Greened after 12+ years.....

[vnanjunda]

Applied first labor in 2001 and got laid off
Applied another in 2003 May 2003
Applied I 140 and I 485 - Aug 2004
Got EAD in Sept 2004
Changed job in Mar 2005 on EAD
Changed jobs four times on EAD
Applied Labor in EB2 in June 2012
Labor Approved in Aug 2012 and I 140 in Sept 2012
Got RFE in dec 2012 about expired medicals
replied for RFE in Jan 30th 2013
Approved in Feb 13th and got Green card on 19th.

Thanks for all the help from Immigration Voice community.

[eb3retro]

Though I r2I'd (dont have your patience) 2 years ago, I feel happy to see a EB3 approval. Congratulations. You waited and I did not, and even am not sure whats the worth of this. Enjoy your freedom. All the best going forward.

Originally Posted by bailoor

Hello All IV members,

Received my GC after 12+ yrs of journey.

Nov 2000 - Applied Labor from Employer 1
May 2001 - Changed Employer
Mar 2002 - ReStarted the GC process
Nov 2002 - Applied Labor - EB3 category
July 2007 - Filed the I-485
Sept 2007 - Received the first EAD and AP.
Nov 2008 - Changed the Employer again
Sept 2010 - Changed Employer again
Aug 2012 - Reapplied 4th set of AP and EAD card.
Feb 2013 - Received GC.

After waiting for 12+ yrs and going through multiple stages/process/employers/cities, there was NO much ENTHU / EXCITEMENT when I received the GC card.

Now, I need to really think, what is that I really need to achieve by having the GC for which I waited so long ?.

Wish you ALL good wishes for your GC wait.

I will be part of this team/group forever.

[spicy_guy]

Originally Posted by eb3retro

Though I r2I'd (dont have your patience) 2 years ago, I feel happy to see a EB3 approval. Congratulations. You waited and I did not, and even am not sure whats the worth of this. Enjoy your freedom. All the best going forward.

eb3retro, how do you feel now about your decision on r2i? Adjusted well? Job?
Pretty Happy, happy, as usual, not okay, bad?

[SGP]

Congratulations Bailoor & vnanjunda. Enjoy your freedom!!!!!! Really happy for both you guys...

[istrategist]

Congratulations! What was your PD? Mine is Nov 22 and am waiting for my turn...

Originally Posted by bailoor

Hello All IV members,

Received my GC after 12+ yrs of journey.

Nov 2000 - Applied Labor from Employer 1
May 2001 - Changed Employer
Mar 2002 - ReStarted the GC process
Nov 2002 - Applied Labor - EB3 category
July 2007 - Filed the I-485
Sept 2007 - Received the first EAD and AP.
Nov 2008 - Changed the Employer again
Sept 2010 - Changed Employer again
Aug 2012 - Reapplied 4th set of AP and EAD card.
Feb 2013 - Received GC.

After waiting for 12+ yrs and going through multiple stages/process/employers/cities, there was NO much ENTHU / EXCITEMENT when I received the GC card.

Now, I need to really think, what is that I really need to achieve by having the GC for which I waited so long ?.

Wish you ALL good wishes for your GC wait.

I will be part of this team/group forever.

[vijay_aswani]

Originally Posted by eb3retro

Though I r2I'd (dont have your patience) 2 years ago, I feel happy to see a EB3 approval. Congratulations. You waited and I did not, and even am not sure whats the worth of this. Enjoy your freedom. All the best going forward.

What does r2I'd mean

[bailoor]

Thank You ALL for the wishes.

My priority date was Nov 12th 2002 ( EB3 category).

After I got EAD, I changed employers twice. I was out of job for 3 months. I did NOT apply AC21 while changing jobs. Every 2 year, I was spending around 2000$ to renew the EAD and AP for me and my wife.
So, I thought of not spending extra money (Attorney fee, filing fee etc) for AC21. I did not even bother to see what to be done for AC21. I was of the opinion, during the I-485 approval, if they have any questions, they will send me RFE and then I can look at it. I did not wanted to have unnecessary headache thinking all the "what if" conditions.

During EAD stage, AP is very crucial. I made sure to renew it after completion of 9 months. If any unknown unexpected emergency arises at HOME country, I did not wanted to blame on "AP".

Congrats to 'VNanjuda' for your GC...

SGP and Istrategist, Your date is near by. Hold on.. You will get it soon !!. Good Luck.

One of the member asked what is "R2I" . It's called RETURN TO INDIA. There is another forum called r2i.com where lots of Indian born American citizens are active to know what to do/ not to do in India to reach the final destination.

Do not FEAR. You have paid taxes, SSN, medicare. You have spent thousands of dollar for attorney, h1-b fee, GC processing fee. Naturally, you DESERVE to get the GC . Take it and go for your HIGH level dream/goal which can take you to another height !!!.

Thank You !!!.

[vijay_aswani]

Originally Posted by bailoor

Thank You ALL for the wishes.

My priority date was Nov 12th 2002 ( EB3 category).

After I got EAD, I changed employers twice. I was out of job for 3 months. I did NOT apply AC21 while changing jobs.

Have u been greened yet? Or did you back out? I just wanted to know what happened... since you did not file AC21 and changed employers twice.

[pappu]

Originally Posted by vijay_aswani

Have u been greened yet? Or did you back out? I just wanted to know what happened... since you did not file AC21 and changed employers twice.

This is one big confusion on the forums and people follow herd mentality in my opinion. Maybe you guys are going to wrong forums or talking to wrong people who are influencing you to spend more money.

Show me where in law or any memo it is written filing AC 21 is mandatory or else your application will be denied.

Similarly responding to someone who posted about his EAD expenses---

Why does a person need to spend thousands of dollars on a simple EAD AP renewal. It is a simple form. What is so difficult to fill out?

Immigration system is not scary as people on forums think. There are forms, a small government fees, timelines and processing guidelins for everything. Problem area is backlog.

[Rb_newsletter]

Originally Posted by pappu

Why does a person need to spend thousands of dollars on a simple EAD AP renewal. It is a simple form. What is so difficult to fill out?

Truth is candidate is the one who fills up the forms, even if an attorney is hired.

Either people are too busy or too lazy to read forums and fill the forms. Always any business runs around busy people or lazy people.

Hiring attorney has its own advantages. They will have up to date info, (like any new forms/rules/address to send the applications, etc) which might take sometime to get reflected in forums.

[pappu]

Originally Posted by Rb_newsletter

(like any new forms/rules/address to send the applications, etc) which might take sometime to get reflected in forums.

Latest forms can be downloaded from USCIS website. The address to be sent is also there. Not sure what else is needed.

[vijay_aswani]

Originally Posted by pappu

Show me where in law or any memo it is written filing AC 21 is mandatory or else your application will be denied.

That's the thing, 'We' do not know if it is mandatory or not to filing AC 21. If USCIS say file AC 21 when you transfer your job while waiting for GC, we will want to file it. At the same time, we always wonder if it is mandatory or not... and if someone who did not file, did they have any trouble in getting the GC.

In the same way, they say, when you are a non-immigrant, it is important to file a change of address within 10 days of move. Most people will file. But those who don't always wonder if they will get into trouble if they don't file for that change.

One never know what will happen. After all, the folks at USCIS have the same rule/law book. it depends on what they interpret as following the rule or blatantly dishonoring it.

[pappu]

Originally Posted by vijay_aswani

One never know what will happen. After all, the folks at USCIS have the same rule/law book. it depends on what they interpret as following the rule or blatantly dishonoring it.

Actually this is the problem. It is a typical forum conversation or someone playing to the crowd to gain publicity. All it takes is blame the agency, create fear and confusion. Why?

Why can't we question everything, ask for proof and do our own research before accepting anything?

[bailoor]

I did my first EAD / AP filing during July 2007 period. For those applicants filed before July 2007, they have to pay for EAD and AP for every renewal.

All my renewals, I did by myself. Still, it costs 2,200 USD for every 2 years.

Husband and Wife - EAD (Valid for 2 years) - 380 x 2 = 760
Husband and Wife - AP (Valid for 1 year) - 360 X 2 = 720
Husband and Wife - AP (Valid for 1 year) - 360 X 2 = 720
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total Expenses for 2 years (USCIS Fees) = 2,200 USD
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thanks.

[pappu]

Originally Posted by bailoor

I did my first EAD / AP filing during July 2007 period. For those applicants filed before July 2007, they have to pay for EAD and AP for every renewal.

All my renewals, I did by myself. Still, it costs 2,200 USD for every 2 years.

Husband and Wife - EAD (Valid for 2 years) - 380 x 2 = 760
Husband and Wife - AP (Valid for 1 year) - 360 X 2 = 720
Husband and Wife - AP (Valid for 1 year) - 360 X 2 = 720
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total Expenses for 2 years (USCIS Fees) = 2,200 USD
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thanks.

It is unfortunate that all 2007 folks pay for renewals. Rules were changes after that.

BTW why did you have to do AP renewal twice? Or is it before combo card period?