Turtle Tattoo Designs

Does letter for initial interview makes sense for EB petitions. May be gurus from the the forum can comment.

http://www.indianexpress.com/sunday/story/250682.html


THE BRAIN RAIN
PALLAVI SINGH
Posted online: Sunday, December 16, 2007 at 0000 hrs Print Email
Shouri Chatterjee comes across as a regular guy from Kolkata, fond of reading and meaningful cinema.

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MOON VILLAGEGREEN BUCKSBARGAIN BRIDESNIGHT WITHOUT ENDBang for the buck

Shouri Chatterjee comes across as a regular guy from Kolkata, fond of reading and meaningful cinema. Every morning while cycling his way to his tiny office at the Indian Institute of Technology-Delhi (IIT-D), he mingles with his students. In fact, he�s often mistaken for one. But he dispels the impression with a firm, �I�m here to teach.�

And if you ask his seniors at the institute, this simple statement from the US-returned electrical engineer means a lot to IIT-D these days.

Contrary to what most IITians with a BTech degree in hand and a foreign stamp on their post-graduate degrees did in the 1980s and �90s, Chatterjee abandoned his dollar dreams at the Silicon Laboratories in the United States to join the institute in November last year. A PhD from Columbia University in New York, Chatterjee says he knew all along that teaching and research were his �true calling�.

He is not alone. The 38 other men and women who have filled up faculty positions at IIT-D in the last 18 months, would agree. The new recruits, many of them under 35, reflect a trend that is slowly picking up across all the IITs. Most of those who have joined are either first-time teachers or have taken to teaching after a few years of experience in the industry.

For 32-year-old Anirban Mahanti, for example, teaching at IIT-D is a job change for the better. The shift from a three-year-stint as an assistant professor at the University of Calgary in Canada to teaching at IIT-D may have meant a �big downer� financially but in terms of freedom in research work, the gain, he says, cannot be translated into monetary terms. �In industry-based research, you just do what the company wants you to do. Here at IIT, we set our own pace and do what we want to do,� he adds.

While Prof Bijendra N Jain, Deputy Director (Faculty) at IIT-D, insists that the emphasis on recruiting young faculty is not new, he admits much is being done to �incentivise� the lot.

This month, IIT-D introduced the Outstanding Young Faculty Fellowships. The fellowships, currently numbering 26, offer Rs 1 lakh per annum to the select faculty for a period of five years. Jain says IIT-D hopes to launch about 500 such fellowships in the next five years.

�Creating fellowships are most important to us now than anything else. Return on money invested in a young faculty usually exceeds everything else. They are young, enthusiastic and several of them have left lucrative jobs abroad to join us,� says Prof Jain.

The institute has also asked the Department of Science of Technology under the Ministry of Science and Technology to launch at least a thousand fellowships for young science teachers across the country.

Similar efforts were made at IIT-Bombay when the institute announced a signing bonus of Rs 3 lakh for its new faculty with help from its alumni. It even significantly increased seed research grants to Rs 10 lakh to new faculty members from Rs 3 lakh in previous years.

Educationists say compensation packages are the need of the hour to build a pool of young teachers as a large number of faculties across IITs, hired at a time they were being set up in the 1950s and 1960s in anticipation of excellence in science and engineering education, are nearing retirement.

�The faculty was recruited some 30 years ago. Only a few years ago, we realised the fact that many of them would be retiring,� explains MS Ananth, director, IIT-Madras.

While IIT-Bombay has a faculty strength of 420 with about 100 vacant positions, it is not alone. Figures at the seven IITs reveals an estimated, cumulative shortage of at least 900 faculty members.

At IIT-D, about 20 percent of faculty positions are vacant. Further, according to a report prepared by its alumni association in 2004, more than 20 per cent of its most experienced faculty would retire in the next seven years.

The shortage is most acute in IIT Roorkee, which has a sanctioned strength of 575 but only 345 on the rolls.

So, IIT-D, along with IIT-Kanpur, IIT-Roorkee and IIT-Madras, has standing advertisements for faculty positions in all departments. And, the progress has been �good� as against a �dull response�� until a couple of years ago. �About 50 per cent of the applications we receive now are from teachers settled abroad. They all want to teach at IITs,� says Prof Jain of IIT-D.

The recent recruitments have pushed the number of teachers aged under 35 from 15 to over 30 at IIT-D and �Brand India� is one of the reasons behind the rising numbers.

In the 1990s, Prof K Achuta Rao, now 43, would come looking for research jobs in the field of climate change in vain. �Two things have happened since. First, the Government is encouraging quality research and second, a great research pool is being created here with the advent of big research labs setting up shop here. This is the time to be in India and be part of the changes it is undergoing,�� says Rao who joined IIT-D this June after working in the US for over two decades.

While Rao�s decision to come back to India took two decades, young IITians have decided pretty early. Statistics show that only three of IIT-Kanpur�s 273 BTech students and two from the integrated MSc course went abroad last year. All others�267 MTech students, two-year MSc grads and MBA�-stayed back in the country. In Delhi, of the 1,000-odd job seekers, only one student went abroad to join a financial consulting firm. At IIT Mumbai, 95 per cent of the students were placed in India while in Madras, only two BTech students went abroad.

But the lot willing to take up teaching and research is �still a faraway dream,� says Mahanti. �You can�t say that the US hangover is over. But there has been some sort of reverse drain. That doesn�t mean we should no longer be worrying about brain drain,� he cautions.

You will have to file the WH-4 form to DOL. Please do the search in this forum/internet as this has been discussed many many times.

USCIS is cracking down on employers. Whether you are on project or not. Doesn't matter. Employer has to pay you or lay you off and provide ticket back home.
Once you file WH-4, ball is in the court of USCIS/DOL/Employer for unpaid wages.

Thanks for your Reply.
My Employer is also threatning me that if I ask him for salary then he will lay me off and immediately send me back to India.
can he do like this ?

as we know the answer now
can somebody close this thread before people start writing one after other their last name and center.

DLs are all managed at State level, but there is an effort to standardize it. My wife applied for DL/Learner's permit in AZ. We had H4 valid thru Aug 31, and an extension starting Sep 1, but they refused to give us the extended period. Their explanation - the software would not allow it. They could not enter information based on 2 documents because the Notice of the extension did not become effective till Sep 1. We had to go back & get it extended, and they did it without another test. But we had to pay another fee.
And, I basically got a lifetime DL because I had applied way back in the good old days, 1998!

Yes, AC21 applicable. But as i said, you "ported off of a unapproved I140". You have to keep that in mind. If you currently don't have a lawyer, get a paid consultation.

Question 3 : I never worked for my sponsoring employer. It was a future job offer. Can I use AC21 portability? TOP

Yes, under the same circumstances as Question 2. However, USCIS is more likely to question your past intent to work for the sponsoring employer.


MurthyDotCom : AC21 Frequently Asked Questions (http://www.murthy.com/news/UDac21qa.html#3)

Quikc question
Want to understand how your files 485 in June2008 for EB3? Was it for India or some oter country?

Thanks for your prompt reply.

My I-94 has already expired .So should I put that validity date??

I-94 was for H1B and it is already expired.Working on EAD and didn't travle out of USA so doen't have new I-94.

Thanks again

If you don't have a valid I-94 then you could add your AP expiration date as the validity date

I personally think, contacting lawyer for tracking number is not breach of contract.

Try your HR first, give some time. Then sseend a decent reminder - tell them how important it is say ur wife has to travel etc...

Then send some pleasant emails to lawyer office, call them. Copy your HR also.

Have anyone heard any updates from AILA about this issue? if one knows this for sure, atleast in these days, people can start working a second (may be non-technical) job on EAD...that way you should be able to save some money for the rainy days...

AILA wouldn't be the ones to update us wouldn't they? USCIS is the one that makes the call. We can pester AILA to ask for an "update on the status of the decision making process" and that would likely make them finally do something.
I've asked the ombudsman on this issue. Never got a response.

IMHO:
I think that after a year (It must be getting close now) of being formally asked by AILA, USCIS basically must allow moonlighting under an EAD because they did not cite any law against it. They basically accepted AILA's interpretation when they stated that they "took it under advisement" and left it at that. Even if there is a magical law that appears now barring the practice, their inaction after so long has "blue skied" the moonlighting for at least those already practicing it. What alternative conclusion could an immigrant draw?

Thanks for your prompt response.
- still I feel that only because I received just now after 8 years this A#, seems to me that only at this time I'm registered as an immigrant?
That is what alien number means in English ? Sorry.

Vali:

USCIS assigns Unique A# for each individual, who files I485 , some people recieves A# even in I140 too.

When your adjustment of status application(I485) approves then you will be registered as Permanent Resident.

Pappu's response is exactly correct. Because you have an advanced degree, you meet the first prong of the NIW test. But, that is the easy part. Meeting the 3 criteria Pappu lists is much more difficult, and, as a practical matter may require you to demonstrate not only the "substantial intrinsic merit" and value of your work to the US national interest, but also your unique/exceptional ability to do that work.

Every lawyer is a businessman. And every businessman has a success story to tell to advertise himself. And you are unknowingly doing viral marketing. Look up on Google what viral marketing it. Has any of these lawyers done viral marketing of IV or greencard backlog action items on their forums and newsletters? So why are you advertising them? You go around town asking lawyers if they did any case successfully Showing a Valid Employer-Employee Relationship. And you will mostly get Yes answer so that they get more business. So why promoting only one lawyer.

Not sure why some folks make a big deal about some lawyer getting some advertisement. I don't work or favor any specific lawyer. I am posting some information that could be helpful to the community. If you read through that posting, you will see some smart wordings that could shut out USCIS memo.

Consider it for its content rather than who is writing it. For me IV is the primary forum. All other websites just supplement the information. We should welcome information wherever it comes from if we can benefit from it.

I went to Delhi recently for emergency appointment. The person who replied to my email (within 12 hours) told me to call next morning.

He gave me option for next day and told me to bring demand draft rather than their receipt for HDFC bank (lady at the counter did ask me about it though).

You should complete the online application as per their recommendations on website. It is very important. They would avoid data entry by you doing so.

Counter Lady put a blue sticker on my passport just like old times and asked me to collect my passport from embassy counter itself.

After usual long wait, I was interviewed and even though I did not have some of the documents she asked, she did not create any problems.

However, she said since my application is not cleared in PIMS, she is helpless in issuing visa. She gave me pink slip with ' petition not in PIMS' and emergency appointment written over it.

She asked me to check status on line at NEw delhi embassy website.

Anyway, it took them 2 weeks to clear PIMS and I had to postpone my flight 2 times. Emails to them is useless. they would not reply at Delhi. Phone is answered between 2-3 PM and I have to constantly redial many many times before some one will pick up.

I asked for them to return my passport many times so that I can return on AP but they would not do that. (could have been risky long term as my I 140 is not cleared yet). My h1b attorney`s paralegal did advice me to come back on AP if I am at risk of loosing my job. She said usually going back to H1b is very simple process even after you enter on AP.

Anyway, If you have AP, think twice if your employer is not willing to wait longer than necessary.

By the way my information was never updated on website even after I got the visa. My wife was calling DOS in US and they were very helpful in telling the status of PIMS.

Hopefully that helps you in your difficult times.

What was the cause for H1B rejection??

My H-1 B was not rejected, just application got returned back to the lawyer because some form was missing in it. They had refiled it back.
I donot know any other details, as lawyer did not share it with me..

Congratulations....Hope we have more approvals.

I applied my EAD in Nebraska as OH falls under it's jurisdiction and got my approval in 2 weeks. Thought of sharing so that some one may find this information useful.

Labor Priority Date: EB2 - 2007 April - India
I-140 Applied: 05/15/2007
I-140 Approved: 08/10/2009
I-485 Applied: 07/26/2007
I-485 Status: Pending

I have an LUD on my I-140 on 04/20/2008(Sunday)

Hi Elaine... could you please address the question from mhtanim above..

Have you used AC21?

What are the implications if for some wierd reason your I-485 gets denied and you dont have an H1-B to fall back upon?

Say you have an H1-B which is extended for 3 yrs( based on approved I-140) from now till 2011, in the year 2011 your I-485 file is opned and its not approved for some reason so will you get another 3 yr extension for H1-B ie till year 2014?

When you are switching employer with AC21 using H1B you can get a transfer to the new company for 3 years and get extensions from the new employer when that 3 year expires. So no worries... Enjoy

We were talking about taxes at work and someone mentioned that all bank accounts in home country should be reported to IRS. I opened a bank account(NRE) in India before I came to US and get minimal interest income from it. Should I be declaring the income to IRS? The income is so low that I don't have to declare it in India so I didn't bother. I do not have a green card (am on H1B). Can you confirm if I am supposed to provide this info in tax returns. I did do some research on this and from news articles it seems like what my colleague mentioned is true. How do I go about providing all the info now? Is this going to impact my GC process?

Hi,

I got the standard RFE
1) End date in client letter
2) EE relationship
3) show project validity till h extension requested( 3 years)

RFE response to be received on or before July 10 2010

With all problems from vendor and client i was able to get letters but my lawyer sent the packet on July 9 and when I was tracking the status it says that UPS due to some unforeseen reason will now deliver this packet on 7/12 ..2 days after deadline, the packet has sent date 7/9 and was marked next day AIR

My question is

) Am I screwed in this case and my H1 is gone. current H1 period expires 07/15
2) Or will USCIS will accept the respnse since it was posted before on 7/9

I am so mad at my lawyer but looks like H1 is gone and I have to pack my belongings ...

any advice please

It might be possible. Otherwise you can go for appeal if the approval goes south.