Published on Lawyers.com and the Epoch Times on July 13, 2018

Q & A.

 


Get Green Card From Visitor Visa

I am citizen in USA. My mom came here on visitor visa. I want to apply for her green card what can I do for it

Mr. Lee answers:

If your mother is already here in the US on the visiting visa and you wish to apply for her green card, you and she can put in papers to adjust her status to permanent residence. That is assuming that she did not have the intention to adjust status when she first entered the country. If she did not, she is eligible for adjustment of status. You would file form I-130 petition for alien relative, and your mother would concurrently file an I-485 application to adjust status to permanent residence. The package with all the other forms and documents would be sent to the Chicago lockbox of U.S.C.I.S. The agency may or may not decide to interview your mother on her immigration application. Processing times can vary, but normal is between 9-12 months. 

 

I Have H-1B Visa Until 2021 so If I Apply for Asylum Will This Affect My H-1B Visa Status. Will My H-1B Visa Be Canceled?

I am living in the USA since 2012. I have M.S. degree in Math major from USA. After I graduated I started to work with OPT (OPT stands for Optional Practical Training, this allows F1 students to work on a full time basis for one year after they have completed their studies, in a field related to their major) last year. Last year the company that I worked for applied for H-1B visa for me and it has been approved so I have got H-1B visa status. However, I want to apply for Asylum because if I will go to my country I have life-threatening condition due to political issues and my human race. That is why, it has been 2 years that I did not go to my country because of life-threatening condition. I am afraid if I will apply for Asylum and my H-1B visa will be canceled then I will have to go back to my country which it is going to be terrifying for me.

Mr. Lee answers:

If you have a legal nonimmigrant status like H-1B & are maintaining it, your applying for political asylum will not cancel the H-1B status. In applying for asylum while in status, you will only have one chance to prove your case for asylum. That will be at the local asylum office. If your case is denied, you will receive a notice of such action, but U.S.C.I.S. will take no steps to cancel your status or to put your case before an immigration court. 

 

 

Transferred H-1B Visa, Got I-797B Consular Approval, But Have A Valid I-94. Is Consulate Visit (stamping) Needed Immediately?

10 days after I came to US, I switched to a different employer (B), B filed for my H1B. Received H1B approval, I-797B, it states: The above petition has been approved for the classification requested. It has been determined that the named worker(s) is (are) not eligible for the requested extension of status. You will receive a separate notice explaining the reasons... Since the worker(s) has (have) been found ineligible for an extension of stay, we have sent notification to the consulate shown above... If a visa is issued, upon admission in this classification the worker will be authorized to be employed by petitioner for the authorized period. Current stamping valid till Dec 2019, so is I-94. (i) Am I required to immediately go to a consulate (or consulate referred in 797B) and get the stamping or can say till I-94 is valid? (ii) USCIS officer apparently saw my initial 10 days as out of status. Is it advisable to appeal that I wasn't out of status for the 10 days?

Mr. Lee answers:

Under your current I-94, you are only allowed to work for your first employer. Since U.S.C.I.S. denied your extension of status, your work is not authorized under your second employer. In order for you to legally work for your second employer, you would have to leave the US and reenter with the new I- 797 approval. Assuming that the visa in your passport for your first employer is still valid, you can use that one to reenter the US with the new H-1B approval sheet. On your second question as to whether it is advisable to appeal that you were not out of status for 10 days, it is likely more troublesome to go through a motion to reopen or to reconsider than to leave the US and come back in. 

 

 

 

Copyright © 2003-2018 Alan Lee, Esq.
The information provided here is of a general nature and may not apply to any particular set of facts or circumstances. It should not be construed as legal advice and does not constitute an engagement of the Law Office of Alan Lee or establish an attorney-client relationship.

 
   
 


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