E-blitz for the Memorial Day Week ending: Saturday, April 5, 2014

Dear Parents of Brides and Grooms living the world over!

A few weeks ago, I wrote on "10 Matching Points in Janm Kundli ~ 13 Other Personal and Visa related Issues lingering? And the Plight of NRI Parents in U.S., in seeking Matrimony!
This week, I take parents "behind the scenes" to present some of the challenges they face in the Matrimony of their wards here in the U.S. stuck under various visas and why their efforts are not culminating into matrimony, because many of them seem to be in dark when they come to me and seek Parental contact information ~

I find many of them innocent or not knowledgeable on such matters and most of the times, their wards don't communicate with them enough on visa related issues! I say to these parents that "U.S. H1B and Other Visas ~ Thou art "A Social Evil" in the culmination of Indian Matrimony! of your wards!

In this Newsletter, I will analyze how, another dimension of different visa issues relative to one's entry into the U.S. and the current visa status one may be on, are yet seriously affecting one's prospects in matrimony.

Many of us who live in U.S., we all have come here at one time or another on different kinds of visas; others, are children born in the U.S. and have become citizens of this great nation by birth! It looks to me as though different kinds of visas issued by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)) are like "Navagrahas" starring at each other looking in different directions, NOT wanting to marry one another; strange as it may appear, honestly that is the truth -- it is like some Gujarati's saying "we are Gujarati Leuva Patels and we want only Gujarati Leuva Patel" or some Punjabi's saying "we are Punjabi Khatri and we prefer Punjabi Khatri's only"! or we are Tirunelveli or Arcot Saivappillai's and we ONLY want Tirunelveli Saivappillai's! And many parents don't even realize this "third dimension" of "bottleneck" that the visa issue poses to the wedding prospects of their children! here in the U.S.

Many parents and brides and grooms respond to profiles in various leading matrimonial portals, without knowing whether their son or daughter in the U.S. on a particular visa is even eligible and/or qualified to seek and marry another type visa holder and respond blindly to many with so called "expression of interests"!

In many cases, they draw a blank! And they don't understand the silence from the other side! In order to determine whether such marriages are possible within people holding different types of visas, living in the U.S. or outside, one has to understand what are different kinds of visas do people hold in the U.S.or, on which they are here and what stage of the game they are, into transiting from one visa to another. So let us get an understanding of people in the U.S. under different visa status:

1. VISITOR�VISAS�(B1, as they are classified) - are�visas�issued to those who come to the U.S. as�a�tourist, for pleasure and/or visiting relatives and friends. Many years ago, one could come to the U.S. as�avisitor, seek admission into�a�college or University and change his/her status from that of�a�visitor to�a�student status under I-20; not true anymore, seeing more and more people abuse this privilege the USCIS is now strict about change of visa status after you have entered the U.S. on�a�B1 type visa; they mandate that you return to your home country and seek�a�fresh visa under that specific status for�a�re-entry into the U.S.�� U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) �has become very strict about change of visa status from�a�Visitor (B1) category into another,� after you have entered the U.S.�

2. BUSINESS VISA (B-2) as it is classified as,� are those issued to Corporate Employees and to others to visit the United States for specific business purposes, such as to take�a�USMLE tests, etc, call on their customers, usually for�a�month, or two or three, although you can come to the U.S. as many times as you want. Some companies from India are deputing their employees to come and work with their clients temporarily for�a�period of time, under B2, usually not exceeding three months. It is�a�convenient visa for employers who have no long term need for an employee to be in the U.S., except for�a�brief stay for 1-2-3 months; employers usually resort to this visa, because it takes them long or is expensive to process their�H1B�visas.� USCIS has now become very strict to limit B2 business visa holders stay to more more than 2 weeks, from the date of arrival, unless the visitor justifies to the immigration official, upon entry, the need to be here long enough, such as seeking admission into Medical Colleges (for Residency), taking personal interviews, doing clinical rotations, etc.� USCIS is now NOT permitting B2 visa holders to work at Clients’ sites.

   VISITOR/BUSINESS VISA - I do not recommend any kind of visa holders in the U.S. to get married to someone with this status, because the nature of his/her visa is purely temporary! If you are on�other�visa which allows you to stay longer in the U.S., such as�H1B, F1, etc.,� marriage to this category visa holder will be�a�hindrance, as a request for change of visa status in the U.S. will be denied.� The Spouse may have to go back to India and re-enter U.S. seeking another kind/type re-entry! Generally,� these types of visa holders do not seekmatrimony�while in the U.S. for�a�business/personal reason! Do not marry another individual if she/he is in the U.S. under this B1, B2 type visa! including U.S. citizens. Status Adjustment from within the U.S., is NOT easy any more! and may entail such visa holders to return to India and seek re-entry!

3. STUDENT�VISAS�- (F-1, as they are called, issued on the basis of an I-20s issued by an "approved" College or University in the U.S. are issued to foreign students coming to the U.S. to pursue higher education (academic studies) in the U.S. as�a�full-time student, with�aminimum� enrollment of at least 9 credit hours per semester in that specific school.� About 69,000�Indian�students enter the U.S. under this visa classification alone every year! It used to be that once you have been issued an I-20 and you have obtained your F1 from the American Consulate, you could almost come to any port of entry in the U.S. and go to your school; or come to the U.S. with an intent to joining one school and totally wind up in another school; yes, people used to come to the U.S. with two admissions in their pockets, and then make up their minds where to go! After the 9/11, USCIS is very strict about your joining that particular university/college where you have been granted admission and arriving at the nearest International Airport to that campus town! They do not want you to come to the U.S. more than one month to six weeks� before you are scheduled to begin your orientation/ classes!

   STUDENT VISA HOLDERS are permitted to bring in their spouses to the U.S., if they are already married, provided they can show additional Financial Guarantees (for supporting the spouse) when�a�student is undergoing higher education in the U.S. You must include your spouse into your I-20 application if you�re�married, even though she may not accompany you, initially. This is important,� if you wish her to join you later! For those who are NOT MARRIED, your best bet is to seek�H1B�visa holders, in�matrimony.

4. TRAINING (OPT)�VISAS�-� once the student has graduated from the college, he or she is allowed�a�one-two year "free ride" to "seek�a�job" any where in the�U.S. and to slide into what is called "a�training visa" or OPT, upon graduation.� This date usually reckons from the date of official graduation of a student from the University/college, he/she has been attending; � at the end of that one-two year period, he/she should have transitioned into an "Employment or Work Permit Visa" which is called�a�H1B;� if he or she has not found�a�job at the end of one-two year window,� he/she should return to his/her home country.� If someone has stayed beyond that one-two year period, without sliding into�a�H1B, he/she is deemed to have violated U.S. visa regulations and can be denied�re-entry into the U.S, in the future.

   I find many parents seeking matrimonial alliances for their daughters some time as soon as they have arrived in the U.S. as�a�F1 or sometimes before they are getting ready to graduate. I would say seeking�matrimony�as soon as they have arrived and�trying to culminating�a�marriage about the time they are ready to graduate is VERY good timing and strategy indeed�! Usually after graduating, they are going to get into�a�Training Visa termed as "OPT" for�a�year or two and then begin transitioning into�a�H1B�visa, if they are successful in getting�a�job. it is�a�great time (window of opportunity) to find that "life partner" of her choice, get married to him and then move into the spouse's hometown to seek job opportunities there and commence the�H1B�process and begin married life together, in the same town/city! Even if they don't get�a�job they are looking for within that "one-two year window" of OPT, they can transition into�a�H4 (as�adependent of�H1B�visa).� But as is often the case, boys and girls become more focused or obsessed in seeking�a�job immediately upon graduation, then they go into�H1B�mode transitioning into Green Card phase and then become permanently "married to their jobs" and miss that "window of opportunity" to get married upon graduating! And this poses�a�challenge to find that suitable partner later, because he or she cannot RELOCATE! Parents, see if you can emphasize to your daughter, the point to "get married upon graduation"� when she is sliding into�a�OPT visa, that is�a�nice window of opportunity, to your children!�� However, many brides get job offers before they graduate and often times are forced to go where their employer needs their services.� The fact that many of them have taken on educational loans ranging from Rs. 30 lakhs ~ Rs. 50 lakhs to pay for their two-year M.S. Degrees towards tuition, boarding and lodging, depending on where they went to school, puts them under tremendous pressure to accept whatever job comes in their way and begin to meet EMI obligations of their educational loans!

   RELOCATION, RELOCATION AND RELOCATION, HAS BEEN THE SINGLE MOST BARRIER IN NOT ALLOWING MAJORITY OF THE MARRIAGES FROM CULMINATING!

1. WORK PERMIT�VISAS�- (or�H1B�as they are classified), are�visasthat permit foreign (Indian) students under F1 to slide into this visa category after their graduation and finishing up their OPT training visa period, when he or she gets�a�job offer or those being sponsored by their employers (from India) to work in the U.S. ~ under this visa which is classified as�H1B. This is an employer sponsored visa and one should obtain�a�letter of offer from their employers to be able to apply for�a�H1B�under this classification. In good old times when President Bill Clinton sponsored foreign workers to come to the U.S. to work, the visa application fees used to be about�US$500; it is now at $2,500 +, sometimes paid for by employers, most times, paid for by the applicants themselves. Work Permits or�H1B�visas�can also be applied by employers in India wanting to send their employees to work in the U.S. for their offices and clients. Earlier this decade, USCIS used to offer 69,000 work permits�a�year which were easily taken as soon as they became available; later on�a�"lottery system" was devised to select the "lucky winners" because the number of seekers of this visa grew two-fold than the quota but within the last year or two, this visa quota is filled on the day it opens, April 1 of each year, or within a couple of days, soon thereafter ! The largest end-user of this visa now are students who come to the U.S. for higher education and are transitioning into Work Permit or�H1B�situations, from Student-OPTs.� Because if 69,000 students come to the U.S. every year on F1, that many are graduating each year and are rolling over into H1B status, finding gainful employment.

   WORK PERMIT�VISAS�are granted initially for�a�period of 3 years, extendable to another 3 year term, at the end of which�H1B�visa holders should return to their home (or foreign) country for�a�period of 1 year, before seeking to return to the U.S. on another�H1B�visa or they should be sliding into�a�"Green Card" situation! sponsored by their employers ~�H1B~GC ~(see number 5 below). Strangely, I have also seen some boys and girls seeking graduate admissions for a second F1 while in the U.S., to earn a Second M.S./M.B.A. Degree, about the time their first H1B is about to elapse and have manoeuvred to go back to a second OPT and a H1B! outsmarting USCIS!����

   Why most boys who on on a straight H1B visa status remain unmarried?� If the boys are on straight H1B visa, and into their second 3-year term on H1B (NOT SPONSORED FOR A GREEN CARD, BY THEIR EMPLOYER), girls shy away from such alliances, because their question is "what will I do with the boy if has to leave the U.S. when his current H1B status ends?!"� "Where will he go?!"� "What will he do?!"� and most importantly,� "What will I do with the marriage?!" and "if I should have a child(ren) by virtue of this marriage?!", is a big question nagging at these brides! because of uncertainty of the boys' future that they face, in matrimony! � High paying IT industry jobs in India are "gone for good"! and wages are falling off the "cliff"!� Unemployment of Engineering graduates in India is at an all time high! � So the H1B brides in the U.S. are constantly seeking� U.S. citizen/Green Card Holder boys in hopes of getting married to one!� As most brides would like to permanently settle down in the U.S. in matrimony.

   4 (a) ~ H4�Visas�~ SPOUSES OF WORK PERMIT (H1B) VISA HOLDERS, joining them from India after�matrimony�are classified as "H1B�dependent", into�a�sub-classification called H4. These dependents of�H1B�visa holders are not permitted to work legally, when they enter the United States,� unless they have found�a�job, where an employer has offered them�a�letter of employment, which they could submit to USCIS and get their dependent H4 visa changed to�H1B�visa, before joining duty. In mid 1990's, there was�a�craze amongst�Indian�boys holding this type�H1Bvisa to go to India and get married; the parents of boys would line up 3 or 4 or 5 girls for the boy to come from the U.S. and see all of them, within 2-3 days after his arrival; the brides were "paraded" in front of the bridegrooms ~ he would then select�a�spouse to be married to and the wedding would be celebrated in 2-3 weeks and the girl would return to the U.S. with�a�H1B�dependent� (H4) visa; within�a�month or two of her arrival,� she would find an employer offering her gainful employment and her visa status would be changed to�H1B.�� That is not true NOT ANY MORE! With acute unemployment prospects in the U.S., it is no longer easy for�a�spouse to come to the U.S. and find gainful employment and change her status from�a�H4 into�a�H1B�-- "she has to sit on the bench" at home", so lots of Parents of�Indiangirls DO NOT WISH to give away their daughters in marriage NOW to Indians generally living in the U.S. on H1Bs! Hence you find boys living in the U.S. under H1Bvisa, struggling to get married to girls from India. Moreover, the girls being well qualified as they are in India are able to find very well paying jobs within India, so they are saying, "why even bother to come to the U.S. and "sit on the bench?" type attitude prevails with many of the girls and their parents now! Most boys going to India in search of matrimonial alliances are therefore returning "empty handed"!

2. TRANSITION FROM WORK PERMIT INTO GREEN CARD STATUS: Once�a�H1B�visa holder has found an employer willing to engage his services, then those under "Work Permit" or�H1B�visa holders can apply to transition into�a�Green Card Status, if sponsored by his/her employer into such GC; this filing is�a�multi-step process, and is deeply involved! first step being to file for�a�ETA-750 for "Labor Certification", followed by�a�Petition to the INS to become an immigrant, by filing Form I-140 and eventually seeking an adjustment of Status by filing form I-485. In this series of process, first the Department of Labor has to certify that since the employer cannot find someone equivalent to him or her (whose petition has been filed by the employer) ~ process called "Labor Certification"; this procedure of Labor Department certification used to take�a�year or two earlier; and then the employee was ready to be processed into�a�Green Card Status, which took another two or three years. Very soon the employers began to realize that those employees who got the Green Cards left them soon for "greener pastures". Because of this,� employers stopped sponsoring their employees for Green Card, the backlog of Labor Certification grew at the Labor Department and the employers learned that they did not benefit by quickening the pace of awarding Green Cards to their employees under�H1B�because they were leaving them lock, stock and barrel as soon as they got their GCs, there began�a�huge build up and time lag in obtaining Labor Certifications. For businesses, this is�a�ploy to retain highly skilled labor, very loyal and very dependable, serving them for many, many years, without interruption, at very competitive wages and delivering quality work, slugging for 65 ~ 72 hours�a�week! Why would any employer want to change this scenario?!

   5 (a) Within the above process (H1B~GC) are three categories (i) EAB-1 ~ persons who have�a�PhD degree, whose Green Cards are issued under an "expedited" "express process" scheme ~ which takes about 6~9 moths ~ based on proof of demonstrated work on their PhD thesis and papers being published and accepted by leading journals in their own fields, and meeting the six-point criteria established by USICS. � Often times, those who have�a�PhD wait until after they are married to apply for the GC under this category, as they can include their spouses for�a�GC as well, at the time of applying, which is granted under the rules ~ so you get "two for the price of one"! Claimants of GCs under EAB-1 are significantly very low in number every year; so PhDs have an advantage in this area!� PhDs do not need an employer sponsorship to file for their Green Cards; they can do it on their own! � (ii) EAB-2 are those professionals who have�a�Masters Degree from the U.S. that fall into this category! Most of the 3,000 ~ 5,,000 GC's allotted annually, each year, go to this group (iii) EAB-3 are professionals who have just�a�B.E. M.C.A., degree from India, or an undergrad, ~ this category of applicants get the least preference for the number of slots allotted in the total number of 3,000 ~ 5,000 GCs per year, so their waiting time for getting�a�GC for them, could take much, much longer!

   For those seeking�matrimony, who are on either F1, OPT and H1Bvisas, your best bet is to seek�other�H1B~GC visa holders inmatrimony, living in the U.S. or finding�a�spouse from India or�othercountries, if you can convince her to come here under H4. The advantage here is that if either spouse were to lose their job by virtue of "lay off" and is NOT able to find another job within the 30 day grace period allowed within which you can legally stay in the U.S., it allows either of the spouse to convert into�a�H4, live here in the U.S. and continue to seek job opportunities. That is the secret of H1Bs marrying H1Bs.

   PARENTS OF THIS SEGMENT OF�H1B�VISA HOLDERS ARE FINDING IT VERY, VERY DIFFICULT TO FIND ALLIANCES FOR THEIR BOYS AND GIRLS TO GET MARRIED, PRIMARILY FOR SEVERAL REASONS; let�us�examine some of them:

   (A) The boys and girls are "married" to their jobs by virtue of�a"hope, dream" to get their Green Cards, being "dangled" in front of them, "some day, one day"! Because they are under their employer sponsored transition into Green Card Status from�H1B�through an intense and multi-step process, explained above, they find themselves unable to leave their current job and to relocate to another city or town where the boy or the girl might be, because once they leave their "employer sponsored�H1B-GC transition jobs", they will lose their line in the queue to get the Green Card and will have to start this intense and laborious process all over again! And this they "shudder" to do!

   (B) Brides from India are not that terribly excited these days to get married to�H1B�visa holders from the U.S, because they know that they will have to come here as H4 and "sit on the bench" in the U.S. because it is not easy more to find�a�job in the U.S., as it used to be before, due to prevailing economic conditions.

   Most of you Brides, seeking�a�prospect in�matrimony, wanting to come over to the U.S., are seeking out bridegrooms who are on�H1B�Status here in the U.S.� and in getting married to one, you will come to the U.S. under�a"H4" dependent visa of your husband who may be into�a�"straight"H1B�or transitioning�H1B~GC (into different stages),� with an H4� Status,� legally not permitted to work ~ so most of you will probably "sit on the bench" in your apartments upon arrival, while your husbands are still toiling and roiling away at work M-F 7:00 am to 8:00 pm, and some times working on Saturdays too! So if you come unprepared, you will go through�a�very painful experience of being "chained" at an apartment! or "sitting on the bench!

   But if brides from India know the situation that you are going to get into and come fully prepared for it, with�a�pre-requisite to go to college for higher education, such as�a�GRE, GMAT and TOEFL and�other�prep tests taken, you can enroll yourself in�a�college to do your Masters or PhD. By virtue of the fact that your husbands are "deemed residents" in most states where they are employed, (because they are paying State taxes), you don't have to pay exorbitant "out of state tuition" for enrolling as�a�full-time student, (from H4~F1),� immediately upon your arrival, with full credit hours! as do International students on F1�visas, coming from India!� "To be forewarned is to be forearmed" or so goes the saying, so "try to make lemonade out of lemon"! Come fully prepared! And when the economy turns around in�a�few years, you would have graduated with�a�Master's degree on F1 status, ready to launch yourselves onto an OPT~and thence to�a�H1B�~ and� there will be plenty of job opportunities around for you!�

3. (C) Brides who have filed for H1Bs recently are seeking bridegrooms who are transitioning from�H1B~GC, who are more closer to getting their Green Cards, so they can transition into their spouse's GC petition. Their intent here is to settle down in the U.S. via�amatrimony.

   (D)Brides who are on H1Bs are also churning off bridegrooms who are into their second 3-year term of�H1B, (and not transitioning into GC), facing�a�dead end in the U.S., and looking at options to go to�othercountries like Canada or to return to India for good! Bridegrooms, there are brides in Canada in our Initiative ready to embrace such well educated and highly qualified grooms from the U.S. So plan ahead!

   (E) U.S. citizen brides and bridegrooms do not wish to court�H1Bbrides and grooms for reasons of incompatibility in their manners and customs! And upbringing! For U.S. citizen brides and grooms, they are�a�taboo!

   (F) Unmarried U.S. brides with just� with a B. E. in Engineering or MCA degrees from India are seeking bridegrooms with Masters and PhDs and brides who have Masters from the U.S. are seeking PhD, M.S. MBAs, and so on. And many Phds Brides are seeking Phds Grooms and there is NOT enough to go around! for all of the brides!

   One source estimates that the backlog of filing by�Indian�passport holding Boys and Girls in "eligible for marriage" group between the ages of (24 ~ 38) and living in the U.S. under�H1B�and transitioning into�a�"Green Card status" through employer sponsored GC Petitions has swollen to well over 300,000 petitions; this number is just not for South�Indian�Brahmin boys or girls, but of all boys and girls of�Indianorigin alone, who are now positioned themselves into that "transitioning into Green Card" status. The number of filings has swollen significantly since the beginning of 2008 to cross that 300,000 barrier. The USCIS is NOW handing out ONLY 3,000~5,000 green cards each year under this category to persons ofIndian�origin on�H1B's transitioning into GC ~ so you don't have to bea�mathematical genius to figure out when you will be getting your green cards, particularly those of you who have applied for�H1B~GC transitioning within the last 2 ~ 3 years! It is my understanding that those of you whose petition filing dates were confirmed for the last quarter of 2006, are ONLY just NOW getting their green cards! So it is easy to figure out when you will get your GCs!� For some, it could take as many as 25 years, if not longer!

4. GREEN CARDS are Immigrant�visas�that are granted to many eligible dependents of U.S. citizens under various preferences, their children besides those who filed for�H1B�visa holders transitioning into Green Card, usually sponsored by their employers. These Green Card Holders are also called Permanent Residents. Availability Green Cards is limited on the "Quota" of Green Cards granted to each country every year, so the prospect of one getting�a�Green Card as�adependent of U.S. citizens stretches out to almost 15-20 years now. Since the total number of Green Cards is limited in numbers by quota to every country, every year, different for different countries, and since everyone from India is lumped into that pool of "quota for GC for India", sometimes the availability of the visa numbers extends the time as to how soon one can get them; often,�H1B�visa holders transitioning into the Green Card category are limited by visa availability number under Green Card category, which I understand is about 3,000 ~ 5,000 or so per year! Reportedly there was�a�provision included in the 2013 Immigration Reforms Bill introduced and passed by the Senate to hand out Green Cards to those who have graduated with�a�M.S. Degree from the U.S.� but the House of Congress has decided to not move ahead with Immigration Reforms Bill of the Senate version! � There is no knowing, if and when this Bill will move through the House this year!

   GREEN CARD HOLDERS cannot be away from the U.S. for an extended period of time, beyond 6 months, without obtaining�a�parole ~ otherwise their�re-entry is becoming an altogether difficult with a different procedure to reapply and seek�re-entry. It is an inconvenience that Parents of children who have become Green Card holders go through, because they have to be back in the U.S. every six months to keep their GC "alive"!

   For you the brides from India and�other�countries, seeking bridegrooms who are Green Card Holders or Permanent Residents, from the U.S., our advice would be: You can NOW get married Green Card holders from the U.S. and can join your spouses in the U.S. on Green Cards under the Second Preference�F2A�category visa (granted for Spouses) and (unmarried children under 21) soon,� as theF2A�category visa has moved to "Current" Status as of September 9, 2013,� in so many years! and is stalled there right now! This means that those Green Card Holders can get married to brides from India and�Other�Countries and expect their Spouses to join them quickly!

   About 19 months ago,�F2A�category visa came onto the "Current" Status on the radar screen of the Department of Immigration for�aweek or so and then it "blinked"! moving back to "backlog" situation, pushing back the "waiting game" for the spouses of Green Card holders into�a�few years!� I am keeping my "fingers crossed" that,� that is NOT the situation this time!� Parents of brides from India have been very "wary" of "giving away" their daughters in�matrimony�to Green Card Holders, because of the huge backlog! and waiting time involved for their daughters to join their husbands in the U.S.�� With the�2FA�category moving to "Current" status recently,� the waiting time to join your spouses in the U.S., has been greatly reduced.� For those on F1 and/or�H1Bstatus in the U.S., can marry Green Card Holders and seek�achange of their visa status and get�a�Green Card soon! � Be sure to talk to your Immigration Attorney on your specifics! 2FA spouses joining their husbands on�a�Green Card can take up jobs right away upon arrival! they do not face a situation like the H4's marrying H1B's.

5. U.S. CITIZENS - This class of people are children of those who migrated to the U.S. in the sixties or seventies and early part of eighties or children born to those who migrated in those years. Or others who came to the U.S. with�a�GC and became naturalized citizens, over the years! They consider themselves�a�special "breed" and I find them generally not interested in marrying�Indian�Students,H1B�Visa holders and recent Green Card Holders.

   I would highly discourage�other�visa holders from even attempting to lure this group of people, unless you H1Bs and Permanent Residents get "an expression of interest" from the U.S. citizens. Please do not send an "expression of interest" in wedding portals �to U.S. citizens ~ as you will not get any replies! If U.S. citizens are looking for non-citizen or brides from India, they know how to get hold of you!

   Alternatively, after you have been in the U.S. for�a�period of five years continuously, as�a�Permanent Resident or�a�Green Card Holder, one can apply to become "A�Naturalized Citizen", for those that are not born in the U.S. This procedure can take about�6 months to a�year from the date of filing before you are "Sworn-in" as�a�Naturalized Citizen, after one has spent�a�period of five years from the date of getting the Green Card. One could apply 6 months prior to completing the prescribed 5-year period when one becomes eligible to apply for Naturalized Citizenship.

6. L-1 VISA ~ employer moved (relocated) visa from one country to another ~ For instance in Chennai or Bangalore offices in India that allows him or her to come and work in the U.S. for the Home Office or Parent of that Company in the U.S ~ L1 is�a�non-immigrant visa ~ unless of course the employer sponsors you for�a�GC within�a�year from the date of your arrival into this country! If not the filing time may have expired.� And in these days, employers are NOT filing Petitions for Green Cards to their L1s, as the U.S. Consul in Chennai, India is keeping a "tight watch" over grant of L1's.� All issuance of L1s are now centralized at the U.S. Consulate in Chennai.� This visa is non-transferable to�other�categories described above (except that ONLY an employer may, under special circumstances, agree to sponsor the employee for�a�Green Card); the L1 visa terminates once your employer ceases to employ you or transfers you back to where one came from or to another affiliate in�a�third country; or expires at the end of the first 3-year term, for which is usually granted;� it is somewhat unpredictable as to when your job in the U.S. will terminate and/or when you will be transferred back to your home country or to another third country, at employer's will and choice! (L-2 is�aclassification for the dependents of L-1, such as spouse, children.� U. S. Consulate in Chennai where all Petitions for L1 are now centralized and reviewed has become very tough in approving L1 Petitions. because many Indian body shops were abusing this visa privilege, by sending in their employees at clients' sites! � Moreover, many leading�Indian�software body shops are under�a�probe by the Justice Department for violating the visa rules under this category, so these companies are becoming concerned in even applying for�a�L1 visa for their employees.� Recently, INFOSYS settled with USCIS to pay $13 million in fines, for various visa rules violations, without admitting "guilt"!� So many Indian body shops are strictly following the rules of USCIS, in being compliant!

   H1Bs do not wish to marry�a�L1 because usually they find it difficult to get�a�switch from their L1 to�H1B�status, neither can they convert themselves into�a�H4 ~ moreover, if an L1 were to be transferred in his/her job to another country, the spouse may not be able to leave the country, particularly if he or she is on�a�H1B�transitioning into�a�GC ~ hence the H1Bs usually shun L1. If , of course, the L1 employer has sponsored for�a�GC, then that is�a�different matter altogether! Even then it poses an uncertainty, until you get the GC in your hands, because if your job is terminated by the employer prior to your getting the GC in hand, you may not get the GC ~ as if the L1 does not have the "employer sponsored" job any more, he has to leave the country!

   An ideal option appears to be for L1s is to seek�a�bride from India but that is easier said than done! But then most brides seeking matrimonial opportunities from India are wanting to come here to settle permanently for good, so they do not prefer an L1 either! For brides on L1, the option would be to seek a H1B, settle the marriage, go back to India, surrender the L1 and return to the U.S. as H4 but then boys are not deeply interested in such an approach, because they do not know what will happen, to her "re-entry visa" once she returns to India!

7. J-1 VISA which is also called EXCHANGE VISITOR VISA is usually given to M.B.B.S. doctors and�other�highly medical oriented and PhD students seeking an entry into the U.S. to seek higher education and training, such as Post-Docs. � Under this type visa, one has to return to his/her home country or another foreign country for�a�2-year period, before one can seek�re-entry to the United States on another visa, although one can obtain waivers for this "two year limitation" by working for�a�rural hospital within the U.S. and also getting a No Objection to Return to India from the Government India. � It still is�atedious process to go through!
   

   Often times, one does not recognize that this type of J1 "Exchange Visitor"�visas�as they are called, often come with lot of "strings attached"! Limiting one's stay in the country (U.S.) for�a�period of time, does not allow one to change one's employer (sponsor), you have to leave the country to go back to your home (foreign) country for�aperiod of two years, before you can�re-apply to seek entry into the U.S. once again; even transfer of�a�J1 visa to dependent H4 of�a�H1B�(in the event of marriage to�a�H1B) often seems most strenuous and imposing! some times you have to seek�a�waiver from one's home country (India) such as a getting a No Objection to Return to India from the Government India, but often times, this is most time consuming procedure to get the waiver from GOI, with the�IndianGovernment red tape shuffling the paper work from one Ministry to another and often times, you don't get it as quickly as you just need, just before the expiration of the validity of your J1 and J2.

   In my opinion, J1 visa holders are facing even more of�a�serious challenge in their�matrimony�to�other�type of visa holders in the U.S. such as�H1B, Green Card and to even U.S. Citizens. No wonder some H1Bs, Green Card Holders and U.S. citizens do not want to get married to J1s. Parents of children holding J1�visas�go through�achallenging period in their old age! because of uncertain situations their children face in the U.S. with J1s.

   As in every situation, there may be� or can be an exception to every rule (above cited) in some specific individual cases but most U.S. Forums that I visited on J1's FAQs left the questionnaires lingering with no sound advice or answers!

   My advice to prospective entrants to the U.S. is try to come to the U.S. on�H1B�visas�by securing employment offers, rather than coming on�aJ1.� However, please realize that it is not doable in all cases - it is your employer and the U.S. Consultate that determines the type of visa you are going to be issued, based on your employer. � Or if you are here ona�J1, try job seeking and�matrimony�to someone in Canada, well ahead, to go away for that two year period, away from the U.S., exploring re-entry options later!

   Please find below�a�link to�a�site that answers "Most Frequently Asked Questions?" that will probably explain some answers to questions that your children holding J1�visas�face in the U.S

   http://www.hooyou.com/j-1/j1_j2_visa_faq.html

8. G4�Visas�~ are "non-immigrant" issued to foreign "diplomatic mission" employees stationed in the U.S., such as�Indian�Embassy, and those serving organizations like World Bank, IMF, WHO and United Nations! These are again "limited edition�visas" in that once you are transferred back or re-assigned to your home country for the Government Agency you are working, you will have to return to that country for good! G4 visas are not easily transferable.�
9. FIANCE VISA or�a�"privilege visa" for U.S. citizens is intended for those U.S. citizens who have met their girl friends overseas and would like to bring him/her into the U.S. under this visa classification; this procedure takes about�a�6~9 months for the Fiance to come to the U.S., after a Petition has been filed in her/his behalf! � Under this visa, once the prospective spouse comes to the United States, he or she is given�a90 day window to get married to the sponsor of the visa or to go back to his/her country (where they came from). U.S. citizens generally sponsoring such fiance petitions usually have made up their minds about the impending marriage, by previously visiting and dating one in their home country and that they definitely want to marry him/her, before this petition is filed!
   

   FIANCE’ VISA - I do not find lot Indians using this kind of visa but if you are marrying�a�U.S. citizen, the time taken to process this visa and for one to join�a�U.S. citizen (after�matrimony) are one and the same! Parents, check with�a�professional attorney if you really want to send (give) your daughters to prospective grooms in the U.S. under this visa; or if she is going there any way, she has checked out the rules and regulations!

10. RELIGIOUS VISA (or R-1 as it is classified as) is�a�type of visa under which most�Indian�temples are sponsoring their Priests or "Gurukkals" for services in temples across the U.S. Like the�H1B, it is granted initially for 3 years, extendable to another 3 years or so.
11. ARTISTS VISA (or P-1) as it is classified is granted to artists, visiting Carnatic musicians, athletes, cine and movie performers, etc.

DISCLAIMER: In the U.S. only a practicing Immigration Attorney can give legal advice on immigration matters; I am not a qualified and practicing Immigration attorney, thus cannot give specific advice on immigration matters! What has been discussed above, by way of sharing immigration information, is based on broad general guidelines obtaining (only) and may not apply to specific individual cases unique to them ~ exceptions to the rules always apply to specific individual cases and you should contact an Immigration Attorney on your specifics.

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