solaris27
08-14 03:31 PM
1) find another employer and trasfer H1B
2) send regt letter to old employer for all salary.
3) report by filling form provided by javadeveloper
4) he will beg you to take complain back
5) you will get ur money --happy :)
what is company name ?
2) send regt letter to old employer for all salary.
3) report by filling form provided by javadeveloper
4) he will beg you to take complain back
5) you will get ur money --happy :)
what is company name ?
wallpaper wallpaper Name : True Blood
vegasbaby
02-23 12:52 AM
Hi,
Recently, I applied for H1 extension (change of employer) at Mumbai COnsulate. The Visa officer said all my documents are good but still issued me a yellow form that says that administrative process is required for my case. She gave me back my passport and the yellow form. The application is pending.
I have a valid EAD and AP. Is it possible for me to abandon the H1 process and enter US on EAD and AP.
I am looking for legal expertise here.
Thanks.
Well, yes you can certainly abandon H-1 process & come back on EAD/AP. However, I would try some other consulate first like Hyderabad or Delhi. I believe since you have gone for H-1 extension, you can go to pretty much any consulate in India.
My friend was issued a yellow form 221g or something @ Toronto Consulate. He went to Delhi & got his visa stamped. No questions asked.
But you should wait to check if its PIMS delay. PIMS delays are generally resolved in 2 -3weeks.
Recently, I applied for H1 extension (change of employer) at Mumbai COnsulate. The Visa officer said all my documents are good but still issued me a yellow form that says that administrative process is required for my case. She gave me back my passport and the yellow form. The application is pending.
I have a valid EAD and AP. Is it possible for me to abandon the H1 process and enter US on EAD and AP.
I am looking for legal expertise here.
Thanks.
Well, yes you can certainly abandon H-1 process & come back on EAD/AP. However, I would try some other consulate first like Hyderabad or Delhi. I believe since you have gone for H-1 extension, you can go to pretty much any consulate in India.
My friend was issued a yellow form 221g or something @ Toronto Consulate. He went to Delhi & got his visa stamped. No questions asked.
But you should wait to check if its PIMS delay. PIMS delays are generally resolved in 2 -3weeks.
psk79
05-31 12:02 AM
Sure that helps...
I didn't get what the below means
"this iwll come iwht a new I94 and u wil hten b in h1b...Otherwise, u go out of the country and enter back showing h1b approval and get a new I94 at POE that will say h1b..."
I mean the new H1 will come with a new I94 attached to it and ur status automatically changed to H1.
I didn't get what the below means
"this iwll come iwht a new I94 and u wil hten b in h1b...Otherwise, u go out of the country and enter back showing h1b approval and get a new I94 at POE that will say h1b..."
I mean the new H1 will come with a new I94 attached to it and ur status automatically changed to H1.
2011 Download True Blood Wallpaper;
ndbhatt
08-14 12:36 PM
yes u are
Sorry but I didn't get what your "Yes" pointed to.
is OP wrong or right in his assumption?
Personally, I don't think it matters whether an applicant is direct employee or works for a consulting company. If it was indeed true, then people would start jumping on the direct client bandwagons :D
Thanks,
Nik
Sorry but I didn't get what your "Yes" pointed to.
is OP wrong or right in his assumption?
Personally, I don't think it matters whether an applicant is direct employee or works for a consulting company. If it was indeed true, then people would start jumping on the direct client bandwagons :D
Thanks,
Nik
more...
nashim
09-04 09:36 AM
USCIS has all information but they might not have resource/time to collect information about old cases that�s why they might be seeking help from other body.
Desertfox
10-30 10:04 PM
Lawyer? So, You don't believe what was posted on USIS website?
I find it wise to pay my lawyer to find the correct information for me.... be it from USCIS website or from her professional knowledge base. Believe it or not, I trust a qualified professional more than myself when it comes to a subject outside of my expertise...:D
I find it wise to pay my lawyer to find the correct information for me.... be it from USCIS website or from her professional knowledge base. Believe it or not, I trust a qualified professional more than myself when it comes to a subject outside of my expertise...:D
more...
desi3933
02-11 07:59 PM
I checked with attorney and they mentioned that I can continue on my L1 if I am with L1 employer OR if I am with H1 employer then I can be only on H1 status...
...
Did you tell your attorney that you have got new I-94 with H1-B written on it. I-94 indicates new status. There are no 2 ways about it.
__________________
Not a legal advice.
...
Did you tell your attorney that you have got new I-94 with H1-B written on it. I-94 indicates new status. There are no 2 ways about it.
__________________
Not a legal advice.
2010 pictures True Blood Desktop
jayleno
11-19 05:18 PM
I think its scary for people who filed their applications at NSC. Ofcourse like someone said scary for people with attorneys who are not members of AILA. :D
http://cli.gs/De4Z4u
BTW, what's scary about this memo..
Infact, I find it encouraging, that TSC is trying to facilitate the process one way or other, given their system deficiency.
http://cli.gs/De4Z4u
BTW, what's scary about this memo..
Infact, I find it encouraging, that TSC is trying to facilitate the process one way or other, given their system deficiency.
more...
quizzer
07-26 10:22 PM
any idea when will this be taken up?
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sp99
08-18 01:45 PM
Hello Folks,
I was also in the same dilemma 2 weeks back but now that i have DISH IPTV, i am very happy with the quality of the channels. I ordered Hindi Superpack, i was interested in Elite pack but it has $6 charge which becomes $40 for 4 channnels but add 4.99 and u get 8 channels...i was worried about buffering and quality of the programming but it is awesome..i watch it on my 50inch plasma..it is great..let me know if u have any more questions...
I was also in the same dilemma 2 weeks back but now that i have DISH IPTV, i am very happy with the quality of the channels. I ordered Hindi Superpack, i was interested in Elite pack but it has $6 charge which becomes $40 for 4 channnels but add 4.99 and u get 8 channels...i was worried about buffering and quality of the programming but it is awesome..i watch it on my 50inch plasma..it is great..let me know if u have any more questions...
more...
mansour
03-06 08:30 PM
i voted for paddy duke :thumb:
i can understand the concept, but i still didn't like the bottom part of mlkdave's site.
btw paddy duke - it would've looked much better if you used the same pictures on (see, play, hear)
i can understand the concept, but i still didn't like the bottom part of mlkdave's site.
btw paddy duke - it would've looked much better if you used the same pictures on (see, play, hear)
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tnite
06-26 10:09 AM
what happens if the passport gets stamped and got a new I94 in the vancouver airport and no inspection after coming back to US.
what should we enter as last entry into us
Then put the Vancouver visit as the last entry.
what should we enter as last entry into us
Then put the Vancouver visit as the last entry.
more...
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tiger05
03-01 11:41 PM
Thanks for you valuable information.
My last entry was on Mar 2008. So as per your reply, even if i have less pay on my W2 for 2006 it wont effect my H1 transfer?
Kindly reply
Thanks
Tiger
My last entry was on Mar 2008. So as per your reply, even if i have less pay on my W2 for 2006 it wont effect my H1 transfer?
Kindly reply
Thanks
Tiger
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gcpool
03-14 09:22 AM
The thing that has to be remembered is that you have to mention is very clearly how you are availing the priority date and also quote the law.
File both the I-140 in the front. Put the argument all over the application. And dont forget to quote to law. Otherwise it will be returned back.
I think its possible but hire a very good lawyer to do it for you. Most of them dont know the law and dont even know how to handle such a case
There is a difference in tranferring the priority date and requesting to use an earlier application
First is when the second I-140 is going to be filed
Second is when you already have two I-140 and is planning to apply the 485
The first process is common and said to be proven. But the second is not very common.
But I have come to conclusion that both of them work.
Yes he can use earlier PD for EB2.
He can file I485 in EB2 by requesting recapturing priority date from EB3.
File both the I-140 in the front. Put the argument all over the application. And dont forget to quote to law. Otherwise it will be returned back.
I think its possible but hire a very good lawyer to do it for you. Most of them dont know the law and dont even know how to handle such a case
There is a difference in tranferring the priority date and requesting to use an earlier application
First is when the second I-140 is going to be filed
Second is when you already have two I-140 and is planning to apply the 485
The first process is common and said to be proven. But the second is not very common.
But I have come to conclusion that both of them work.
Yes he can use earlier PD for EB2.
He can file I485 in EB2 by requesting recapturing priority date from EB3.
more...
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chillfakter
02-11 08:45 PM
Thank you tdasara, I hope mine works out the same way as yours. Could you tell me when this took place, and also how much gap there was between your passport expiry and H1 visa expiry dates?
One of my best friends had something similar happen to her, but her passport is set to expire just two months ahead of her I-94/H1 expiration date. I wonder if the fact that it was just two months apart made a difference to the officer when he decided on her I-94 date. As you know, in my case, my current passport will expire two years before my H-1.
msp1976, I found out that it would take at least a month to get a new passport (is this right?), and I did not have time for it. I'll be sure to post my experience here.
Thank you!
One of my best friends had something similar happen to her, but her passport is set to expire just two months ahead of her I-94/H1 expiration date. I wonder if the fact that it was just two months apart made a difference to the officer when he decided on her I-94 date. As you know, in my case, my current passport will expire two years before my H-1.
msp1976, I found out that it would take at least a month to get a new passport (is this right?), and I did not have time for it. I'll be sure to post my experience here.
Thank you!
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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?
more...
makeup this True Blood wallpaper,
gcformeornot
12-31 01:46 PM
logged in this time. Can you do few more clicks and vote...... please....
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GCard_Dream
03-06 04:38 PM
Back in the old days when there weren't as many IV members, people thought twice before giving a red dot to anyone. Now it has become kind of a fashion. You can get a red dot for asking questions someone thinks has already been asked or for asking simple questions which someone thinks that you should know or if you don't agree with someone's viewpoint etc etc. You might get a red dot if someone doesn't like your handle :D (I hope this is not true)
After someone presented a data of how many visas were allocated to India in past five years, I made a comment that India has in fact gotten far more visas than the allowed 7% in past few years. That was just an observation from the data presented yet I ended up with about 200 disapprovals and 2 red dots. I didn't say that India shouldn't have gotten those visas or if it was fair/unfair to anyone else but lot of people just hated the comment.
It just shows how intolerant IVians have become to other people's point of view. I am sure I'll get a red dot for this too :D
so now people give red dots just for asking a question about EB3...where is ACLU:D
After someone presented a data of how many visas were allocated to India in past five years, I made a comment that India has in fact gotten far more visas than the allowed 7% in past few years. That was just an observation from the data presented yet I ended up with about 200 disapprovals and 2 red dots. I didn't say that India shouldn't have gotten those visas or if it was fair/unfair to anyone else but lot of people just hated the comment.
It just shows how intolerant IVians have become to other people's point of view. I am sure I'll get a red dot for this too :D
so now people give red dots just for asking a question about EB3...where is ACLU:D
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va_dude
06-16 11:56 AM
I think people should refrain from making congressional enquiries just to get a status update on their case. It should be used only under special circumstances, RFE, rejection, etc.
If everyone starts doing this, these congressional offices will just not entertain our genuine requests anymore.
If you really need to check just the status, take an Infopass.
Just my 2 cents.
va_dude
If everyone starts doing this, these congressional offices will just not entertain our genuine requests anymore.
If you really need to check just the status, take an Infopass.
Just my 2 cents.
va_dude
arunsarun
05-23 11:00 AM
Got it approved for 3 yrs (L1A to H1B)....... still couldnt believe that i won the lottery.
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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