World Journal Weekly Q & A - March 29, 2009
Q & A 1. 2. 3.
4.
Q&A 1.
What is the True Date of My Permanent Residence, and What Kind
of Residence Do I Have to Have to Satisfy the Naturalization Requirements?
Reader Pok asks:
Can a green card without expiration date be changed to a new green
card? What are the fees and procedures?
Dear reader:
Yes you can, and are actually encouraged by the Department of Homeland
Security to change your current green card without expiration date
to a new 10 year green card. Green cards issued between 1977 and
1989 were without dates and remain in circulation today although
U.S.C.I.S. did propose a rule in August 2007 to require these individuals
to apply for the new 10 year card. That proposed rule has not yet
been made final, but the agency encourages immigrants to replace
their unexpired cards. Such can be done by filling out Form I-90
and sending it with a $370 fee to the U.S.C.I.S. facility at the
below address:
Post Office deliveries
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
P.O. Box 54870
Los Angeles, California 90054-0870
Non U.S. Postal Service deliveries
U.S. Citizenship and the Immigration Services
Attention I-90
16420 Valley View Avenue
La Mirada, Calif. 90638-5821
The check should be made out to the "Department of Homeland
Security". No
supporting evidence is required for the application although applicants
must bring such documentation when they are asked to attend a biometrics
appointment at the local application support center.
Q&A 2.
How Can I Add in My Brother-in-law's Information on My I-130 Petition
for My Sister Since They Just Got Married?
Lu Reader asks:
I am a U.S Citizen. In December 2007, I filed papers for my sister
to immigrate to the U.S.. In April 2008, I received the notice that
CIS accepted my application. My sister works for a U.S. investment
company in China. She is already 30 years old and was married in
6/2008. Now I also want to apply for my brother-in-law, what should
I do?
1. My sister was married after I filed papers for her. Do I need
to summit my brother-in-law’s information to Immigration at
this time? What documents do I need to submit?
2. Where should I submit these documents to? And how much application
fee do I need to pay?
Dear reader:
1 The I-130 petition is based upon the relationship between yourself
and your sister. You can either choose to submit your brother-in-law's
information to U.S.C.I.S. at this time or wait until the petition
is approved and shifted to the National Visa Center (NVC). To notify
either U.S.C.I.S. or the NVC, you would need a copy of the notarial
certificate of marriage, your brother-in-law's notarial certificate
of birth, and proof of termination of all prior unions on either
side.
2 The documents can be submitted to the U.S.C.I.S. service center
which is holding the I-130 petition or later to the National Visa
Center in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. There is no application fee
to add your brother-in-law's name to the case although he will have
to ultimately pay immigrant visa processing fees to the National
Visa Center when the priority date is close to becoming current.
The present fee is $400.
Q&A 3.
What Can My Wife Do About Her Naturalization Since It's Already
Been One Year Since She Passed Her Test?
Wu Reader:
I am a seventy years old retiree and my wife is six-two years old.
We live in Pennsylvania.
My wife passed her naturalization interview on February 12, 2008
in Philadelphia, PA and received a passing notice. She was told
to wait for her swear in notice. In 8/2008, she went to Philadelphia
immigration office to inquire and was told Vermont Service Center
was to arrange and send out all swear in notices. In 9/2008, my
wife received a biometric notice it said her finger print was expired.
She did it. In 11/2008, we wrote letters to her examiner and Vermont
Service Center to trace her case. But we have not heard anything.
Should we continue to trace ourselves or hire an attorney to do
it? Could you suggest a law firm in Philadelphia for us?
Dear reader:
It does appear that your wife's case has been delayed since taking
and passing the test in February 2008. I do note that U.S.C.I.S.
has a policy of not granting cases until security clearances have
been completed. The agency also has another policy that it will
not interview individuals until clearances have been done. It is
possible that your wife could still be waiting for a security clearance.
It is also possible that the delay may be caused by some other factor.
I do not generally suggest or recommend other lawfirms. At this
time, you can continue to trace the matter yourself; contact your
local congressman or senator for assistance; or hire an attorney.
If you have not already done so, you can make an appointment with
the Philadelphia office of U.S.C.I.S. for an InfoPass at which you
can have a conversation with an officer. To request an InfoPass
appointment, go to https://infopass.uscis.gov/info_en.php.
Q&A 4.
Is There Any Way That I Can Be Employed As a Nurse Since I Just
Passed the RN Examination and Currently Hold F-1 Student Status?
Liu reader asks:
I currently hold a student (F-1) visa in the U.S. and want to adjust
status through a nurse job. Recently I have passed the RN exam,
but the Health Department sent me a letter asking for my social
security number and said after I provided them with my SSN, they
will mail me the license. When I brought this letter and my passport
to social security office to apply for a social security number,
I was told that I must go to immigration and apply for an adjustment
of status first. But it seems to be contradiction that if I could
not obtain this license, I would not be able to find a job to change
status. My school could not provide me a campus job for me to obtain
a social security number. What should I do? If I could get a social
security number, what type of SSN will that be? What documents will
I need, if later I need to change SSN type - from not authorized
to work to authorized to work?
Dear reader:
The difficulty with immigration nursing cases is that H-1Bs (specialty
occupation visas) are difficult, H-1Cs (the nursing visa) are highly
restricted in number, and permanent immigrant cases generally fall
within the employment based third (EB-3) category which is backlogged
for years before applicants can file for I-485 adjustment of status
through which they can obtain work permission. If applying for an
H-1B visa in just about every state in the U.S., the position would
have to be one which requires at least a bachelor's degree such
as advanced practice registered nurse, nurse practitioner, certified
registered nurse anesthesist, etc. H-1C is restricted to 500 nurses
year, each state limited to 25 nurses a year, and facilities for
sponsoring nurses must submit an onerous document containing a number
of attestations regarding the employment of nurses. There does not
appear to be a good solution at this time, and a congressional fix
will have to be done as the U.S. population grows older with not
enough registered nurses to tend to the needs of the baby boomer
generation.
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