Catherine
11-18 12:34 AM
Thank you flresident, I really appreciate the advice. Unfortunately the group I had been getting some help from had to cut a number of services when their funding was cut a couple months ago. All the other help and advice I've received from those quarters has either led to a dead-end or provided me with exactly the kind of conflicting advice I mentioned. Nonetheless, I do thank you for the idea.
I wonder if there are any other ideas out there? Thanks one and all.
I wonder if there are any other ideas out there? Thanks one and all.
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GCNirvana007
10-08 05:48 PM
i sent u PM.
Replied to you.
Replied to you.
glus
12-16 09:09 AM
I have a big problem that I got approved on the H1 Recapture to get back into US on January 15, 09 though my attorney screwed up by putting someone else background into the Petition Letter submitted to USCIS with my application. The petition letter to USCIS is all wrong. It states the wrong education, work experience and job duty. They put somebody else background into mine. They put the correct sponsoring company on the first page of the letter though at the end of the second page they put the wrong sponsoring company. In this case, what should I do and what should I answer at the US Consular in Malaysia to get my H1 Visa? What should I do now? Please advise. Do I have to resubmit the application back to USCIS? Will I get rejected? Please help. Thank you very much.
I work in an immigration law office, so I know the general procedure.
Suggestion: First, inform your attorney of your intent to disclose this mistake with a state Bar and wait how he deals with it. Do not be afraid. This is due process and you have right to do it. Keep all mail receipts for records and copies of all and ANY correspondence with the attorney. Wait how he responds. Normally, your attorney should admit the mistake and straight things up with USCIS on himself.This is because an attorney can loose a license to practice in his state if he does not fix this after you file a complaint with state BAR. If you receive no feedback, you should inform a state BAR about this to protect your self. Then, go to a different attorney's office and try to work with a new attorney to straight things out. This is serious. Contact me via PM if you need more info. thanx.
Remember: USCIS keeps a copy of each thing you send. So, sooner or later this important mistake may surface and cause you trouble. That's why you need to fix this out.
I work in an immigration law office, so I know the general procedure.
Suggestion: First, inform your attorney of your intent to disclose this mistake with a state Bar and wait how he deals with it. Do not be afraid. This is due process and you have right to do it. Keep all mail receipts for records and copies of all and ANY correspondence with the attorney. Wait how he responds. Normally, your attorney should admit the mistake and straight things up with USCIS on himself.This is because an attorney can loose a license to practice in his state if he does not fix this after you file a complaint with state BAR. If you receive no feedback, you should inform a state BAR about this to protect your self. Then, go to a different attorney's office and try to work with a new attorney to straight things out. This is serious. Contact me via PM if you need more info. thanx.
Remember: USCIS keeps a copy of each thing you send. So, sooner or later this important mistake may surface and cause you trouble. That's why you need to fix this out.
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immi_enthu
08-10 05:03 PM
Guys,
I am happy to share with you all that I applied my 485 on 1 week of June and it got approved today.
My PD was dec 2005. eb3. India.
Thought i would share with you all.:)
but all this mustang can do is f*rt . Did you guys notice the 'oo00 ' in the ID :D
I am happy to share with you all that I applied my 485 on 1 week of June and it got approved today.
My PD was dec 2005. eb3. India.
Thought i would share with you all.:)
but all this mustang can do is f*rt . Did you guys notice the 'oo00 ' in the ID :D
more...
Widget
06-05 11:33 AM
Take my word, your case will be approved soon. I had the same wording when my I-140 application was transferred fro CSC to TSC and I received the approval notice in one month. Relax.
My I-140 case status (NSE) used to say 150-180 days, now no more time line words in the status. Just they say they will notify you when decision is made, I thought that was because I 140 premium is coming soon, they changed the wording.
My I-140 case status (NSE) used to say 150-180 days, now no more time line words in the status. Just they say they will notify you when decision is made, I thought that was because I 140 premium is coming soon, they changed the wording.
dealsnet
07-16 09:52 AM
According to the law, you are not liable to pay it. They can't force you to pay. But if you are out of project and desperate, just agree for the clause and get that job.
I got an offer from a company, it is not a consulting company. In the offer letter it is mentioned that in case I leave the company or they terminate my employment (there is no time limit for this clause), I will have to pay back H1 cost. (The word H1 cost is mentioned).
I would like to know if this is something I will have to be scared about? I know that it is illegal to ask for H1 cost.
Any help is appreciated.
Thanks
R
I got an offer from a company, it is not a consulting company. In the offer letter it is mentioned that in case I leave the company or they terminate my employment (there is no time limit for this clause), I will have to pay back H1 cost. (The word H1 cost is mentioned).
I would like to know if this is something I will have to be scared about? I know that it is illegal to ask for H1 cost.
Any help is appreciated.
Thanks
R
more...
Chelo
02-07 10:19 PM
I did it all by myself, following directions found here and there around the forum. I got the working permit in about a month. Hope it Helps
Chelo
This is my cover letter and I did everythig as it says:
To: U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service
Texas Service Center
4141 North St. Augustine Road
Dallas, TX 75227
From: Mr. XXXXXXX
ADRESS st,
City, State, zip code
Tel: (111) 123-4567
Email: whatever@whatever.net
mm/dd/yyyy
RE: Original Submission of Application for Employment Authorization
A# ?????????
Dear Sir or Madam:
Please find enclosed the application package for Employment Authorization (I-765) of me, Mr XXXXXXX.
Aplication form and Supporting documents are enclosed arranged as follows:
Form I-765 (EAD) dully filled
Filing Fee: Personal check in the amount of $340, payable to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security;
Receipt notice of form I-485, copy of the receipt,
Identity Document: copy of Visa issued by Consulate, copy of Driver License,
Photos: Two color passport photographs placed in an envelope;
Other supporting documentation: Copy of I-140 approval notice
Kindly, process the above referenced application at your earliest convenience.
If you have any questions or need additional information, feel free to contact me at any time. Thank you in advance for your consideration to this matter.
Best regards,
Mr. XXXXXX
Chelo
This is my cover letter and I did everythig as it says:
To: U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service
Texas Service Center
4141 North St. Augustine Road
Dallas, TX 75227
From: Mr. XXXXXXX
ADRESS st,
City, State, zip code
Tel: (111) 123-4567
Email: whatever@whatever.net
mm/dd/yyyy
RE: Original Submission of Application for Employment Authorization
A# ?????????
Dear Sir or Madam:
Please find enclosed the application package for Employment Authorization (I-765) of me, Mr XXXXXXX.
Aplication form and Supporting documents are enclosed arranged as follows:
Form I-765 (EAD) dully filled
Filing Fee: Personal check in the amount of $340, payable to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security;
Receipt notice of form I-485, copy of the receipt,
Identity Document: copy of Visa issued by Consulate, copy of Driver License,
Photos: Two color passport photographs placed in an envelope;
Other supporting documentation: Copy of I-140 approval notice
Kindly, process the above referenced application at your earliest convenience.
If you have any questions or need additional information, feel free to contact me at any time. Thank you in advance for your consideration to this matter.
Best regards,
Mr. XXXXXX
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arunkotte
06-04 09:46 AM
Monday, June 4, 2007
2:30 p.m.: Convene and begin a period of morning business.(Morning business at 2:30pm :cool: )
Thereafter, resume consideration of S. 1348, the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act.
2:30 p.m.: Convene and begin a period of morning business.(Morning business at 2:30pm :cool: )
Thereafter, resume consideration of S. 1348, the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act.
more...
rpulipati
09-11 05:03 PM
See ya all there!
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sku
09-11 01:54 PM
This Poll is for EB2 applicant whose priority Date is current but are waiting for approval.
Last Option Sept 2004 - Jan 2005 Priority Date ...Should be read as Oct 2004 - Jan 2005 Priority Date.
I
Last Option Sept 2004 - Jan 2005 Priority Date ...Should be read as Oct 2004 - Jan 2005 Priority Date.
I
more...
IneedAllGreen
06-28 02:47 PM
Apreciated your quick response.
Use your PERM labor one - thats the safest, I have used that - Attorney signed off saying that is right
Use your PERM labor one - thats the safest, I have used that - Attorney signed off saying that is right
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belmontboy
01-26 02:22 PM
Hi Friends, I searched through some of the prior posts and did not find the answer. I am not looking for cities to live in from the point of view of job, taxes, weather, desi population, desi amenties such as movies, restaurants etc. I am looking for answers from our indian friends living in various parts of usa, about where they felt was the best place for their children to live and go to school in terms of less racism and equal opportunities at school and playgrounds. I am also not looking at the whole state but cities themselves.
Many of us can't choose our job and where we want to live. but children are more vulnerable than us and in an environment you may not be able to control. A pooled information from my friends will be useful to me and I am sure my other friends. Also information about cities which you didn't like from your children's point of view and may reconsider living in if you had a chance.
I will say it first- some of the smaller cities in PA are not the best for your children.
Thanks in advance.
you could consider - Torrance, CA .
Warm Socal weather, beautiful and affordable houses, proximity to Beach, very good school districts, close to LA and SD.
Loving every minute of my stay there :)
Many of us can't choose our job and where we want to live. but children are more vulnerable than us and in an environment you may not be able to control. A pooled information from my friends will be useful to me and I am sure my other friends. Also information about cities which you didn't like from your children's point of view and may reconsider living in if you had a chance.
I will say it first- some of the smaller cities in PA are not the best for your children.
Thanks in advance.
you could consider - Torrance, CA .
Warm Socal weather, beautiful and affordable houses, proximity to Beach, very good school districts, close to LA and SD.
Loving every minute of my stay there :)
more...
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CantLeaveAmerica
04-16 02:06 PM
I am willing to move to Flower Mound, TX. Any info will be greatly appreciated!
Hi,
I used to live in Dallas, TX before. Flower Mound is an excellent place, great school district if u have kids, lovely houses and residential community, close to both DFW airport and Grapevine Mills Mall...u couldnt ask for a better place!
Hi,
I used to live in Dallas, TX before. Flower Mound is an excellent place, great school district if u have kids, lovely houses and residential community, close to both DFW airport and Grapevine Mills Mall...u couldnt ask for a better place!
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Macaca
12-15 01:41 PM
My lawyer had the following lines on this issue:
However, on a positive note, you are eligible for a special benefit for persons born in India subject to immigrant visa retrogression issues. Since you have an approved I-140 visa petition, you will qualify for a 3-year extension of H-1B visa status, with subsequent extensions possible.
It appears that the 3 year extension may not applicable to all countries. If you are not from India, you may like to check. If you check, please post the results for other persons. Thanks.
yes you will eventually get a 3 year extension after you run out of 6 year term (assuming the new company files perm and the retrogression is still there and your I140 is approved then......)
However, on a positive note, you are eligible for a special benefit for persons born in India subject to immigrant visa retrogression issues. Since you have an approved I-140 visa petition, you will qualify for a 3-year extension of H-1B visa status, with subsequent extensions possible.
It appears that the 3 year extension may not applicable to all countries. If you are not from India, you may like to check. If you check, please post the results for other persons. Thanks.
yes you will eventually get a 3 year extension after you run out of 6 year term (assuming the new company files perm and the retrogression is still there and your I140 is approved then......)
more...
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smads
03-07 10:42 AM
sorry guyz have still been trying to find out what needs to be done....
sendmailtojk,
i was on a vacation and boarded from australia....it was a unique situation....when i left my PP was valid for 7 months when i came back it was valid for 5 months....
watzgc,
I renewed my PP on time but never did anything about my I-94.
I did a lot of research and have some updates for everyone.
1) My lawyer says we file for a petition that typically asks for forgiveness so that i dont get a 3 yr bar. dont know what that petition is called but it translates as "now for then". [can only be prepared by a lawyer and would cost me $1000]
2)I spoke to an immigration officer and he said it is a very common mistake and most of the times they just question the person and let them go. he said not to worry abt the 3 yr bar. he also said that the 3 yr and 10yr bar is more for the tourist visas where people actually think they have a 10yr visa so they can stay here for 10 yrs.
And yes like watzgc he also said file for extention I-539 i think.[costs only $300, anyone can fill it out and send it to USCIS]
now lets see if my lawyer will go with what she thinks is right or will she go with what the immigration officer thinks needs to be done.
I also think that these lawyers try to scare us and get all fancy things done so that they can charge as much as they feel like.
thanks for being so prompt and sorry for not replying sooner,
smads
sendmailtojk,
i was on a vacation and boarded from australia....it was a unique situation....when i left my PP was valid for 7 months when i came back it was valid for 5 months....
watzgc,
I renewed my PP on time but never did anything about my I-94.
I did a lot of research and have some updates for everyone.
1) My lawyer says we file for a petition that typically asks for forgiveness so that i dont get a 3 yr bar. dont know what that petition is called but it translates as "now for then". [can only be prepared by a lawyer and would cost me $1000]
2)I spoke to an immigration officer and he said it is a very common mistake and most of the times they just question the person and let them go. he said not to worry abt the 3 yr bar. he also said that the 3 yr and 10yr bar is more for the tourist visas where people actually think they have a 10yr visa so they can stay here for 10 yrs.
And yes like watzgc he also said file for extention I-539 i think.[costs only $300, anyone can fill it out and send it to USCIS]
now lets see if my lawyer will go with what she thinks is right or will she go with what the immigration officer thinks needs to be done.
I also think that these lawyers try to scare us and get all fancy things done so that they can charge as much as they feel like.
thanks for being so prompt and sorry for not replying sooner,
smads
dresses iphone 4 wallpaper resolution.
tinamatthew
07-20 09:49 AM
What happens if I get my EAD after 180 days of concurrent filing i-140 & i-485, and my employer no longer has a vacancy for me. Can I start at another job or do I have to refile the i-140. (I'm not presently working for the company yet)
more...
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Sreenuuk
06-15 03:35 PM
No need to write "None"..just leave it blank. Thats what my attorney told.
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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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harsh
12-30 02:08 PM
elanegeng and curiosity_76 welcome to Alabama state chapter. Nice to know that there are people in alabama stuck in retro. For a while I was getting alone in here :). I am in Huntsville. Where are you in bama curiosity_76?
Lets stay in touch. We can share our contact information so that we can get in touch with others when we have to meet lawmakers or other important events.
Lets stay in touch. We can share our contact information so that we can get in touch with others when we have to meet lawmakers or other important events.
royus77
06-30 05:27 PM
Guys and Gals,
It's all speculation... Wait and see... we will all be fine... if you have your papers ready then file it.......
I'am staying positive..... Want y'all to do it too....
All the best....
I will fly to Nebraska on sunday night and deliver it on Monday
It's all speculation... Wait and see... we will all be fine... if you have your papers ready then file it.......
I'am staying positive..... Want y'all to do it too....
All the best....
I will fly to Nebraska on sunday night and deliver it on Monday
pappu
06-14 08:50 AM
This drive will continue until we meet our goals
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