101 Immigration

Green Card Through Self Petition for PhD Students

2009-12-17T15:06:00.000-08:00

What is EB-2 Employment based immigrant visa?

The EB-2 employment visa is an immigrant visa which allows foreign nationals holding an advanced degree to obtain residency in the U.S. You must be a foreign national who:

· Is a member of the professions holding advanced degrees or their equivalent; or

· Because of your exceptional ability in the sciences, arts, or business will substantially benefit the national economy, cultural, or educational interests or welfare of the U.S.

To apply for Green Card while you are doing Phd, you must demonstrate that specialization you are doing is of national interest (fortunately almost all Phd field are of this category)

To Apply for EB-2 Visa you must have:

1. The applicants of EB2NIW shall have an advanced degree.

Advanced degree means any United States academic or professional degree or a foreign equivalent degree above that of baccalaureate. If you have already Master or Phd that is added advantage. If all of the advanced degrees were received outside of the United States, you must obtain a Foreign Academic Credential Evaluation by a credited evaluation agency. If at least ONE of the advanced degrees was obtained from an accredited educational institution in the United States, you may not need a Foreign Academic Credential Evaluation report.

2. Alien scientist’s work has practical significance to the national interest of the United States, and the Alien’s research and his or her contributions have direct link to the National Interests.

This is where you would relate your research/work to US interest. Ph.D. students have an advantage over the people who already work for a private company in EB2 application because they perform research in a not-for-profit organization. Their research projects are normally supported by NIH, DoD, NSF or other national research funding organizations. Therefore, the link between the national interest and the applicants’ work can be clearly established. In comparison, if the applicant already works for a private company, CIS often requests evidence to prove that the applicant’s work is not merely making profit for the private company.

3. The applicant must prove that he or she will serve the national interest to a substantially greater degree than would an available U.S. worker having the same minimum qualifications.

To prove that the applicant will serve the national interest to a substantially greater degree than would an available U.S. worker having the same minimum qualifications, the applicant may submit his or her journal publications, conference presentations, and other evidence.

Q. What are the alternative evidences of applying for aliens of "extraordinary ability"?

A: Since very few person receive international award like Nobel Prize, alternative evidences of this EB1-EA classification, based on at least three of the types of evidence outlined below, are permitted:

Receipt of lesser nationally or internationally recognized prizes or awards for excellence;
Membership in associations in the field which demands outstanding achievement of their members;
Published material about the alien in professional or major trade publications or other major media;
Evidence that the alien has judged the work of others, either individually or on a panel;
Evidence of the alien's original scientific, scholarly, artistic, athletic, or business-related contributions of major significance to the field;
Evidence of the alien's authorship of scholarly articles in professional or major trade publications or other major media;
Evidence that the alien's work has been displayed at artistic exhibitions or showcases(here comes the posters and exhibition of your work);
Performance of a leading or critical role in distinguished organizations;
Evidence that the alien commands a high salary or other significantly high remuneration in relation to others in the field;
Evidence of commercial successes in the performing arts.

Q. What is the major advantages of applying for aliens of "extraordinary ability"?

1. No labor certification is required for this EB-1 category;

2. No job offer or permanent job position is required for aliens of extraordinary ability;

3. Much fast to obtain a Green Card than the EB-3 or EB-2 immigration categories.

How to do self Petition??

To obtain a national interest waiver, you must file a Form I-140 petition, Form ETA 750B, and supporting documents (Application letter outlining how you qualify for national interest waiver, recommendation letters, publications etc) directly with the appropriate Immigration Service Center. You do not have to file anything with the Department of Labor. You may also file your permanent residency application at the same time as your I-140 Petition, and receive work and travel authorization.

25,000 onsite H-1B inspections

2009-11-19T07:23:00.000-08:00

US immigration officials are taking H-1B enforcement plan to conduct 25,000 on-site inspections of companies hiring foreign workers over this fiscal year, according to a report in ComputerWorld.

According to the report, the move marks a nearly five-fold increase in inspections over last fiscal year, when the agency conducted 5,191 site visits. The new federal fiscal year began Oct. 1.

Tougher enforcement comes in response to a US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) study (in October 2008), titled H1-B Benefit Fraud & Compliance Assessment, which found a 27% rate of fraud in the H1-B visa programme.

According to the study, there were a total of 51 cases from the sample of 246 H1-B petitions that were fraud or a technical violation of the regulations. The research primarily found two types of fraud, one, where there was 'willful misrepresentation, falsification, or omission of a material fact'; and two, where there was no willful fraud, but `there was evidence that the employer or alien beneficiary failed to comply with applicable laws and regulations.'

Some of the fraudulent activities included cases where either the business did not exist or the degrees and supporting documentation were found forged. In several cases, signatures too were found forged. USCIS study also found that 27 percent of the workers surveyed were being paid less than the prevailing wage for a particular job description and location.

According to US immigration authorities, over 11,000 H-1B visa slots are still vacant against the Congress-mandated cap of 65,000 for the fiscal 2010.

This is for the first time in several years that thousands of H-1B visas are still to be filled up. In previous years, the entire visa slots used to be grabbed on day one.

H1B Interview Sample Question

2009-08-10T22:14:00.000-07:00

Why are you going to united states?
Why you want to work in United States and other countries?
Where are you working currently?
What is the reason
for leaving your current job?
What company are you going to work for?
Why are you going to work for this company?
Who is the CEO of this company?
When was this company established?
Where is this company located?
Do you have any other family member in
Which other countries did you travel before?
Are you planning to visit any other countries?
How many years of professional experience do you have?
Tell me about your current company.
What is the package (salary) you are getting at your current job?
What’s your new job paying you?
Do you have plans to come back to your country?
How often will you visit your country?
Why do you want to work in US and not in any other country?
Why do you want to work at this particular company?
How will you support yourself for the first month?
Are you coming for H1B stamping for the first time?
What city/state is your company located in?
Why would you think you will return to your country?
When are you going to US if you get visa?
What academic degree you have?

Show me you transcript / degree.
What is the highest level of education you have?
Can you tell me about your past work experience?
What will you do if you H1B period is over?
What role were you assigned to in your most current job?
Tell us about the number of employees in your previous company.
Tell us about the number of employees in your new company
Show me your offer letter.
What is the salary package mentioned in your offer letter?
When did you receive your offer letter?
How did you come to know about this company?
What were the selection procedures?
How many rounds of interview did you face?
What is your company’s gross total income?
Show me your company’s US registration document?
Does your new company have a branch in your country?
Who took your interview?
When was your interview taken?
What kind of interview was it?
What is your company’s business?
Who are your company’s clients?
What are your technical skills?
What are the technologies you know?
What softwares have you known?
What role will you be assigned in US company?
What projects will you be assigned in US company?
Is the task you will be assigned from Internal Project?
Who is your end client?
Where are your end client’s located?
Will you be working from company location or end client’s location?
Who will pay for your travel?
How long will your stay be in US?
Where in US will be your stay?
What if your company fires you?
Will you be shifting your job?
Will you work part time on any other company?
Tell me about the living cost in the city you are going to.
How do you know this is a genuine company?
Show us the letter from your US company describing your roles.
Can I see your company’s tax return document?
Can I see your tax return document?
What percentage of your salary will you be paying as tax?
What’s the age of your company?
Tell us about your company’s annual turn over.
Show us a letter describing your project.
Are you married?
Are you taking your spouse with you?
Show me your country’s permission for you to work in US.