Traveling on Advance Parole

Click here for Traveling on Advance Parole

If you want to learn experiences of people traveling back to the US on Advance Parole, read the following thread on IV.
http://immigrationvoice.org/forum/showthread.php?t=15708

Just remember, that if you travel via London to your home country and you do not visa stamped on your passport AND intend to return to the US on AP, then you will need UK Transit Visa (which involves a fingerprint).

Travel Through London

UK Transit Visa Information

A more recent experience from a traveler.

AP used in Chicago OHare

Stay on the Visitor's Line at the Port of Entry

EAD Renewal Not On Time

Do checkout this thread. Interesting to see creativity. :)

http://boards.immigration.com/showpost.php?p=1794365&postcount=13606

Additionally, note the following warning from Matthew Oh's website about applying for EAD renewal too early.

02/04/2008: USCIS to Deny EAD Renewal Applications Filed Longer Than 120 Days Before Expiration

* AILA has reported that it received a notice from the USCIS that any EAD renewal application which were received on or after 01/29/2008 that was filed more than 120 days from the date of expiration would be "denied" for filing too early. We need clarification, though, as to whether the consequences will be "denial" rather than "rejection." Considering the fact that the filing fee is expensive, if it is denial, the filers will lose the filing fees paid. Please stay tuned for the clarification.

IV: Employment-Based Quota Bulletin Movement for Indians Only

DOS Visa Bulletin and Quota Movement.


Great chart on a lawyers' website. The chart lists for Indians only.
http://www.jackson-hertogs.com/quota/eb-ind.htm

IV Spotlight: Using AC-21 on EAD

http://immigrationvoice.org/forum/showthread.php?t=4163

What is EAD?
EAD stands for Employment Authorization Document.

Shashi Taroor: Should we be proud of Bobby Jindal?

http://www.shashitharoor.com/articles/toi/jindal.php


It upsets me to read that Bobby plays the Indian Heritage card when he needs the support of Indian-Americans. But most of the time, he feels bad about his heritage and wants to be considered a Louisianian.

A 17-yr-old gives Ghazipur a radio station, admn says will help make it legal

An inspiring story about a 17 year old boy using his imagination to bring a radio to his rural set up. It is encouraging to see the Indian Administration willing to help and foster his adventure.

News Story

The irony is that the District Magistrate is asking for the boy to come forward and seek his help rather than the opposite, in supporting this boy wonder.

How to write a Business Plan?

BBC has a nice concise article on writing business plans. Here is the link.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/2943252.stm

The business plan captures the strategic operational and financial aims of the business.

Now if you want more information to run a small business, BBC has excellent reports.
Running a Business

Tom Skazy of Terracycle

ABC 2020 had an excellent piece on "Winning: Only in America:Immigrant Entrepreneurs Experience American-Style Success", of course hosted by the marvelous John Stossel. The summary was about Tom Skazy who runs a multi million dollar business in the organic recycling industry on a temporary work permit that he needs to renew each year. He is not even sure about staying in the US for a long time because of his temporary status.

The question I have is why is it difficult for an entrepreneur (who belongs to the Princeton cadre and is employing multiple Americans and contributing immensely to the well being of this country and the world), to convert his temporary status into a permanent status? The answer is that the immigration system for skill based employment category is broken.

This is what the non-profit organization working for Skilled Legal Immigration is working for, http://www.immigrationvoice.org

If you want to read more on the ABC 2020 special, the link is here:
http://abcnews.go.com/2020/Stossel/Story?id=3759864&page=1

I hope both Tom and John become aware of the issues facing high skilled legal immigration in the US and contact ImmigrationVoice.

Money Won't Buy You Happiness

An interesting article on Psychology in Forbes:
Money Won't Buy You Happiness

It's official: Money can't buy happiness.

Why should you sign up for Recurring Contributions at IV?

Look at Abhijit's frank and factual note here:

http://immigrationvoice.org/forum/showthread.php?p=196016#post196016

Also, take a look at Niloufer's new blog site:
http://helpniloufer.org

IV is this.....

This picture really represents the face of IV. We may hide behind our destinies, our fears but this picture represents us. What IV is....

Join http://www.immigrationvoice.org

This picture represents that IV is the face of skilled legal immigrants in Washington DC. Please do not draw inferences on the posture of Jay in the picture.

This picture really magnifies the voice of skilled legal immigrants against the backdrop of the Capitol.

What is Immigration Voice?
Immigration Voice is a non-profit organization (501 (c) (4)) . It acts as an interface between the set of high skilled legal US immigrants and the legislative and executive branches of the government.

Who runs IV?
Immigration Voice is a completely voluntary organization. All of our volunteers are unpaid. All monies collected by Immigration Voice go towards grassroots efforts and obtaining advice from our strategic counsel Patton Boggs. As a 501(c)(4) organization, Immigration Voice is obligated to file tax returns with the IRS and have its accounts audited by a CPA.

What is the Mission Statement of IV?
The mission of Immigration Voice is to organize grassroots efforts and resources to solve several problems in the employment based green card process including (a) delays due to Retrogression (visa number unavailability for certain employment-based categories) (b) delays due to USCIS processing backlogs and (c) delays due to Labor Certification backlogs. We will work to remove these and other flaws by supporting changes to immigration law for high-skilled legal employment-based immigrants. High-skilled legal immigrants strengthen the United States' economy and help maintain American technological superiority.

What can I do for IV?
Good question. If you are an applicant caught up in the retrogression mess and are unable to get your Permanent Residence Application approved, then you should join your local state chapter of IV. If there is not one, then please start one. There are local chapter meet ups happening, where you should try to attend.

Vivek from IV has put together the following block:

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Dear Friends,

As an Employment-based (EB) Green Card applicant, or a future applicant, I hope you are aware of the following issues faced by us. Though Labor certification delays have been (almost) a thing of the past due to the PERM processing. Colossal backlogs exist at the third & final stage of GC - the so-called I-485 stage. The reasons being

1) 140,000 total numbers per year worldwide vs. 1 million applicants and their families waiting in the line. Some from 2001 and may be before that ! It's common sense that it will take at least 6 years to clear just the current backlog, if there were no per country quotas.

2) Per country quotas of 7% exacerbate the situation to applicants from high-demand countries like India & China. Approximately just 10,000 visa numbers are available to India where as it's estimated that at least 44% of the applicants may be from India ( based on USCIS statistics of around 44% of H1bs being granted to India every year). As spouse and children are counted, considering 4 members per family, on an average only 2500 Indian applicants get Green cards in a year. As you can see the numbers are dismal.

Meaning, if you are from India or China, you may have to wait 10 to 12 years to get your Green Card or more

3) Between USCIS and DOS (Department of State that runs the Visa bulletin) at least 20,000 visas get wasted every year, worsening the already BAD situation. For instance between 1994 and now 218,000 GCs were wasted by USCIS. If the trend continues, it may well mean 10+ years worldwide and 15+ years for India/China

Now I know the problems ! What's the solution?

1) Increase worldwide EB GC numbers to 290,000 per year or more
2) Eliminate country quotas or increase them to rational levels such as 10%-15%
3) Exempt spouses and children ( dependents) from the GC quota (this will effectively double the quota)
4) Since USCIS inefficiency cannot be fixed by us. Implement a 'Rollover' of unused visas to the next year(s)
5) Recapture the unused number of 218,000 visas . This may mean you'll get GC or at least see PDs jump forward by a few years (reducing your wait time tremendously)

I know the solution. But, pray, who'll bell the cat?

Fortunately for us, there is an organization that is working 100% exclusively for our cause. Immigration Voice ( http://www.immigrationvoice.org) a non-profit organization formed by EB immigrants to work for our cause. Starting with barely 200 members when it was formed in 2005, now it boasts a membership of 25,000 members and around 30 state chapters serving every US state with significant EB immigrant population.

Immigration Voice ( fondly called IV by it's members) lobbies the US Congress and USCIS to provide relief to us. They have hired a high-profile lobbying form Patton Bloggs to do lobbying for our cause. In addition they also do grassroots lobbying at State chapter levels with the local Congressmen.

What's Lobbying? Is it Legal for non-citizens ?

Lobbying or 'Advocacy' is the act of Petitoning the US Government to redress issues faced by any person living in the United States. It's a right guaranteed by US Constitution (First Amendment) to every person living in the United States, citizen or not.

Just like you can argue your own case in a court of law (if you choose to do it), you can also lobby or petition the US Government on your own. If you chose so, you can also hire a professional lobbying firm to do it for you, just like you can hire a lawyer to represent you in the court. Both are legally guaranteed rights. It's common sense that a professional does a better job - be it an experienced lawyer or a lobbying firm. Getting professional help greatly increases the chances of success.


Boy, It must be really COSTLY to hire those DC Lobbyists?

You are right. They are costly, but IV has been managing to keep the effort funded through sacrifices of it's Leadership (IV Core group), voluntary contributions from it's members, local fundraising campaigns by State chapters and selling IV-branded merchandise.

Contributions are what keeps IV ticking and working for you.

I understand IV has been doing all this? Have they had any success so far? I don't want to invest in a campaign destined for failure !

IVs success record so far in the order of significance to EB community

1) July Visa bulletin Reversal - Due to flip-flop by USCIS 350,000 applicants were denied the promised ability to file I-485 in July 2007. Chances are you might have been one of them ! We faced the grim prospect of losing thousands of dollars and countless hours of effort .

IV conducted 'Flower Campaign', i.e sending Flowers to USCIS director Emilio Ganzales to request redressal of this unfair decision (in the spirit of passive resistance movement of Mahatma Gandhi). It provided wide media coverage to the issue nationwide.

IV through it's California chapter, conducted the successful 'San Jose Rally' to highlight the issue to the Congressmen through the media. It also took an active role in petitioning San Jose Congresswoman Rep. Zoe Lofgren to help fix the issue. As it turns out Madame Lofgren, who also happens to be the Chairwoman of House sub-committee on Immigration, was instrumental in forcing USCIS to rescind (revert) it's prior unjust decision ! An IV effort that paid rich dividends.

IV actively participated in discussions with USCIS in deciding the modality of reversing the decision, and was the first group to announce it, even before USCIS and US Department of State !

IV Walked the Talk and helped the EB Community immensely

2) Sep 18th Rally in Washington DC. - Not content with the temporary relief of July, IV conducted the DC Rally which was attended by 2,000 IV members and others. IV members flew from far off states like California, Texas etc. to participate. 125 Congressmen were approached through 'Lobby Day' action carried out in parallel. Several prominent Congressmen participated in IV reception (held on 17th) and also spoke at IV rally, highlighting support from US Congressmen to the IV cause.

DC rally was a grand success strategically, and provided never-before visibility to the EB community in the Capitol.

3) Lobbying USCIS for administrative reforms - IV participated in the FBI Namecheck backlog reduction meeting ( currently approaching alarming figures with some waiting for 1-3 years), where USCIS announced increased FBI funding to expedite the checks and other process improvements to increase efficiency.

IV continues to lobby USCIS for the following reforms -

1) Increase validity of EAD/AP to 3 years from the current 1 year. It will result in a saving of at least $1400 per year for every EB immigrant family that has filed I-485
2) Relax USCIS strict determination of 'same and similar jobs' (defined by AC21 law) to provide job mobility and promotions

Great! IV has done so much for us. And I never knew ! But, why isn't it covered so widely in the mainstream media?

Media doesn't cover issues that really matter. You'll not see it the front page unless it's a celebrity visiting rehab N-th time or a wardrobe malfunction at a sports event.IV has grown stronger through word of mouth, spread mouth to mouth by EB immigrants like you and me.

Just spread the word. Forward this E-mail to all your friends waiting for GCs.

All right. I will forward it to all EB applicants known to me. Is there anything more I can do to help?

Definitely ! IV is an organization of volunteers just like you and me. There are several ways you can help IV

1) Join : IV website membership is FREE . IV forums are a good source for finding answers to Immigration related matters and exchange information. IV also conducts pro-bono (FREE) lawyer conferences for members on a regular basis.

Website link - http://www.immigrationvoice.org.
Member registration - http://immigrationvoice.org/forum/register.php

2) Contribute : As you have understood, Lobbying requires lot of funding. IV needs your support to keep the good work running.

You can contribute either one time or join as a monthly (recurring) contributor [preferred] here -
http://immigrationvoice.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=26&Itemid=44

You can send ANY AMOUNT to IV as a contribution. All you need to do it create a PayPal account (if you don't have one), register a bank acount/Credit Card with PayPal (if not already done). Send money to IV using E-mail id - donations@immigrationvoice.org

3) Buy IV merchadise : A major portion of the sale goes to IV and you get useful stuff such as T-shirts, coffee mugs , bumper stickers etc. - http://www.cafepress.com/immivoice

4) Volunteer : If you are upto it, you can join your local State Chapter of IV. State chapters conduct activities such -

a) Lawmaker meetings with Congressmen to discuss issues faced by EB immigrants
b) Fundraising at local Events
c) IV publicity through Flyers at public places & Events
d) Local media outreach to get media coverage for EB community

Benefits of joining : State Chapters provide more detailed coverage of IV updates issued from time to time than available at IV forums (restricted due to presence of anti-immigrants). They also provide updates early ( 2-3 days before stuff gets posted on IV)

How to join ? : Yahoo/Google groups for the State chapters are listed here.
http://immigrationvoice.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=72&Itemid=52 ( Scroll to the bottom !)

Submit a request to join your State chapter with your - IV id, Full Name, E-mail, Telephone number (mandatory to filter anti-immigrants). State chapter leaders will call to verify and you are in ! ( some states may ask for more info, and may ask you to answer surveys)

You have covered it in detail. Yet, I have many unanswered questions! Whom should I contact to get more info?

Ask IV !

Call - (202) 386-6250
E-mail - info@immigrationvoice.org

Thanks for spending time reading this. We sincerely hope that you'll join our team.
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Geothermal Resources

http://www.terrapass.com/blog/posts/2006/08/can-you-afford-not-to-install-geothermal-power-for-your-hom.html

http://www.wednesdayjournalonline.com/main.asp?Search=1&ArticleID=6934&SectionID=3&SubSectionID=3&S=1

http://www.wednesdayjournalonline.com/main.asp?Search=1&ArticleID=7952&SectionID=3&SubSectionID=3&S=1

http://www.wednesdayjournalonline.com/main.asp?Search=1&ArticleID=6133&SectionID=3&SubSectionID=3&S=1

From Malcolm Gladwell,
http://gladwell.typepad.com/gladwellcom/2006/08/the_case_for_ge.html

Portability of PD across EB Categories

"(e) Retention of section 203(b)(1) , (2) , or (3) priority date. -- A petition approved on behalf of an alien under sections 203(b)(1), (2), or (3) of the Act accords the alien the priority date of the approved petition for any subsequently filed petition for any classification under sections 203(b)(1), (2), or (3) of the Act for which the alien may qualify. In the event that the alien is the beneficiary of multiple petitions under sections 203(b)(1), (2), or (3) of the Act, the alien shall be entitled to the earliest priority date. A petition revoked under sections 204(e) or 205 of the Act will not confer a priority date, nor will any priority date be established as a result of a denied petition. A priority date is not transferable to another alien."

This regulation allows a person with a priority date under the EB-1, EB-2 or EB-3 categories to retain their priority even after they change employers as long as they obtain the approval of a new I-140, or in Mr. Kumar's case, the approval of a PERM application and an I-140 petition.

http://www.trackitt.com/discussion-forums/i485-1/34840839/