Just to second the advice from Slowman; my mothers green card renewal was "lost" during the government shutdown in the mid 90's. After a call to our state's senior senator his staff got the paperwork "found" and processed remarkably quickly.

Secondly, if I remember correctly you are a professor/lecturer/instructor at a university. Most universities have a person if not an office set up to get green cards for grad students profs etc., and IIRC there are different programs for academics, so I would find out if your university can take care of this for you.

sounds high. The company did it for me in the early 90's, when I checked around $3000-5000 seemed to be the going rate. Somewhat more for savage New York lawyers, which is what the company used. I think you should shop around some more.

Third the suggestion to contact your senator - a friend of mine did this even before they were citizens, and it expedited the whole process marvellously.

I became a citizen a week or two after the last presidential election, just too late to vote, not that one vote would have made a difference..

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"It is a good feeling for old men who have begun to fear failure, any sort of failure, to set a schedule for exercise and stick to it. If an aging man can run a distance of three miles, for instance, he knows that whatever his other failures may be, he is not completely wasted away." Romain Gary, SI interview

"Don't let the bastards grind you down." (yes, I know it's fake Latin.)

John, Francois, et. al.,

I personally welcome you all to the United States and hope you have found what you came looking for. You all are what makes this nation so great. I hope that you all stay and become naturalized citizens. Then, I hope you register to vote. Vote in every election possible and let your representatives know how you feel. Many US citizens are apathetic and don't vote. These people shall inherit the earth.

It saddens me as an American and Californian that HONEST, good, hardworking people such as yourselves are forgotten in California in favor of pandering to people to promote racism in the name of fairness. Sacramento, CA has become Rome and it is starting to fall. Some of those in power think we should accept the invaders with open arms. Some in France thought the same thing about the Nazi's and in 1940, Germany showed it's appreciation with the Blitzkrieg. Has history tought these people nothing?

This citizen will die on my feet before living on my knees. Join me. I would be proud to have all LEGAL immigrants as Brothers and Sisters in Arms.

E Pluribus Unum (From Many, One)

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Sean

Sean,

I'm with you on illegal immigration, but there is another aspect to the issue that I consider more crucial:

The couple of million illegal immigrants in California are not actually sitting idle; they do find work, which means that there is a (at least potential) social need for them. The question then is, who employs these people? Don't companies/entities have to check the legal documents of their prospective employees? Are these documents forged, or is this a case of the employers not checking/not caring? What do the local enforcement agencies do when they discover a company employing illegal immigrants? Are the principals prosecuted? Is their business license revoked? Or do they just get a slap on the wrist and carry on?

For that matter, how do enforcement agencies react when they apprehend an illegal alien? Do they notify the appropriate agency to have them deported, or do they just shrug and let it pass?

What I am trying to say is that it seems to me that there is a widespread and pervasive tolerance of illegal immigrants at all levels: from private citizens (do you check the legal status of the labourer you employ to mow your lawn?), to local, regional, and state agencies. And until the attitude of the people change, I don't see anything significant happening on this front.

John

I'm a labor and employment attorney and I also practice business based immigration. If you have an H1-B visa here are the rules: I also send another post on what if you don't have an H1-b visa

There are 3 steps to obtaining permanent residency through Employer Sponsored Labor Certification for employees who are on H1-B status.



The first step is to apply for Labor Certification with the Department of Labor. To obtain an approved Labor Certification, the employer must prove (mainly through newspaper advertising) that they were unsuccessful in recruiting enough qualified workers for a certain position.

There are 2 types of labor certifications. The employer may apply through Regular Labor Certification, or Reduction in Recruitment Labor Certification. Prior to the current economic slowdown, we used reduction in recruitment. It is a shorter process and requires less intervention and interaction with the Department of Labor.



Regular Labor Certification processing involves filing certain forms with the DOL and waiting for advertising instructions from the Department of Labor. The DOL will tell us how to advertise, collect resumes for us and send us people who meet the minimum qualifications for the position. Processing time for Regular Labor Certification varies between 1 to 3 years.



Reduction in Recruitment Labor Certification is where the employer shows the DOL that they have already UNSUCCESSFULLY attempted to recruit U.S. workers for the position. The DOL likes to see a consistent pattern of recruiting for the 6 months prior to filing. Newspaper advertising is the strongest form of evidence. Internet postings, job fairs, headhunters, etc., provide good supporting evidence. Processing time for Reduction in Recruitment Labor Certification varies between 3 to 8 months.



Step 2: Once the employer has received an approved Labor Certification, they may apply to the INS with the Form I-140, Immigrant Petition For Alien Worker. Processing time for the I-140 is 3 to 8 months.



Step 3: Once the employer has received an approved I-140 petition, the next step is for the foreign national to apply for Adjustment of Status. After the foreign national applies for Adjustment of Status, he or she (and the spouse and children) will receive work authorization and advance parole (re-entry permit after foreign travel) within 90 days. He or she will then have an interview for the Green Card in 6-36 months.

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For immigrant visas, the following are the most common employment based visas. There is the EB-1, which covers international managers and executives, outstanding professors and researchers, and people of extraordinary ability. There is EB-2, which is available to aliens of exceptional ability and advanced degree professional. There is also EB-3, which is available to people with a bachelor's degree, skilled workers, and unskilled workers. The EB-1 category does not require a labor certification, all the others require a labor certification.

For non employment based immigrant visas such as through family, your family member must be a US citizen or a permanent resident. They must have a certain income level. There is a preference system, with 1st preferance being given to unmarried sons and daughters of US citizens. To obtain permanent residency going this route takes a long, long time.

You might also try the diversity lottery. I've know some people (one of our french employees) who was successful. http://www.bcis.gov/...s/howdoi/divlott.htm

Good luck and 12,000 is a little on the high side!

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thanks a lot. I'll go EB-1. I meet 5 of 6 criteria and only 2 are needed.

as for the $12,000...yes I had gathered it was a bit off!

John,

You bring up a very good point. The 'social need' aspect has been used as an argument to justify SB60, the CDL law that allows illegals in CA to get a license. The statement is "who will do the work if the Mexicans don't?" the answer is "Someone, no one or a machine."

My point earlier in this thread is that the people who employ these illegals claim that they NEED to do this to stay in business and so that a head of lettuce doesn't cost $5.00. They don't have/need to check any paperwork or ID because they don't have any worries of retribution from any party. The illegals need the job, so they stay quiet. The Government allows it to continue for various reasons, but it comes down to money and power. And the public are to blame as well for not demanding that these people be legitimate and treated as would want to be treated and be willing to spend more for this. I can only guess, but perhaps the illegals create a log jam in the law enforcement/jusicial process so much that they are overlooked if they don't cause any trouble. The principals are not prosecuted or their license revoked because they provide the service of inexpensive, quality food.

Unless an illegal has broken any laws, they are not actively sought out by local law enforcement. The only time this becomes an issue is when wealthy or political people get 'busted' hiring illegals.

I agree that the tolerance has created part of the problem. As a private citizen, I mow my own lawn and don't hire handypeople. I agree that "until the attitude of the people change, I don't see anything significant happening on this front" as well. But I'm trying to get Californians in my circle to understand that. Once people get pissed enough, they'll spend a little more for food and services if it doesn't require them to pay more taxes to provide social services to illegals or allow the continuation of fiscal irresponsilbility by politicians. Maybe some will even give up eating so many salads.

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Sean

I'd be curious to know how many could be legal immigrant (meaning they would have skills needed here) but just forget about being legal in front of the
heavy paperwork and the fees (not that it is any easier in France btw...)

Fr.

PS anyone has a green card to sell? Would exchange it against a pair of racing wheels :-)

I AM an immigration attorney, and that sounds very high. My fee for an employment-based permanent residence case is $4,000, plus expenses (recruitment/immigration fees) which will run another $2,000 or so.

You can contact me at romy@kapoorlaw.com if you want to talk further. No charge for an initial consultation.

Romy Kapoor

The outstanding professor/category is not as simple as that. 2 out of the 6 standards is just the objective part of it. The more difficult part is the subjective part in which you must demonstrate that you have an "international reputation as being outstanding in the field". This comes from supporting letters from others in the field, both inside and outside of the U.S., who will speak very highly of you and your abilities and confirm that you have such an international reputation.

If you are in a teaching position, and were hired pursuant to a competitive selection process within the past 18 months, you can also look at the "special handling" labor certification process. This is extremely expedited through the State Department of Labor office as well as the US DOL.

By the way, there is nothing that prevents you from trying more than one of these routes to immigration. Many people will do the labor certification as well as the outstanding professor/category.

If your work is more research oriented, there is also a National Interest Waiver category where the labor certification requirement can be waived if the work you are doing is having a significant impact on some area of national interest.

Any way, there are a number of options potentially available to you.

Romy Kapoor

romy@kapoorlaw.com

http://www.kapoorlaw.com

An employer is only allowed to ask for certain documentation when they employ you. On one list is things like Soc Sec and another the GC although I can not remember which is on what list.

I worked for 2 companies where the employee's produced the correct documentation in spite of the company knowing that the employee's were at best questionable and more than likely illegal.

They employed them, submitted info on the soc sec payments at year end to find that 25% of the employees SS numbers were not recognized. Oh what a surprise.

Now the DOJ would go after the employers if they thought that they were a large enough employer of illegals but I dont somehow think that 12 employee's would count in this day and age.

It is no defence on the lawyers part that the docs were forged to my understanding but their hands are somewhat tied as to finding out if they are.

The company had employees that were arrested and deported and came back in the time I was there but nothing ever happened or was done about it.

As to the GC app. I did reduction in recruitment. For approximately 9 months we advertised the post in local, regional and national papers and publications as well as on line. Collected and submitted the paperwork, then the I-140 which I think was over a year and then the adjustment of status was again close to a year with a 7 month wait for the actual GC to arrive. Adjustment of status was approved in June last year, received the GC in Feb this year.