NewDocinUS
02-05 02:56 PM
I know the residency application process. I needed help in finding out any hospitals or institutions offering the observership programs.
Thanks
Thanks
wallpaper I Love You So Much It Hurts
pmpforgc
02-08 01:06 PM
Do you have any tentative dates for travelling ?? How flexible the dates are ??
BTW - i am not an travel agent nor related to any travel agency
I am going on 05/24 and coming back 07/16 . going may delayed by day or two if needed but comign date I want to stick to.
BTW - i am not an travel agent nor related to any travel agency
I am going on 05/24 and coming back 07/16 . going may delayed by day or two if needed but comign date I want to stick to.
Ann Ruben
04-17 12:22 PM
As you understand there is no magic correct solution to this situation, but, whichever decision you make about which line your mother-in-law stands in, she should be well prepared to document her intention to return to her home abroad after her visit to the US. Documents she should be prepared to show could include: proof of home ownership or long term lease abroad, proof of bank accounts abroad, proof of car ownership abroad, fixed date return ticket, proof of family abroad--husband and/or other children/grandchildren, proof of some specific event she plans to attend abroad such as wedding or other invitations, etc.
2011 i love you so much that it
anshulk77
07-18 10:39 PM
i filed my sub labor through a multinational muti million comapny through
Labor applied date : july 12
Receipt received today
So you might get yours in a day or so , if not my lawyer said you could just send a letter with it
Ask Your attorney Them know what to do.
Good luck
Labor applied date : july 12
Receipt received today
So you might get yours in a day or so , if not my lawyer said you could just send a letter with it
Ask Your attorney Them know what to do.
Good luck
more...
Green.Tech
04-17 12:19 PM
My wife (going to use AP), My little son (US citizen) & my mother-in-law (Visitor Visa) are coming back to Dallas from India on Monday. My mother-in-law left USA in November 2008 and coming back again now. Would it be safe to send all three of them to the same counter at the POE? or would it be safe to send them to 2 separate counters.
My worry is that if they go together, the officer may think that my mother-in-law is here again for baby sitting or something like that since her leaving USA is less than 6 months. I know that there is no such requirement that a person has to be outside US for a certain period of time before entering again, but I am still wondering would it cause any problems. On the flip side if they go to different counters they may let her in without any issues, since my mother-in-law doesn't know English (I am planning to give a letter for the purpose of her trip), Please suggest?
kriskris,
IMHO, I don't think it matters. In the end, it is the IO's decision. There are no guarantees either way, and similarly there should not be an issue either way. Personally, I would want all three to be standing at one counter than at different counters.
My worry is that if they go together, the officer may think that my mother-in-law is here again for baby sitting or something like that since her leaving USA is less than 6 months. I know that there is no such requirement that a person has to be outside US for a certain period of time before entering again, but I am still wondering would it cause any problems. On the flip side if they go to different counters they may let her in without any issues, since my mother-in-law doesn't know English (I am planning to give a letter for the purpose of her trip), Please suggest?
kriskris,
IMHO, I don't think it matters. In the end, it is the IO's decision. There are no guarantees either way, and similarly there should not be an issue either way. Personally, I would want all three to be standing at one counter than at different counters.
gondalguru
06-20 12:14 AM
I am in the same boat. I have outlined my case in a similar thread posed today.
more...
mrdelhiite
07-24 03:23 PM
One of my good friend asked me this questions yesterday? I did not have an answer for him and wanted to ask if someone could have any suggestions on this.
Thanks you for your time.
His company wants to start his EB2 green card process. He was wondering if this a good time to do this? Is it recommended that he delay this process for 6 months or so? He is currently in his 3rd year of H1B.
Thanks
-M
Thanks you for your time.
His company wants to start his EB2 green card process. He was wondering if this a good time to do this? Is it recommended that he delay this process for 6 months or so? He is currently in his 3rd year of H1B.
Thanks
-M
2010 I Love You So Much It Hurts by
sayantan76
07-08 10:39 PM
this is BS.
The interests of indian citizens resident in the USA (all decent taxpayers) are not being taken care of by the US political system. There is a clear pattern of exploitation by employers and neglect by CIS, FBI and others.
In this situation, the interests of Indian citizens should be taken up by the Indian parliament. If they want to shy away from their duty, it should be taken up by the UN.
As far as I know - a large number of us in the USA do not need to pay Indian taxes on our US income.......unlike USA - Govt of India does not tax its overseas citizens' foreign income......(for that matter GC holders are also liable to pay US taxes when they are outside USA).
Under these circumstances and the fact the Govt of India has much more serious issues on hand- I find it very selfish to go ask for their help for a set of relatively well to do, highly educated professionals working for mostly personal gains outside their motherland.......
Its one thing GoI stepping in against exploitation of labor in middle east or advocating for med students in UK - most of us are established professionals who have consciously chosen our battles - we should not shy away from those battles and suddenly ask for motherland's help.....
BTW - I am in the same boat......actually a bit worse perhaps..since I am filed under EB1 and was current till last month and only 2 months or so away from GC before current bulletin......
The interests of indian citizens resident in the USA (all decent taxpayers) are not being taken care of by the US political system. There is a clear pattern of exploitation by employers and neglect by CIS, FBI and others.
In this situation, the interests of Indian citizens should be taken up by the Indian parliament. If they want to shy away from their duty, it should be taken up by the UN.
As far as I know - a large number of us in the USA do not need to pay Indian taxes on our US income.......unlike USA - Govt of India does not tax its overseas citizens' foreign income......(for that matter GC holders are also liable to pay US taxes when they are outside USA).
Under these circumstances and the fact the Govt of India has much more serious issues on hand- I find it very selfish to go ask for their help for a set of relatively well to do, highly educated professionals working for mostly personal gains outside their motherland.......
Its one thing GoI stepping in against exploitation of labor in middle east or advocating for med students in UK - most of us are established professionals who have consciously chosen our battles - we should not shy away from those battles and suddenly ask for motherland's help.....
BTW - I am in the same boat......actually a bit worse perhaps..since I am filed under EB1 and was current till last month and only 2 months or so away from GC before current bulletin......
more...
locomotive36
11-16 11:01 AM
^^^bump^^^
hair i love you so much it hurts. i
gccovet
08-20 03:40 PM
@acecupid: Thanks for the response. For me it is Chicago consulate it will take 10-15 days.
which comes pretty close to my travel date. As you mentioned i do hope it will not be a problem.
Also today I talked to the Indian consulate in Chicago they told me I can travel without any problem. As long as the passport is valid even it is the last day of the validity I should be fine with the travel. There shouldn't be a problem with the immigration officers during travel based on that.
@kanakabyraju: Thanks for the advise. I might try that.
For a valid visa stamp you need a passport with six month validity. But I have not seen any where for traveling you need a six month validity. If you personally experienced any problem while traveling with less than six valid passport. please post your experience it will help me and others.
Thanks,
One note, at PoE, IO might grant I-94 only upto your passport validity date, Once you have new passport after coming back, you will have to contact your local CBP office to extend your I-94.
GCCovet
which comes pretty close to my travel date. As you mentioned i do hope it will not be a problem.
Also today I talked to the Indian consulate in Chicago they told me I can travel without any problem. As long as the passport is valid even it is the last day of the validity I should be fine with the travel. There shouldn't be a problem with the immigration officers during travel based on that.
@kanakabyraju: Thanks for the advise. I might try that.
For a valid visa stamp you need a passport with six month validity. But I have not seen any where for traveling you need a six month validity. If you personally experienced any problem while traveling with less than six valid passport. please post your experience it will help me and others.
Thanks,
One note, at PoE, IO might grant I-94 only upto your passport validity date, Once you have new passport after coming back, you will have to contact your local CBP office to extend your I-94.
GCCovet
more...
nixstor
08-03 11:56 PM
This just confirms the pathetic state of concern and sincerity USCIS associates to people awaiting these updates. Guess nobody bothered to even review this report before making it public. Oh, it was reviewed but in the same manner our applications are adjudicated. Go figure!
C mon, man give them a break. Lets try to solve the bigger problem by doing what we have to do. Lets activate participate in the DC rally on 13th Sept
C mon, man give them a break. Lets try to solve the bigger problem by doing what we have to do. Lets activate participate in the DC rally on 13th Sept
hot i love you so much it hurts
okuzmin
08-27 04:04 PM
Krishnam70, they require police certificates for any country where you lived in the last 10 (not 5!) years. Also, fingerprints must be sent to FBI to get "certified", and that can take 10-12 weeks nowadays.
NEVER bother the consulate with questions regarding your application status. Give it at least a year since they accept your documents. If you can't wait for so long, google "CAIPS notes" and use this process to get info about your application. However, if you have specific questions regarding your application/situation, the consulate will respond within 1-2 business days. Just make sure to include your file number (you'll be provided with it upon acceptance of your documents) at the top of each email message or response. I notified the consulate about my FBI fingerprints delay and asked some questions specific to my case. When I reviewed my CAIPS notes, I found out that they keep track of all communication, including email.
I'm almost done with my Canadian PR process and moving with my family to Calgary in October.
NEVER bother the consulate with questions regarding your application status. Give it at least a year since they accept your documents. If you can't wait for so long, google "CAIPS notes" and use this process to get info about your application. However, if you have specific questions regarding your application/situation, the consulate will respond within 1-2 business days. Just make sure to include your file number (you'll be provided with it upon acceptance of your documents) at the top of each email message or response. I notified the consulate about my FBI fingerprints delay and asked some questions specific to my case. When I reviewed my CAIPS notes, I found out that they keep track of all communication, including email.
I'm almost done with my Canadian PR process and moving with my family to Calgary in October.
more...
house i-love-you-so-much-it-hurts
RedHat
08-30 05:01 PM
What is Sub-Labor?
I field my GC thru Very good company.
I am not understanding why its happend
I field my GC thru Very good company.
I am not understanding why its happend
tattoo I LOVE YOU SO MUCH IT HURTS
ganguteli
04-23 12:55 PM
Raj,
Try to help if you can, if not just shut the **** up, only the person on the wrong side can feel the pain. He'll consult attorney anyways.
Fake profile alert!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
How did you get your mailing, I140 reciept, approval and RFE date on the same day :D:D:D
About krithi
Will you consider attending the advocacy day or rally in DC in 2009.
No
Would you like to be a Immigration Voice Volunteer
No
Current GC Processing Stage
I-485
Priority Date
Nov-05
Green Card Category
EB2
Nationality
India
Country of Chargeability
India
Service Center
Texas
Labor Type
Perm
Perm Center
Chicago
Labor Approval Date
11/05/2005
I140-I485 Concurrent Filing
No
I140 Mailed Date
04/06/2006
I140 Filing Type
Regular
I140 USCIS Rcvd Date
04/06/2006
I140 Rcpt Notice Date
04/06/2006
I140 RFE Date
04/06/2006
I140 Approval Date
04/06/2006
July 2007 Filer
Yes
Adjustment of Status Application Type
Adjustment of Status (I-485)
I485 Mailed Date
07/02/2007
I485 USCIS Rcvd Date
07/02/2007
I485 Rcpt Notice Date
08/27/2007
Finger Print Notice Date
09/27/2007
Application Status
Pending
EAD Mailed Date
08/27/2007
EAD Approval Date
08/27/2007
AP Mailed Date
08/27/2007
AP Approval Date
08/27/2007
Try to help if you can, if not just shut the **** up, only the person on the wrong side can feel the pain. He'll consult attorney anyways.
Fake profile alert!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
How did you get your mailing, I140 reciept, approval and RFE date on the same day :D:D:D
About krithi
Will you consider attending the advocacy day or rally in DC in 2009.
No
Would you like to be a Immigration Voice Volunteer
No
Current GC Processing Stage
I-485
Priority Date
Nov-05
Green Card Category
EB2
Nationality
India
Country of Chargeability
India
Service Center
Texas
Labor Type
Perm
Perm Center
Chicago
Labor Approval Date
11/05/2005
I140-I485 Concurrent Filing
No
I140 Mailed Date
04/06/2006
I140 Filing Type
Regular
I140 USCIS Rcvd Date
04/06/2006
I140 Rcpt Notice Date
04/06/2006
I140 RFE Date
04/06/2006
I140 Approval Date
04/06/2006
July 2007 Filer
Yes
Adjustment of Status Application Type
Adjustment of Status (I-485)
I485 Mailed Date
07/02/2007
I485 USCIS Rcvd Date
07/02/2007
I485 Rcpt Notice Date
08/27/2007
Finger Print Notice Date
09/27/2007
Application Status
Pending
EAD Mailed Date
08/27/2007
EAD Approval Date
08/27/2007
AP Mailed Date
08/27/2007
AP Approval Date
08/27/2007
more...
pictures I Love You So Much It Hurts
chandrajp
08-15 03:26 PM
I sent back a new I-693 form along with TB testresult (thru USPS). USCIS received the document on 08/14.
Today (08/15), I got a mail with contents
"Current Status: Response to request for evidence received, and case
processing has resumed"
Do you have any idea, how long it will take to approve the 485 after they receive the RFE documents.
Do they still continue to approve the cases after Aug 17th?
I got an RFE for the latest employment letter. After I sent the required documents, in about 8 days I got approved. I'm hoping yours should be close
Today (08/15), I got a mail with contents
"Current Status: Response to request for evidence received, and case
processing has resumed"
Do you have any idea, how long it will take to approve the 485 after they receive the RFE documents.
Do they still continue to approve the cases after Aug 17th?
I got an RFE for the latest employment letter. After I sent the required documents, in about 8 days I got approved. I'm hoping yours should be close
dresses i love you so much it hurts
sajimm
08-16 11:21 PM
Me and my wife took the chest X-ray and didn�t take the TB skin test. Doctor has checked the �not taken� check box for the skin test and �negative� under the X-ray section in the medical report.
Wondering this is going to get us in trouble
Anyone else in the same situation?
PD 2003 April EB3
485 applied - June 27th, Receipt and FP notice received.
Wondering this is going to get us in trouble
Anyone else in the same situation?
PD 2003 April EB3
485 applied - June 27th, Receipt and FP notice received.
more...
makeup i love you so much it hurts.
edaltsis
07-22 01:11 PM
What do you mean "both the employers are consultant" ? When they employ you and you work on assignments for them, you become a "consultant" for them. Consultant means "An expert who gives advice", considering you good at the subject you are called an expert.
Without knowing anything about the company no one will be able to suggest you which is good or bad. Apart from the salary & the benefits they offer, you have to take a decision.
Without knowing anything about the company no one will be able to suggest you which is good or bad. Apart from the salary & the benefits they offer, you have to take a decision.
girlfriend A. I Love You So Much It Hurts
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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GC_Applicant
08-11 11:16 AM
May I know what is the objective of this poll and how can its outcome help us?
USCISSucks
11-14 01:34 AM
Before 180 Days for those 140 approved
Do a H1 transfer and extension to new company which you like..
(don't use EAD with the new company)
Stay with the present company for some secondary part time job just not to get him mad (or take a vacation)
2 months would fly when you are making now decent money...
do whatever after 180 days.
I spoke with my Lawyer on this approach and says he doesn;t see any issue with this since I140 approved..
otehrs who have answered favourably please let us know if anybody did this?
Do a H1 transfer and extension to new company which you like..
(don't use EAD with the new company)
Stay with the present company for some secondary part time job just not to get him mad (or take a vacation)
2 months would fly when you are making now decent money...
do whatever after 180 days.
I spoke with my Lawyer on this approach and says he doesn;t see any issue with this since I140 approved..
otehrs who have answered favourably please let us know if anybody did this?
goel_ar
12-18 06:05 PM
Hi All,
SSN office finally responded but they rejected the application. The reason specified is "department of homeland securiy is unable to verify my document. and you should contact the agency to clarify my current immigration status".
I can't start working until I get SSN as it is small company. I am their first H1 employee.
The law firm told my company that my payroll can be run using my ITIN but payroll company refused to run payroll using ITIN & asked for SSN instead.
Any suggestions , asap, will be greatly apprciated.
I am not sure who am I suppose to contact. Please help...
I am really afraid & depressed.
Thanks,
LG
SSN office finally responded but they rejected the application. The reason specified is "department of homeland securiy is unable to verify my document. and you should contact the agency to clarify my current immigration status".
I can't start working until I get SSN as it is small company. I am their first H1 employee.
The law firm told my company that my payroll can be run using my ITIN but payroll company refused to run payroll using ITIN & asked for SSN instead.
Any suggestions , asap, will be greatly apprciated.
I am not sure who am I suppose to contact. Please help...
I am really afraid & depressed.
Thanks,
LG
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