Form I-129, Petition for Fiance(e) – Filing Location Change
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced a change in filing location instructions and addresses for the Petition for Alien Fiancé(e) (Form I-129F). The new instructions, dated 6/14/10, are part of an overall effort to transition the intake of forms from Service Centers to USCIS Lockbox facilities. Centralizing form and fee intake to a Lockbox environment allows USCIS to provide customers with more efficient and effective initial processing of applications/petitions and fees.
Beginning Aug. 3, 2010 all Form I-129F petitions being filed by a U.S. citizen on behalf of a fiancé(e) or spouse must be submitted to the USCIS Dallas Lockbox facility.
For U.S. Postal Service:
USCIS PO Box 660151 Dallas, TX 75266For Express mail and courier deliveries:
USCIS Attn: I-129F 2501 South State Highway 121 Business Suite 400 Lewisville, TX 75067Detailed guidance can be found in the updated Form I-129F instructions online at www.uscis.gov (click on the Forms tab).
The Vermont and California Service Centers will forward incorrectly filed petitions to the USCIS Dallas Lockbox for a period of 45 days until Sept. 17, 2010. After Sept. 17, 2010, petitions and fees submitted at the Service Centers will be returned to the applicant, with a note advising them of the correct filing location.
Applicants filing a form at a USCIS Lockbox facility may elect to receive an e-mail and/or text message notifying them that their petition has been accepted by completing Form G-1145, E-Notification of Application/Petition Acceptance, and attaching it to the first page of their application.
US Visa for Maid
Obtaining a domestic employee visa (B1 visa) for a maid or nanny is an arduous task because the documentary evidence required is stringent, however, it does not mean that it is impossible to obtain a US visa for your maid or nanny!
Permanent Visa or Temporary Visa
Keep in mind that if you are moving back to the US permanently then you can’t bring your domestic employee with you. Requesting a B1 Tourist Visa for a maid or for a nanny has to be for a temporary stay in the US. By regulation, neither domestic employees of U.S. citizens who permanently reside in or are resuming permanent residence in the United States, nor domestic employees of U.S. Legal Permanent Residents, can obtain non-immigrant domestic employee visas. If the employer of the domestic servant is a U.S. citizen who is moving back to the U.S. on a permanent basis, the employer cannot bring a domestic employee back to the U.S. Therefore, if the employer is moving back on a temporary basis then the employer can qualify to petition the maid or nanny back to the U.S.
US Citizens Applying for Maid or Nanny
Both spouses have to be eligible employers, meaning both have to be US citizens or you’re entering the US on the B, E, F, H, I, J, L, M, O, P, or Q non-immigrant status. If only one spouse is a US citizen then may not be eligible to assist your maid or nanny with her temporary visa.
Wage for Maid
The employer must be able to show that the maid will be paid the market rate for the average maid in the U.S. The most likely scenario is the prevailing wage the entire time the worker is in the U.S. Additionally, you may have to withhold from your domestic employee’s wages the amount due for federal and state taxes. At the end of the year, you should give her a W-2 form and help her file income taxes as required.
Health and Medical Insurance for your Maid
You will need to obtain health and medical insurance for your maid. Some states require workmen’s compensation for employees. You may also be liable for unemployment compensation taxes. You must fulfill the terms of the employment contract presented to the Embassy at the time of the visa application.
Visa Denial for your Maid
A common reason for visa denial is the legal presumption that each person applying for a visa to enter the United States is an intending immigrant or that the person is coming for an impermissible or illegal purpose. In order to overcome this legal presumption, maid visa applicants must prove to the satisfaction of the Consular Officer that the domestic employee has a residence abroad which she has no intention of abandoning. Please bear in mind that this presumption is a difficult one to overcome. Normally this is referred to as “strong ties” to the home country or residence.
Class Action Lawsuit Filed Against State Department For Arbitrarily Returning K1 Fiance Visa at Consular Processing
A class action lawsuit has been filed in Oregon charging the U.S. State Department and Department of Homeland Security with unlawfully and arbitrarily returning U.S. petitioner’s Fiance(e) K1 visa at the U.S. Consulate. Plaintiffs are deprived of due process of law and petition approval denied withheld contrary to constitutional right contrary to procedure required by law.
Thousands of families across the country and around the world have been separated due to a colossal sparring match between the defendant agencies, and because of internal dissent within each agency.
Read more here.
Submitting False Documents for a Visa
In order to enter or remain in the United States and be eligible for various immigration-related benefits, non-citizens (aliens) must comply with a number of document requirements under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA).
Attempts to circumvent these requirements are generally prohibited. Under the INA, an alien who uses, acquires, or produces fraudulent documents for immigration-related purposes may be subjected to civil penalties and denied certain immigration benefits.
Additionally, certain fraudulent actions may carry criminal penalties under both the INA or the United States Criminal Code.
In general, INA § 274C prohibits the fraudulent production, use, or possession of documents in order to either (1) acquire benefits under the INA or (2) satisfy an INA requirement.
Specifically, INA § 274C makes it unlawful for any person or entity (including non-aliens) to
- knowingly forge, counterfeit, alter, or falsely make6 any document for the purpose of satisfying an INA requirement or obtaining a benefit under the INA;
- use, attempt to use, possess, obtain, accept, receive, or provide any forged, counterfeit, altered, or falsely made document for the purpose of satisfying an INA requirement or obtaining a benefit under the INA;
- use, attempt to use, provide, or attempt to provide any document lawfully issued to or with respect to a person other than the possessor for the purpose of satisfying an INA requirement or obtaining a benefit under the INA;
- accept, receive or provide any document lawfully issued to or with respect to a person other than the possessor for the purpose of complying with INA § 274A(b) (relating to alien employment verification) or obtaining a benefit under the INA;
- prepare, file, or assist another in preparing or filing, any application for benefits under the INA, or any document required under the INA, or any document submitted in connection with such application or document, with knowledge or in reckless disregard of the fact that such application or document was falsely made or, in whole or in part, does not relate to the person on whose behalf it was or is being submitted; or present before boarding a common carrier for the purpose of coming to the United States a document which relates to the alien’s eligibility to enter the United States, and subsequently fail to present such document to an immigration officer upon arrival at a United States port of entry.
Persons or entities found to have violated INA § 274C may be ordered to cease and desist engaging in the unlawful activity and assessed a civil money penalty. In the case of first-time offenders, this penalty is between $275 and $2,200 for each fraudulent document or proscribed activity (and between $250 and $2,000 for each violation prior to September 1999).
For subsequent offenses, the civil penalty is between $2,200 and $5,500 (and between $2,000 and $5,000 for each violation prior to September 1999).
Refugee Status from Red Shirt Protest
Every year millions of people around the world are displaced by war, famine, and civil and political unrest.
The U.S. government considers persons for resettlement to the U.S. as refugees. Each year, the U.S. President consults with Congress and establishes the proposed ceilings for refugee admissions for the fiscal year. For the 1999 fiscal year, the total ceiling was set at 78,000 admissions and was allocated to five geographic regions:
* Africa (12,000 admissions),
* East Asia (9,000 admissions),
* Europe (48,000 admissions),
* Latin America/Caribbean (3,000 admissions),
* Near East/South Asia (4,000 admissions), and
* the Unallocated Reserve (2,000).
While the Red Shirt Protest created civil strife and wreaked havoc on the country’s image and tainted Thailand’s economy, it does not reach the level or definition required of what the U.S. government define as a “refugee.”
A refugee is defined as a person outside of his or her country of nationality who is unable or unwilling to return because of [b]persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution[/b] on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinions.
Under U.S. law, a person who has committed acts of persecution, or has assisted in the commission of persecution in any way, on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion, is not eligible for classification as a refugee.
The bolded “well-founded fear of persecution” standard is quite high. There has to be substantial document proof from internationally recognized sources and organizations that the persecution fear is actually imminent and well documented. For example, during the Vietnam War, many refugees were granted resettlement status in the U.S. due to a recognized and fundamental fear of political persecution. The same is documented of Afghanistan and countries of war and civil unrest.
H1-B Work Permit to Work in the U.S.
The first thing you would need to do to qualify for the H-1B visa is a job offer from a U.S. employer. Then you’d have to go through an involved application process, which the employer would start off for you by filing what’s called a labor condition application (LCA) with the U.S. Department of Labor, waiting for an answer, and then filing an “I-129 petition” with U. S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). After the petition is approved, it would be your turn to apply for the visa at your local U.S. consulate.H-1B visas usually allow people to stay in the U.S. and work for that employer for three years, with possible extensions up to a a maximum of six years.
All of this can take several months — and is complicated by the fact that only 85,000 H-1B visas are allotted per year, with 20,000 of these reserved for people with a minimum of a master’s level degree from a U.S. academic institution. Every year, the available visas run out, leaving many applicants waiting until October 1st, when a fresh supply is issued.
In summary, you as the employer have to initiate the process from the U.S. and obtain the approval before the H1B may be applied for at the local U.S. Consulate abroad.
