Henry1

Yes, you probably are right SusieQQQ

RThat's a very interesting find, designguy.

Yes, I understand, it would be hard to get anyone from USCIS to give any verdict on my involvement with FL, but would be interesting to know their way of thinking about such cases.

It would also be interesting to have access to their "Document Finding Tool" to see what it says about FL and availability of their documents, if I said I could not obtain them, despite calling and sending emails.

It would also be good to have access to an immigration lawyer who used work at USCIS, and who would know how this know kind of case would be dealt with.

I'm happy to pay for a professional advice as long as I know I can rely on this advice.

I might actually start looking for a US based immigration lawyer with experience of working at USCIS, who would be able to answer my questions.

Designguy thank you for that link.

It answers my question.

I might not have been clear enough, so let me rephrase my question.

If my current perm would run of date, at the end of 6 months, would any company be having troubles in the future to apply for a new perm for me?

Is there a time period that needs to pass before a new perm could issued for me?

Thanks

If I let this perm to expire, as it is valid for 6 months, would I be able to reapply for another term in the future?

8 hours ago, SusieQQQ said:

Reading further, around why legislation exists about payment, the approach this company has engaged in violates the concept of how to go about the PERM process and that is where the main problem lies (it can also be viewed as the applicant buying his application). I agree, it sounds like an agency or something else not entirely genuine which could have problem for all its “successfully sponsored” people down the line.

 

The one thing the legislation is very, very adamant about payment is that the employer must pay the attorney fees, even if the attorney represents both the applicant and the employe.

 

edit... DUH it took me a while to realize - this is the why the company is so adamant it has to be that lawyer. Because others know what they are doing is wrong.

So, what exactly is that they are doing wrong?

8 hours ago, designguy said:

Do you know any of these people personally who can vouch for this?

 

Definitely sounds like a scam to me. Could be a 3rd party recruiting agency? Costs aside, the process is so long and emotionally taxing I wouldn't put my eggs in a basket that seems unlikely to pass.

 

 

Yes, I do know , personally someone who went through the same process and got his visa

8 hours ago, designguy said:

If you don't feel comfortable discussing the process with your employer I would question the relationship you have with them. I would be EXTREMELY hesitant of any type of situation where you are paying the employer or 3rd party for any immigration services. If the CO gets any hint you are paying someone to sponsor you, your petition will be denied. Do you currently work for the company in some capacity? Or how were you connected to them?

 

The company doesn't have to pay ALL the fee's, they need to cover the all the costs related to the labor certification. I-140 fees can be paid by the beneficiary. Here is an example https://www.bridge.us/blog/should-your-company-bear-immigration-costs

 

 

The I-140 is the Immigrant Petition for an Alien Worker your employer makes to USCIS. Your I-140 has to be approved before your application is sent to NVC and you are able to fill our the DS-260

 

This is kind of a tough one. You are basically asking for them to adjudicate your case prior to making an application which as far as I know they will not do. Thats the whole point of making an application in the first place. I highly doubt someone at USCIS is going to give you advice on whether you should or should not make an application. It will be up to the CO to make a determination if whatever documents you supply are satisfactory. Your best bet is to gather the best evidence and documentation you can and make your case.

 

It's not that I don't feel comfortable discussing the process with the employer. I did discuss the process and I was informed they wouldn't be paying immigration lawyer fees.

From what Susie QQQ posted, it seems employer is required to pay for my perm, and nothing else, so they have done that, I wasn't paying anything until now, I got my perm, and I am required to pay lawyer fees from now on.

Do you think an immigration lawyer would be willing to risk his licence, and maybe even imprisonment, if he/she wasn't sure whatever he was doing was legal?.

It's so easy to report them to authorities, if you notice he is not acting in accordance with law.

Any lawyer would have his bases covered and I'm it is the case with this one.

Regarding asking US immigration department questions.

I would only be having one , specific question, I would only want to find out whether providing information I have about my stint in FL, would my application be approved or rejected?

I don't want them to pre aprove my application, only want to find what would be the likely outcome of their assessment.

9 hours ago, Boiler said:

The big advantage with the EB3 if you get it is that you can bail and get a job somewhere else commensurate with your skills and at an appropriate salary.

That's what I have also heard

5 hours ago, designguy said:

They can refuse you a visa on any basis they want really. As the perm is done your employer can file the I-140. Are they waiting for you to agree to pay the fees to move forward or why have they not filed yet? You also stated you are not french. What is your nationality? Is your priority date current? 

Your issue with the service in the foreign legion probably won't be an issue with the I-140, the issue will be when you do your consular processing. They will want to see the discharge paperwork and if you don't provide it they will most likely deny the visa and put your into Administrative Processing until you send them the requested documents.

I am not sure what I-140 form exactly is, as I haven't looked too closely into that to be honest, al I know is that when filling DS260 I will have to declare all military service I have done in my life and that's what made me think about that FL stint, and that it could be a problem.

I could probably provide them with some military documents from FL, I could employ a French lawyer to work on this, and I could maybe even get pardoned, but the key question is, will it be enough to satisfy US immigration department.

The best would be if I could email US immigration department directly, ask them my questions, describe my situation, and ask them if there is any point in me filing my application, and spending all that money, because if there is no chance getting approval, then I wouldn't even bother applying and spending all that money, but I could not find anywhere any email address, nor a phone number.

1 hour ago, Boiler said:

Seems like you are rolling the dice with a lot of questions unanswered, anyway good luck and let us know how it goes.

If there any other questions I missed, please let me know.

Thanks

Hello Guys

No, I'm not ducking any questions, was just busy at work and thought would reply later.

I work as a computer programmer, have quite a bit of experience in this field, and if you have some skills that are in demand and companies struggle to fill their positions, it is easier to get someone to sponsor you.

It is not going to be the best job in the world, but if you want to move to other country, you need to expect to drop a level or two, in terms of pay and benefits you are accustomed to.

I would say , any job, where there is a shortage of qualified workers would be ripe for sponsorship, it's just a case of looking through ads , and finding a company that struggles to keep workers.

I've never said this company has hundreds and hundreds of people willing to work for the, what I only said that there are some people I am aware of that have gone through the process successfully , got their visas, and are legally working in the US.

I don't think my nationality is relevant, what I can say, is that I am not from any MENA countries, I am European, white, Christian, as this info might be relevant.

Do you Sussie still think it is a scam, if so, let me know what am I missing here?

Do you by any chance have a link that would state that the company sponsoring me must pay all fees, otherwise make me pay is illegal?

I would be interested to read about it, and discuss it with the company sponsoring me, but I suspect this would not go down well.

The visa I am supposed to be getting is EB3 visa.

Yes, the job offer is legit, the company that wants sponsor me has gone through all necessary steps, the immigration lawyer got me a perm, which I had to sign and return back. 

Yes, it is one of the EB visas.

The immigration lawyer didn't say it is she didn't know anything about my case, she said she never dealt with such a case, but she couldn't see wh7 US immigration could refuse me a visa as she was not aware of on what basis they could refuse?

The process, job offer are legit, as I know people that have gone through exactly the same process, and successfully got their green cards.

I haven't paid any lawyer fees, as I was told they could delay all payments until I get my perm, before starting the next stage.

Yes, you are right, unfortunately the employer is not willing to cover these costs, it is basically, take it or leave it.

Yes, I am aware that medical exam is only valid for 6 months and should only be done right before the last stage, before the visit at the US embassy, to have your visa approved.

As I wrote earlier, I only did the medical examination tor myself, to make sure all was fine with me, so to make sure that I would not be rejected at the last stage, after paying all these fees.

If I went with this sponsoring offer, I would need to get all these medical examinations done, right before my embassy visit, provided I got successfully to that stage.

Yes, you are right, the company sponsoring should be paying all the fees, unfortunately they are not willing, as they have enough candidates wanting to be sponsored, so they told me, I needed to pay all the fees.

They also told me , so far they have 100 percent success rate and they trust the immigration lawyer they are using and they won't be changing them for anyone else.

That's why, I need to make sure I minimise all my risks, I need to make sure I understand what can go wrong and how likely it is that it can go wrong.

I have gotten myself, in advance,  all criminal history checks from all the countries I lived in for more than 6 months, I have done privately all health check required by the US embassy, that are going to be required, right before my meeting with the embassy officials, at the last stage if the whole process, so I have all these bases covered, the only thing I need to resolve is my involvement with FL.

Yes, they do have an immigration lawyer, but after talking to the lawyer, I could sense she was not sure what the outcome is going to be.

She even admitted, she has never come across such case.

I could sense, she wasn't too concerned about the outcome of the case, as she knew my involvement with FL will be dealt with at the end of the proceedings, when I have already paid all her fees.

No matter if my case is going to be successful or not she will get all her fees paid before hand and if it is not successful, it could always be put down to the case being unusual, or difficult, no one she knew of ever dealt with such case.

That's why I'm looking for independent advice, from someone who is not involved in this case and has no financial benefit in keeping me as a paying client.

Off course I would be happy to pay for an independent advice, if there is anybody out there who knows anything about such matters, or maybe knows anybody who dealt with a similar case.

I'm applying , being sponsored by a company as an employee.

Thank you gents for replying.

I haven't started my application, yet, just got in touch with the immigration lawyer, who is going to be taking care of my case, I asked him what kind of documents am I going to be asked to supply, and when he mentioned that I needed to provide details and documentation of every military service I've done in my life and criminal history checks from every country I lived in for more than 6 months, an alarm bell rung in my head, and I started thinking , what about that FFL service I did all those years ago? Will it need to be declared and after realising it would have to be declared, I started thinking, this might cause some problems.

Unfortunately my immigration lawyer has never dealt with such case, so  he doesn't know what to advise me, but he said I wouldmhave to declare it

For the time being I have put it all on hold until I convince myself I won't just be wasting time and money pursuing this, just to be told, at the end, my application is going to be rejected, as immigration lawyers fees are quite steep.

That's I'm here trying to find out what other, more knowledgable people on here think about my chances to succed.

Just to answer your questions:

1. Regarding this quote " military record is available to French citizens whether or not military service has been performed." and that link you have supplied , SusieQQQ.

Thank you very much for that link, it looks like some official way of getting my FFL records, but it says it is for French citizens, which I am not, but worth trying nonetheless.

2. I was never fighting with the US' , as France is and was part of NATO, so a friendly armed forces.

All I did was spend around 6 months on a mission as a UN soldier abroad, never had shot at anybody.

I went there as a very young guy, but after realising , that at some stage I might have to shot at other people, who might be defending their country against, France, a country I had nothing to do with, emotionaly, after coming back to France from that UN mission, I decided to leave and never come back, but there was not an official way of just asking or applying to leave, as every legionaire is bound by that 5 years contract he signs at the start.

I enjoyed the life, doing a lot of sport and getting paid for it (not much), but I didn't want to support France's policies, as it wasn't my own country, and I realised, I had nothing to do with France.

Thanks

Thanks for replying.

The thing is, I signed a 5 year contract, and served only just over 1 year.

I left on my 3 weeks holiday and never came back.

That was over 20 years ago.

I wanted to get copies of my documents from FL, I phoned them, and was asked to send an email to the address they provided, and I would get my copy.

I've done it several times, but received no reply.

I suspect they could have tried me for deserting, and there could be a record if the sentence on my FL file.

When I spoke to them over the phone, I was told nobody is looking for me at all, as every year there are so many people deserting FL for various reasons.

When I spoke over the phone with a french lawyer I was told that most likely my case went through military court and there was some sentence imposed, but after 6 years it expired.

The lawyer said I could go through a court and ask to be pardoned.

I applied for a criminal history check from France as I lived there for over 6 months, and it came clear.

What do you think about it now?

Thanks

Hello

I have an opportunity to apply and get a US Green Card.

There is one thing from my past that my impact, or not my visa application.

Some time in the past I served in French Foreign Legion.

Does anyone know whether this military service would negatively impact my application.

I'm not French.

Thank you