frostrated
07-11 12:09 PM
I see dark every where for EB3 until we do something there is no hope guys.....
This is really suc...............
actually, i think that the EB3 will also make rapid advances come October.
with the quota exhausted for this year, and the pre-adjudication taking place and with most of the EB3 India applicants having received their GC between 2002 and 2005, i think the dates will advance to 2003 by Dec and to mid 2004 by Feb/March. After that, it is anyone's guess if the quota for India will hold out. As for me, I see at least another year or two wait for my GC, unless the Congress passes a miracle.
This is really suc...............
actually, i think that the EB3 will also make rapid advances come October.
with the quota exhausted for this year, and the pre-adjudication taking place and with most of the EB3 India applicants having received their GC between 2002 and 2005, i think the dates will advance to 2003 by Dec and to mid 2004 by Feb/March. After that, it is anyone's guess if the quota for India will hold out. As for me, I see at least another year or two wait for my GC, unless the Congress passes a miracle.
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rockstart
10-23 01:56 PM
Glad to see this law. Also this law gives me hope for recapture. No one knew about this law was in transit and without any hitches this one passed all the way. So for those who feel that recapture cannot pass can rethink their position based on this new fact.
gc_chahiye
11-04 11:26 PM
Situation - During the month of July, I filed my 485 when all categories were current. Got my receipt too. Missed wife's application because her papers were not ready. Now priority dates have retrogressed again.
Saving grace - Our H1/H4 are in order with many long years left on them.
Question - Can I file my wife 485 now as a dependent, even though "my" PD is not current yet. The core point is that, does the concept of PD applies to the dependent 485 applications too?
unfortunately under current laws/regulations the dependent can only file when the PD of the primary applicant is current. So you'll need to wait for your PD to become current again to be able to file your wife's petition.
Saving grace - Our H1/H4 are in order with many long years left on them.
Question - Can I file my wife 485 now as a dependent, even though "my" PD is not current yet. The core point is that, does the concept of PD applies to the dependent 485 applications too?
unfortunately under current laws/regulations the dependent can only file when the PD of the primary applicant is current. So you'll need to wait for your PD to become current again to be able to file your wife's petition.
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StuckInTheMuck
09-02 01:53 PM
Is your RFE regarding Medical?
Did you sent your Medical Reports?
Any Good news after Medical reports sent?
Sorry for the late reply. Yes the RFE was for medical (for me and spouse) as I thought. We sent response on Aug 12, got hard LUD ("response received, case processing resumed") Aug 19, then soft LUDs on Aug 20, 21, 26 and 27, and nothing after that.
Did you sent your Medical Reports?
Any Good news after Medical reports sent?
Sorry for the late reply. Yes the RFE was for medical (for me and spouse) as I thought. We sent response on Aug 12, got hard LUD ("response received, case processing resumed") Aug 19, then soft LUDs on Aug 20, 21, 26 and 27, and nothing after that.
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smisachu
12-05 11:12 PM
I asked my attorney the following question. His reply is in caps:
Q) Is it true that I can enter US on AP and still retain my H1 if I declare at port of entry that I would like to use my H1? I would like to retain and use my H1.
A)NO. YOU WOULD ENTER ON THE AP. THEN WHEN THE H-1B IS ABOUT TO EXPIRE, YOU WILL BE ABLE TO APPLY FOR AN H-1B EXTENSION. WHAT SEEMS TO BE A GREY AREA IS THE EXACT STATUS AFTER THE I-94 THAT IS ISSUED BASED ON THE AP EXPIRES, AND BEFORE THE H-1B IS READY TO BE RENEWED. YOU CAN'T TECHNICALLY APPLY FOR AN EXTENSION OF AN H-1B UNLESS IT IS WITHIN 6 MONTHS OF EXPIRING.
What is the feed back you guys have received from your legal counsels? Please share.
Hi,
I have my AP approved and H1B approved until 2010 but have an expired H1B
Visa and I plan to extend my H1B visa some time next year.
I am planning on some business trips and would like to re-enter US multiple times using my Advance parole. Any issues with this?
Once I re enter using AP, can I go back to India and apply for H1B visa extension based on the approved H1B.
Appreciate your responses on this.
Thanks,
Bitz
Q) Is it true that I can enter US on AP and still retain my H1 if I declare at port of entry that I would like to use my H1? I would like to retain and use my H1.
A)NO. YOU WOULD ENTER ON THE AP. THEN WHEN THE H-1B IS ABOUT TO EXPIRE, YOU WILL BE ABLE TO APPLY FOR AN H-1B EXTENSION. WHAT SEEMS TO BE A GREY AREA IS THE EXACT STATUS AFTER THE I-94 THAT IS ISSUED BASED ON THE AP EXPIRES, AND BEFORE THE H-1B IS READY TO BE RENEWED. YOU CAN'T TECHNICALLY APPLY FOR AN EXTENSION OF AN H-1B UNLESS IT IS WITHIN 6 MONTHS OF EXPIRING.
What is the feed back you guys have received from your legal counsels? Please share.
Hi,
I have my AP approved and H1B approved until 2010 but have an expired H1B
Visa and I plan to extend my H1B visa some time next year.
I am planning on some business trips and would like to re-enter US multiple times using my Advance parole. Any issues with this?
Once I re enter using AP, can I go back to India and apply for H1B visa extension based on the approved H1B.
Appreciate your responses on this.
Thanks,
Bitz
pappu
07-30 11:38 AM
I do not doubt that these calls serve a purpose. What I am not very happy about is what transpires after the call. I look for some kind of gratification or closure after a certain issue has been raised. When we participate in such calls with Ombudsman, and even when individuals focus on their own issues, it would not be too difficult to identify some of the generic problems. From the calls this time and the past one, I would be surprised it they did not see customer service and processing times as major issues. Not to say these are high priority problems but that most likely would be the summary of two calls.
But, what happens after that? We do not see what procedures are in place/discussions to rectify these problems.
Thats where I think calls/meeting with USCIS local or DC body could help. Thanks for pointing out that such meetings are already in the works. I will defer my discussion to my local chapter. Thanks.
I agree.
Maybe this is something our community can ask Ombudsman's office so that after calls, we can know any follow up action and status on the 'issues' raised during the call.
But, what happens after that? We do not see what procedures are in place/discussions to rectify these problems.
Thats where I think calls/meeting with USCIS local or DC body could help. Thanks for pointing out that such meetings are already in the works. I will defer my discussion to my local chapter. Thanks.
I agree.
Maybe this is something our community can ask Ombudsman's office so that after calls, we can know any follow up action and status on the 'issues' raised during the call.
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markelli
02-26 11:34 PM
Anysia,
Hi! Do you think this rule will apply if you were to apply for H1-B extension? I'm a PT too and my H1 will expire in October. My I-140 petition was filed last December and was approved this February. So I was wondering if USCIS uses the same standard for H1-B and I-140s. Which service center did you apply to? I'm really scared of what's happening. I hope that you get thru this....
Hi! Do you think this rule will apply if you were to apply for H1-B extension? I'm a PT too and my H1 will expire in October. My I-140 petition was filed last December and was approved this February. So I was wondering if USCIS uses the same standard for H1-B and I-140s. Which service center did you apply to? I'm really scared of what's happening. I hope that you get thru this....
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Tazike
06-27 09:44 PM
I read an answer written by an immigration lawyer about this type of situation and according to him once the divorce is final the conditional green card is invalid effective that day. That means that the immigrant spouse becomes out of status and would lose her right to work. Because of this the immigrant spouse should apply for a waiver right away once the divorce is final. Staying here and working while being out of status can cause problems of its own.
It's generally true that getting divorced does not affect one's green card. The exception however is when a person has a conditional marriage based green card and gets divorced before the conditions are removed.
It's generally true that getting divorced does not affect one's green card. The exception however is when a person has a conditional marriage based green card and gets divorced before the conditions are removed.
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belmontboy
09-15 02:53 PM
Any ideas? (My wife and son are in india now).
Anyway, I will support IV wholeheartedly going forward. Of course, I got benefitted from it. I am a long timer, 2001, EB3.
Sharab & Kabab.
Anyway, I will support IV wholeheartedly going forward. Of course, I got benefitted from it. I am a long timer, 2001, EB3.
Sharab & Kabab.
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p_kumar
11-25 09:12 PM
I am doing the same - full time H1B, part time school. Can use EAD for assistantship and full time school next year (if GC does not come through). If GC is approved(hopefully) since NC is already cleared and PD is current, I will continue about 6 months more full time with employer and do part time school.
How do you know that your namecheck is cleared?. thanks
How do you know that your namecheck is cleared?. thanks
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burnt
04-08 12:10 PM
Friends - Thanks for your help on this one. After getting suggestions from you guys, I did call my lawyer too. He asked me to go back to the airport and Submit my I-94 and related docs to the CBP department there.
After that I called the CBP Customer care for NJ at (703) 526-4200 and the rep asked me to go to CBP website and asked me to mail the I-94 to the address written there. Here is the link for your reference. Alo in this website, it says clearly, DO NOT submit to any other CBP office other than the address mentioned.
http://help.cbp.gov/cgi-bin/customs.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=752&p_created=1077641280&p_sid=RGQ8g3Hh&p_lva=&p_sp=cF9zcmNoPTEmcF9zb3J0X2J5PSZwX2dyaWRzb3J0PSZwX 3Jvd19jbnQ9OCZwX3Byb2RzPTAmcF9jYXRzPTAmcF9wdj0mcF9 jdj0mcF9zZWFyY2hfdHlwZT1hbnN3ZXJzLnNlYXJjaF9ubCZwX 3BhZ2U9MSZwX3NlYXJjaF90ZXh0PUktOTQ*&p_li=&p_topview=1
I don't understand why the lawyer suggested me to physically go to the Airport to submit my I-94.
After that I called the CBP Customer care for NJ at (703) 526-4200 and the rep asked me to go to CBP website and asked me to mail the I-94 to the address written there. Here is the link for your reference. Alo in this website, it says clearly, DO NOT submit to any other CBP office other than the address mentioned.
http://help.cbp.gov/cgi-bin/customs.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=752&p_created=1077641280&p_sid=RGQ8g3Hh&p_lva=&p_sp=cF9zcmNoPTEmcF9zb3J0X2J5PSZwX2dyaWRzb3J0PSZwX 3Jvd19jbnQ9OCZwX3Byb2RzPTAmcF9jYXRzPTAmcF9wdj0mcF9 jdj0mcF9zZWFyY2hfdHlwZT1hbnN3ZXJzLnNlYXJjaF9ubCZwX 3BhZ2U9MSZwX3NlYXJjaF90ZXh0PUktOTQ*&p_li=&p_topview=1
I don't understand why the lawyer suggested me to physically go to the Airport to submit my I-94.
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WaldenPond
07-21 08:48 PM
EAD is usually issued only for one year but USCIS has the option to issue EADs for a longer period of time based on this regulation:
"DHS on July 30, 2004 published an interim regulation that amends 8 CFR sec. 274a3. USCIS now has authority to issue EADs for periods greater than one year. This regulation recognizes the system is overburdened. However, USCIS has not implemented this reform probably due to the potential revenue loss."
Source: "Immigration and Nationality Law Handbook 2007 Edition", published by AILA
This can be done without changing the law. If USCIS is afraid to lose its revenue they can change for 2 or 3 years ahead. I believe this may be a good choice for people whose visa number will not be available for several years. Any comments?
Hi Suk,
We have been already working on this. Please see:
http://www.dhs.gov/xlibrary/assets/CISOmbudsman_RR_25_EAD_03-20-06.pdf
On July 30, 2004, an interim rule "Employment Authorization Documents." 69 Fed. Reg. 45555 removed regulatory language limiting EAD validity periods to one-year increments and provides for USCIS issuance of multi-year EADs. The intent of this rule is - USCIS is to begin issuance of EADs with validity periods of more than one year. The reason for this interim rule was that 80%-90% of adjustment of status applications remain pending for longer than one year. Therefore applying for renewal of the EAD every year, as mentioned in the July 2004 interim rule, "creates burden on the applicant" and "creates avoidable additional workload for USCIS".
This change to the EAD issuance policy and practice will benefit employers and individuals, as well as USCIS. Issuance of multi-year EADs and EADs with full periods of validity will also help to reduce USCIS workload and improve process efficiency. With the current practice, issuing EADs with one-year validity periods�in cases where it is likely that re-issuance of the EAD will be necessary�requires USCIS to perform redundant adjudications.
Thanks for your help!
"DHS on July 30, 2004 published an interim regulation that amends 8 CFR sec. 274a3. USCIS now has authority to issue EADs for periods greater than one year. This regulation recognizes the system is overburdened. However, USCIS has not implemented this reform probably due to the potential revenue loss."
Source: "Immigration and Nationality Law Handbook 2007 Edition", published by AILA
This can be done without changing the law. If USCIS is afraid to lose its revenue they can change for 2 or 3 years ahead. I believe this may be a good choice for people whose visa number will not be available for several years. Any comments?
Hi Suk,
We have been already working on this. Please see:
http://www.dhs.gov/xlibrary/assets/CISOmbudsman_RR_25_EAD_03-20-06.pdf
On July 30, 2004, an interim rule "Employment Authorization Documents." 69 Fed. Reg. 45555 removed regulatory language limiting EAD validity periods to one-year increments and provides for USCIS issuance of multi-year EADs. The intent of this rule is - USCIS is to begin issuance of EADs with validity periods of more than one year. The reason for this interim rule was that 80%-90% of adjustment of status applications remain pending for longer than one year. Therefore applying for renewal of the EAD every year, as mentioned in the July 2004 interim rule, "creates burden on the applicant" and "creates avoidable additional workload for USCIS".
This change to the EAD issuance policy and practice will benefit employers and individuals, as well as USCIS. Issuance of multi-year EADs and EADs with full periods of validity will also help to reduce USCIS workload and improve process efficiency. With the current practice, issuing EADs with one-year validity periods�in cases where it is likely that re-issuance of the EAD will be necessary�requires USCIS to perform redundant adjudications.
Thanks for your help!
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thomachan72
03-10 07:10 AM
If they take the trouble of selecting multiple applications from the same employer, I dont doubt that anybody with multiple applications (even from different employers) will get either rejected or get questions.
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amitjoey
04-16 04:05 PM
Yes! I am guessing you can get a refund. Ask for a refund. Why NOT?
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SonnyD
10-18 03:26 PM
Congratulations brother. One of the questions they ask is- are you a member of any association or any organization.If and when they ask, this would be a good time for you to inform the officer of any volunteer work you do. Or tell them how you contribute to the community. Also tell them if you donate to charities. Just a thought.
Please only answer the questions that are asked. Answer to the point and be precise. Brother Sanju has given good advise too. Let your wife answer the question, if the Officer was asking her. Please do not try to answer for her.
Good luck and God bless
SonnyD
Please only answer the questions that are asked. Answer to the point and be precise. Brother Sanju has given good advise too. Let your wife answer the question, if the Officer was asking her. Please do not try to answer for her.
Good luck and God bless
SonnyD
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hpandey
12-26 01:31 PM
Both are wrong answers .. no one is an alien .. we are all human beings :D
Just kidding ..
But on a serious note I think we fall under non-resident alien.
Just kidding ..
But on a serious note I think we fall under non-resident alien.
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h1techSlave
01-08 03:05 PM
from an old article: http://heather.cs.ucdavis.edu/H1BSummary.pdf?popup=false
Here is an outline of my proposal:
� To be eligible to an H-1B, the employer would be required to have not have laid off Americans
in similar jobs within the last 6 months, and not employ H-1Bs in more than 15% of its technical
workforce.
� An employer who wishes to hire an H-1B would be required to advertise the job on a central Dept. of
Labor (DOL) Web page for 30 days. If the employer did not hire an American during this period, the
employer would have automatic permission to hire the H-1B.
� The wage paid to an H-1B would be required to be at least the national median for all workers in the
field, including those with all levels of experience.
� After hiring the H-1B, the employer would update the entry in the database, stating the qualifications
of the H-1B who was hired.33
� The visa would be valid for 3 years. During this time, the worker could move from employer to
employer at will, providing that each new employer goes through the 30-day ad procedure on the
DOL database.
� If the worker were to stay employed in the tech field for all but 60 days during the 3-year period, the
worker would be deemed as having proved his/her value to the economy, and would automatically be
granted permanent-resident (i.e. green card) status.
� If on the other hand, the worker were to become unemployed for more than 60 days, he/she would be
required to leave the country within 15 days.
Here is an outline of my proposal:
� To be eligible to an H-1B, the employer would be required to have not have laid off Americans
in similar jobs within the last 6 months, and not employ H-1Bs in more than 15% of its technical
workforce.
� An employer who wishes to hire an H-1B would be required to advertise the job on a central Dept. of
Labor (DOL) Web page for 30 days. If the employer did not hire an American during this period, the
employer would have automatic permission to hire the H-1B.
� The wage paid to an H-1B would be required to be at least the national median for all workers in the
field, including those with all levels of experience.
� After hiring the H-1B, the employer would update the entry in the database, stating the qualifications
of the H-1B who was hired.33
� The visa would be valid for 3 years. During this time, the worker could move from employer to
employer at will, providing that each new employer goes through the 30-day ad procedure on the
DOL database.
� If the worker were to stay employed in the tech field for all but 60 days during the 3-year period, the
worker would be deemed as having proved his/her value to the economy, and would automatically be
granted permanent-resident (i.e. green card) status.
� If on the other hand, the worker were to become unemployed for more than 60 days, he/she would be
required to leave the country within 15 days.
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08-02 02:54 PM
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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
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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.
ilikekilo
07-25 01:29 PM
Hello,
I have an unfortunate situation. My parents names are misspelled in the Birth certificate compared to the Passport parents name page. Do we need to submit the parents names page of the passport when we submit our documents for 485 ?? Please let me know if this will be a problem and if there is a work around for this ??
Also if I have a Birth certificate (with my actual full name - dated in 2007 though), do I need to submit the affidavits ??
Thanks
dont confuse dated dob cert with the registration date...as long as the dob cert has the registraation date within 3 years or less, i believe, then u r ok...
I have an unfortunate situation. My parents names are misspelled in the Birth certificate compared to the Passport parents name page. Do we need to submit the parents names page of the passport when we submit our documents for 485 ?? Please let me know if this will be a problem and if there is a work around for this ??
Also if I have a Birth certificate (with my actual full name - dated in 2007 though), do I need to submit the affidavits ??
Thanks
dont confuse dated dob cert with the registration date...as long as the dob cert has the registraation date within 3 years or less, i believe, then u r ok...
like_watching_paint_dry
08-20 10:58 PM
Before I slowly forget all the various pain points from the past, I'm going to add this one detail that people usually neglect:
The new process requires you to deposit a the visa processing fees at a local branch of Nova Scotia Bank and get a deposit slip to submit with the visa application when you go into the consulate. Most banks open at 9 am - 10 am. So if you have an early appointment, be sure to go there the previous business day and get the fees stuff taken care of. If not, you will find yourself scrambling to get this done at the last minute.
The new process requires you to deposit a the visa processing fees at a local branch of Nova Scotia Bank and get a deposit slip to submit with the visa application when you go into the consulate. Most banks open at 9 am - 10 am. So if you have an early appointment, be sure to go there the previous business day and get the fees stuff taken care of. If not, you will find yourself scrambling to get this done at the last minute.
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