vnsriv
09-28 09:41 AM
1. My EAD application status at USCIS website got changed to,
Current Status: Approval notice sent.
this morning. My heartfelt thanks to ImmigrationVoice activists for this.
My spouse's EAD application status still shows as,
Current Status: Case received and pending.
In my case, my spouse's application is the derivative application of mine. Any incidence of spouse's EAD case getting stuck while the primary's application going through?
2. Also, Is EAD approval anyway related/tied to I-485 Application? In that case, it is understandable for my spouse not to see her status changed. Because, her I-485 Applications status is shown as,
Current Status: Fingerprint fee rejected and notice mailed; case in suspense.
though we both have already finished our finger printing. Our attorney says, its USCIS's mistake and he has already sent $70(once again) towards her fingerprinting fees to be on the safer side.
Any information would be helpful.
Thanks,
You asked a question
1)
Any incidence of spouse's EAD case getting stuck while the primary's application going through?
So it means the people who visited don't have an answer for this or they are not aware of any such incident. Eventually someone will respond to your query
2) You send this query yesterday only 7 pm EST. So be patient
All the best !
Current Status: Approval notice sent.
this morning. My heartfelt thanks to ImmigrationVoice activists for this.
My spouse's EAD application status still shows as,
Current Status: Case received and pending.
In my case, my spouse's application is the derivative application of mine. Any incidence of spouse's EAD case getting stuck while the primary's application going through?
2. Also, Is EAD approval anyway related/tied to I-485 Application? In that case, it is understandable for my spouse not to see her status changed. Because, her I-485 Applications status is shown as,
Current Status: Fingerprint fee rejected and notice mailed; case in suspense.
though we both have already finished our finger printing. Our attorney says, its USCIS's mistake and he has already sent $70(once again) towards her fingerprinting fees to be on the safer side.
Any information would be helpful.
Thanks,
You asked a question
1)
Any incidence of spouse's EAD case getting stuck while the primary's application going through?
So it means the people who visited don't have an answer for this or they are not aware of any such incident. Eventually someone will respond to your query
2) You send this query yesterday only 7 pm EST. So be patient
All the best !
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Templarian
11-11 11:20 PM
:lol: Bribery is hard.
americandesi
10-21 07:41 PM
Refer http://www.murthy.com/news/n_staiss.html and search for "Multiple I-485 Filings Not Advisable"
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friend99
10-09 04:57 PM
Hi,
It is not money issue but if I send the new fee they might reject saying it should be old! So i just wanted to be sure! Thanks for the replies!
It is not money issue but if I send the new fee they might reject saying it should be old! So i just wanted to be sure! Thanks for the replies!
more...
new2perm
12-29 10:01 PM
EB3 - Priority date 06/06
Filed on Aug 17th @ Nebraska service center. Received EAD. AP status pending.
Finger printing done on 12/08.
Soft LUD on I-485 for self and spouse on 12/10,12/11,12/15,12/18,12/28.
LUD on approved I-140(approved 10/06) on 12/02. Received the 'Your application has been approved....' email from CRIS too on 12/02!!
This is getting me really tensed :-(
Filed on Aug 17th @ Nebraska service center. Received EAD. AP status pending.
Finger printing done on 12/08.
Soft LUD on I-485 for self and spouse on 12/10,12/11,12/15,12/18,12/28.
LUD on approved I-140(approved 10/06) on 12/02. Received the 'Your application has been approved....' email from CRIS too on 12/02!!
This is getting me really tensed :-(
cin45220
01-26 04:45 PM
u are a rasam drinking gulty, right?
:eek:
check your facts again. racism is considered sexy these days ;)
If you think that racism is sexy, then it's just because you are a racist bigot. Start loving in 21st century...
With a comment like the above one, it shows that all your parent's investment (and yours) for your education has been a total waste. Hope that you are not teaching you kids that 'racism is sexy'..
-CinBoy
:eek:
check your facts again. racism is considered sexy these days ;)
If you think that racism is sexy, then it's just because you are a racist bigot. Start loving in 21st century...
With a comment like the above one, it shows that all your parent's investment (and yours) for your education has been a total waste. Hope that you are not teaching you kids that 'racism is sexy'..
-CinBoy
more...
.jpg%3Fm%3D1304631663 "Trisha WAllpapers (15)")
rb_248
01-08 02:46 PM
I read on www.immigration-law.com
01/08/2009: Bill Introduced in the House for Comprehensive Immigration Reform
Rep> Sheila Jackson-Lee of Texas introduced H.R.264 yesterday to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to comprehensively reform immigration law, and for other purposes. For the full text of the bill, please stay tuned.
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/D?d111:8:./temp/~bdW24V::|/bss/111search.html
H.R.264
Title: To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to comprehensively reform immigration law, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Rep Jackson-Lee, Sheila [TX-18] (introduced 1/7/2009) Cosponsors (None)
Latest Major Action: 1/7/2009 Referred to House committee. Status: Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committees on Homeland Security, and Oversight and Government Reform, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Text:
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c111:H.R.264:
I don't think they will act on this until the economic issues are resolved.
01/08/2009: Bill Introduced in the House for Comprehensive Immigration Reform
Rep> Sheila Jackson-Lee of Texas introduced H.R.264 yesterday to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to comprehensively reform immigration law, and for other purposes. For the full text of the bill, please stay tuned.
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/D?d111:8:./temp/~bdW24V::|/bss/111search.html
H.R.264
Title: To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to comprehensively reform immigration law, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Rep Jackson-Lee, Sheila [TX-18] (introduced 1/7/2009) Cosponsors (None)
Latest Major Action: 1/7/2009 Referred to House committee. Status: Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committees on Homeland Security, and Oversight and Government Reform, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Text:
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c111:H.R.264:
I don't think they will act on this until the economic issues are resolved.
2010 Trisha is working at a fast
immigrant2007
09-15 10:02 AM
NO We won't do anything. we will jsut browse this site and fight with each other but we have decided to do nothing. We are good at writing but we are better at doing nothing. We have lots of guts and experience in doing nothing and we have deiciced to wait and watch and get our GCs by doing nothing so don't ever hope that we will do something as it is true won't do anything
more...
kubmilegaGC
09-11 03:03 PM
bump...
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fromnaija
07-30 10:08 PM
Are you saying that a child will age out if the child's 485 cannot be immediately adjudicated due to retrogression and the child is over 21 when that 485 is eventually processed?
The priority date for children who might age out is fixed at the time of your I140 filing. So if you I140 took six months to approve this can be taken off the age of the child when the labor priority date becomes current. So even if you file when a child is 20 and a half and you have to wait for two years for the date to become current, unless the I140 took 1 and a half years their age will be over 21 when the green card can be processed so they age out of derivative status.
Good luck to those who are facing this. I do understand your anxiety since my son aged out while I was waiting three and half years for my labor cert. It would seem that this 'black hole' in the employment based process is non existent to the people who can change it.
Not sure what the future holds for such children, maybe there is some greater plan which we are not aware of yet.
I do see one advantage they cannot be called up for military service (for the USA) on a non-immigrant visa whereas they can if they have a green card. While I understand fighting is a noble cause I would not want my son to fight for our country of origin either.
The priority date for children who might age out is fixed at the time of your I140 filing. So if you I140 took six months to approve this can be taken off the age of the child when the labor priority date becomes current. So even if you file when a child is 20 and a half and you have to wait for two years for the date to become current, unless the I140 took 1 and a half years their age will be over 21 when the green card can be processed so they age out of derivative status.
Good luck to those who are facing this. I do understand your anxiety since my son aged out while I was waiting three and half years for my labor cert. It would seem that this 'black hole' in the employment based process is non existent to the people who can change it.
Not sure what the future holds for such children, maybe there is some greater plan which we are not aware of yet.
I do see one advantage they cannot be called up for military service (for the USA) on a non-immigrant visa whereas they can if they have a green card. While I understand fighting is a noble cause I would not want my son to fight for our country of origin either.
more...
danu2007
10-09 09:11 PM
Please go to below thread and update the list with your details.
http://immigrationvoice.org/forum/showthread.php?t=5935
http://immigrationvoice.org/forum/showthread.php?t=5935
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ajay
04-13 11:13 AM
Opening up an IRA account is not a big deal. There has been lot of deals going on with different brokers. I think brokers would be Vanguard/Troweprice/Etrade,etc. Now, try to set up an appointment with a consultant of the aforementioned brokers and they will be more than happy to assist you with your own choice of funds for your IRA.
Best time to switch and choose your funds.
Good luck.
Best time to switch and choose your funds.
Good luck.
more...
house Trisha WAllpapers (13)
amitarora74
08-04 01:32 PM
I had absolutely no trouble. I have travelled to India and also to Canada(by Road) and used my AP both times while my wife had GC and my kid her US passport(all different status:-)), we all went to same officer and he never asked anything on why i had different status etc
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HumHongeKamiyab
12-17 11:08 AM
Is this family based GC or Employment based?
Thanks,
Hi
If i-485 gets denied then what should i be doing?
Should i call the USCIS to find the reason for denial or Should i visit a lawyer?
Is their any way that i can get my I-485 reopen?
In how many days should i get my I-485 reopened?
Please help i am in need!
Thanks,
Hi
If i-485 gets denied then what should i be doing?
Should i call the USCIS to find the reason for denial or Should i visit a lawyer?
Is their any way that i can get my I-485 reopen?
In how many days should i get my I-485 reopened?
Please help i am in need!
more...
pictures Trisha WAllpapers (15)
.jpg%3Fm%3D1304631669 "Trisha WAllpapers (17)")
factoryman
06-19 06:03 PM
One or two.
I didn't research all this. My good old INS doctor just gave only one. Anybody need doctor's details, PM me. This is only a free service. Nice elderly American
physician. Fees USD 200
lets take i got MMR for my primary just two days back...then how can the clinic give me another dose within 2 days?? they cant and they SHOULD NOT. Yes they can do one thing..ask the person to bring proof of next shot the following month.
Well i feel the blood report might say something of that sort...just guessing!!
I didn't research all this. My good old INS doctor just gave only one. Anybody need doctor's details, PM me. This is only a free service. Nice elderly American
physician. Fees USD 200
lets take i got MMR for my primary just two days back...then how can the clinic give me another dose within 2 days?? they cant and they SHOULD NOT. Yes they can do one thing..ask the person to bring proof of next shot the following month.
Well i feel the blood report might say something of that sort...just guessing!!
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.jpg%3Fm%3D1304631690 "Trisha WAllpapers (24)")
sukhyani
12-18 03:54 PM
Hi guys,
I wonder if anyone noticed that. I am a July 2nd filer and my priority date is not current and long will not be. But I noticed many many LUDS on my I485 and no change in messages. Has anyone noticed that too?
My LUDS: 9/7, 9/11, 10/3(after FP), 12/10, 12/11, 12/15, 12/18.....
I wonder what is happening....
Same here! my PD is 09/04 ROW, June 5th filer, got an LUD on 12/10 when my case was transferred to National Benefits Center and then two more soft LUDs on 12/15 and 12/18.
I wonder if anyone noticed that. I am a July 2nd filer and my priority date is not current and long will not be. But I noticed many many LUDS on my I485 and no change in messages. Has anyone noticed that too?
My LUDS: 9/7, 9/11, 10/3(after FP), 12/10, 12/11, 12/15, 12/18.....
I wonder what is happening....
Same here! my PD is 09/04 ROW, June 5th filer, got an LUD on 12/10 when my case was transferred to National Benefits Center and then two more soft LUDs on 12/15 and 12/18.
more...
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.jpg%3Fm%3D1304631658 "Trisha WAllpapers (13)")
baba84
04-30 11:38 AM
We are a small group, and most of our provisions are reasonable, and hopefully we can get our provisions passed. I wish the same for the undocumented too. If it happens in one bill all the better!
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.jpg%3Fm%3D1304631635 "Trisha WAllpapers (2)")
starscream
08-27 05:00 PM
VFS website for booking H1B stamping appointments in India seems to have added a new question when booking a H1B appointment.
The question is "Are you applying for same visa class that expired in the last 12 months?*" and they have defined the Visa renewal criteria (which I have pasted below) in order to answer this question. Yes- means you are seeking a appointment for visa renewal and No - means your appt is NOT for visa renewal.
Can somebody advice if me and my wife would fall under the visa renewal category. The last US visa on my passport is F1. My H1b status started in May 2004 and I am now in my 4rth year of H1B. In between I changed employer and my H1 is now valid upto October 2008. But I have NOT travelled outside the country after my H1B status began in May 2004. Hence I am going to get my H1B stamped for the first time. In my wife's case also her last stamp is F1 and she went from F1 to H4 this year so she is also going to get her H4 stamped for the first time. Do we answer YES (appt for visa renewal) or NO(appt not for visa renewal). We are booking a appointment at the Mumbai consulate.
The below is the visa renewal criteria as defined on the website:
Visa renewal appointments are available to visa applicants who:
have a U.S. visa that has expired less than 12 months ago.
wish to apply for the same category visa (work, business, tourist, etc.)
are Indian nationals (hold Indian passports)
are resident in the New Delhi, Chennai, or Mumbai consular districts (this category is not available to Kolkata based applicants).
The following applicants do NOT qualify for appointments in the visa renewal category:
Applicants who have never had a US visa.
Applicants who have a U.S. visa that expired more than 12 months ago.
Applicants applying for a different category visa (e.g. had a student visa, now applying for a work visa).
Non Indian passport holders
Applicants applying at the U.S. Consulate in Kolkata.
First time H4 or L2 applicants under 18 years of age. (If you have recently married a H1b or L1 visa holder but have never had a visa interview for a visa in the H/L category, you may not schedule in the renewal category.)
Applicants applying for more than one visa at the same time (e.g. F and B1/B2).
Applicants applying for entertainment/performance visas(P3 category).
Applicants applying for unskilled worker visas (H2b category).
All visa renewal applicants should bring the following documents to the Embassy/Consulate Consular Section on the day of their appointment:
Current, valid passport
Passports containing previously issued U.S. visas
As applicable, I-797 (H and L), I-20 (F & M students), DS-2019 (J visa applicants)
The question is "Are you applying for same visa class that expired in the last 12 months?*" and they have defined the Visa renewal criteria (which I have pasted below) in order to answer this question. Yes- means you are seeking a appointment for visa renewal and No - means your appt is NOT for visa renewal.
Can somebody advice if me and my wife would fall under the visa renewal category. The last US visa on my passport is F1. My H1b status started in May 2004 and I am now in my 4rth year of H1B. In between I changed employer and my H1 is now valid upto October 2008. But I have NOT travelled outside the country after my H1B status began in May 2004. Hence I am going to get my H1B stamped for the first time. In my wife's case also her last stamp is F1 and she went from F1 to H4 this year so she is also going to get her H4 stamped for the first time. Do we answer YES (appt for visa renewal) or NO(appt not for visa renewal). We are booking a appointment at the Mumbai consulate.
The below is the visa renewal criteria as defined on the website:
Visa renewal appointments are available to visa applicants who:
have a U.S. visa that has expired less than 12 months ago.
wish to apply for the same category visa (work, business, tourist, etc.)
are Indian nationals (hold Indian passports)
are resident in the New Delhi, Chennai, or Mumbai consular districts (this category is not available to Kolkata based applicants).
The following applicants do NOT qualify for appointments in the visa renewal category:
Applicants who have never had a US visa.
Applicants who have a U.S. visa that expired more than 12 months ago.
Applicants applying for a different category visa (e.g. had a student visa, now applying for a work visa).
Non Indian passport holders
Applicants applying at the U.S. Consulate in Kolkata.
First time H4 or L2 applicants under 18 years of age. (If you have recently married a H1b or L1 visa holder but have never had a visa interview for a visa in the H/L category, you may not schedule in the renewal category.)
Applicants applying for more than one visa at the same time (e.g. F and B1/B2).
Applicants applying for entertainment/performance visas(P3 category).
Applicants applying for unskilled worker visas (H2b category).
All visa renewal applicants should bring the following documents to the Embassy/Consulate Consular Section on the day of their appointment:
Current, valid passport
Passports containing previously issued U.S. visas
As applicable, I-797 (H and L), I-20 (F & M students), DS-2019 (J visa applicants)
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Nagireddi
03-03 11:28 AM
adjusted Gross Income:)
krishna_2001
01-13 07:19 PM
Hi: I need some help in resolving my situation. I im in the seventh year of my H1B. My I-140 got approved on April 2006 with a priority date of November 2001 date Under India EB3 Category. Since the priority dates are not current, I coulnd't file for I-485. Now, my client where I am working is offering me permanent employment on H1b and I want to know what are the options available for me without losing my previous GC status and priority dates.
1. Can I take the new employment without losing the priority dates.
2. If I lose the priority dates, can I take the employment and start the GC process again??
Your help is really appreicated to come out of the situation
1. Can I take the new employment without losing the priority dates.
2. If I lose the priority dates, can I take the employment and start the GC process again??
Your help is really appreicated to come out of the situation
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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