-- Q&A 3/29/07--
Q- I'm a Canadian Permanent Resident from Hong Kong and I'll be able to apply for citizenship in November 2007 (because I've stayed here three out of five years).
I was wondering if I can apply for permanent residence in the United States if I have an employer to hire me? My profession would be Nursing. As I know permanent residents cannot work in the States because of the NAFTA treaty, but if an employer hired me and was willing to sponsor my immigration, would that be a different case?
And my other question is, would it be better if I waited for my Canadian Citizenship before applying for employment-based immigration? Would I have an easier access/procedure than if I applied from Permanent Resident status?
A- It would be best to wait until you obtain Canadian citizenship before applying for permanent residence in the U.S. In order to obtain permanent residence in the U.S., you must intend to live here permanently. Pursuit of permanent residence in another country at the same time as you pursue permanent residence in the U.S. raises questions about whether you really intend to live here permanently.
As you suggested, you would need to have U.S. employment lined up with an employer who is willing to sponsor your green card application. The green card application process can take several years.
Permanent residents of Canada cannot come to the U.S. to work temporarily under NAFTA but may qualify under certain temporary visa categories such as H-1B. You may enter the U.S. to work on an H-1B visa while you await issuance of a green card. However, there is an annual cap on H-1B visas which has been reached for this year and new H-1Bs will not be available until October 2007. As with the green card, you need a job lined up with an employer who will sponsor you for the H-1B. Note that for both the H-1B and the green card you are required to obtain a Visa Screen certificate.
Also, once you get your Canadian citizenship you will be eligible to enter the U.S. on TN status under NAFTA but that would still require a Visa Screen certificate.
Q- I request you to kindly guide me regarding the following queries
a) What is the appropriate VISA class to apply to appear for the United States Medical Licensing Examination USMLE Step 2 CS for International Medical Graduates
b) If applying for a Business Visa is it against the law to stay with a relative for a period of 2 weeks while going for the examination? Is it in accordance with the law to stay at a hotel?
c) Would multiple VISA rejection under 214b lead to permanent ineligibility to enter United States
A- a) A B-1 visitor for business visa would be appropriate. Note that you will have to prove you have a residence abroad that you have no intention of abandoning, and that this is difficult when you are entering the US to take the USMLE, because your intent is obviously to come to work in the US at some future date. This aspect will need to be very well documented to avoid a 214(b) denial for having immigrant intent.
b) It is fine to either stay with a relative or at a hotel while going for the exam. You will need to show that you have the funds to support yourself while in the US and this may be easier if you are staying with a relative, depending on your financial situation.
c) Multiple 214(b) rejections would not lead to permanent ineligibility to enter the U.S. However, each such denial creates a greater presumption on the part of consular officers that in applying for a visa, particularly a visitors visa, you are attempting to evade the law. It may become more and more difficult for you to obtain a visitors visa in the future.
Q- I'm Panamanian but now, I am living in Taiwan and I have questions about my eligibility for the Diversity Visa and I need help and advice for my case. I applied for DV lottery 2007, and I was chosen as a candidate. Moreover I was called for the interview in the embassy EEUU in Taipei-Taiwan, because I am living in Taiwan at the moment, after I sent initial documents to KCC. However I have some questions about my eligibility as Panamanian native.
I was born in China, and now I am a Panamanian citizen with PE (Panamanian born in foreign country) status. My father was PE as well. My father was born in China but he was living in Panama and he was (PE) Panamanian citizen at the time I was born. However, my mother was born and living in China at the time I was born, but now she lives in Panama. Moreover, my grandfather was born in Panama.
Under these conditions, am I eligible for the Diversity Visa? May I claim eligibility from nativity of my father? Does PE (Panamanian born in foreign country) have the same right as the people that were born in Panama in the case of DV lottery? In my country PE have the same right like the one person to born in Panama.
I already send this question to KCC and the embassy of EEUU in panama, then the KCC say: KCC is not authorized to assist you with this issue. Please contact the American Embassy/Consulate with jurisdiction over your area for further information.
And the embassy of EEUU in panama hasn’t to replay me yet and I don’t think they will replay me.
A- For purposes of the Diversity Visa Lottery Program, you are counted as a “native” of the country in which you were born or to which you can be charged under the immigration laws. Under the Immigration and Nationality Act, you are considered a native of China because you were born in China, even though your father was a Panamanian citizen at the time of your birth. I do not believe you qualify as a Panamanian native.
Q- My wife filed a "change of status from F2 to F1" two months ago, and the case is currently pending. Since the school will start very soon, she decided not to wait but to fly back to her home country to apply for an F1 visa in a US consulate. The questions are: what will happen to the "change of status" which is still pending? Will it influence the application of the F-1 visa in the consulate? If she is denied, can she come back to the US using her F2 visa, which is still valid? Does she need a new I-20 form? Does she need to pay the SEVIS fee again?
A- Leaving the U.S. while a change of status request is pending results in abandonment of the change of status request, although this should not affect the processing of her case at the consulate.
If the F-1 visa is denied, she could still return to the U.S. on the F-2 visa assuming the consulate does not cancel her F-2 visa in the processing of her F-1 visa application. Some consulates routinely cancel old visas in passports in the process of adjudicating new visa applications. She might want to place a sticky note over the current F-2 visa in her passport asking that it not be cancelled. On the other hand, if the consulate denies her F-1 visa because she fails to satisfy them that she has a residence in her home country that she has no intention of abandoning (e.g. because she no longer has significant economic/ family/ social ties there), they may also cancel her F-2 visa for the same reason and she would not be able to return on the F-2 visa and it would be unlikely that she would be granted a new F-2 visa under the circumstances.
Q- My girlfriend and myself emmigrated to the US in may of 2003 and married on the 4th july 2003 in las vegas,she is an American Citizen,we bought land in montana and built our first home which later burnt down along with all our immigration papers. She now works three jobs to pay the bills as i`m not allowed to legally.
In jan of 2006 our temporary accomaodation burnt to the ground and my health suffered shortly after, i need a new hip. I was awarded an Alien registration number ,which burnt in the first fire,and i have recently come back to the UK for medical reasons in the last three months,can i return to the USA with just a my A# and passport,this is very trying on both my wife and myself.
A- When applying for admission to the US, you bear the burden of proving your permanent resident status. This requires you to prove both that you were previously issued a green card and that you have not abandoned your status. To prove that you were issued a green card, it would be best to file a Form I-90 with USCIS to request a replacement green card. The I-90 form can be downloaded from the USCIS web site. To prove that you have not abandoned your residence in the US, you should fully document your reasons for having to stay in the U.K., including documentation of any medical procedures you have undergone there.
Q- Now I have (R1) visa and a legal stay until 2009 according to my i-94 card. I came three months ago then I send all the papers to my wife and baby to come as dependents on me (should be r2 and r3), but she got in her visa and my son's visa exactly like this:
Visa Type/Class
R B1/B2
and they have in the i-94 B2 (both of them) and a stay of 6 months from their entry to the us... so the question is: What is exactly the type of their visas. They should be r2 and r3, right? if not what is this R under the word Visa. and if it is b2 according to the i-94 how can I make it R2 and make them receive the same period of stay like me as they are mainly dependands on me?
A- Your wife and child should both have received R2 visas. This can be corrected one of two ways:
1. File I-539 by mail with USCIS asking to change their status to R-2. This will work but if they should travel abroad they would need to apply again for R-2 visas at a US Consulate abroad before being readmitted to the US.
2. They could travel abroad, apply for R2 visas at the consulate and be readmitted in R-2 status with R-2 I-94 cards.
Unfortunately, there is no mechanism to get the consulate to issue a corrected visa without scheduling a new visa appointment and starting the process all over again. If your family does not plan to travel outside the U.S., it would be easiest for them to apply for change of status by mail in the U.S.
