Q&A’s published on the World Journal Weekly on May 12, 2019 1. What Can I Do When My H-1B Transfer Petition Gets a U.S.C.I.S. Request for Evidence and I Have Already Transferred to The New Employer? 2. Does A Step Relationship Survive a Divorce Where There Is A Remarriage? 3. What Should I Do With My Pending Asylum Case When I Am Now Married to a U.S. Citizen? 4. Daughter Gave Up the Green Card For Leaving the Country For Too Long – Can She Get It Back?

1. What Can I Do When My H-1B Transfer Petition Gets a U.S.C.I.S. Request for Evidence and I Have Already Transferred to The New Employer?

I worked for company A under H-1B status and was then sponsored by company B for the H-1B transfer, and I moved to the new company when it received the filing receipt from U.S.C.I.S. That was legal as confirmed by the company lawyer. Now we have received a request for evidence from U.S.C.I.S. asking it to explain why my position of business analyst is a specialty occupation. My company has 45 people in it and creates business software for Wall Street finance firms.

Mr. Lee Answers:
Your case sounds reasonable for success in answering the request for evidence, especially if the company lawyer is well-versed in H-1B law. Your options are to stay with the company which is sponsoring you until it receives the decision, or if you feel extremely negative about the chances of success and company A has not yet taken steps to cancel your H-1B status with U.S.C.I.S., you can go back to work for company A. Further steps to involve a third company sponsorship to stay here in the US without leaving or to change status to another category would be dependent upon the success of company B in responding to the request for evidence. This is not to say that the above are all the options, but quite probably are the most relevant to your situation.

2. Does A Step Relationship Survive a Divorce Where There Is A Remarriage?

I am a US citizen and want to know if I can sponsor my stepmother who married my father when I was six years old, divorced him when I was 13, and remarried him when I was 21. They love each other and I am very fond of her as she basically raised me and even lived together from time to time during the time that they were divorced.

Mr. Lee Answers:
A step-relationship lives and dies in the duration of the marital relationship. There is no blood involved, and so a divorce effectively ends a step-relationship. A later marriage would not serve to revive the relationship in the past. Your stepmother would have to find another means to immigrate, most likely through the petition of your father if he is either a US citizen or green card holder.

3. What Should I Do With My Pending Asylum Case When I Am Now Married to a U.S. Citizen?

I applied for political asylum in 2017 and have not yet been scheduled for an interview at the asylum office. In the meantime, I have married a US citizen who will sponsor me for the green card. What should I do know? I entered the US with a visitors visa and have no problems with fraud or crimes.

Mr. Lee Answers:
There are two schools of thought on how to proceed – one is to file the paperwork for the green card and then ask to have the asylum case closed and the second is to file for the green card and keep the asylum case going as a backup. We favor the first approach as it is the less complicated route and there is a distinct possibility that the asylum applicant may not be allowed to withdraw at a later stage.

4. Daughter Gave Up the Green Card For Leaving the Country For Too Long – Can She Get It Back?

My daughter went overseas to study when she have the green card, and did not return for three years. When she did, she was given the choice of either giving up the green card or seeing the immigration judge. She gave up the green card. Two more years have since passed and she is finished her studies and wants to return to the US. Can she still return on the green card? If she had it, it would still have three years left on it.

Mr. Lee Answers:
If your daughter already gave up the green card, it would be difficult to reclaim it at this time. A more likely scenario would be re-petitioning for her green card. If you are a US citizen or permanent resident, you can file an I-130 petition for alien relative on her behalf.