I am reporting here comments from and my responses to a member of our community, "Julissa," regarding whether or how she could apply for a green card herself if she has a Master's degree. Do note, if a set of new immigration laws gets passed, all this could change. To keep track of developments in the pending immigration law reform, follow this link: http://www.immigration.com/comprehensive-immigration-reform
COMMENTS FROM IMMIGRATION.COM
I encourage you to sign a petition I have drafted at the request of our community urging the Obama Administration to reinstate reissuance of nonimmigrant visas (including work visas like H-1, student visas like F-1, and family visas) within the USA, a practice that was discontinued in 2004. If the petition receives 100,000 on-line signatures by February 23, the Administration will review it, send it to the appropriate policy experts in the administration, and issue an official response. Signing the petition takes only a few minutes.
The representatives of ICE and SEVP would be visiting the Embassy of India (2107 Massachusetts Ave. NW, Washington DC 20008) on Friday, April 15, 2011 at 10.30 AM. Former TVU students interested in attending this meeting to interact with the officials of the ICE and SEVP should let us know. Our Ambassador and Deputy Chief of Mission would also be present during the meeting.
News about the meeting arranged by Mr. Rao and other friends of TVU students have started coming in. Good job Naveen, Shashi and others involved in bringing this about.
See http://www.fullhyderabad.com/hyderab...l-officer-3906
Also, all students, keep updating your information so we can hand it over to the authorities to understand the problems we are facing:
Once again, the United States of America has shown its ugly face to the defenseless TVU students. I will give you this that the "United" States are highly fractured when it comes to immigration enforcement. The TVU handling shows that there is no coherent central directive on policy. Within the same office (for instance, in New Jersey), two officers realize the appropriate context and act moderately, while a third officer goes around ranting and raving and focusing the "full might of the US government" upon those who can do little against him. The buck must stop at the White House.
Originally posted by Rajiv S. KhannaI have read some of the posts Joe has made. He has his view point, which reflects the view point of authorities. In a civilized society, NO ONE must be condemned without a fair assessment. That includes Joe and all TVU students. I must decline to remove his posts even if they offend our sense of fairness. I suggest , if you do not like them, you folks ignore his posts. I find it important to consider his thoughts because they reflect the same unfair bias that the authorities have. The point, my friends, is not who is guilty.
Here is a question from a community member:
Trying to get an F-1 while an AOS/I-485 is pending has been a recurring theme in our community. Last year in May/June we had spent two hours talking about this theme in our community conference calls. A lot of people wanted to do their MBA and were not able to wait for their green cards to join school.
Generally speaking when you have exhibited immigrant intent, getting an F-1 becomes difficult. On top of that, USCIS has said that F-1 is not compatible with a simultaneous I-485. But USCIS has never told us what happens if do file for an F-1 while an I-485 is pending.
Some questions from the community:
I have been on H-4 for almost 3 yrs now, and starting my MS in Spring 09 (on H4 status itself). But now I want to change to F-1 for personal reasons. I have the following doubts. request your clarification:
a. If I want to get my F-1 stamped from India, do I need to submit I-539 form also to the ISO of my school ?
No. An I-539 is used if you want to change status within USA.
b. How long should I be on F-1 before when I will be eligible to apply for OPT and work using the same?