008
No problems so far, the immigration agent told the American citizen and his 22-year-old Colombian wife at her green card interview in December. After he stapled one of their wedding photos to her application for legal permanent residency, he had just one more question: What was her cellphone number?
Skip to next paragraph
Enlarge This Image
Uli Seit for The New York Times
Isaac R. Baichu, 46, an adjudicator for the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, was arrested after he met with a green card applicant at the Flagship Restaurant, a diner in Queens. He is charged with coercing oral sex from her.
Audio A Secret Recording
Enlarge This Image
Uli Seit for The New York Times
The Flagship Restaurant, where Mr. Baichu met with a green card applicant.
The calls from the agent started three days later. He hinted, she said, at his power to derail her life and deport her relatives, alluding to a brush she had with the law before her marriage. He summoned her to a private meeting. And at noon on Dec. 21, in a parked car on Queens Boulevard, he named his price � not realizing that she was recording everything on the cellphone in her purse.
�I want sex,� he said on the recording. �One or two times. That�s all. You get your green card. You won�t have to see me anymore.�
She reluctantly agreed to a future meeting. But when she tried to leave his car, he demanded oral sex �now,� to �know that you�re serious.� And despite her protests, she said, he got his way.
The 16-minute recording, which the woman first took to The New York Times and then to the Queens district attorney, suggests the vast power of low-level immigration law enforcers, and a growing desperation on the part of immigrants seeking legal status. The aftermath, which included the arrest of an immigration agent last week, underscores the difficulty and danger of making a complaint, even in the rare case when abuse of power may have been caught on tape.
No one knows how widespread sexual blackmail is, but the case echoes other instances of sexual coercion that have surfaced in recent years, including agents criminally charged in Atlanta, Miami and Santa Ana, Calif. And it raises broader questions about the system�s vulnerability to corruption at a time when millions of noncitizens live in a kind of legal no-man�s land, increasingly fearful of seeking the law�s protection.
The agent arrested last week, Isaac R. Baichu, 46, himself an immigrant from Guyana, handled some 8,000 green card applications during his three years as an adjudicator in the Garden City, N.Y., office of United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, part of the federal Department of Homeland Security. He pleaded not guilty to felony and misdemeanor charges of coercing the young woman to perform oral sex, and of promising to help her secure immigration papers in exchange for further sexual favors. If convicted, he will face up to seven years in prison.
His agency has suspended him with pay, and the inspector general of Homeland Security is reviewing his other cases, a spokesman said Wednesday. Prosecutors, who say they recorded a meeting between Mr. Baichu and the woman on March 11 at which he made similar demands for sex, urge any other victims to come forward.
Money, not sex, is the more common currency of corruption in immigration, but according to Congressional testimony in 2006 by Michael Maxwell, former director of the agency�s internal investigations, more than 3,000 backlogged complaints of employee misconduct had gone uninvestigated for lack of staff, including 528 involving criminal allegations.
The agency says it has tripled its investigative staff since then, and counts only 165 serious complaints pending. But it stopped posting an e-mail address and phone number for such complaints last year, said Jan Lane, chief of security and integrity, because it lacks the staff to cull the thousands of mostly irrelevant messages that resulted. Immigrants, she advised, should report wrongdoing to any law enforcement agency they trust.
The young woman in Queens, whose name is being withheld because the authorities consider her the victim of a sex crime, did not even tell her husband what had happened. Two weeks after the meeting in the car, finding no way to make a confidential complaint to the immigration agency and afraid to go to the police, she and two older female relatives took the recording to The Times.
Reasons to Worry
A slim, shy woman who looks like a teenager, she said she had spent recent months baby-sitting for relatives in Queens, crying over the deaths of her two brothers back in Cali, Colombia, and longing for the right stamp in her passport � one that would let her return to the United States if she visited her family.
She came to the United States on a tourist visa in 2004 and overstayed. When she married an American citizen a year ago, the law allowed her to apply to �adjust� her illegal status. But unless her green card application was approved, she could not visit her parents or her brothers� graves and then legally re-enter the United States. And if her application was denied, she would face deportation.
She had another reason to be fearful, and not only for herself. About 15 months ago, she said, an acquaintance hired her and two female relatives in New York to carry $12,000 in cash to the bank. The three women, all living in the country illegally, were arrested on the street by customs officers apparently acting on a tip in a money-laundering investigation. After determining that the women had no useful information, the officers released them.
But the closed investigation file had showed up in the computer when she applied for a green card, Mr. Baichu told her in December; until he obtained the file and dealt with it, her application would not be approved. If she defied him, she feared, he could summon immigration enforcement agents to take her relatives to detention.
So instead of calling the police, she turned on the video recorder in her cellphone, put the phone in her purse and walked to meet the agent. Two family members said they watched anxiously from their parked car as she disappeared behind the tinted windows of his red Lexus.
�We were worried that the guy would take off, take her away and do something to her,� the woman�s widowed sister-in-law said in Spanish.
As the recorder captured the agent�s words and a lilting Guyanese accent, he laid out his terms in an easy, almost paternal style. He would not ask too much, he said: sex �once or twice,� visits to his home in the Bronx, perhaps a link to other Colombians who needed his help with their immigration problems.
In shaky English, the woman expressed reluctance, and questioned how she could be sure he would keep his word.
�If I do it, it�s like very hard for me, because I have my husband, and I really fall in love with him,� she said.
The agent insisted that she had to trust him. �I wouldn�t ask you to do something for me if I can�t do something for you, right?� he said, and reasoned, �Nobody going to help you for nothing,� noting that she had no money.
He described himself as the single father of a 10-year-old daughter, telling her, �I need love, too,� and predicting, �You will get to like me because I�m a nice guy.�
Repeatedly, she responded �O.K.,� without conviction. At one point he thanked her for showing up, saying, �I know you feel very scared.�
Finally, she tried to leave. �Let me go because I tell my husband I come home,� she said.
His reply, the recording shows, was a blunt demand for oral sex.
�Right now? No!� she protested. �No, no, right now I can�t.�
He insisted, cajoled, even empathized. �I came from a different country, too,� he said. �I got my green card just like you.�
Then, she said, he grabbed her. During the speechless minute that follows on the recording, she said she yielded to his demand out of fear that he would use his authority against her.
How Much Corruption?
The charges against Mr. Baichu, who became a United States citizen in 1991 and earns roughly $50,000 a year, appear to be part of a larger pattern, according to government records and interviews.
Mr. Maxwell, the immigration agency�s former chief investigator, told Congress in 2006 that internal corruption was �rampant,� and that employees faced constant temptations to commit crime.
�It is only a small step from granting a discretionary waiver of an eligibility rule to asking for a favor or taking a bribe in exchange for granting that waiver,� he contended. �Once an employee learns he can get away with low-level corruption and still advance up the ranks, he or she becomes more brazen.�
�Despite our best efforts there are always people ready to use their position for personal gain or personal pleasure,� said Chris Bentley, a spokesman for Citizenship and Immigration Services. �Our responsibility is to ferret them out.�
When the Queens woman came to The Times with her recording on Jan. 3, she was afraid of retaliation from the agent, and uncertain about making a criminal complaint, though she had an appointment the next day at the Queens district attorney�s office.
Mr. Baichu was arrested as he emerged from the diner and headed to his car, wearing much gold and diamond jewelry, prosecutors said. Later released on $15,000 bail, Mr. Baichu referred calls for comment to his lawyer, Sally Attia, who said he did not have authority to grant or deny green card petitions without his supervisor�s approval.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/21/nyregion/21immigrant.html?hp
An Agent, a Green Card, and a Demand for Sex
Article Tools Sponsored By
By NINA BERNSTEIN
Published: March 21, 2008
No problems so far, the immigration agent told the American citizen and his 22-year-old Colombian wife at her green card interview in December. After he stapled one of their wedding photos to her application for legal permanent residency, he had just one more question: What was her cellphone number?
Skip to next paragraph
Enlarge This Image
Uli Seit for The New York Times
Isaac R. Baichu, 46, an adjudicator for the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, was arrested after he met with a green card applicant at the Flagship Restaurant, a diner in Queens. He is charged with coercing oral sex from her.
Audio A Secret Recording
Enlarge This Image
Uli Seit for The New York Times
The Flagship Restaurant, where Mr. Baichu met with a green card applicant.
The calls from the agent started three days later. He hinted, she said, at his power to derail her life and deport her relatives, alluding to a brush she had with the law before her marriage. He summoned her to a private meeting. And at noon on Dec. 21, in a parked car on Queens Boulevard, he named his price � not realizing that she was recording everything on the cellphone in her purse.
�I want sex,� he said on the recording. �One or two times. That�s all. You get your green card. You won�t have to see me anymore.�
She reluctantly agreed to a future meeting. But when she tried to leave his car, he demanded oral sex �now,� to �know that you�re serious.� And despite her protests, she said, he got his way.
The 16-minute recording, which the woman first took to The New York Times and then to the Queens district attorney, suggests the vast power of low-level immigration law enforcers, and a growing desperation on the part of immigrants seeking legal status. The aftermath, which included the arrest of an immigration agent last week, underscores the difficulty and danger of making a complaint, even in the rare case when abuse of power may have been caught on tape.
No one knows how widespread sexual blackmail is, but the case echoes other instances of sexual coercion that have surfaced in recent years, including agents criminally charged in Atlanta, Miami and Santa Ana, Calif. And it raises broader questions about the system�s vulnerability to corruption at a time when millions of noncitizens live in a kind of legal no-man�s land, increasingly fearful of seeking the law�s protection.
The agent arrested last week, Isaac R. Baichu, 46, himself an immigrant from Guyana, handled some 8,000 green card applications during his three years as an adjudicator in the Garden City, N.Y., office of United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, part of the federal Department of Homeland Security. He pleaded not guilty to felony and misdemeanor charges of coercing the young woman to perform oral sex, and of promising to help her secure immigration papers in exchange for further sexual favors. If convicted, he will face up to seven years in prison.
His agency has suspended him with pay, and the inspector general of Homeland Security is reviewing his other cases, a spokesman said Wednesday. Prosecutors, who say they recorded a meeting between Mr. Baichu and the woman on March 11 at which he made similar demands for sex, urge any other victims to come forward.
Money, not sex, is the more common currency of corruption in immigration, but according to Congressional testimony in 2006 by Michael Maxwell, former director of the agency�s internal investigations, more than 3,000 backlogged complaints of employee misconduct had gone uninvestigated for lack of staff, including 528 involving criminal allegations.
The agency says it has tripled its investigative staff since then, and counts only 165 serious complaints pending. But it stopped posting an e-mail address and phone number for such complaints last year, said Jan Lane, chief of security and integrity, because it lacks the staff to cull the thousands of mostly irrelevant messages that resulted. Immigrants, she advised, should report wrongdoing to any law enforcement agency they trust.
The young woman in Queens, whose name is being withheld because the authorities consider her the victim of a sex crime, did not even tell her husband what had happened. Two weeks after the meeting in the car, finding no way to make a confidential complaint to the immigration agency and afraid to go to the police, she and two older female relatives took the recording to The Times.
Reasons to Worry
A slim, shy woman who looks like a teenager, she said she had spent recent months baby-sitting for relatives in Queens, crying over the deaths of her two brothers back in Cali, Colombia, and longing for the right stamp in her passport � one that would let her return to the United States if she visited her family.
She came to the United States on a tourist visa in 2004 and overstayed. When she married an American citizen a year ago, the law allowed her to apply to �adjust� her illegal status. But unless her green card application was approved, she could not visit her parents or her brothers� graves and then legally re-enter the United States. And if her application was denied, she would face deportation.
She had another reason to be fearful, and not only for herself. About 15 months ago, she said, an acquaintance hired her and two female relatives in New York to carry $12,000 in cash to the bank. The three women, all living in the country illegally, were arrested on the street by customs officers apparently acting on a tip in a money-laundering investigation. After determining that the women had no useful information, the officers released them.
But the closed investigation file had showed up in the computer when she applied for a green card, Mr. Baichu told her in December; until he obtained the file and dealt with it, her application would not be approved. If she defied him, she feared, he could summon immigration enforcement agents to take her relatives to detention.
So instead of calling the police, she turned on the video recorder in her cellphone, put the phone in her purse and walked to meet the agent. Two family members said they watched anxiously from their parked car as she disappeared behind the tinted windows of his red Lexus.
�We were worried that the guy would take off, take her away and do something to her,� the woman�s widowed sister-in-law said in Spanish.
As the recorder captured the agent�s words and a lilting Guyanese accent, he laid out his terms in an easy, almost paternal style. He would not ask too much, he said: sex �once or twice,� visits to his home in the Bronx, perhaps a link to other Colombians who needed his help with their immigration problems.
In shaky English, the woman expressed reluctance, and questioned how she could be sure he would keep his word.
�If I do it, it�s like very hard for me, because I have my husband, and I really fall in love with him,� she said.
The agent insisted that she had to trust him. �I wouldn�t ask you to do something for me if I can�t do something for you, right?� he said, and reasoned, �Nobody going to help you for nothing,� noting that she had no money.
He described himself as the single father of a 10-year-old daughter, telling her, �I need love, too,� and predicting, �You will get to like me because I�m a nice guy.�
Repeatedly, she responded �O.K.,� without conviction. At one point he thanked her for showing up, saying, �I know you feel very scared.�
Finally, she tried to leave. �Let me go because I tell my husband I come home,� she said.
His reply, the recording shows, was a blunt demand for oral sex.
�Right now? No!� she protested. �No, no, right now I can�t.�
He insisted, cajoled, even empathized. �I came from a different country, too,� he said. �I got my green card just like you.�
Then, she said, he grabbed her. During the speechless minute that follows on the recording, she said she yielded to his demand out of fear that he would use his authority against her.
How Much Corruption?
The charges against Mr. Baichu, who became a United States citizen in 1991 and earns roughly $50,000 a year, appear to be part of a larger pattern, according to government records and interviews.
Mr. Maxwell, the immigration agency�s former chief investigator, told Congress in 2006 that internal corruption was �rampant,� and that employees faced constant temptations to commit crime.
�It is only a small step from granting a discretionary waiver of an eligibility rule to asking for a favor or taking a bribe in exchange for granting that waiver,� he contended. �Once an employee learns he can get away with low-level corruption and still advance up the ranks, he or she becomes more brazen.�
�Despite our best efforts there are always people ready to use their position for personal gain or personal pleasure,� said Chris Bentley, a spokesman for Citizenship and Immigration Services. �Our responsibility is to ferret them out.�
When the Queens woman came to The Times with her recording on Jan. 3, she was afraid of retaliation from the agent, and uncertain about making a criminal complaint, though she had an appointment the next day at the Queens district attorney�s office.
Mr. Baichu was arrested as he emerged from the diner and headed to his car, wearing much gold and diamond jewelry, prosecutors said. Later released on $15,000 bail, Mr. Baichu referred calls for comment to his lawyer, Sally Attia, who said he did not have authority to grant or deny green card petitions without his supervisor�s approval.
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PD_Dec2002
07-07 09:58 PM
Thanks for your reply. We just published the ad a week ago. Is that a big deal to revise now ? It went into computer world and stuff. I am not sure how difficult it would be.
Hence for this matter, I have another employer willing to file my LC this month. But I am thinking since I was not with them when they sent out the ad and requesting wage details, IS this something considered equivalent to LC subsitution if I join them and file my LC with already sent out ad ??
Your answer is highly important.
Thanks
I am not sure I understand what you are saying. But before you get flamed (and correctly so) by everyone, I just have one advice for you: "What goes around comes around".
Never, never ever do anything in life that will come back to haunt you. Dishonesty can only go so far...
Good luck.
Thanks,
Jayant
Hence for this matter, I have another employer willing to file my LC this month. But I am thinking since I was not with them when they sent out the ad and requesting wage details, IS this something considered equivalent to LC subsitution if I join them and file my LC with already sent out ad ??
Your answer is highly important.
Thanks
I am not sure I understand what you are saying. But before you get flamed (and correctly so) by everyone, I just have one advice for you: "What goes around comes around".
Never, never ever do anything in life that will come back to haunt you. Dishonesty can only go so far...
Good luck.
Thanks,
Jayant
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Aah_GC
06-17 08:14 PM
Your EAD / AP renewal is on the basis of your pending I485 application, it has nothing to do with the validity of your I485 or AC21 application. AC21 is a privelege you can use to get away from retrogression for a bit, but does not gaurentee you a Green Card.
Hope this helps.
How about this scenario..
I invoked AC21 and changed job using my EAD. Now my new employer applied for my EAD and AP renewal. I got the approval for the renewal today....does that mean USCIS is ok with my application (AC21) or they will verify it at the time of 485 adjudication?
Hope this helps.
How about this scenario..
I invoked AC21 and changed job using my EAD. Now my new employer applied for my EAD and AP renewal. I got the approval for the renewal today....does that mean USCIS is ok with my application (AC21) or they will verify it at the time of 485 adjudication?
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jchan
08-01 11:52 AM
I am pleasantly surprised and would like to thank Sen Mendez on behalf of all the IV members in his constituency for sponsoring visa recapture bill in Senate. Few days back when we called his office, his position was different. But because of we all calling and requesting for his support, he graciouly has agreed to take up our case. Speaking with his staff, I came to know that more than thousand calls were made to his office in support of the visa recapture bill.
Are you sure he just changed his side? I think he was on the sponsor's list at least a couple weeks ago.
Either way, it's great news.
And we have at least 4,5 co-sponsors from CHC. Hopefully they won't create a problem this time around.
Are you sure he just changed his side? I think he was on the sponsor's list at least a couple weeks ago.
Either way, it's great news.
And we have at least 4,5 co-sponsors from CHC. Hopefully they won't create a problem this time around.
atlfp
04-08 01:26 PM
I guess everything needs to go through the house conference. However there is a much better chance to attach it to the PACE act since Sensenbrenner may not be sitting in that conference at all. PACE act goes to this committe:
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Subcommittee on Education and Early Childhood Development
It's none of the Judical committe's business. It will be much better if the Senate just drops the contraversial immigration bill and start to work on this bill. Attaching EB to immigration bill is really dangerous and may just futher delay everything. So pushing the immigration bill may not be a wise thing for us to do.
like S 1932 that deals with other issues then you risk the House getting those thrown out during conference committee.
The advantage is that it will slide thru easily in senate. Problem is that house members use the S 1932 tactic to get immigration provisions thrown out in bills that are not related to immigration or touch immigration on a tangent like competitiveness bills.
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Subcommittee on Education and Early Childhood Development
It's none of the Judical committe's business. It will be much better if the Senate just drops the contraversial immigration bill and start to work on this bill. Attaching EB to immigration bill is really dangerous and may just futher delay everything. So pushing the immigration bill may not be a wise thing for us to do.
like S 1932 that deals with other issues then you risk the House getting those thrown out during conference committee.
The advantage is that it will slide thru easily in senate. Problem is that house members use the S 1932 tactic to get immigration provisions thrown out in bills that are not related to immigration or touch immigration on a tangent like competitiveness bills.
traveldoc
09-30 07:16 AM
Ken,
First off priority mail could take about 5 days to reach and sounds like you are right about there now. Second, if you sent via priority mail with delivery confirmation the post office is responsible for it, contact them and try to locate the package. If you are not in a hurry for the AP I advice you to take this route. If you are in a hurry I suggest you send a second package in Express mail. Good luck with you AP.
First off priority mail could take about 5 days to reach and sounds like you are right about there now. Second, if you sent via priority mail with delivery confirmation the post office is responsible for it, contact them and try to locate the package. If you are not in a hurry for the AP I advice you to take this route. If you are in a hurry I suggest you send a second package in Express mail. Good luck with you AP.
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