pmat
08-30 04:57 PM
Dear friends
I'm very excited to say that I got my green card approved. Thank you for all of your support.
My status change will not change a bit of my support to IV. I will continue to contribute what I contribute now, until we are sucessful. I'm not successful, until everyone of you is not successful in pursuing your green card. I hope and pray that my stand will motivate non contributing friends to contribute.
Friends and folks, we did not have any organization to support ourselves. So far we had to take anything shoved upon us. But the emergence of IV changed all that. Contribute and support IV. Because IV is our voice!!!
thanks
babu
Congratulations ;)... Thanks for continuing to support IV.
I'm very excited to say that I got my green card approved. Thank you for all of your support.
My status change will not change a bit of my support to IV. I will continue to contribute what I contribute now, until we are sucessful. I'm not successful, until everyone of you is not successful in pursuing your green card. I hope and pray that my stand will motivate non contributing friends to contribute.
Friends and folks, we did not have any organization to support ourselves. So far we had to take anything shoved upon us. But the emergence of IV changed all that. Contribute and support IV. Because IV is our voice!!!
thanks
babu
Congratulations ;)... Thanks for continuing to support IV.
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nousername
08-20 09:13 PM
May be this will help you:
1. At POE there is a possibility they might give you the I-94 till December'09 only as that is when your PP expires. If this happens you will have to worry about filling for your H1 extension in November v/s in June, 2010 to get an updated I-94.
2. To best of my knowledge if you have a valid visa stamp on your passport then the Indian PP office needs to return the renewed PP in 24-48 hours.. My dad had something like this a while back, not sure if they changed the rules. Have someone from your family in India inquire about it.
In short get your PP renewed either before you leave or in India, don't wait to come back on an expiring PP.
I'm planning to travel to India next month. My passport expires in December 09 and my H1b stamp on the passport expires in July of 2010. Will there be any problem at the POE because of the short valid months left in the passport and H1B visa.
Thanks,
1. At POE there is a possibility they might give you the I-94 till December'09 only as that is when your PP expires. If this happens you will have to worry about filling for your H1 extension in November v/s in June, 2010 to get an updated I-94.
2. To best of my knowledge if you have a valid visa stamp on your passport then the Indian PP office needs to return the renewed PP in 24-48 hours.. My dad had something like this a while back, not sure if they changed the rules. Have someone from your family in India inquire about it.
In short get your PP renewed either before you leave or in India, don't wait to come back on an expiring PP.
I'm planning to travel to India next month. My passport expires in December 09 and my H1b stamp on the passport expires in July of 2010. Will there be any problem at the POE because of the short valid months left in the passport and H1B visa.
Thanks,
diptam
01-16 12:49 PM
My friend (Project Manager) wrote the letter in LetterHead as well as got it notarized/attested. The notarization is only for making sure who ever is the "undersignee" is the actual person. No one else is doing the signature for him.
Better to be safe. My Project Manager friend shouted at me when i asked him to do the notarization on top of the letter head - but i told him "please please....." and he did that :)
Thanks.
What is the difference between an affidavit and a letter? Affidavit is one that is not on a letter head and a letter is the one on a letter head or it depends on who is writing the letter?
Does 1 each serve the purpose?
With the initial packet, I had sent
1 letter from Company A (By the director on letterhead)
2 letters from Company B (1 from colleague on letterhead and 1 from HR on letterhead)
Better to be safe. My Project Manager friend shouted at me when i asked him to do the notarization on top of the letter head - but i told him "please please....." and he did that :)
Thanks.
What is the difference between an affidavit and a letter? Affidavit is one that is not on a letter head and a letter is the one on a letter head or it depends on who is writing the letter?
Does 1 each serve the purpose?
With the initial packet, I had sent
1 letter from Company A (By the director on letterhead)
2 letters from Company B (1 from colleague on letterhead and 1 from HR on letterhead)
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softcrowd
04-23 09:12 AM
From Labor approval there is no direct way finding it out if its an Eb2/Eb3 (Other than going through the job requirements & inferring it). But if you have the I-140 reciept, its very easy...
Go to the "Notice Type" section on the I-140 receipt, in that there is a "section:" of that says "Sec.203 (b) (2)" --> its an EB2. If thats "Sec.203 (b) (3)" --> its an EB3.
Go to the "Notice Type" section on the I-140 receipt, in that there is a "section:" of that says "Sec.203 (b) (2)" --> its an EB2. If thats "Sec.203 (b) (3)" --> its an EB3.
more...
gusmig
04-26 11:19 AM
Dear Sabeesh,
Although I'm not a lawyer, I will respond based on my knowledge and my own case.
1) You don't need to stamp any visa as you already have a visa that is valid until September, before your return date.
2) You will only be able to enter the US with the latest visa stamped on your passport.
3) You may want to get a new visa (associated with Company C) while you're still in India, so it will be valid until Nov 2011. You can have this new visa issued and stamped even before your current visa expires.
Regards.
Although I'm not a lawyer, I will respond based on my knowledge and my own case.
1) You don't need to stamp any visa as you already have a visa that is valid until September, before your return date.
2) You will only be able to enter the US with the latest visa stamped on your passport.
3) You may want to get a new visa (associated with Company C) while you're still in India, so it will be valid until Nov 2011. You can have this new visa issued and stamped even before your current visa expires.
Regards.
Canadian_Dream
04-03 11:00 AM
1. Yes it is a good idea to have your Passport valid beyond six months of the visa expiry when going for stamping. Thus you should renew your passport.
2. When you renew your passport at the Indian Consulate, they will return your old passport along with the new one. The passport will have a stamp saying that Passport is Cancelled but all the un-expired visas are still valid.
3. You can get your Indian passport renewed same day by showing valid reasons such as appointment letter from the US Consulate etc. It will cost you $100 over the passport fees of $40. It is generally case by case basis but in most cases the staff in Indian consulate is very accommodative of Indian Citizens.
Thanks for the information Roseball and CGS. That really helps.
I take it that it is possible to get 3 years extension without renewing my passport.
One more question- Will the Indian emabassy return my old passport when i renew it? If so, which passport would have my visa stamped if I travel to India and go for visa stamping.
2. When you renew your passport at the Indian Consulate, they will return your old passport along with the new one. The passport will have a stamp saying that Passport is Cancelled but all the un-expired visas are still valid.
3. You can get your Indian passport renewed same day by showing valid reasons such as appointment letter from the US Consulate etc. It will cost you $100 over the passport fees of $40. It is generally case by case basis but in most cases the staff in Indian consulate is very accommodative of Indian Citizens.
Thanks for the information Roseball and CGS. That really helps.
I take it that it is possible to get 3 years extension without renewing my passport.
One more question- Will the Indian emabassy return my old passport when i renew it? If so, which passport would have my visa stamped if I travel to India and go for visa stamping.
more...
Lasantha
09-04 09:45 AM
I don't think they are asking AILA for help. This looks like it was initiated by AILA.
Jeez! This is a really deplorable situation. USCIS has all the information and they are asking AILA for help? Why not just ask the guys who have their AOS cases pending? It's so unfortunate that this needs to be done.
Jeez! This is a really deplorable situation. USCIS has all the information and they are asking AILA for help? Why not just ask the guys who have their AOS cases pending? It's so unfortunate that this needs to be done.
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baba84
04-30 11:38 AM
We are a small group, and most of our provisions are reasonable, and hopefully we can get our provisions passed. I wish the same for the undocumented too. If it happens in one bill all the better!
more...
copsmart
02-20 09:06 PM
First of all, her employer will be in trouble sooner or later, for keeping her on bench and not paying.
I don�t think she is accumulating any out-of-status days, because she is still working for the employer. However, it is illegal to employ someone without pay on H1.
Aren�t you aware of the recent raids and arrests?
Best bet is to get her back on H4 ASAP or ask her to leave the country and come back on H4, whichever you think can be done fast.
Members,
I need some help to act in right direction.
In Oct -2008 my wife got H1B. She was on H4 before that. The employer is still searching client for her to start work. She has got no pay, as practically she never started work. She still have valid-H4 VISa till sept-2009.
1) What is her current status H1B or H4?
2) how long can she wait to search job, assuming if she does not get job in next 2-3 months, how long will be H1B status Valid.
3) If she travels to india, will she has to get H1B stamped or she can re-enter on H4.
4) What are the options to get her back on H4. I have to file my extension in sept-2009.
Feedbacks, as highly appreciated.
~cheers
I don�t think she is accumulating any out-of-status days, because she is still working for the employer. However, it is illegal to employ someone without pay on H1.
Aren�t you aware of the recent raids and arrests?
Best bet is to get her back on H4 ASAP or ask her to leave the country and come back on H4, whichever you think can be done fast.
Members,
I need some help to act in right direction.
In Oct -2008 my wife got H1B. She was on H4 before that. The employer is still searching client for her to start work. She has got no pay, as practically she never started work. She still have valid-H4 VISa till sept-2009.
1) What is her current status H1B or H4?
2) how long can she wait to search job, assuming if she does not get job in next 2-3 months, how long will be H1B status Valid.
3) If she travels to india, will she has to get H1B stamped or she can re-enter on H4.
4) What are the options to get her back on H4. I have to file my extension in sept-2009.
Feedbacks, as highly appreciated.
~cheers
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Green.Tech
06-10 11:48 PM
But don't lose heart. There are many, if not all, who are with you in this initiative.
I agree and kindly request again to those folks who are with us in this initiative, and for those who are on the fence, please come forward and participate in IV's campaigns.
I agree and kindly request again to those folks who are with us in this initiative, and for those who are on the fence, please come forward and participate in IV's campaigns.
more...
gc_chahiye
07-11 08:03 PM
What I dont understnad is that if they skipped security clearances on AOS applications to use up numbers..how does it imply taht they would have to eat crow and accept July application...Logic doesnt explain this,
They have alrady made teh blunder of skipping sec clearances...What they can now request is to go back and correct that mistake and ask that any and all applications in July be rejected so that they can do sec clearance on the ones they already used up/approved..
Does that make sense.?
I think the statement from Greg Siskind is that 'if they dont want to answer these questions about security clearance etc, the simplest way out is to accept the July Applications and get everyone off their back (irrespective of whether visa numbers are there or not).
One issue though is, even if they want to kill this controversy by accepting July applications, they need some face-saving way to do this about-turn. They cant say they are scared of an inquiry or a lawsuit. Settling the AILF lawsuit is probably that way out. Gettings AILF of their back, and will also stop senators and representatives from asking them uncomfortable questions...
They have alrady made teh blunder of skipping sec clearances...What they can now request is to go back and correct that mistake and ask that any and all applications in July be rejected so that they can do sec clearance on the ones they already used up/approved..
Does that make sense.?
I think the statement from Greg Siskind is that 'if they dont want to answer these questions about security clearance etc, the simplest way out is to accept the July Applications and get everyone off their back (irrespective of whether visa numbers are there or not).
One issue though is, even if they want to kill this controversy by accepting July applications, they need some face-saving way to do this about-turn. They cant say they are scared of an inquiry or a lawsuit. Settling the AILF lawsuit is probably that way out. Gettings AILF of their back, and will also stop senators and representatives from asking them uncomfortable questions...
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looivy
03-23 02:39 AM
Can a legal expert provide advice as to whether I can use EAD/AP to get in?
Bump again
Bump again
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iam4u4ever
06-04 06:02 PM
You don't need to be working in the US while the AOS is pending. You just need to have the job when permanent residence is approved, or to have a job in the "same or similar occupational classification."
what should i do if at the time of actual AOS ( The day they adjudicate my case ) I am working for another company since the actual sponsoring company is closed down ?
what should i do if at the time of actual AOS ( The day they adjudicate my case ) I am working for another company since the actual sponsoring company is closed down ?
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fromnaija
10-09 03:48 PM
I have a hard time to adjust my photo to designated spec. I shrunked to 62kb but they did not take it and if I make it lesser, it won't be 320 x 240 pixels but less. I use regular digital camera. anybody help me how to do?
Print the picture and then scan it to the required resolution.
Print the picture and then scan it to the required resolution.
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pictures Once the drawing is complete,
Minnylolly
07-26 03:35 AM
When I read your entire comments then I really impress with your site.There are good information you share here . Thanks for sharing information.
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doesntmatter
05-20 09:47 PM
lfadgyas - Thanks a lot for replying to my query.
First I have to apologize I missed out a detail in my question - will update my post to reflect this too. After Nov, 2007 the status of the L1-Extension application has been changed to Denied on April 3, 2002.
I did have a question about working during L1-Extension, I have been doing research since my last post - please read below:
8cfr274a.12
-----------
20) A nonimmigrant alien within the class of aliens described in paragraphs (b)(2), (b)(5), (b)(8), (b)(9), (b)(10), (b)(11), (b)(12), (b)(13), (b)(14), (b)(16), and (b)(19) of this section whose status has expired but who has filed a timely application for an extension of such stay pursuant to �� 214.2 or 214.6 of this chapter. These aliens are authorized to continue employment with the same employer for a period not to exceed 240 days beginning on the date of the expiration of the authorized period of stay. Such authorization shall be subject to any conditions and limitations noted on the initial authorization. However, if the district director or service center director adjudicates the application prior to the expiration of this 240 day period and denies the application for extension of stay, the employment authorization under this paragraph shall automatically terminate upon notification of the denial decision.
Will that put my case in a different situation? If I did start counting, shouldn't I start counting after April 3, 2002 to Sept 2, 2002? That is less than 180 isn't it? Or is this not even applicable?
Thanks a lot for responding once again.
Do you or anybody have recommendations of Lawyers?
First I have to apologize I missed out a detail in my question - will update my post to reflect this too. After Nov, 2007 the status of the L1-Extension application has been changed to Denied on April 3, 2002.
I did have a question about working during L1-Extension, I have been doing research since my last post - please read below:
8cfr274a.12
-----------
20) A nonimmigrant alien within the class of aliens described in paragraphs (b)(2), (b)(5), (b)(8), (b)(9), (b)(10), (b)(11), (b)(12), (b)(13), (b)(14), (b)(16), and (b)(19) of this section whose status has expired but who has filed a timely application for an extension of such stay pursuant to �� 214.2 or 214.6 of this chapter. These aliens are authorized to continue employment with the same employer for a period not to exceed 240 days beginning on the date of the expiration of the authorized period of stay. Such authorization shall be subject to any conditions and limitations noted on the initial authorization. However, if the district director or service center director adjudicates the application prior to the expiration of this 240 day period and denies the application for extension of stay, the employment authorization under this paragraph shall automatically terminate upon notification of the denial decision.
Will that put my case in a different situation? If I did start counting, shouldn't I start counting after April 3, 2002 to Sept 2, 2002? That is less than 180 isn't it? Or is this not even applicable?
Thanks a lot for responding once again.
Do you or anybody have recommendations of Lawyers?
more...
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perm2gc
11-08 07:57 PM
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS FOR EXTENDING H-1B VISA STATUS
PAST THE PERMISSIBLE 6 YEARS OF H-1B STAY
________________________________________
1. AC21 104 (c) - Approved I-140 Petition = Extension of H-1B Visa Status in 3 Year Increments.
� Under Section 104 (c) of AC21, the beneficiary of an approved I-140 who is prevented from filing an adjustment of status application due to application of worldwide OR per-country limitations may be granted an extension of H-1B visa status in 3 year increments pending eligibility to apply for adjustment of status.
� There is no requirement that the foreign citizen have a Labor Certification or immigrant visa petition pending for one full year prior to the expiration of the foreign citizen's 6th year of H-1B visa status.
� However, there MUST be an approved I-140 to access this benefit.
� This benefit does not apply to dependents who have reached 21.
2. AC21 106 (a) - Pending Labor Certification or
Employment Based Immigrant Visa Petition = Extension of H-1B Visa Status for 1 Year.
� Section 106 (a) of AC21 permits H-1B non-immigrants to obtain an extension of H-1B visa status beyond the 6-year maximum period, when:
(a) 365 days or more have passed since the filing of any application for labor certification, Form ETA 750, that is required or used by the foreign citizen to obtain status as an EB immigrant; or
(b) 365 days or more have passed since the filing of an EB immigrant visa petition.
� Extensions may only be granted in one-year increments, but may be requested on a single (combined) extension request for any remaining time left in the initial 6-year period.
� Must establish that the above criteria were or will be met either on or before the requested start date on the H-1B extension application.
� Thus, a foreign citizen is eligible for an extension of H-1B visa status beyond the 6th year as long as either the qualifying labor certification application or I-140 immigrant petition has or will have been pending for at least 365 days prior to the foreign citizen�s requested start date, regardless of whether the H-1B extension application was filed prior to the passage of such period.
� If the foreign citizen would no longer be in H-1B status at the time that 365 days from the filing of the labor certification application or immigrant petition has run, thus leaving a gap in valid status, then the extension of stay request cannot be granted.
� A request for an H-1B extension beyond the 6-year limit should not be denied on the sole basis that an I-140 petition has not yet been filed.
Are you advertising your Law Office on the message board...????
PAST THE PERMISSIBLE 6 YEARS OF H-1B STAY
________________________________________
1. AC21 104 (c) - Approved I-140 Petition = Extension of H-1B Visa Status in 3 Year Increments.
� Under Section 104 (c) of AC21, the beneficiary of an approved I-140 who is prevented from filing an adjustment of status application due to application of worldwide OR per-country limitations may be granted an extension of H-1B visa status in 3 year increments pending eligibility to apply for adjustment of status.
� There is no requirement that the foreign citizen have a Labor Certification or immigrant visa petition pending for one full year prior to the expiration of the foreign citizen's 6th year of H-1B visa status.
� However, there MUST be an approved I-140 to access this benefit.
� This benefit does not apply to dependents who have reached 21.
2. AC21 106 (a) - Pending Labor Certification or
Employment Based Immigrant Visa Petition = Extension of H-1B Visa Status for 1 Year.
� Section 106 (a) of AC21 permits H-1B non-immigrants to obtain an extension of H-1B visa status beyond the 6-year maximum period, when:
(a) 365 days or more have passed since the filing of any application for labor certification, Form ETA 750, that is required or used by the foreign citizen to obtain status as an EB immigrant; or
(b) 365 days or more have passed since the filing of an EB immigrant visa petition.
� Extensions may only be granted in one-year increments, but may be requested on a single (combined) extension request for any remaining time left in the initial 6-year period.
� Must establish that the above criteria were or will be met either on or before the requested start date on the H-1B extension application.
� Thus, a foreign citizen is eligible for an extension of H-1B visa status beyond the 6th year as long as either the qualifying labor certification application or I-140 immigrant petition has or will have been pending for at least 365 days prior to the foreign citizen�s requested start date, regardless of whether the H-1B extension application was filed prior to the passage of such period.
� If the foreign citizen would no longer be in H-1B status at the time that 365 days from the filing of the labor certification application or immigrant petition has run, thus leaving a gap in valid status, then the extension of stay request cannot be granted.
� A request for an H-1B extension beyond the 6-year limit should not be denied on the sole basis that an I-140 petition has not yet been filed.
Are you advertising your Law Office on the message board...????
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thomachan72
11-23 02:40 PM
Makes perfect sense. Hopefully one day Indian and chinese EB applicants will have the complete backing of the immigrant citizens from these countries. If that happens then EB voice will be heard. Until then we can take comfort in reading such articles:o:o
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ufo2002
08-16 03:54 AM
Cuba isn't the only communist nation.
The special favorable treatment to Cubans is stemming from political needs than any lobbying. US wants to oppose the last remaining communist Government in Cuba and attract its citizens to establish a democratic government there. Please do not feel jealous of these special treatments.
To get a favorable treatement for Indians, wish for a communist revolution in India too. Then most of us would get the Greencard under Asylum quota or anti-communist quota. :D
The special favorable treatment to Cubans is stemming from political needs than any lobbying. US wants to oppose the last remaining communist Government in Cuba and attract its citizens to establish a democratic government there. Please do not feel jealous of these special treatments.
To get a favorable treatement for Indians, wish for a communist revolution in India too. Then most of us would get the Greencard under Asylum quota or anti-communist quota. :D
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?
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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
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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
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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?
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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
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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.
gconmymind
10-31 01:46 PM
Some of my friends have already received EADs without the FP.
I am still waiting for receipts - filed 13th August
I am still waiting for receipts - filed 13th August
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