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Still Waiting for Green Card, Work Permit or Travel Document in the Mail? USCIS Will Destroy Them After 60 Days When Returned Undelivered

Tiyalaw — Wed, 04 Apr 2018 02:27:11 +0000

Still Waiting for Green Card, Work Permit or Travel Document in the Mail? USCIS Will Destroy Them After 60 Days When Returned Undelivered

If a Green Card, work permit or travel document has been approved, and the document has not arrived in the mail, please note the following.

Starting April 2, 2018, USCIS will destroy Permanent Resident Cards (Green Cards), Employment Authorization Cards (Work Permits), and Travel Documents (international travels) that are returned as undelivered by the U.S. Postal Service after 60 days if Applicants haven’t contacted USCIS to provide a correct address. In general, Applicants are encouraged to report an address change within 10 days at http://uscis.gov/addresschange . USCIS National Customer Service Center (NCSC) telephone is 1-800-375-5283.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is a part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). USCIS administers the U.S. lawful immigration system.

For additional information on this matter, please visit USCIS at https://www.uscis.gov/news/alerts/undeliverable-permanent-resident-and-employment-authorization-cards-and-travel-documents-be-destroyed-after-60-days

April 3, 2018

This article is intended for informational purposes only, and should not be relied on as legal advice or attorney-client relationship. By Aik Wan Kok, Lawyer USA Immigration Services, at Tiya; Tel: 703-772-822four & email to info at tiyaimmigration dot com; Direct dial from abroad: 001-703-7728224; https://www.tiyaimmigration.com ; http://tiyalaw.blogspot.com ; https://immigrationresource.net

We represent employers, companies, individuals, and families in U.S. Immigration & Nationality Law. Our clients are based nationwide in the U.S. and internationally. We focus on diverse immigration cases including, but are not limiting to: extraordinary ability; national interest waiver; PERM with U.S. Department of Labor; I-130 for sponsoring relatives and families; I-140 for employment green card; I-485 Adjustment Applications; I-765 work permit; I-131 for international travel and returning to the U.S; I-601 extreme hardship waiver relatives of U.S. citizen or green card holder; I-751 joint filing or waiver; N-400 Naturalization/Citizenship; N-648 Medical Waiver; I-212 waiver for deportation or removal order; J waiver; other waivers; H-1B professional worker/specialty occupation; H-2B temporary worker; L executive, manager and specialized knowledge professional transferring from overseas; E treaty investors/traders; B-1 business visitor to the U.S.; B-2 visitor to the U.S.; F-1 student coming to study in the U.S.; matters pertaining to consular processing with U.S. consulates and National Visa Centers; cases with USCIS; cases with U.S. Department of Labor; PERM audit; RFE Request for Evidence (RFE); NOID Notice of Intention to Deny (NOID), and others.

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Green Card for Multinational Manager or Executive or L-1A Intracompany Transferee – New USCIS Clarifications on EB-1C

Tiyalaw — Fri, 23 Mar 2018 02:24:01 +0000

Green Card for Multinational Manager or Executive or L-1A Intracompany Transferee – New USCIS Clarifications on EB-1C

Generally, a multinational manager or executive (L-1A intracompany transferee) who has worked outside the U.S. for a qualifying multinational organization for at least one (1) out of the three (3) years may apply for an immigrant petition to be a U.S. permanent resident under employment-based classification 1 (EB-1C). This is pursuant to Section 203(b)(1)(C) of the Immigration & Nationality Act (INA).

Lawful permanent residence is also known as Green Card. There are many ways for foreign nationals to apply for Green Cards in and to the U.S., and EB-1C multinational manager or executive is just one of them. An EB-1C Green Card is initiated by a qualifying employer by filing an I-140 Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker. After complying with the qualifying period as a Green Card holder, a person is eligible to apply for naturalization to be a U.S. citizen. Once a person is naturalized, he/she may apply for a U.S. passport.

If the beneficiary is outside the United States at the time of filing the Green Card, the multinational manager or executive’s one-year qualifying foreign employment must have occurred within the three years preceding the filing of the petition. 8 C.F.R. § 204.5(j)(3)(i)(A). If the multinational manager or executive is already working in the United States in L-1A status for the L-1A employer-petitioner, or its affiliate or subsidiary, at the time of filing filing the Green Card, the employer-petitioner must demonstrate that the L-1A multinational manager or executive’s one-year qualifying foreign employment must have occurred within the three years preceding his or her entry as a nonimmigrant. See 8 C.F.R. § 204.5(j)(3)(i)(B).

An intracompany transferee of specialized knowledge who is not a multinational manager or executive such as those under L-1B does not qualify for Green Card under EB-1C.

The approval of an immigrant petition for multinational manager or executive with the eventual approval of I-485 Applications for Adjustment of Status in the U.S. or approval of immigrant visas consular processing, will confer the multinational manager or executive and his/her qualifying family members with Green Cards.

Recently, the U.S. immigration clarifies that if the multinational manager or executive leaves the qualifying employer for more than two (2) years after working with a qualifying employer for at least one (1) year, he/she will not qualify for Green Card under EB-1C even if he returns to the same qualifying employer. This ineligibility applies regardless if the interruption of employment happened prior to multinational manager or executive’s admission as a nonimmigrant or after his/her entry to the United States. To qualify again, the multinational manager or executive must complete another year of qualifying employment with the qualifying employer outside the U.S., before being eligible to apply for Green Card under EB-1C. However, an employee whose break in continuous employment with the qualifying employer is less than 2 years may still be eligible to apply for EB-1C.

This U.S. immigration clarification is published as a policy memorandum on March 22, 2018 by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) based on The Administrative Appeals Office (AAO) immigration adjudication of the Matter of S-P-, Inc., Adopted Decision 2018-01 (AAO Mar. 19, 2018) on March 19, 2018. This AAO adjudication is utilized as a form of policy memorandum by USCIS serving as a guidance only, and does not create any rights to Green Card. Each case is adjudicated on a discretionary basis by USCIS. For further information on the Matter of S-P-, Inc., please see

https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/USCIS/Laws/Memoranda/2018/2018-03-19-PM-602-0158-Matter-of-S-P.pdf

Even though not all immigration cases are appealed to the AAO, AAO has appellate jurisdiction over approximately 50 different types of immigration case. AAO is under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). USCIS is a part of DHS. Certain immigration cases are appealed to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) such as the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA).

March 22, 2018

This article is intended for informational purposes only, and should not be relied on as legal advice or attorney-client relationship. By Aik Wan Kok, Lawyer USA Immigration Services, at Tiya; Tel: 703-772-8224 & info at tiyaimmigration dot com; Direct dial from abroad: 001-703-772-8224; https://www.tiyaimmigration.com ; http://tiyalaw.blogspot.com ; https://immigrationresource.net

Need help with green card, work visas, work permit, sponsoring family, sponsoring employees, sponsoring relatives, hardships or immigration waivers, U.S. naturalization/citizenship, and cases with USCIS, Department of Labor or immigration? We represent employers, companies, individuals, and families in U.S. Immigration & Nationality Law. Our clients are based nationwide in the U.S. and internationally. We represent diverse immigration cases including, but are not limiting to: extraordinary ability; national interest waiver; PERM with U.S. Department of Labor; I-130 for sponsoring relatives and families; I-140 for employment green card; I-485 to adjust status; I-765 work permit/employment authorization; I-131 for international travel and returning to the U.S; I-601 extreme hardship waiver relatives of U.S. citizen or green card holder; I-751 joint filing or waiver; N-400 Naturalization/Citizenship; N-648 Medical Waiver; I-212 waiver for deportation or removal order; J waiver; H-1B professional worker/specialty occupation; H-2B temporary worker; L executive, manager and specialized knowledge professional transferring from overseas; E treaty investors/traders; B-1 business visitor to the U.S.; B-2 visitor to the U.S.; F-1 student coming to study in the U.S.; matters pertaining to consular processing with U.S. consulates and National Visa Centers; cases with USCIS; cases with U.S. Department of Labor; PERM audit; RFE Request for Evidence (RFE); NOID Notice of Intention to Deny (NOID); and many more.

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Recent Reports on Lost of Expiring Original Certified PERM form ETA 9089 for Permanent Labor Certification

Tiyalaw — Sun, 15 May 2011 21:58:16 +0000

Recent Reports on Lost of Expiring Original Certified PERM form ETA 9089 for Permanent Labor Certification

Recently, there have been reports that original certified forms ETA 9089 for permanent labor certification PERM process were not received. There was also an incident where the original certified form ETA 9089 was lost after being filed with the I-140 Immigrant Petition. Lost of original certified forms ETA 9089 unnecessarily complicates and increases green card processing time for foreign nationals and their employers. For more information on the PERM process, please read the last paragraphs below.

In a situation where the original certified form ETA 9089 is unavailable, the employer-sponsors may be unaware that their forms ETA 9089 have been certified, thereby missing the crucial filing periods for their I-140 Immigrant Petitions. The applicable I-140 petition must be filed during the validity period stipulated on the certified form ETA 9089. The original certified form ETA 9089 is submitted with the I-140 petition to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). It is also possible that the original certified form ETA 9089 is lost during the filing process of the I-140 petition after being sent off by the employer-sponsor.

Due to recent reports on missing original certified forms ETA 9089, the following steps are encouraged:

For PERM application filed electronically, please check the online case status to verify whether it has changed from “in process” to “certified.” A pdf copy of the certified ETA 9089 can also be downloaded from the PERM website.
For PERM application filed by mail, please check the status of the case by e-mailing the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) Atlanta NPC (National Processing Center) if the case is pending at least 3 months beyond the current processing date.
Also check the iCERT portal’s latest PERM processing time at http://icert.doleta.gov/ . If the pending PERM case is more than 3 months beyond the date being processed, send an inquiry to the applicable DOL PERM center.
If original PERM approval was never received, one can submit the I-140 petition with a copy of the approval (or with other proof that it was certified, such as an e-mail from the Atlanta NPC), and ask USCIS to request a duplicate certification from DOL. Also, if the certified ETA 9089 is lost during I-140 petition processing after filing, it may be best to ask U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to request a duplicate certification from DOL by including a copy of the approval; and other proof that it was certified, such as an e-mail from the DOL.

Foreign nationals may apply for green card to live and work in the United States via several methods. The common methods of green card applications are green card lottery, employer sponsorship such as through PERM, self-petition green cards such as extraordinary ability or certain national interest waiver category, etc.

PERM is a process of permanent labor certification by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL). PERM filing with the DOL is submitted via form ETA 9089. Some green card sponsorships by employers require the PERM process and some do not. PERM stands for Program Electronic Review Management System. PERM is a process whereby the U.S. Department of Labor determines that:

a) The employer-sponsor has adequately tested the U.S. labor market to ascertain that there are no qualified, willing, able and available U.S. workers for the green card position;

b) The job requirements of the employer-sponsor are not unduly restrictive;

c) The offered green card salary meets the DOL prevailing wage criteria;

d) The employment of the foreign national will not adversely affect the wages and conditions of U.S. workers who are similarly employed; and

e) The foreign national meet the job requirements for the green card position in compliance with the criteria promulgated by immigration law.

Once the U.S. Department of Labor approves the PERM application by certifying the form ETA 9089, the employer sponsor may then submit the I-140 Immigrant Petition during the validity of the certified PERM form ETA 9089. Depending on the criteria, the foreign national may also submit his/her I-485 Application to Adjust to Permanent Resident Status with the I-140 petition. During the I-485 stage, the foreign national can also file for the I-765, Application for Employment Authorization Document (EAD card); and I-131, Advance Parole Document (an international travel authorization).

By Aik Wan Kok Fillali, Attorney at Law, at Tiya PLC; Tel: 703-772-8224; koka@tiyalaw.com

www.tiyaimmigration.com ; http://tiyalaw.blogspot.com ; www.immigrationresource.net

We represent employers, and individuals and their families in green card and work visa matters in U.S. immigration law. We also have a focus on self-petition green card cases such as extraordinary ability and national interest waiver.

This article is intended for informational purposes only, and should not be relied on as a legal advice or an attorney-client relationship.

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Certain I-130 Immediate Relative Petitions Are Experiencing Delays at the USCIS

Tiyalaw — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 18:45:33 +0000

Certain I-130 Immediate Relative Petitions Are Experiencing Delays at the USCIS

Recently, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has issued a notification indicating delay in their processing of approximately 36,000 immediate relative petitions (Form I-130) that were transferred from the California Service Center (CSC) to the Texas Service Center (TSC). Some cases have been transferred back to the CSC. TSC and CSC are USCIS service centers.

As of February 14, 2011, the USCIS’ updates on the above cases are:

Approved: 10,264

Denied: 55

Request for Evidence (RFE)/Intent to Deny: 4137

Referred to District Office for Interview: 408

The petitioners or beneficiaries are encouraged to monitor their I-130 case progress on the USCIS My Case Status online at https://egov.uscis.gov/cris/Dashboard.do . However, by March 1, 2011, if the parties concerned do not see any action on their cases, such as an approval, denial or an RFE, they may contact USCIS at: I-130Inquiries.Tsc@dhs.gov

By Aik Wan Kok Fillali, Attorney at Law, at Tiya PLC; Tel: 703-772-8224 www.tiyaimmigration.com ; http://tiyalaw.blogspot.com ; www.immigrationresource.net We represent employers, and individuals and their families in green card, work visa and waiver matters in U.S. immigration law.

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New USCIS Policy in Adjudicating Extraordinary Ability, Exceptional Ability, National Interest Waiver, and Outstanding Professors or Researchers Green Card Cases

Tiyalaw — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 15:41:26 +0000

New USCIS Policy in Adjudicating Extraordinary Ability, Exceptional Ability, National Interest Waiver, and Outstanding Professors or Researchers Green Card Cases:

Recently, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued a Policy Memorandum (PM or immigration Policy Memo) regarding the analysis that USCIS officers should use when evaluating evidence in adjudicating the I-140, Petition for Immigrant Worker (one of the steps for certain green card cases) for foreign nationals who are of extraordinary ability, exceptional ability or national interest waiver, and outstanding professors or researchers.

USCIS officers may no longer unilaterally impose novel substantive or evidentiary requirements beyond those stipulated in the regulations.

The USCIS immigration Policy Memo directs the USCIS officers to first objectively evaluate each type of evidence submitted to determine if it meets the parameters applicable to that type of evidence described in the regulations (known as the “regulatory criteria”). USCIS officers should then consider all of the evidence in totality in making the final merits determination.

Before this USCIS immigration Policy Memo becoming effective recently, the practice of USCIS officers in adjudicating these green card cases was to evaluate the evidence at the beginning stage of the adjudicative process, with each type of evidence being evaluated individually to determine whether the self-petitioner met the green card criteria (such as whether the foreign national qualifies for self-petition green card based on extraordinary ability).

This USCIS immigration Policy Memo is a mere guidance to USCIS officers in evaluating evidence in adjudicating the above types of green card cases, and cannot be relied upon to create any right or benefit in any other form or manner. This USCIS immigration Policy Memo does not confer a right to immigration benefits.

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EAD and Advance Parole in One Single Card!

Tiyalaw — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 22:34:56 +0000

On February 11, 2011, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it is now issuing employment and travel authorization on a single card for certain applicants filing a Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status; and also filing I-765, Application for Employment Authorization (EAD), and I-131, Application for Advance Parole.

This new card represents a significant improvement from the current practice of issuing paper Advance Parole documents especially because of the multiple functionalities of the card. For example, the new card can be used as proof of employment authorization in the United States, and for I-9 Employment Eligibility Verification purposes. It also serves as a form of international travel document (in conjunction with a valid passport), and the bar-coded card is more secure and more durable than the current paper Advance Parole document.

The card looks similar to the current EAD card but will include text that reads, “Serves as I-512 Advance Parole.” When a card is issued with this text, it will serve as both an employment authorization and Advance Parole document.

Under certain circumstances, USCIS will continue to issue separate EAD and Advance Parole documents. For example, an applicant will receive an EAD without permission to travel if the applicant does not request Advance Parole or if the applicant’s Form I-765 is approved but your Form I-131 is denied.

Please note, an approved advance parole, in paper or card format, is only a document permitting the traveler to seek permission at the port of entry to re-enter the United States, and the re-entry into the U.S. is not guaranteed. Moreover, certain foreign nationals with certain immigration histories may jeopardize their immigration process by traveling internationally even with approved advance parole documents/cards. Foreign nationals should consult with experienced immigration attorneys prior to their international travels.

By Aik Wan Kok Fillali, Attorney at Law, at Tiya PLC; Tel: 703-772-8224
www.tiyaimmigration.com ; http://tiyalaw.blogspot.com ; www.immigrationresource.net

We represent employers, and individuals and their families in green card, work visa and waiver matters in U.S. immigration law.