the_jaguar
03-25 10:49 PM
gap between your company A exit date and the date they withdrew your I140?
As per law,, they should not do it for 6 months old approved I140 ?
As I posted earlier, I had left Company A before the I-140 approval, so I don't really know how long they waited before withdrawing the approved I-140.
Are you sure that there is a law regarding the 6 month period? AFAIK, this only applies when you have filed you I-1485. If it's prior to that, AC-21 doesn't apply...
As per law,, they should not do it for 6 months old approved I140 ?
As I posted earlier, I had left Company A before the I-140 approval, so I don't really know how long they waited before withdrawing the approved I-140.
Are you sure that there is a law regarding the 6 month period? AFAIK, this only applies when you have filed you I-1485. If it's prior to that, AC-21 doesn't apply...
wallpaper L#39;auto è un#39;Austin Rover Metro
va_il
12-27 01:49 PM
With a EB3 PD of July 2002 from IN what can i expect after this May 1st hurdle being crossed.
Any insight would be appreciated.
Clueless i guess.
Any insight would be appreciated.
Clueless i guess.
fromnaija
10-05 11:00 AM
Yes, I noticed that and thought the same. I am submitting my application today. I have been trying it for the last 7 years with no luck. Who knows, this one could be the one when I hit the jackpot ! :cool:
Dream on. I have been trying it since inception but have never won. Well, that's why it's called a lottery.
Dream on. I have been trying it since inception but have never won. Well, that's why it's called a lottery.
2011 Austin Rover Metro 6R4
GCwaitforever
02-09 05:50 PM
If you could customize it to let people tell their own life stories, that would be great. I am mailing my letter tonight.
To
Mr. John Beverly
Director, Foreign Labor Certification Program
200 Constitution Ave NW, room C4312
Washington, DC 20210
Mr. Beverly,
[Block A: Filler] with model text by the side ....
[Model text:
I am a ------ in one of the Fortune --- companies, with expertise in ---- field. I have about --- years of experience in the ------- field. I came to USA in ---- on a --- Visa. I hold ------ degree in --- from a premier Institute. My employer applied for -----(RIR/non-RIR), ---- (EB*), permanent labor certification in ---from ----- state. It reached ------ regional office in ------. My case is shipped to ----- (Dallas/Philadelphia) Backlog Center later and it is waiting for adjudication for the past ----- (one year). I have been waiting to apply for the green card for almost ---- (one-to-five) years now.]
Block B:
Based on information received from friends who received approvals at BEC, I see that the processing at the Backlog Elimination Centers has several problems.
Dallas and Philadelphia follow different procedures (RIR versus TR, Regional versus SWA cases)
FIFO has not been implemented correctly, as promised at the beginning of setting up these centers. For example, Dallas is approving cases from late 2004, while Philadelphia is approving random cases from 2002; the very reason for the creation of the BECs was to implement true nationwide FIFO order for labor certifications.
There is a complete lack of transparency and answerability from a public agency like BEC.
The BECs refuse to disclose how many people work in adjudication, how many cases have been adjudicated so far, how many cases are pending data entry, why certain states have more cases processed than others in random order, etc�
The BECs refuse to implement a simple application on the internet where applicants could check their statuses online.
The BECs refuse to disclose any future timeline, keeping 350,000 people in the dark as to what to expect and how long to wait.
All I am expecting from the BECs is little bit of transparency and respect which I truly deserve. I really would like to know the happenings at BECs. I appreciate if you could answer these questions below.
Why FIFO has not been implemented?
How many people are working on adjudications?
What are the criteria for picking up a case for processing?
Why are there differences in procedures between Dallas and Philadelphia BECs?
How many cases have been adjudicated so far?
Block C:[Filler]
[Model Text: Lack of information, long wait and continued slump in the career are creating lot of stress in my life. I can not change jobs. Any information from you would go a long way in assuaging these worries.]
Respectfully,
------------------------------------------------
xxxx
To
Mr. John Beverly
Director, Foreign Labor Certification Program
200 Constitution Ave NW, room C4312
Washington, DC 20210
Mr. Beverly,
[Block A: Filler] with model text by the side ....
[Model text:
I am a ------ in one of the Fortune --- companies, with expertise in ---- field. I have about --- years of experience in the ------- field. I came to USA in ---- on a --- Visa. I hold ------ degree in --- from a premier Institute. My employer applied for -----(RIR/non-RIR), ---- (EB*), permanent labor certification in ---from ----- state. It reached ------ regional office in ------. My case is shipped to ----- (Dallas/Philadelphia) Backlog Center later and it is waiting for adjudication for the past ----- (one year). I have been waiting to apply for the green card for almost ---- (one-to-five) years now.]
Block B:
Based on information received from friends who received approvals at BEC, I see that the processing at the Backlog Elimination Centers has several problems.
Dallas and Philadelphia follow different procedures (RIR versus TR, Regional versus SWA cases)
FIFO has not been implemented correctly, as promised at the beginning of setting up these centers. For example, Dallas is approving cases from late 2004, while Philadelphia is approving random cases from 2002; the very reason for the creation of the BECs was to implement true nationwide FIFO order for labor certifications.
There is a complete lack of transparency and answerability from a public agency like BEC.
The BECs refuse to disclose how many people work in adjudication, how many cases have been adjudicated so far, how many cases are pending data entry, why certain states have more cases processed than others in random order, etc�
The BECs refuse to implement a simple application on the internet where applicants could check their statuses online.
The BECs refuse to disclose any future timeline, keeping 350,000 people in the dark as to what to expect and how long to wait.
All I am expecting from the BECs is little bit of transparency and respect which I truly deserve. I really would like to know the happenings at BECs. I appreciate if you could answer these questions below.
Why FIFO has not been implemented?
How many people are working on adjudications?
What are the criteria for picking up a case for processing?
Why are there differences in procedures between Dallas and Philadelphia BECs?
How many cases have been adjudicated so far?
Block C:[Filler]
[Model Text: Lack of information, long wait and continued slump in the career are creating lot of stress in my life. I can not change jobs. Any information from you would go a long way in assuaging these worries.]
Respectfully,
------------------------------------------------
xxxx
more...
gc_buddy
04-04 05:24 AM
There is a substantial amount of financial adjustments required. Infact that is the reason why it is being delayed.
Just to add, The Ability to Pay must be provided as of the priority date and continue until such time you recieve legal residance. If you are making fianancial adjustments as of today they may not be of much use..Just make sure of this when you or your employer makes financial adjustments..
Just to add, The Ability to Pay must be provided as of the priority date and continue until such time you recieve legal residance. If you are making fianancial adjustments as of today they may not be of much use..Just make sure of this when you or your employer makes financial adjustments..
rvendra
05-18 04:28 PM
Could you send me personal message, will talk to you.
more...
thomachan72
11-23 02:40 PM
Makes perfect sense. Hopefully one day Indian and chinese EB applicants will have the complete backing of the immigrant citizens from these countries. If that happens then EB voice will be heard. Until then we can take comfort in reading such articles:o:o
2010 Group B fever: MG Metro 6R4
dingudi
12-31 10:01 PM
No FP yet. Called TSC N number of times. Opened SR long ago. Got SR response letter but no FP notice.
I-485: July 2nd TSC
Online ND: Sept 10,2007
I-485: July 2nd TSC
Online ND: Sept 10,2007
more...
harish
08-20 07:53 PM
Application was mailed on 06/25/07 to NSC, but my case got transfered to TSC. My receipt number begins with SRC....
485 RD: 06/26/2007
485 ND: 08/06/2007
FP ND: Waiting..........
FP Date: Waiting.........
FP ND: Aug 14th 2007
FP Notice Received Date: Aug 20th 2007
FP Date: Sep 4th 2007
485 RD: 06/26/2007
485 ND: 08/06/2007
FP ND: Waiting..........
FP Date: Waiting.........
FP ND: Aug 14th 2007
FP Notice Received Date: Aug 20th 2007
FP Date: Sep 4th 2007
hair MG Metro 6R4 Group B
wandmaker
03-15 11:02 AM
is appreciated at IV. This is in addition to any other contributions (either time or money) to IV. :)
I meant "Recurring monthly Contribution" :)
Let us setup a recurring contribution funding drive -
Needhelp / janilsal - can you guys set one up, I will keep bumping with my pledges as usual.
I meant "Recurring monthly Contribution" :)
Let us setup a recurring contribution funding drive -
Needhelp / janilsal - can you guys set one up, I will keep bumping with my pledges as usual.
more...
gsc999
09-12 07:21 PM
Let's redefine:
"laziness" = DOL
"stupidity" = USCIS
----
Please reconsider language of your posts and your bottom line too.
Most IV members may not subscribe to such harsh views
Thanks
"laziness" = DOL
"stupidity" = USCIS
----
Please reconsider language of your posts and your bottom line too.
Most IV members may not subscribe to such harsh views
Thanks
hot Austin Rover MG Metro 6R4
Stan09
07-16 11:37 AM
Well, not quite.
They cannot demand reimbursement for official filing fee, it's about $1500.
But they can demand to compensate for other expenses - like, lawyer, paperwork, recruiting, relocation, accommodation etc etc. It's legal.
And pretty often such a provision is enforceable. That is, they can sue you, and demand you to pay _way_ more in case of lawsuit.
They cannot demand reimbursement for official filing fee, it's about $1500.
But they can demand to compensate for other expenses - like, lawyer, paperwork, recruiting, relocation, accommodation etc etc. It's legal.
And pretty often such a provision is enforceable. That is, they can sue you, and demand you to pay _way_ more in case of lawsuit.
more...
house Austin Rover Metro 6R4
gcwanter
06-27 08:45 AM
So should i write N/A for a pending 140?
tattoo RR Rally Week - Metro 6R4
bsnf
07-12 02:30 PM
I called my lawyer yesterday and he told me that he did not get a single case send back.
He filed 300 applications.
He filed 300 applications.
more...
pictures Austin Rover Metro 6R4
locomotive36
11-15 10:31 AM
Posmd,
Firstly, if you notice, this topic has been posted under 'Interesting Topics' category where everthing from Vonage to cinema are discussed. IV has such a category to discuss topics like this, which may not have any direct relation to immigration.
Secondly, the time it would have taken to post your meaningless rant, you could have cast atleast 3 votes for the CNN Hero of your choice and not necessarily Narayanan Krishnan.
Thirdly, I support Narayanan Krishnanan over the others because - To cook, feed and take care of homeless, mentally ill and abdoned people every day, rain or shine, in addition to sacrificing your own aspirations and material pursuits, is a noble deed. When selfless supreme beings like Narayanan Krishnan do things are they are doing every day, my heart goes out to him.
Again, you are free to vote for whomever you like or refrain from voting altogether. Its your choice. Iam spreading the word about the good deeds by a noble person.
My 2 cents.
Firstly, if you notice, this topic has been posted under 'Interesting Topics' category where everthing from Vonage to cinema are discussed. IV has such a category to discuss topics like this, which may not have any direct relation to immigration.
Secondly, the time it would have taken to post your meaningless rant, you could have cast atleast 3 votes for the CNN Hero of your choice and not necessarily Narayanan Krishnan.
Thirdly, I support Narayanan Krishnanan over the others because - To cook, feed and take care of homeless, mentally ill and abdoned people every day, rain or shine, in addition to sacrificing your own aspirations and material pursuits, is a noble deed. When selfless supreme beings like Narayanan Krishnan do things are they are doing every day, my heart goes out to him.
Again, you are free to vote for whomever you like or refrain from voting altogether. Its your choice. Iam spreading the word about the good deeds by a noble person.
My 2 cents.
dresses Rover Metro 6R4
chillfakter
02-11 08:45 PM
Thank you tdasara, I hope mine works out the same way as yours. Could you tell me when this took place, and also how much gap there was between your passport expiry and H1 visa expiry dates?
One of my best friends had something similar happen to her, but her passport is set to expire just two months ahead of her I-94/H1 expiration date. I wonder if the fact that it was just two months apart made a difference to the officer when he decided on her I-94 date. As you know, in my case, my current passport will expire two years before my H-1.
msp1976, I found out that it would take at least a month to get a new passport (is this right?), and I did not have time for it. I'll be sure to post my experience here.
Thank you!
One of my best friends had something similar happen to her, but her passport is set to expire just two months ahead of her I-94/H1 expiration date. I wonder if the fact that it was just two months apart made a difference to the officer when he decided on her I-94 date. As you know, in my case, my current passport will expire two years before my H-1.
msp1976, I found out that it would take at least a month to get a new passport (is this right?), and I did not have time for it. I'll be sure to post my experience here.
Thank you!
more...
makeup 1984 MG Metro 6R4 Group B
yabadaba
02-07 10:41 PM
I did it all by myself, following directions found here and there around the forum. I got the working permit in about a month. Hope it Helps
Chelo
This is my cover letter and I did everythig as it says:
To: U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service
Texas Service Center
4141 North St. Augustine Road
Dallas, TX 75227
From: Mr. XXXXXXX
ADRESS st,
City, State, zip code
Tel: (111) 123-4567
Email: whatever@whatever.net
mm/dd/yyyy
RE: Original Submission of Application for Employment Authorization
A# ?????????
Dear Sir or Madam:
Please find enclosed the application package for Employment Authorization (I-765) of me, Mr XXXXXXX.
Aplication form and Supporting documents are enclosed arranged as follows:
Form I-765 (EAD) dully filled
Filing Fee: Personal check in the amount of $340, payable to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security;
Receipt notice of form I-485, copy of the receipt,
Identity Document: copy of Visa issued by Consulate, copy of Driver License,
Photos: Two color passport photographs placed in an envelope;
Other supporting documentation: Copy of I-140 approval notice
Kindly, process the above referenced application at your earliest convenience.
If you have any questions or need additional information, feel free to contact me at any time. Thank you in advance for your consideration to this matter.
Best regards,
Mr. XXXXXX
U can do it online...takes 15 min
Chelo
This is my cover letter and I did everythig as it says:
To: U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service
Texas Service Center
4141 North St. Augustine Road
Dallas, TX 75227
From: Mr. XXXXXXX
ADRESS st,
City, State, zip code
Tel: (111) 123-4567
Email: whatever@whatever.net
mm/dd/yyyy
RE: Original Submission of Application for Employment Authorization
A# ?????????
Dear Sir or Madam:
Please find enclosed the application package for Employment Authorization (I-765) of me, Mr XXXXXXX.
Aplication form and Supporting documents are enclosed arranged as follows:
Form I-765 (EAD) dully filled
Filing Fee: Personal check in the amount of $340, payable to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security;
Receipt notice of form I-485, copy of the receipt,
Identity Document: copy of Visa issued by Consulate, copy of Driver License,
Photos: Two color passport photographs placed in an envelope;
Other supporting documentation: Copy of I-140 approval notice
Kindly, process the above referenced application at your earliest convenience.
If you have any questions or need additional information, feel free to contact me at any time. Thank you in advance for your consideration to this matter.
Best regards,
Mr. XXXXXX
U can do it online...takes 15 min
girlfriend Austin-Rover Metro 6R4,
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.
hairstyles Austin Rover Metro 6R4
marlo
07-18 12:03 AM
interesting to note the arrests did not matter.
chanduv23
09-22 10:00 AM
Small companies will do this. If it is a big company with HR and payroll departments not being micro managed by the employer - then you won't face these problems.
jchan
10-18 01:04 PM
I have the exact question with duttasurajit -- my title for green card is computer information system manager, and I'd like to take a job for technical lead / architect. The job duties are very similar. Will that cause a problem?
btw: I don't know why so many people apply under the title of 'computer information system manager'. If you search Dice.com, hardly any position come out with this title.
Thanks everyone for the valued response. One last question:
I was under the impression that the job title does not matter for AC21 as long as the job duties are similar. For example, instead of IT Manager, say, I get a title of Developement Lead/Team Lead and the Job duties are similar.
What happens in this case? Is it still risky to pursue AC21?
btw: I don't know why so many people apply under the title of 'computer information system manager'. If you search Dice.com, hardly any position come out with this title.
Thanks everyone for the valued response. One last question:
I was under the impression that the job title does not matter for AC21 as long as the job duties are similar. For example, instead of IT Manager, say, I get a title of Developement Lead/Team Lead and the Job duties are similar.
What happens in this case? Is it still risky to pursue AC21?
No comments:
Post a Comment