Best News Of The Day - Feb 13 2010
- What survivor skills #developers need in the current generation ? #ORM, ADO.NET, #Regex, Services, #daemons, and #cron
- Steve Jobs to his employees - Google's "Don't be Evil" is bunch of crap - #Google entering all of #Apple's biz.
- Today at Macworld, Microsoft announced Office for Mac 2011.
- Video: #iPhone controlled #quadricopter App.
- Five all time notorious #auto #recalls list .
- Valentine day's flower economics #infograph.
- The samurai spot - Doritos #Superbowl ad drew 116.2 million viewers.
- The best so far I have seen on Google #Buzz "Edit" feature.
- What to / Not To eat at US fast food places for dietary reasons.
- Dungeons and Dragons games on Microsoft Surface.
- Washing machine that uses NO water.
- Future of UI E-Ink, Microsoft Surface, Multi touch etc..
- Windows automatic update patch cripples XP with blue screen, users claim.
- New #Toystory3 Video trailer.
- From NPR - A billion people star SRK My Name Is Khan #MNIK.
- #Avatar story line is copied from other past movies in bits and pieces.
- Amazon Wants To Give A Free Kindle To All Amazon Prime Subscribers.
- Politics & Immigration reform 2010.
Labels: Cricket, Deals, Immigration, News, Technology, Tweets
written by Kalyan @ 2:05 PM,
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Best Cricket News Of the Day - Feb 12 2010
- #India Bengal #Cricket captain angry over LBW damaged glass, mirror, switch boards, dust-bins in the dressing room - bit.ly/9txwaV
- South Africa #cricket Captain #Graeme Smith sustains finger injury - Doubtful for second test ? - bit.ly/aysNYG
- #Olympics will soon have #Cricket probably #T20. Olympic (IOC) Thursday voted to recognize Cricket Council (ICC) - bit.ly/9JlCSp
- Pakistan #cricket team to tour and play against USA in 2010 - bit.ly/cNjbmh
- ICC #T20 Final 2 World Cup qualifiers - #UAE crucial game against #Afghanistan & #Ireland only needing victory against the #Netherlands.
Labels: Cricket, Deals, Immigration, News, Technology, Tweets
written by Kalyan @ 2:05 PM,
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Best News of the Day Feb 11 2010
- Amazon.com MP3 Downloads: Free Valentine's Day Playlist bit.ly/a6mxB5
- Just saw this on Amazon: 'The Karaoke Channel - Valentines Day Sampler' by The Karaoke Channel (MP3 Do... for $0.00 bit.ly/d1LxLm
- @sai_manda Indirectly Indian companies supplies bodies to local US consulting companies and thus helping them indirectly as body shops
- Free Pampers Gifts to Grow 30pts - GTGPLAY2USA2010
- FREE Juicy Juice Sippy Cup! bit.ly/Fd2kf
- Shopping for best deals for @laptop @netbooks - @Fatwallet has this post with all details - bit.ly/cKyrQ4
- Test-drive the all-new 2011 #Kia #Sorento between Feb 8, 2010, and Mar 15, 2010, and get $25 prepaid card - bit.ly/91eaYv
- #Michaels printable #c oupon 60% off one item thru 2/13 bit.ly/bC6dvW
- #Iran to permanently suspend #Gmail and create own #mail service for its citizens - bit.ly/bB0imQ
- Seven #IPad 2G must have list - bit.ly/ctwqd3
- How to use #iPhone or #iPod touch as sleep aid - bit.ly/bUsYtG
- Save money with Opera mini App on iPhone browsing - tcrn.ch/b2gBpi The App is yet to submit to Apple for approval
Labels: Cricket, Deals, Immigration, News, Technology, Tweets
written by Kalyan @ 2:05 PM,
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Best News Of The Day Feb 10 2010
- Bush's Billboard - "Miss Me Yet" is to make a political statement - bit.ly/9mAhsI
- If you have #Anthem Blue Cross health insurance then this is good news to follow - bit.ly/aHqhwI
- Apple may reduce #iPad prices if product sales doesn't go as expected - bit.ly/brDowz
- More Toyota recalls announced. Where to check #Toyota vehicle recall info model and year ? bit.ly/btsnwL
- #Comcast name changed to #Xfinity for cable, telephone and Internet services bit.ly/caW1i9
- Opportunity cost for eating Free Denny's Grand slam breakfast (this can apply to any free food that keep us waiting) bit.ly/dCqGtN
- RT @GuyKawasaki: Super Bowl sets all-time ratings record om.ly/f EwR
- RT @mashable: Google Buzz: What It Means for Twitter and Facebook - bit.ly/clKJYP
- Daddy and Son Brees after #Superbowl picture and video .. bit.ly/brHJ0D
- #Superbowl 2010 Ads Youtube videos - bit.ly/dqgJgt
- The #Superbowl 2010 interception that #Colts will remember for ever - bit.ly/aDDqax
- Full HD Video recording in new Canon Rebel T2i with 18MP sensor, 1080p - price $800 for only body - bit.ly/aJXEa9
- EA's madden franchise #Superbowl prediction of Saints win is right for the sixth time - bit.ly/aJXEa9
- Countries using/not using metric system picture - bit.ly/9v1hku
- nominees for 2010 world car announced - bit.ly/9v1hku< /li>
- This as bad as it gets - Windows Phone 7 to drop multitasking? bit.ly/d2zJE4
- One more award for #Avatar - Most #Pirated Movie on #BitTorrent - bit.ly/dtseOn
- 15 interesting #scripts from #Google Code Repository bit.ly/ayzpps
- This would turn my Blu-Ray dongle netflix streaming into full HD - Streaming Getting a 1080p Upgrade (Update: Or Not?) bit.ly/chAh9F
- How #Retweet voting button is killing #Digg silently - bit.ly/bvIO4x
- #Motorola #Droid is going to get multi touch in next software update - bit.ly/97xkor
- Question Time : What #Motorola phone does Megan Fox use while bathing in sexy Superbowl 2010 Mot Ad ? MOTOROLA DEVOUR bit.ly/bm4IEO
- Indian #IT firms recrui ting local US talent - bit.ly/a4A6Ls
- A permanent resident can petition only for a spouse and/or unmarried children. Read more: bit.ly/drjQuE
Labels: Cricket, Deals, Immigration, News, Technology, Tweets
written by Kalyan @ 2:05 PM,
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Best Stories of the Day Feb 9 2010
- @KAYAK Very good to know that hiring and firing is not done at my best top deal site Kayak .
- Super Hero Bowl - Marvel vs DC - bit.ly/aIMJtZ
- Top 10 social networks - bit.ly/dft2hP .. so socially backward I don't know half of popular social networks
- Great architecture photos - bit.ly/bMzXdm
- Three great #stocks as per Ken #Fisher - Viv, LPL, CRH - bit.ly/cc5Xts
- Superbowl 2010 Ads Accepted & Banned - GoDaddy, Bud, Hyundai www.kalyansuman.com/2010/02/superbowl-2010-ads-accepted-banned.html
- Is Google going to show its Tablet in most discussed Goog. #Superbowl ad ?
Labels: Cricket, Deals, Immigration, News, Technology, Tweets
written by Kalyan @ 2:05 PM,
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Best News Of The Day January 31 2010
Cricket:
- Salman Butt apologies to Pakistan cricket fans after humiliating three test matches and four ODIs to Australia.
- SouthAfrica captain Smith confident of India series despite their coach resignation & fired selection panel.
- For day night cricket test matches announcement soon on trial of pink, yellow, lime green and white balls instead of red.
- Afridi latest ball tampering video.
- Crocs.com 75% Off sale at 6PM.com.
- Useful for deaf people and sound sleepers - Wasabi smoke alarm raises a stink in Japan
- Google is done with IE6 which is used by hackers in cyber attack originated from China
- Barack Obama as a basketball commentator Jan 30 2010 - Here is the video of Mr. President commentary Georgetown Duke.
- This is the collection of all tweets from my twitter account. follow me on Twitter
Labels: Cricket, Deals, Immigration, News, Technology
written by Kalyan @ 2:05 PM,
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Best News of the Day January 30 2010
Technology
- Best file format to save photos in PSD or TIFF or JPEG or GIF or PNG ?
- College Humor video on endless iPad comedy ideas
- Microsoft Corp posted a bigger-than-expected 60 percent jump in quarterly profit, helped by strong sales of Windows7.
- Google wants to see client addresses in DNS queries so network round trips times are saved & location based content.
- Earlier its only Wi-Fi but now Apple now allowing iPhone apps to make VoIP calls over 3G networks
- Google's five privacy principles, GTalk - chat off the record, Youtube make videos private etc
- Hitler - There is nothing manly about it (the #iPad) :).
- Man arrested for customizable cable modems and software that could be used to get free Internet service from Comcast.
- Possible video camera in #iPad 2G in OS 3.2.
Deals
- The 99 Most Essential Beethoven Masterpieces:
'Symphony No. 5 in C Minor, Op. 67, "Fate": I....' by Bamberg Symphony Orchestra ... for $0.00
'Piano Sonata No. 14 in C-Sharp Minor, Op. 27:2 "Moonlight": I. Adagio ...' by Elisso Bolkvadze (MP3 Downl... for $0.00
- 'Assassins Creed II' by Ubisoft ($39.99)
- 'IL-2 Sturmovik: Birds of Prey' by 505 Games ($14.99)
- Free & Fee based language learning resources list from NYTimes: The Web Way to Learn a Language.
- 10 things not to buy in 2010 and their alternatives listed in this article.
- New Costco membership is giving away free rotisserie chicken, Kirkland 48 pk AA batteries & 2 lb coffee bag & more.
- Free passport holder from #BCBGMAXAZRIA when you sign up.
- FREE DOWNLOAD: HipHopDX Presents...#HipHop Helps #Haiti Ace McClowd 23 tracks - DX included Red Cross donation links.
Cricket
- Willow.TV popular US live streaming site acquired by Global Cricket Ventures Ltd (#GCV) GCV owns IPL & T20 until 2017
- Pakistan Cricket Board says no player will go to IPL this year - tit for tat for not selecting Pak players by IPL franchises.
- Dravid getting treated for Jaw bone fracture likely to miss South Africa series.
- Abhimanyu Mithun selected to Indian cricket national squad is expert in short ball & the incutter to the RH batsman.
- Australia are ICC Under-19 World Cup winners - Aussies beat Pak by 25 runs - Josh Hazlewood is the Man of the Match
- Bengal wicket keeper Wriddhiman Saha selected to national squad. Very slim chances he wld play a match as Dhoni's Sub
- Badrinath selected to Indian cricket test squad - A right hand batsman with a style the video is here.
- This is the collection of all tweets from my twitter account. follow me on Twitter
Labels: Cricket, Deals, Immigration, News, Technology
written by Kalyan @ 2:05 PM,
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H1B employees sent back from Airports after Christmas & New Year Holidays
The USCIS issued employee-employer definition on Jan 8' 2010 is here. The FAQ from USCIS is available here. This FAQ anwers many questions like H1-B employees changing employers.
Two ways of H1-B employees removal process discussed in the same Murthy post.
If an H1B employee accepts expedited removal / deportation (with the government paying the cost of the airline ticket) from the CBP officer, removal may result in a minimum 5-year bar on reentering the United States.
If an H1B employee indicates to the CBP officer at the airport that s/he is requesting a withdrawal to enter the United States (and return home on the next flight at one's own expense), s/he is able to apply for a new H1B visa stamp either with the same or a new H1B employer and reenter the U.S. within a few days / weeks.
Labels: Immigration
written by Kalyan @ 11:19 AM,
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US Visitors Must Complete Esta Online Application
Some important notes of the process :
- Approval within minutes of filling out the Esta online form
- No more Greencard forms filling in the plane.
- Once approved Esta valid for two years and can be used for multiple entries into the US.
- The free official Esta from US gov - https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov
Read more: US-tourist-visa-visitors-America-complete-Esta-application-online
Labels: Immigration
written by Kalyan @ 12:50 PM,
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Indian Consulates Accepting Online H1-B & Visitor Visa Applications
With the new online process, all that applicants need is just submit DS-160 online and just take the confirmation page with them to US consulate. Also new online application can accepts applicant photos. But remaining process like scheduling dates and using HDFC to pay application fees remain unchanged.
Always I rely on Immihelp as their site is structured so good and is up to date with the latest info :
Here is updated Visitor visa info from Immihelp reflecting the dates for DS-160 form.
Labels: Immigration
written by Kalyan @ 12:49 PM,
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Immigration Stories Of Week Oct 18 - 24 2009 - Illegal Alien Halloween Costume, Widow Panlty Bill
- Advance Parole processing times take about 90 days, Make sure to plan ahead for travel to have all required documents to re-enter US
- Domestic Violence Victims who are not legal United States residents can gain eligibility for a so-called U visa & eventually path to the Green card
- Widow Penalty bill is at Obama's desk as previously passed by Congress - It is required that spouses be married for 2 years to US citizens before a surviving spouse may get GreenCard.
- Social Security Benefits for US Green Card Holders who returned to their home countries - {Always Inform SSA Office }
- Illegal Alien Halloween costume recalled from Target, Walgreens and Amazon.com
- #illegalAlien Halloween costume that s creating news - twitpic.com/ mr6mq (above picture)

Labels: Immigration
written by Kalyan @ 2:05 PM,
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Prefer Employment Based Immigrants over Family Citizenship
Here is the quote from the Brookings report -
Reorient Immigrant Admissions Criteria
We must reorient the nation’s immigrant admissions criteria to better serve Americans and our economic goals. Family unification should remain a bedrock principle of U.S. immigration policy, but we believe that “family” must be narrowed to mean nuclear family members. We must also recognize that in today’s increasingly competitive and technology-intensive global economy, educated workers with the knowledge and skills to innovate are critical. Therefore, we recommend increasing skilled visas and replacing per-country limits on skilled visas with a single overall limit. At the same time, we recommend holding constant, at least for the present, the overall number of permanent legal residents admitted annually.
What does this translate to ? Washington Post gave the numbers -
Closing the door to extended relatives and another 50,000 people admitted each year under a "diversity" lottery would make room to increase from 180,000 to 330,000 the number of skilled workers and their family members whom the U.S. could admit each year, the group said.
Who benefits ? The skilled legal US immigrants who are on 8 to 10 years of waiting line for their green cards. All the employment based visa categories like EB2 and EB3 and who belong to India may get a little hope from this recommendation.
Labels: Immigration, India
written by Kalyan @ 9:57 PM,
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Big Changes in India Business Visas
The new rules is going to effect 70,000 plus skilled and non skilled expatriates working in India. This move by Indian government seems to be along the similar lines of US H1-B visa restrictions. The foreign companies that have their multinational shops in India get effected by this move.
Source : Getting an Indian work visa will be tougher now, Govt tells expatriates on business visas to leave Gujarat
Labels: Immigration, India
written by Kalyan @ 9:13 PM,
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Ted Kennedy - Tributes To Immigration Champion
The cosponsored law ended the preference of Canadians and Western Europeans as immigrants and allowed people from all parts of the world to come to America and get permanent residency (Green Card) based on their skills (EB1, EB2 and EB3 Categories) and family relations. The law abolished the quota system limiting immigration from Asia.
This law changed the percent of foreign born in US - In 1960 it was estimated that 5.4% of US population is foreign born of which majority are Europeans. In 2000, it was 11.1% of which only 16% are from Europe.
"Even this decade, Kennedy worked to establish guest worker programs that would allow illegal immigrants to come out of the shadows without fear of the wrath of the crazier elements of society."
The loss of Edward "Ted" Kennedy is a big blow to all future US immigration reforms laws.
Labels: GreenCard, Immigration
written by Kalyan @ 1:44 AM,
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USCIS Surprise H1-B Visa Employers Visits
USCIS will ask Couple of checklist questions about the sponsored H1-B visa employee and the manager (employer) has to answer those USCIS posed questions. All this sudden surprise visits is to avoid current 21% of H1-B visa petitions violating on H1-B program rules.
One good news of the whole article is that like DOL "the USCIS has no statutory or regulatory authority to enter the workplace of H-1B and L-1 visa holders. And investigators do not arrive with search warrants or subpoenas"
Labels: H1-B, Immigration
written by Kalyan @ 10:57 PM,
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EB2 Dates Advanced September Visa Bulletin 2009
EB3 continues to be in unavailable state and is expected to remain until the fiscal year ends in October 2009.
Here is the current visa bulletin link.
For those of you who are wondering what this dates are? These are the processing times for Green Card. US immigration department is issuing Green cards for those who submitted their applications in January 2005 in advanced degree category. Bottom line there is a four year wait for getting Green Cards.
Labels: Immigration
written by Kalyan @ 11:41 AM,
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Why 20,000 H1-B visas Remains Unfilled in 2009 ?
Here are some reasons for the vacant 20,000 H1-B visas -
> Strict H1-B processing made USCIS reject many of H1-B visa applications
> Falling unemployment rate in US posed problems for US employers to file H1-B visas. Also non-immigrants waiting for the recession to be over to apply for H1-B visas.
> Feds cracking down on 11 people in six state for H1-B abuses. An in depth review of abuse is here at arstechnica.
Labels: Immigration
written by Kalyan @ 11:39 PM,
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May 2009 Visa Bulletin India Dates - EB3 Unavailable
Why did EB3 become unavailable so early May Bulletin?
This is unexpected and is reported by all immigration lawyers that they have NOT seen such thing happened so early in all of their career.
Shusterman writes :
This is the earliest that the category has become unavailable in my 33 years of practicing immigration law
And it should be noted that USCIS would not stop sending RFEs for all pending i-485 cases even though the EB3 category becomes unavailable. So expect RFEs sent to your employer during these visa numbers "unavailable" times too.
All the best for those who are waiting for dates to become current.
Labels: 2009, GreenCard, H1-B, Immigration, India
written by Kalyan @ 8:25 PM,
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Huge Drop in H1-B Visa Applications
After first week of opening visa applications, USCIS (U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services) reports that it received only 42,000 H!-B visa applications from foreigners for high skill jobs in US. The total available visas are 65000. Last year the cap of 65K is reached within few days.For year 2008 USCIS received 163,000 H1-B applications.
The fall of economy and no signs of recovery may be the reasons for drop in demand for US work visas. The companies who took government bail out money is restricted not to hire foreign workers in H1-B visas. This may be one of the causes that is effecting in the reduction of H1-B visa applicants.
But advanced degree quota of 20,000 visas are filled up fast. These work visas are for students who completed MS or other graduate degrees in US.
Source : Economic Times , PTINews
Labels: 2009, GreenCard, H1-B, Immigration, India
written by Kalyan @ 8:20 PM,
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US Senators seeking H1-B visa review of 25 MNCs
Two US senators - Richard Durbin (Democrat-Illinois) and Charles Grassley (Republican-Iowa) are asking 25 MNCs of how they have used H1-B visas. Their major concern is that H1-Bs are used to outsource American jobs. Replacement of American workers is unjustified and needs much bigger oversight. The H1-B quota increase is highly opposed as Unemployment rate hit the lowest since 1983.
Their letter of inquiry had been sent to the following 25 MNC companies—Infosys Technologies Ltd., Wipro Limited, Satyam Computer Services Ltd., Cognizant Tech Solutions, Microsoft Corp., Tata Consultancy Services Ltd., Patni Computer Systems Inc., US Technology Resources Llc., I-Flex Solutions Inc., Intel Corp., Accenture Llp., Cisco Systems Inc., Ernst & Young Llp., Larsen & Toubro Infotech Ltd., Deloitte & Touche Llp., Google Inc., Mphasis Corp., University of Illinois at Chicago, American Unit Inc., Jsmn International Inc., Objectwin Technology Inc., Deloitte Consulting, Prince Georges County Public Schools, JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Motorola Inc.
Source : High US Jobless rate prompts Visa review
Labels: Immigration, India
written by Kalyan @ 8:14 PM,
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Two Indians in US Pittsburgh Pirates Baseball team
Labels: Immigration, India
written by Kalyan @ 12:06 PM,
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Greencards to those who buys US houses - A proposal
How many potential foreigners are there who can invest in US houses -
Merrill Lynch estimates that in 2007 there were 10.1 million individuals in the world, 7.1 million outside the U.S., with at least $1 million in financial assets that totaled $29 trillion. If new immigrants bought the 2.4 million excess houses at today's $184,000 median price with funds from abroad, they would bring untold billions. The immigrants would also buy consumer goods, pay taxes, and start many new businesses.
Does this solution work or create more immigration problems ?
Isn't this the same model that financial brains invented in housing boom times to achieve the current painful recession. Grouping all the houses as mortgage backed securities and selling it to the investors (either foreign or local). Everyone is happy when house prices increased and when their value fell, the century old investment banks (Bear & Stearns, Lehman Brothers) disappeared from the papers.
Labels: Immigration, India
written by Kalyan @ 10:13 PM,
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How to Extend H1-B beyond 6 years if PERM is not filed ?
Yes you can says this news. Basically get away from H1-B status and remain in other status say H1-B or a student visa like F1. File PERM and then wait for a year and get back to H1-B visa status where an eligibility extension is possible.
But make sure the changing status to other visa types is not a time taking process otherwise one would go out of status after six years.
The site lists all other possible visa categories that a person can use to move away from H1-B :
B-1 or B-2 (temporary visitors), E-1 and E-2 (owners or workers with trade or investor visas), F-1 (students), H-3 (trainees), J-1 (international exchange visitors), L visas and more. Of course, not all of these categories will be available to all aliens, and even when available, they may not necessarily authorize employment.
Have you been in this situation and Are ther any other alternatives than moving away from H1-B status? Please share with us
Labels: Immigration
written by Kalyan @ 1:08 AM,
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Greencard typo costs driver's license
As per Indian state rules , she applied for driving license that's where her application was denied because of a typo in her green card. This case highlights how important are the names on identification cards like - Greencard. For Karla it took almost a year to resolve this issue with the DMV.
Make sure all your names (including the long Indian family names) are correct on Greencards. Otherwise we very know how crippled the working person in US is without a valid driving license.
Related posts : Wrong name on EAD , 485 , Advance Parole documents
Labels: GreenCard, Immigration, tips
written by Kalyan @ 10:40 PM,
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GreenCard Holders fingerprinted from January 18 2009 at Port of Entry
From 2003 to till date, US-VISIT took the information from non-immigrant visa holders like H1-B, B1, F1 visa types. But from January 18 2009 - DHS (Department Of Homeland Security) is making it mandatory for even permanent residents (or Green Card holders) to be fingerprinted and photographed at the border. Persons paroled into the US meaning I485 applicants like ones holding Advance Paroles have to submit fingerprints. Privacy groups are raising concerns with the whole technology right from its inception in 2003.
Here is DHS News release - Expansion of US-VISIT to other non-US citizens categories-
Additional non‑U.S. citizens required to provide biometrics are:
* Lawful permanent residents of the United States (LPRs);
* Persons entering the United States who seek admission on immigrant visas;
* Persons entering the United States who seek admission as refugees and asylees;
* Canadian citizens who are currently required to obtain a Form I-94, Arrival / Departure Document upon entry or require a waiver of inadmissibility to enter the United States (This excludes most Canadian citizens entering the United States for purposes of shopping, visiting friends and family, vacation or short business trips);
* Persons paroled into the United States; and
* Persons applying for admission under the Guam Visa Waiver Program.
Labels: GreenCard, H1-B, i485, Immigration
written by Kalyan @ 1:40 AM,
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January 2009 Visa Bulletin India dates
Obama is electing US border state Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano to head Homeland Security department. Also the immigration is in top 10 list of Obama administration. So we may see some progress when Obama official starts office on january 20 2009.
Visa bulletin can be found here.
Note : E1, E2, E3 dates are employment based categories-
Related posts :
> USA Immigration Greencard Reform Proposals
Labels: Immigration, India, visa bulletin
written by Kalyan @ 2:38 AM,
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H1B, Offshoring - Top 2008 IT trend
Two different contradicting stories on H1-Bs are highlighted in ZdNet article - 1) High wage IT jobs moving to low wage countries like India 2) US employers finding shortage of IT professions to hire in US.
There has been reports that employers are abusing H1-B system by hiring foreign workers at low wages though US workers are available for same position.
Besides H1-B, Other trends include, 1) IT is surviving the current financial crisis, 3) Go virtual and mobile office to realize cost savings for employers. 4) "Green IT" theme picking up slowly. 5) PCs become efficient and cheaper.
Labels: Immigration, India, Technology
written by Kalyan @ 12:06 AM,
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Pentagon hiring foreign doctors & nurses on visas
What specialty skills Pentagon is looking for ? All nursing specialists and for doctors - neuro surgeons, family practitioners, dermatologists and some other specialties. The department is looking to focus on foreign nationals who has foreign language skills and can speak multiple languages.
Currently 29000 non US citizens are in US military who automatically gets Green card for serving in military.
Labels: Deals, Immigration, India, Nurse, Visa
written by Kalyan @ 8:31 PM,
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Immigration ranked #8 priority for Obama Administration
Immigration reform is #8 of the list. Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano name has been mentioned as probable DHS (Department of Homeland Security) head. Napolitano is a strong advocate of increasing H-1B visas and for "immigration reforms" this is good which may boost the discussions and eventually may get good visibility in the following list.
Here is top 18 list -
* FISCAL STIMULUS
* EDUCATED WORKFORCE
* ECONOMIC VISION
* COMPREHENSIVE ENERGY/ENVIRO POLICY:
* LONG-TERM TAX POLICY
* CORPORATE TAX RATE
* DEFINE VALUE, REFORM PAYMENT
* EXPAND IMMIGRATION OPPORTUNITIES: Expand Visa and Greencard
programs to allow talented foreign nationals who have studied in
the U.S. to remain in the U.S. and to allow talent recruitment
abroad.
* NEW TRADE AGENDA
* TORT REFORM
* REGULATORY OVERHAUL
* FIGHT OBESITY
* ELECTRIC CARS
* UNIVERSAL HEALTH INSURANCE
* DECARBONIZE POWER SECTOR
* ENERGY EFFICIENCY
* BUILD HEALTHCARE WORKFORCE
* BUY ILLIQUID ASSETS
Labels: Barack Obama, H-1B visa, Homeland Security Department, Immigration, India, Janet Napolitano
written by Kalyan @ 2:27 AM,
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USA Immigration Greencard Reform Proposals
The main proposals of this bill are :
> The Z visa - Eight years illegal immigrants in US can apply for Greencard by paying $2000 fine.
> Point system - The Canadian point system is mimicked to replace current EB1, EB2, EB3 based employment based green card. We know how much painful the current system is that it is taking 11 to 16 years for a computer engineer from India to get greencard for skilled workers.Points are awarded based on the level of education (Graduate or High school), work experience, English language skills, family connections, and job offer. The current perm labor certification process would be eliminated.
> Guest worker program - A two years "Y" visa for illegal workers.
Related posts : If you want to know the painful greencard process and wait times. Look at this previous post - USA immigration flowchart for greencard
Labels: Immigration, India
written by Kalyan @ 10:28 PM,
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December 2008 Visa Bulletin EB2, EB3 dates unchanged
The only surprise is that this months bulletin is released little early of the month. This kinds of gives idea that probably USCIS is having good prediction of numbers and we may not see any significant changes going into next year.
Now that elections are over we should see some long pending bills may get some breathing air
Visa bulletin can be found here
Labels: eb-2, eb-3, GreenCard, Immigration, USCIS, visa bulletin
written by Kalyan @ 8:34 PM,
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H1-B visas - McCain ranks better than Obama on policies
H1-B visas policy McCain is graded B+ when Obama got a C. The issue is the small number of H1-B quotas (65,000) making it difficult for US companies to hire skilled workers from outside of US.
Here is how two candidates fared on this issue -
McCain - He is in favor to expand the number of H1-B visas and he want to retain the top notch foreign skilled workers graduated in US schools.
Obama - Only a temporary increase and he is critical of highly skilled immigrants taking away American jobs. Only a stopgap measure until the industry requirements are met.
Labels: 2008 Elections, H1-B, Immigration, McCain, Obama
written by Kalyan @ 11:58 PM,
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Can Person on EAD start a business in US ?
Here is great discussion from a post by stevesmith155 in Hacker News. Few options that seems possible from comments are -
1) Use o-1 visa - Something similar to EB1 and who qulifies as extroadinary people.
2) Set up a company in India and use B1 visas for visits to US and basically forgo green card in us
I feel if the guy is married the other option would be to incorporate a company name on spouse name as spouse should have got EAD.
Labels: EAD, Entrepreneurship, Immigration
written by Kalyan @ 10:45 PM,
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November 2008 Visa Bulletin EB2, EB3 dates advanced by just two months
Here is Mumbai consulate's November 2008 visa bulletin dates:
| Category | India | Most Other Countries |
| F1 | 1 May 2002 | 1 May 2002 |
| FX | 15 July 2001 | 15 July 2001 |
| F2A | 8 Februrary 2004 | 8 February 2004 |
| F2B | 15 January 2000 | 15 January 2000 |
| F3 | 1 July 2000 | 1 July 2000 |
| F4 | 22 July 1997 | 15 November 1997 |
| E1 | Current | Current |
| E2 | 1 June 2003 | Current |
| E3 | 1 October 2001 | 1 May 2005 |
| EW | 15 Janurary 2003 | 15 Janurary 2003 |
| E4 | Current | Current |
| E4-Religious | Current | Current |
Predictions were that EB2 and EB3 dates will advance significantly as the October month gives some idea to USCIS where they stand on visa numbers. Looks like USCIS is still unclear of visa number predictions for November 2008 as they advanced to 2 months.
To confirm visa bulletin dates for November 2008, keep checking USCIS state visa bulletin -
I feel in November 2008 USCIS will get good idea of visa number predictions and so they can advance dates significantly for December 2008What do you think will happen to December 2008 visa bulletin dates ?
Labels: eb-2, eb-3, Immigration, USCIS, visa bulletin
written by Kalyan @ 11:33 AM,
,
Diversity Visa online Lottery 2010 ends December 1 2008
Countries excluded from DV-2010 lottery visas are -- Natives of the following Asian countries are not eligible for this year’s diversity program: China (mainland-born), India, Pakistan, South Korea, Philippines, and Vietnam. Hong Kong S.A.R and Taiwan do qualify and are listed above. Macau S.A.R. also qualifies and is listed below (Europe).
Once the applicants get a lottery visa then at the visa interview a proof of high school education and two years of work experience in the past five years are required for person to qualify and get a GC through DV program.
In DV-2009 lottery Bangladesh got 6,023 PR visas through DV lottery from Asia geographic region followed by Nepal 1,891 and with Iran taking 1,689 visas.
Make sure you access only http://www.travel.state.gov for DV-2010 online applications. As there has been instances of con artists creating fake websites as written on travel.state.gov website.
Labels: GreenCard, Immigration, lottery, United States, visas
written by Kalyan @ 7:54 PM,
,
Online Immigrant detention video game
The website has stories of Detainees with videos -- This is one video where one permanent resident seems to have asked a picture to be taken in front of a factory plant which landed himself in deep detention problems.
Labels: Breakthrough, Human rights, Immigration
written by Kalyan @ 1:03 AM,
,
US Immigration flowchart for Greencard and Citizenship takes up to 16 years
Here are some of the (long waiting) routes :
Family Sponsorship:
Relative is a US citizen
a) Spouse or minor child -- Greencard - 3 to 5 years, Citizenship - 6 to 7 years
b) For all other family sponsorships -- Green card - 7 to 15 years (Married adult children) and 11 to 22 years (Siblings of US citizens), Citizenship -- 12 to 28 years
Relative is a Lawful Permanent Resident:
a) Spouse or minor child -- Green card - 6 years, Citizenship - 11 to 13 years
b) For all other family sponsorships -- Green card (only if they are single) - 9 to 14 years, Citizenship - 14 to 20 years
Skilled Immigrants:
a) Extremely genius or star athletes or investor with $1 million -- Green card - 5 to 6 years, Citizenship - 6 to 7 years
b) Skilled worker with college degree in specialty occupation (Computer engineers or nurses) -- Green card - 6 to 10 years, Citizenship - 11 to 16 years
If you are a computer engineer from India then it may take 11 to sweet 16 years to become a US citizen.
Here is the flowchart explanation from Reason of getting into long line with a fresh face only to get waited in the long lines of years and coming out with grown and aging beards.
Kudos to the Reason and Mike Flynn, Shikha Dalmia & Terry Colon for putting together this wonderful immigration chart that clears up all doubts that any one might have on the US immigrations process with caricatures of a Indian Singh or a Mexican.
Labels: GreenCard, H1-B, Immigration
written by Kalyan @ 3:20 PM,
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Lindsay and Samantha - Green Card won't get renewed if Palin becomes VP
Image by Rachel Kramer Bussel via FlickrSamantha Ronson girlfriend of actress Lindsay Lohan is a British native born in London, England now lives in US on green card. Both are ardent supporters of Obama and since Samantha can't vote she writes that if Palin comes into power her green card may not get renewed. Its not just techies that have problems but even star have green card renewal problems.From Samantha Ronson's myspace post:
Lindsay- "I have faith that this country will be all that it can be with the proper guidance. I really hope that all of you make your decisions based on the facts and what feels right to you in your heart-vote for obama!"
Samantha- "I love this country- however i wasn't born here and don't have the right to vote- so i beg of you all to really do your research and be educated when you cast your vote this coming november.... and if you're in doubt- vote for obama! Mainly because if she gets elected my green card probably won't get renewed!!!"
xoxo,
Lindsay and Samantha
Samantha Ronson and Lindsay Lohan are rumoured to be having a romatic relationship and that should get Samantha her citizenship if true. ( No idea what the laws are for same sex marriages and immigration policies)
Labels: Barack Obama, green card, Immigration, lindsaylohan, London, Samantha Ronson
written by Kalyan @ 6:57 PM,
,
DOL Calls Off Fragomen Audit On Perm Applications
Good News !! For law firms ( more good news for Fragomen), Employers and employees can be now worry free as DOL decided to put an end to the audit it started on labor applications filed by a law firm.I wrote in my previous post the brewing controversy between DOL and Fragomen in perm application. DOL issued guidance bulletin on June 13 supporting the stand that employers should involve in validating immigrant employee's qualifications and not the lawyers.
In the latest developments in DOL vs. Fragomen issue reached climax today with DOL calling off the audit as reported in WSJ law blog. The reasoning is that DOL's own prior rulings had created confusion about the proper role of immigration attorneys in the green-card application process. Now Fragomen and other law firms can breathe as the fight is over. Fragomen followed the DOL's guidance when both employer and employee is sponsored. The DOL has clarified that going forward its regulations will apply to firms that represent only an employer.
Labels: Fragomen, Immigration, labor, PERM. GreenCard
written by Kalyan @ 4:58 PM,
,
Canada, Australia benefits US H1-B visa reductions
In the article "The Bitter Taste of Bigotry", it is rightly said that one man's loss in another's gain.
Thousands of engineers and computer scientists arrive in America yearly to fuel high-tech businesses. Silicon Valley is filled with startups founded by immigrants, like Vinod Khosla’s Sun Microsystems and Sergey Brin’s Google. Astonishingly, Congress has actually reduced the number of special H1-B visas given to foreign workers, which allow American companies to import guest workers with highly specialized knowledge. As a result, many of these workers move to countries with more liberal immigration policies, like Canada and Australia. In these cases, America’s loss is another country’s gain.
Canada immigration is made much simpler that within 1 year with sufficient points based on higher education a Canadian PR (permanent Residency) status can be achieved and after three years the immigrant becomes Canadian citizen. Australia has similar system within two years of PR one can become Aussies citizen.
Compare this to PR (Green Card) in US which is now taking eight painful years compounded with H1-B visas reduction and a lottery system to get H1. Citizenship is another five more years. To become an immigrant a total of thirteen years are required so that would be 1/5th of immigrants life (assuming 65 years of stressful life) spent in this cycle.
To sum up - America’s loss is another country’s gain.
Labels: Australia, Canada, green card, H1-B, Immigration, India
written by Kalyan @ 1:51 AM,
,
H1-B visas is the worse thing ever happened to US businesses
Outsourcing is a hit or miss - One comment about H1-B is quite interesting and It is true to some extent I feel "The worse thing that ever happened to U.S. businesses is the advent of the H1B visas and international outsourcing." Employers want all technologies in a person but pays 30 to 40% lower than market rates , 12 to 17$ per hour , make existing employee work overtime with out additional pay, $30k to $50K for a experienced web developer.
If this is the case then we can imagine the productivity of the work done by low rate charged employees. Historically US productivity is superior and only future will tell us how this model of employers going for cheap low pay rates will work out or not.
Labels: Employment, H-1B visa, Immigration, Labour economics, Overtime, Salary, United States, US, Wage
written by Kalyan @ 11:37 PM,
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20000 EB Nurse Visas Per Year - HR 5924 Bill Status
Other bills pending for approvals -- H.R. 5882 (Reduces Green Card Waitimes by acquiring unused past visa numbers), H.R. 6020 (Immigration benefits for immigrant soldiers and their families), HR 5950 (Medical care for immigration detainees).
Labels: Immigration, Immigration to the United States, Nurse, Nursing shortage, Permanent residence, United States, US, Visa
written by Kalyan @ 12:22 PM,
,
2008 October Visa Bulletin EB2, EB3 dates moved back
The Mumbai consulate released the cut-off dates today --
Many predictions were that EB2 will slow down and EB3 changes significantly from unavailable to a much advanced date. Mumbai cut-off dates are available now and its back to square one. For EB2 dates are retrogressed to 1 April 2003 where as for EB3 it is 1 July 2001. Some pleasing news for EB3 as it changed from "Unavailable".
Unless the legislation to acquire all unused past Green card numbers is passed, the wait to become numbers current is a day dream.
Here is the link you can find October's 2008 visa bulletin from USCIS
Labels: eb-2, eb-3, Fiscal year, H-1B visa, Immigration, Mumbai, United States, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, USCIS, Visa
written by Kalyan @ 12:51 PM,
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Bill to reduce Greencard wait times due this week
Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) and Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI) authored bill to reduce wait times for green cards which is due this week. The proposal is to re-use previously allotted unused green cards.
This legislation helps US to retain the talent and remove bureaucratic obstacles.
Cesar Conda writes citing the reports from National Venture Capital Association that
in 2006, 73% of new electrical engineering Ph.D.s in the U.S. were granted to international students, according to the National Science Foundation, while in 2005, foreign nationals received 55 percent of electrical engineering master’s degrees and 42 percent of computer science master’s degrees.
Labels: Doctor of Philosophy, Electrical engineering, GreenCard, Immigration, Jim Sensenbrenner, National Science Foundation, National Venture Capital Association, United States, US, Zoe Lofgren
written by Kalyan @ 2:12 AM,
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US Nuclear Deal impacts Indian H1-B visa holders
Kanchan Gupta writes about H1-B visa holders and their reason for unhappiness with ongoing US-India nuclear deal. Gupta writes the civilian nuclear cooperation agreement will create thousands of Jobs which otherwise would have been opened for H1-B visa holders. Some India's middle class who prospered using these H1-B visa may not like these $$ paying jobs taken away from them.
Here is quote from Kanchan Gupta's Article :
Look at the way it has managed to foist on us a so-called 'civilian nuclear cooperation agreement' that will revive the moribund American nuclear power industry, create thousands of jobs (which will not be open to holders of H1B visa, so there's little reason for our middle-class to cheer the deal), give President George W Bush his only foreign policy 'success', and serve the purpose of forcing India into the non-proliferation regime without conceding its nuclear weapons capability.
Labels: George W Bush, H1-B, Immigration, India, Indo-US civilian nuclear agreement, Manmohan Singh, NSG, Nuclear proliferation, Nuclear Suppliers Group, Nuclear weapon, visas
written by Kalyan @ 9:11 PM,
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Barack Obama favors H2-B visas and reflects on H1-B gaming by employers
Image by Getty Images via Daylife As elections approach, Illinois Senator Barack Obama who is US, Democratic presidential nominee in a campaign event in Pennsylvania talked about streamlining specialized skills related jobs and their visas -- H2-B.H2-B visas are required for highly specialized skills where local US business is not able to recruit the local talent citing "nuclear physicist" example from India.
Obama was unhappy that (H1-B) visas system is misused by the companies by wrongfully hiring software engineers for low wages and effecting the US labor markets and wages.
With US unemployment rate reaching 6.1% , the jobs have become a talking point in US 2008 elections and naturally the focus is shifted of how the jobs should not be wrongfully moved to overseas. The immigration is deciding factor in elections as how well both McCain Republicans and Obama Democrats talk about their immigration policies in coming weeks.
Labels: Barack Obama, Barack Obama presidential campaign 2008, H1-B, H2-B, Immigration, Pennsylvania, Politics, Presidential nominee, Society and Culture, United States, US
written by Kalyan @ 8:38 PM,
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USCIS pays $30,000 for EAD Delayed processing
Murthy.com reports :
Since the government could not properly account of the delays, the court found no substantially justified reason for its delay in processing the EAD application and awarded $30,025.80 in attorney's fees to the plaintiff.
The main problem with delayed EAD is for employee not able to work as employers follow strict visa rules in employing a person on payroll.
This year we applied for two year EAD renewal and my spouse's EAD is renewed for 2 years and my EAD is not yet received. And recently the system got improved very well that EADs are receive in a month's time.
Labels: Employment, Immigration, United States, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, United States Secretary of Homeland Security, USCIS
written by Kalyan @ 2:33 AM,
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Judge favors US graduate student visa extension
Homeland Security extended 12 months to 29 months for students visas to convert to H1-B as they can stay in US and work during that period and until they get H1-B visa.
The Programmers Guild, a strong advocate against the H1-B visa program filed this suit. The wage depression argument is over ruled by the judge indicating lack of proper evidence. Programmers Guild from time to time filed many discrimination complaints against H-1B employers.
This is good news for all student graduates with F1 visas now that they can get more breathing time until they convert their F1 visas to H1-B.
Labels: F1, H-1B visa, Immigration, New Jersey, Programmers Guild, United States, US
written by Kalyan @ 2:09 AM,
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Missing TSA Verified Identity Pass laptop found
One of the laptops gone missing which contained sensitive personal information like Greencard number of permanent residents, name, address, phone numbers and birth dates, as well as drivers' license. TSA temporarily suspended this program. This is a good move by TSA as they want all the data on all VIP devices needs encryption to avoid the possibility of landing of this sensitive info in the wrong hands.
New members will not be able to sign up for the program and have to wait in long security lines until TSA clears the "clear" program.
Labels: Business, Business Services, Consultants, Fire and Security, Immigration, Security, Transportation Security Administration, TSA, Verified Identity Pass
written by Kalyan @ 1:26 AM,
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Four years prison for bribing USCIS officals to Get Green Card
He gave bribes in amounts $900,000 to get U.S. Green Cards for six people and for taxes to Comptroller to assess the sales in the stores to $18 million.
Ijaz is one of 11 men arrested as part of a September nationwide sweep in Somerset, Wicomico and Worcester counties.
Labels: Immigration, Society and Culture, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service, United States, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, United States nationality law, USCIS
written by Kalyan @ 11:13 AM,
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