royus77
06-30 05:27 PM
Guys and Gals,
It's all speculation... Wait and see... we will all be fine... if you have your papers ready then file it.......
I'am staying positive..... Want y'all to do it too....
All the best....
I will fly to Nebraska on sunday night and deliver it on Monday
It's all speculation... Wait and see... we will all be fine... if you have your papers ready then file it.......
I'am staying positive..... Want y'all to do it too....
All the best....
I will fly to Nebraska on sunday night and deliver it on Monday
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franklin
07-17 06:04 PM
Send a donation instead
http://immigrationvoice.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=26&Itemid=25#HowToContribute
http://immigrationvoice.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=26&Itemid=25#HowToContribute
vandanaverdia
09-12 11:49 PM
seahawks:
Keep up the good work in inviting members & initiating to re-activate the WA/OR chapter!
Keep up the good work in inviting members & initiating to re-activate the WA/OR chapter!
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newlife2
09-19 10:18 PM
Guys, I was just laid off and have efiled i539 3 days after the termination date for a status change to F2. Now working on the application letter. Do you think I should mention the layoff in the letter?
If I do mention it:
Con: The layoff might quickly catch the eyes of the immigration officer and if he want to check my status, he could find out the 3 days OOS.
Pro: My previous job was well paid. By mentioning it, I give the reason that why I want to stay at home as F2 instead of keeping the well paid job.
I guess I will mention it in the letter to explain the whole situation and hope everything will be all right. Let me know if anybody disagrees asap, I will mail out the stuff with in next two days.
If I do mention it:
Con: The layoff might quickly catch the eyes of the immigration officer and if he want to check my status, he could find out the 3 days OOS.
Pro: My previous job was well paid. By mentioning it, I give the reason that why I want to stay at home as F2 instead of keeping the well paid job.
I guess I will mention it in the letter to explain the whole situation and hope everything will be all right. Let me know if anybody disagrees asap, I will mail out the stuff with in next two days.
more...
sunofeast_gc
01-14 01:38 AM
I work for company A (Big American company), my EB3 LC and I-140 is approved (PD March 2003). I am in 7th year of my H1b and 2 months ago I got 3 years extension of my H1b visa based on approved LC and I-140.
I got a offer from company B (small American company) and C ( Indian consulting company). I am thinking to join company B they are ready to apply my case in EB2 category but I am not sure about the job security in company B, so I want to apply H1 extension through both Company B and C .
I have two questions:
1) Can I get extension of 3 years from both company B and C based on my EB3 LC and I-140 Approval from Company A.
2) If I join company B now, can I join company C in future incase something wrong goes with company B.
Any help will be highly appreciated.
Thanks,
I got a offer from company B (small American company) and C ( Indian consulting company). I am thinking to join company B they are ready to apply my case in EB2 category but I am not sure about the job security in company B, so I want to apply H1 extension through both Company B and C .
I have two questions:
1) Can I get extension of 3 years from both company B and C based on my EB3 LC and I-140 Approval from Company A.
2) If I join company B now, can I join company C in future incase something wrong goes with company B.
Any help will be highly appreciated.
Thanks,
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bb8185
06-05 05:23 PM
[QUOTE=martinvisalaw;345850]A person with a 485 pending is allowed to remain in the US. There is no name for this "status", but it is lawful to stay in the US, and to work using an EAD.
Thankyou
Is this still true if the person did not have a new job, would they still be legal (assuming that they could fund themselves. I am trying to get to the answer of what if someone is laid off and does not have another job while their 485 is pending.
Thanks again
Thankyou
Is this still true if the person did not have a new job, would they still be legal (assuming that they could fund themselves. I am trying to get to the answer of what if someone is laid off and does not have another job while their 485 is pending.
Thanks again
more...
atlfp
04-11 03:52 PM
I think I should apologize for being not careful about the tone. It was just an thought poping out of my head anyway. Also I want to clarify that I do understand and realize how much work IV has done. It's a tremendous amount of sacrifice that not everybody can or willing to afford. I believe most other visitors/members think the same way.
CCC,
Wonderful to hear from a contributing member and thanks for the warm words.
IV has no interest in curbing free speech. All we ask is that new members go through forum posts and resource docs to see what IV has said on a given subject, and also realize that we have done our homework. How about asking us if we have considered an issue rather than telling us what to do (without much research) -- which is the tone that some new member posts take.
As for not responding to theories -- well they just take on a life of their own if we don't respond. :) IV has no intention of letting its forums become a chaotic space with misinformation and assorted half-baked theories. :)
best,
Berkeleybee
CCC,
Wonderful to hear from a contributing member and thanks for the warm words.
IV has no interest in curbing free speech. All we ask is that new members go through forum posts and resource docs to see what IV has said on a given subject, and also realize that we have done our homework. How about asking us if we have considered an issue rather than telling us what to do (without much research) -- which is the tone that some new member posts take.
As for not responding to theories -- well they just take on a life of their own if we don't respond. :) IV has no intention of letting its forums become a chaotic space with misinformation and assorted half-baked theories. :)
best,
Berkeleybee
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gopalkrishan
08-06 03:59 PM
This topic is posted under General Information > Interesting Topics
Billu did not post this under immigration matter, so dont read it if you dont want to.
with fear of sounding rude to Veerufs .. I must say that i concur and whole heartedly agree with Austingc :p
Billu did not post this under immigration matter, so dont read it if you dont want to.
with fear of sounding rude to Veerufs .. I must say that i concur and whole heartedly agree with Austingc :p
more...
desi_scorpion
08-02 02:39 PM
I have always used fedex....excellent service for most critical documents....I might have shipped 50 times to India......never used anything else.
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kevinkris
08-06 02:13 PM
8/06/2010: Senate Passed H-1B and L-1 Filing Fee Substantial Increase Yesterday as Part of $600 Million Emergency Border Security Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2010
� The House passed the Emergency Border Security Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2010, which the Senate passed it yesterday with amendments. One of the amendments includes the following fee increase for H-1B and L-1. This amendment was sponsored by Sen. Charles Schumer of New York. The amendment provides:
o L-1 Filing Fee and Fraud Prevention and Detection Fee Wiil be Increased by $2,250 for Petitioners Employing 50 or More Employees in the United States and More Than 50% of the employees are H-1B or L-1 Employees
o H-1B Filing Fee and Fraud Prevention and Detection Fee Will be Increased by $2,000 for Petitioners Employing 50 or More Employees in the United States and More Than 50% of the employees are H-1B or L-1 Employees.
o The total filing fees after this legislation will be much higher than these figures in that these employers will also have to pay $1,500 American Worker Training Fees for H-1B petition plus current fraud preventiuon fee of $500 and I-129 filing fee of $320.
o The Increased Fee will take effect on the date this bill is enacted into a law by the President's signature and remain in effect until September 30, 2014.
� The bill needs Senate-House Conference and unless the House and Senate leader agree to return to the session during the summer break which ends on 09/14/2010, this bill is not likely enacted into law untill after the Congress returns to the session after the summer break. The amendment will be found in Title IV, Section 402 (a) and (b) of H.R. 5875, as amended by S. 3721.
� Understandably, this bill will hit hard Indian giant consulting businesses since the employers that will be subject to the increased fees fit primarily Indian businesses such as Wipro, Infosys, Tata, etc. Report indicates that these firms started and will continue to lobby the Congress against this bill from here on.
� The fact that this amendment was introduced by the Chairman of Immigration Subcommittee of the Senate Judidiary Committee indicates that probably he intends to smooth out hardline opponents of CIR by showing strong support for border protection and protection of U.S. hi-tech labor markets in the environment of nation's struggling economy and unemployment rate. Please stay tuned.
� The House passed the Emergency Border Security Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2010, which the Senate passed it yesterday with amendments. One of the amendments includes the following fee increase for H-1B and L-1. This amendment was sponsored by Sen. Charles Schumer of New York. The amendment provides:
o L-1 Filing Fee and Fraud Prevention and Detection Fee Wiil be Increased by $2,250 for Petitioners Employing 50 or More Employees in the United States and More Than 50% of the employees are H-1B or L-1 Employees
o H-1B Filing Fee and Fraud Prevention and Detection Fee Will be Increased by $2,000 for Petitioners Employing 50 or More Employees in the United States and More Than 50% of the employees are H-1B or L-1 Employees.
o The total filing fees after this legislation will be much higher than these figures in that these employers will also have to pay $1,500 American Worker Training Fees for H-1B petition plus current fraud preventiuon fee of $500 and I-129 filing fee of $320.
o The Increased Fee will take effect on the date this bill is enacted into a law by the President's signature and remain in effect until September 30, 2014.
� The bill needs Senate-House Conference and unless the House and Senate leader agree to return to the session during the summer break which ends on 09/14/2010, this bill is not likely enacted into law untill after the Congress returns to the session after the summer break. The amendment will be found in Title IV, Section 402 (a) and (b) of H.R. 5875, as amended by S. 3721.
� Understandably, this bill will hit hard Indian giant consulting businesses since the employers that will be subject to the increased fees fit primarily Indian businesses such as Wipro, Infosys, Tata, etc. Report indicates that these firms started and will continue to lobby the Congress against this bill from here on.
� The fact that this amendment was introduced by the Chairman of Immigration Subcommittee of the Senate Judidiary Committee indicates that probably he intends to smooth out hardline opponents of CIR by showing strong support for border protection and protection of U.S. hi-tech labor markets in the environment of nation's struggling economy and unemployment rate. Please stay tuned.
more...
san3297
09-04 04:39 PM
Thanks for a positive reply at last.I checked my both 797s my current one ends on Nov 14 and my future one starts at Nov 15.So i see there is no gap.Hopefully i will be good i guess.I am planning to go to Charlotte Border Security and see if they say me the same.Any way your comments made me rethink that i will be ok.
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makemygc
07-26 12:26 PM
I live in Jersey City. I am planning to move to NYC. My company and job location stays the same. I have filed my I-485 (received July 23rd) with I-140pending. I don't have my I-485 receipt notice, only I-140 receipt.
1) Is it safe to change one's residence(different state) ?
2) How do I update my address for I-485 so that I get the receipt notice at the new address ? As far as I know USCIS stuff is not forwarded by USPS.
Thanks
I had the same question. It's better to ask this from someone who has gone through I-485 stages for a while. Anyone here??
1) Is it safe to change one's residence(different state) ?
2) How do I update my address for I-485 so that I get the receipt notice at the new address ? As far as I know USCIS stuff is not forwarded by USPS.
Thanks
I had the same question. It's better to ask this from someone who has gone through I-485 stages for a while. Anyone here??
more...
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H1B-GC
09-17 02:42 PM
2 times I returned back from Intl trips, the officer kept 1 original. I am left with 1 original. I have one intl trip to make before my renewed AP arrives.
From the discussion, I think the officer will stamp the last original, make a copy and give the original back.
Have a Photocopy of the AP with a "Copy" Seal on it just in case... I had 2 original AP's and both the Times i travelled international - From Rome and Hyd,India to US , the Immi. Officer gave back the Original with the Stamp on it. you could request the Officer to give back the AP explaining your case. This shouldn't be a matter of concern.
From the discussion, I think the officer will stamp the last original, make a copy and give the original back.
Have a Photocopy of the AP with a "Copy" Seal on it just in case... I had 2 original AP's and both the Times i travelled international - From Rome and Hyd,India to US , the Immi. Officer gave back the Original with the Stamp on it. you could request the Officer to give back the AP explaining your case. This shouldn't be a matter of concern.
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ftbakhru
06-18 03:07 PM
My experience is that interview dates for Nov won't show up until Oct.
more...
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ganguteli
04-23 01:16 PM
I know it is a loss in priority date. But my point is: "does fighting with the lawyer, give him his time back?" In fact by that he is loosing his valuable time and energy further.
If there is "ANY" method to get his "LC" approved with the same priority date, I totally agree he should do that.
That is what I mean by "focus on your goal". If your goal is to fight with lawyer for a cause, just do it. You will at least feel happy that you did the right thing, whatever you felt right.
If a lawyer made the mistake and you complain, then at least you will save others like you. One should stop being selfish or scared.
Will you keep quiet if someone robs you or does you harm. Will you at that time think you will lose your time and energy if you report it to cops?
I want to say that I have seen a lot of people blaming lawyers for their problems in immigration. This maybe false too. These lawyers are also doing their jobs. Just because you did not get a good service does not mean they maybe bad. Why did you choose them in the first place. You should have done your due homework first and if you were not satisfied you could have fired them too. And if they are bad, then go and complain to authorities. Do not be scared and listen to people who scare you. You live in a country that has laws and a system.
If there is "ANY" method to get his "LC" approved with the same priority date, I totally agree he should do that.
That is what I mean by "focus on your goal". If your goal is to fight with lawyer for a cause, just do it. You will at least feel happy that you did the right thing, whatever you felt right.
If a lawyer made the mistake and you complain, then at least you will save others like you. One should stop being selfish or scared.
Will you keep quiet if someone robs you or does you harm. Will you at that time think you will lose your time and energy if you report it to cops?
I want to say that I have seen a lot of people blaming lawyers for their problems in immigration. This maybe false too. These lawyers are also doing their jobs. Just because you did not get a good service does not mean they maybe bad. Why did you choose them in the first place. You should have done your due homework first and if you were not satisfied you could have fired them too. And if they are bad, then go and complain to authorities. Do not be scared and listen to people who scare you. You live in a country that has laws and a system.
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coolpal
06-30 12:58 PM
so far, I have heard about at least 30 cases over the internet including one personal case (my wife's) and all of the cancelled appointments seem to be either on 7th, 8th or 9th july. (My wife had it on 8th and got a cancellation notice with the same date which was delivered yesterday...)
From forums, it appears that, a few of them already got their rescheduled notices, and some got the new date after calling... either way, I guess the above info seems to be true..... worst case scenario, if you don't get rescheduled notices (or dates by calling) by your appointment date, just go to the ASC. I know it's a pain... but I just don't want to give them a chance at denying and don't want to go thru all that hassle...
pal :)
From forums, it appears that, a few of them already got their rescheduled notices, and some got the new date after calling... either way, I guess the above info seems to be true..... worst case scenario, if you don't get rescheduled notices (or dates by calling) by your appointment date, just go to the ASC. I know it's a pain... but I just don't want to give them a chance at denying and don't want to go thru all that hassle...
pal :)
more...
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jnraajan
03-27 11:56 AM
I am celebrating the good news from IV by pledging $100 to IV. Any one care to up the ante on this?
My Receipt ID: 54118296K6578915K
My Receipt ID: 54118296K6578915K
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GodHelpUs
03-21 10:48 AM
I am really shocked on looking at this article.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/21/nyregion/21immigrant.html?hp
An Agent, a Green Card, and a Demand for Sex
Article Tools Sponsored By
By NINA BERNSTEIN
Published: March 21, 2008
No problems so far, the immigration agent told the American citizen and his 22-year-old Colombian wife at her green card interview in December. After he stapled one of their wedding photos to her application for legal permanent residency, he had just one more question: What was her cellphone number?
Skip to next paragraph
Enlarge This Image
Uli Seit for The New York Times
Isaac R. Baichu, 46, an adjudicator for the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, was arrested after he met with a green card applicant at the Flagship Restaurant, a diner in Queens. He is charged with coercing oral sex from her.
Audio A Secret Recording
Enlarge This Image
Uli Seit for The New York Times
The Flagship Restaurant, where Mr. Baichu met with a green card applicant.
The calls from the agent started three days later. He hinted, she said, at his power to derail her life and deport her relatives, alluding to a brush she had with the law before her marriage. He summoned her to a private meeting. And at noon on Dec. 21, in a parked car on Queens Boulevard, he named his price � not realizing that she was recording everything on the cellphone in her purse.
�I want sex,� he said on the recording. �One or two times. That�s all. You get your green card. You won�t have to see me anymore.�
She reluctantly agreed to a future meeting. But when she tried to leave his car, he demanded oral sex �now,� to �know that you�re serious.� And despite her protests, she said, he got his way.
The 16-minute recording, which the woman first took to The New York Times and then to the Queens district attorney, suggests the vast power of low-level immigration law enforcers, and a growing desperation on the part of immigrants seeking legal status. The aftermath, which included the arrest of an immigration agent last week, underscores the difficulty and danger of making a complaint, even in the rare case when abuse of power may have been caught on tape.
No one knows how widespread sexual blackmail is, but the case echoes other instances of sexual coercion that have surfaced in recent years, including agents criminally charged in Atlanta, Miami and Santa Ana, Calif. And it raises broader questions about the system�s vulnerability to corruption at a time when millions of noncitizens live in a kind of legal no-man�s land, increasingly fearful of seeking the law�s protection.
The agent arrested last week, Isaac R. Baichu, 46, himself an immigrant from Guyana, handled some 8,000 green card applications during his three years as an adjudicator in the Garden City, N.Y., office of United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, part of the federal Department of Homeland Security. He pleaded not guilty to felony and misdemeanor charges of coercing the young woman to perform oral sex, and of promising to help her secure immigration papers in exchange for further sexual favors. If convicted, he will face up to seven years in prison.
His agency has suspended him with pay, and the inspector general of Homeland Security is reviewing his other cases, a spokesman said Wednesday. Prosecutors, who say they recorded a meeting between Mr. Baichu and the woman on March 11 at which he made similar demands for sex, urge any other victims to come forward.
Money, not sex, is the more common currency of corruption in immigration, but according to Congressional testimony in 2006 by Michael Maxwell, former director of the agency�s internal investigations, more than 3,000 backlogged complaints of employee misconduct had gone uninvestigated for lack of staff, including 528 involving criminal allegations.
The agency says it has tripled its investigative staff since then, and counts only 165 serious complaints pending. But it stopped posting an e-mail address and phone number for such complaints last year, said Jan Lane, chief of security and integrity, because it lacks the staff to cull the thousands of mostly irrelevant messages that resulted. Immigrants, she advised, should report wrongdoing to any law enforcement agency they trust.
The young woman in Queens, whose name is being withheld because the authorities consider her the victim of a sex crime, did not even tell her husband what had happened. Two weeks after the meeting in the car, finding no way to make a confidential complaint to the immigration agency and afraid to go to the police, she and two older female relatives took the recording to The Times.
Reasons to Worry
A slim, shy woman who looks like a teenager, she said she had spent recent months baby-sitting for relatives in Queens, crying over the deaths of her two brothers back in Cali, Colombia, and longing for the right stamp in her passport � one that would let her return to the United States if she visited her family.
She came to the United States on a tourist visa in 2004 and overstayed. When she married an American citizen a year ago, the law allowed her to apply to �adjust� her illegal status. But unless her green card application was approved, she could not visit her parents or her brothers� graves and then legally re-enter the United States. And if her application was denied, she would face deportation.
She had another reason to be fearful, and not only for herself. About 15 months ago, she said, an acquaintance hired her and two female relatives in New York to carry $12,000 in cash to the bank. The three women, all living in the country illegally, were arrested on the street by customs officers apparently acting on a tip in a money-laundering investigation. After determining that the women had no useful information, the officers released them.
But the closed investigation file had showed up in the computer when she applied for a green card, Mr. Baichu told her in December; until he obtained the file and dealt with it, her application would not be approved. If she defied him, she feared, he could summon immigration enforcement agents to take her relatives to detention.
So instead of calling the police, she turned on the video recorder in her cellphone, put the phone in her purse and walked to meet the agent. Two family members said they watched anxiously from their parked car as she disappeared behind the tinted windows of his red Lexus.
�We were worried that the guy would take off, take her away and do something to her,� the woman�s widowed sister-in-law said in Spanish.
As the recorder captured the agent�s words and a lilting Guyanese accent, he laid out his terms in an easy, almost paternal style. He would not ask too much, he said: sex �once or twice,� visits to his home in the Bronx, perhaps a link to other Colombians who needed his help with their immigration problems.
In shaky English, the woman expressed reluctance, and questioned how she could be sure he would keep his word.
�If I do it, it�s like very hard for me, because I have my husband, and I really fall in love with him,� she said.
The agent insisted that she had to trust him. �I wouldn�t ask you to do something for me if I can�t do something for you, right?� he said, and reasoned, �Nobody going to help you for nothing,� noting that she had no money.
He described himself as the single father of a 10-year-old daughter, telling her, �I need love, too,� and predicting, �You will get to like me because I�m a nice guy.�
Repeatedly, she responded �O.K.,� without conviction. At one point he thanked her for showing up, saying, �I know you feel very scared.�
Finally, she tried to leave. �Let me go because I tell my husband I come home,� she said.
His reply, the recording shows, was a blunt demand for oral sex.
�Right now? No!� she protested. �No, no, right now I can�t.�
He insisted, cajoled, even empathized. �I came from a different country, too,� he said. �I got my green card just like you.�
Then, she said, he grabbed her. During the speechless minute that follows on the recording, she said she yielded to his demand out of fear that he would use his authority against her.
How Much Corruption?
The charges against Mr. Baichu, who became a United States citizen in 1991 and earns roughly $50,000 a year, appear to be part of a larger pattern, according to government records and interviews.
Mr. Maxwell, the immigration agency�s former chief investigator, told Congress in 2006 that internal corruption was �rampant,� and that employees faced constant temptations to commit crime.
�It is only a small step from granting a discretionary waiver of an eligibility rule to asking for a favor or taking a bribe in exchange for granting that waiver,� he contended. �Once an employee learns he can get away with low-level corruption and still advance up the ranks, he or she becomes more brazen.�
�Despite our best efforts there are always people ready to use their position for personal gain or personal pleasure,� said Chris Bentley, a spokesman for Citizenship and Immigration Services. �Our responsibility is to ferret them out.�
When the Queens woman came to The Times with her recording on Jan. 3, she was afraid of retaliation from the agent, and uncertain about making a criminal complaint, though she had an appointment the next day at the Queens district attorney�s office.
Mr. Baichu was arrested as he emerged from the diner and headed to his car, wearing much gold and diamond jewelry, prosecutors said. Later released on $15,000 bail, Mr. Baichu referred calls for comment to his lawyer, Sally Attia, who said he did not have authority to grant or deny green card petitions without his supervisor�s approval.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/21/nyregion/21immigrant.html?hp
An Agent, a Green Card, and a Demand for Sex
Article Tools Sponsored By
By NINA BERNSTEIN
Published: March 21, 2008
No problems so far, the immigration agent told the American citizen and his 22-year-old Colombian wife at her green card interview in December. After he stapled one of their wedding photos to her application for legal permanent residency, he had just one more question: What was her cellphone number?
Skip to next paragraph
Enlarge This Image
Uli Seit for The New York Times
Isaac R. Baichu, 46, an adjudicator for the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, was arrested after he met with a green card applicant at the Flagship Restaurant, a diner in Queens. He is charged with coercing oral sex from her.
Audio A Secret Recording
Enlarge This Image
Uli Seit for The New York Times
The Flagship Restaurant, where Mr. Baichu met with a green card applicant.
The calls from the agent started three days later. He hinted, she said, at his power to derail her life and deport her relatives, alluding to a brush she had with the law before her marriage. He summoned her to a private meeting. And at noon on Dec. 21, in a parked car on Queens Boulevard, he named his price � not realizing that she was recording everything on the cellphone in her purse.
�I want sex,� he said on the recording. �One or two times. That�s all. You get your green card. You won�t have to see me anymore.�
She reluctantly agreed to a future meeting. But when she tried to leave his car, he demanded oral sex �now,� to �know that you�re serious.� And despite her protests, she said, he got his way.
The 16-minute recording, which the woman first took to The New York Times and then to the Queens district attorney, suggests the vast power of low-level immigration law enforcers, and a growing desperation on the part of immigrants seeking legal status. The aftermath, which included the arrest of an immigration agent last week, underscores the difficulty and danger of making a complaint, even in the rare case when abuse of power may have been caught on tape.
No one knows how widespread sexual blackmail is, but the case echoes other instances of sexual coercion that have surfaced in recent years, including agents criminally charged in Atlanta, Miami and Santa Ana, Calif. And it raises broader questions about the system�s vulnerability to corruption at a time when millions of noncitizens live in a kind of legal no-man�s land, increasingly fearful of seeking the law�s protection.
The agent arrested last week, Isaac R. Baichu, 46, himself an immigrant from Guyana, handled some 8,000 green card applications during his three years as an adjudicator in the Garden City, N.Y., office of United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, part of the federal Department of Homeland Security. He pleaded not guilty to felony and misdemeanor charges of coercing the young woman to perform oral sex, and of promising to help her secure immigration papers in exchange for further sexual favors. If convicted, he will face up to seven years in prison.
His agency has suspended him with pay, and the inspector general of Homeland Security is reviewing his other cases, a spokesman said Wednesday. Prosecutors, who say they recorded a meeting between Mr. Baichu and the woman on March 11 at which he made similar demands for sex, urge any other victims to come forward.
Money, not sex, is the more common currency of corruption in immigration, but according to Congressional testimony in 2006 by Michael Maxwell, former director of the agency�s internal investigations, more than 3,000 backlogged complaints of employee misconduct had gone uninvestigated for lack of staff, including 528 involving criminal allegations.
The agency says it has tripled its investigative staff since then, and counts only 165 serious complaints pending. But it stopped posting an e-mail address and phone number for such complaints last year, said Jan Lane, chief of security and integrity, because it lacks the staff to cull the thousands of mostly irrelevant messages that resulted. Immigrants, she advised, should report wrongdoing to any law enforcement agency they trust.
The young woman in Queens, whose name is being withheld because the authorities consider her the victim of a sex crime, did not even tell her husband what had happened. Two weeks after the meeting in the car, finding no way to make a confidential complaint to the immigration agency and afraid to go to the police, she and two older female relatives took the recording to The Times.
Reasons to Worry
A slim, shy woman who looks like a teenager, she said she had spent recent months baby-sitting for relatives in Queens, crying over the deaths of her two brothers back in Cali, Colombia, and longing for the right stamp in her passport � one that would let her return to the United States if she visited her family.
She came to the United States on a tourist visa in 2004 and overstayed. When she married an American citizen a year ago, the law allowed her to apply to �adjust� her illegal status. But unless her green card application was approved, she could not visit her parents or her brothers� graves and then legally re-enter the United States. And if her application was denied, she would face deportation.
She had another reason to be fearful, and not only for herself. About 15 months ago, she said, an acquaintance hired her and two female relatives in New York to carry $12,000 in cash to the bank. The three women, all living in the country illegally, were arrested on the street by customs officers apparently acting on a tip in a money-laundering investigation. After determining that the women had no useful information, the officers released them.
But the closed investigation file had showed up in the computer when she applied for a green card, Mr. Baichu told her in December; until he obtained the file and dealt with it, her application would not be approved. If she defied him, she feared, he could summon immigration enforcement agents to take her relatives to detention.
So instead of calling the police, she turned on the video recorder in her cellphone, put the phone in her purse and walked to meet the agent. Two family members said they watched anxiously from their parked car as she disappeared behind the tinted windows of his red Lexus.
�We were worried that the guy would take off, take her away and do something to her,� the woman�s widowed sister-in-law said in Spanish.
As the recorder captured the agent�s words and a lilting Guyanese accent, he laid out his terms in an easy, almost paternal style. He would not ask too much, he said: sex �once or twice,� visits to his home in the Bronx, perhaps a link to other Colombians who needed his help with their immigration problems.
In shaky English, the woman expressed reluctance, and questioned how she could be sure he would keep his word.
�If I do it, it�s like very hard for me, because I have my husband, and I really fall in love with him,� she said.
The agent insisted that she had to trust him. �I wouldn�t ask you to do something for me if I can�t do something for you, right?� he said, and reasoned, �Nobody going to help you for nothing,� noting that she had no money.
He described himself as the single father of a 10-year-old daughter, telling her, �I need love, too,� and predicting, �You will get to like me because I�m a nice guy.�
Repeatedly, she responded �O.K.,� without conviction. At one point he thanked her for showing up, saying, �I know you feel very scared.�
Finally, she tried to leave. �Let me go because I tell my husband I come home,� she said.
His reply, the recording shows, was a blunt demand for oral sex.
�Right now? No!� she protested. �No, no, right now I can�t.�
He insisted, cajoled, even empathized. �I came from a different country, too,� he said. �I got my green card just like you.�
Then, she said, he grabbed her. During the speechless minute that follows on the recording, she said she yielded to his demand out of fear that he would use his authority against her.
How Much Corruption?
The charges against Mr. Baichu, who became a United States citizen in 1991 and earns roughly $50,000 a year, appear to be part of a larger pattern, according to government records and interviews.
Mr. Maxwell, the immigration agency�s former chief investigator, told Congress in 2006 that internal corruption was �rampant,� and that employees faced constant temptations to commit crime.
�It is only a small step from granting a discretionary waiver of an eligibility rule to asking for a favor or taking a bribe in exchange for granting that waiver,� he contended. �Once an employee learns he can get away with low-level corruption and still advance up the ranks, he or she becomes more brazen.�
�Despite our best efforts there are always people ready to use their position for personal gain or personal pleasure,� said Chris Bentley, a spokesman for Citizenship and Immigration Services. �Our responsibility is to ferret them out.�
When the Queens woman came to The Times with her recording on Jan. 3, she was afraid of retaliation from the agent, and uncertain about making a criminal complaint, though she had an appointment the next day at the Queens district attorney�s office.
Mr. Baichu was arrested as he emerged from the diner and headed to his car, wearing much gold and diamond jewelry, prosecutors said. Later released on $15,000 bail, Mr. Baichu referred calls for comment to his lawyer, Sally Attia, who said he did not have authority to grant or deny green card petitions without his supervisor�s approval.
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rb_248
08-02 02:59 PM
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jagan13
02-18 09:58 AM
I am currently waiting for my renewed passport from Washington DC embassy, which I had mailed them on Dec 30th(signed for and received by them on Dec 31st). The passport is due to expire in Oct 2011. My problem is, my drivers license is expiring on Feb 24th as is my stamped visa. My employer has filed for my H1b extension and I currently have the original receipt notice needed for renewing my license. But, I cannot renew it without the original passport. I have been trying to reach them through phone as well as email for over 10 days now. Also, when filling out the form , I have a different permanent Indian address than what I had on the passport as my family back home had moved. The following are my questions:
1) Does this increase the processing time, due to any verification of address in India?
2) Has anybody been in the same situation and if yes, how long did it take for the embassy to renew and mail the passport?
3) Does anybody have a point of contact at the Embassy?
NOTE: I just talked to my bank and confirmed that the cashiers checks I had send along with the application have been cashed on Jan 24th. I dont know where that puts me on the timeline for receving my passport.
I have been looking at other threads on the forum and looks like it is typically taking 40 days for people to receive their passports in the mail. But , my license situation is concerning as I do not know, at what stage of renewal process my passport is in and how much longer I have to wait. Any insight will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Jagan
1) Does this increase the processing time, due to any verification of address in India?
2) Has anybody been in the same situation and if yes, how long did it take for the embassy to renew and mail the passport?
3) Does anybody have a point of contact at the Embassy?
NOTE: I just talked to my bank and confirmed that the cashiers checks I had send along with the application have been cashed on Jan 24th. I dont know where that puts me on the timeline for receving my passport.
I have been looking at other threads on the forum and looks like it is typically taking 40 days for people to receive their passports in the mail. But , my license situation is concerning as I do not know, at what stage of renewal process my passport is in and how much longer I have to wait. Any insight will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Jagan
looivy
05-03 08:04 PM
Hi All,
Need help to determine what should I do.
I stayed in India for a month but since my application did not clear, I entered USA on AP because my boss was getting mad that I had to extend my vacation and I did not want to risk losing my job.
Mumbai consulate has now sent me an email saying that admin processing has been completed (after more than 60 days ) and are asking me to submit my passport. BTW, the DOS in DC still says my app is pending admin processing.
I am in USA now as a parolee. Should I go ahead and send my passport to India and get it stamped and have it sent back to USA through a friend.
Please advise.
Thanks.
Need help to determine what should I do.
I stayed in India for a month but since my application did not clear, I entered USA on AP because my boss was getting mad that I had to extend my vacation and I did not want to risk losing my job.
Mumbai consulate has now sent me an email saying that admin processing has been completed (after more than 60 days ) and are asking me to submit my passport. BTW, the DOS in DC still says my app is pending admin processing.
I am in USA now as a parolee. Should I go ahead and send my passport to India and get it stamped and have it sent back to USA through a friend.
Please advise.
Thanks.
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