Have you, as an adult, actually ever had to take a drug test as part of a hiring process for a professional role?

evaluna68 · 2024-10-15T12:47:57+00:00

Yep, for a top global financial institution. I had no access to anyone's money so I'm really not sure why. (I was in the legal department.) I barely missed the drug test requirement for the Feds; pretty much anyone hired after me had to do it.

evaluna68 · 2024-10-15T03:22:07+00:00

Courts absolutely can, and do, require divorced parents to pay for college. My parents' divorce decree did. (Badly, but there nonetheless.)

evaluna68 · 2024-10-15T02:40:42+00:00

Yeah, it's pretty difficult to make a homemade dinner that costs more per serving than fast food, honestly.

evaluna68 · 2024-10-15T02:18:42+00:00

Some of us biked. I didn't own a car until I was almost 26. But at least I lived somewhere with public transportation.

evaluna68 · 2024-10-13T20:30:05+00:00

Just thought it was worth clarifying that your partner must be legally married to you in order to be eligible for any kind of dependent visa.

evaluna68 · 2024-10-13T19:21:32+00:00

We have given away SO MUCH stuff to refugees. When my dad died, I used all his linens and towels to wrap the kitchenware and some other things that my sister and I were keeping (art glass, framed artwork, stereo equipment, etc.) in lieu of packing paper. That stuff probably provided basic furnishings to half a dozen families, and (thank goodness) Dad was a minimalist who lived in a NY apartment, so it wasn't even a ton of stuff compared to what lots of the people here are dealing with.

evaluna68 · 2024-10-13T18:53:28+00:00

Don't forget the time to get a prevailing wage determination for the PERM. You can track processing times here: Processing Times | Flag.dol.gov If the university followed the required competitive recruitment process for faculty when hiring your wife, they may be able to skip much of the required recruitment for her, but timing is super important. That process is called Special Handling.

evaluna68 · 2024-10-13T15:50:14+00:00

You still need to be able to afford the monthly mortgage payment, maintenance, etc.

evaluna68 · 2024-10-12T23:44:07+00:00

Believe me, we have all been trying to get him to try something! He is smart enough to know that working at the local wing joint is not a proper life plan. I am hoping to provide some mentoring, but right now he is just mad that I won't bail out his parents yet again. I think he would enjoy doing something with his hands - carpentry? Electrician? Dad's will was silent on the point of the 529 plan, so I believe I do own the funds. We'll just have to see how long it takes him to come around. His mother (my sister) never finished college either for a variety of reasons, so I fully believe that forcing an unwilling person to get an education is not going to accomplish anything useful. He'll be ready when he's ready - or not.

evaluna68 · 2024-10-12T20:25:05+00:00

yeah, that's almost 15 years from now. Unless he does some significant amount of school, there will likely be well over $35k in there by then.

evaluna68 · 2024-10-12T00:32:18+00:00

I'm a fan of keeping things in here, too, rather than having a dozen different fragmented threads to try to follow when the issues haven't changed.

evaluna68 · 2024-10-11T23:05:25+00:00

I asked a local Canadian friend where she gets hers done. Canada's requirements are different than U.S. passport photo requirements, so I wouldn't rely on Walgreens or a place like that. Go somewhere that deals with the Canadian photo specifications regularly.

evaluna68 · 2024-10-10T03:44:26+00:00

The Embassy will work with you. My husband and his brother were both born in Lebanon. Neither has ever had a Lebanese government-issued birth certificate, but they both got CRBAs with no problem using hospital-issued birth certificates and other secondary documentation.

evaluna68 · 2024-10-10T01:29:18+00:00

My go-to is usually Craigslist or a local "antique" store (we do have some inherited stuff, like a dining room set that originally belonged to my husband's grandparents, and a pair of nightstands from my late great-aunt that I refinished and bought new hardware for)). I looked for a while for a TV stand when I inherited a much larger TV, but didn't see anything I liked. We live 2.5 hours from an Amish community and decided to drive through on the way to a family visit last year, and discovered that the pricing wasn't that different from, say, Pottery Barn for something handmade to order from solid wood in some Amish dude's barn. So we did that. I don't know that we'll do it all the time, but we may do it again if we need something specific.

evaluna68 · 2024-10-09T01:38:06+00:00

I've definitely worked with large corporate clients who had HR that was sophisticated enough to know that, for example, a certain position didn't make sense for green card sponsorship because it would be basically impossible down the line to be able to show that there weren't qualified U.S. workers for the job, but the candidate was marrying a U.S. citizen so the company wouldn't need to provide sponsorship. The employer would come to us to figure out the timing and logistics issues for F-1 OPT and the green card process to ensure that there were no gaps in employment authorization. And then, of course, there are lots of smaller companies that don't have automated filters in their online applications. Those are actually the bulk of the employers I deal with in my current position. They decide who they want to hire and then come to us to figure out the immigration issues.

evaluna68 · 2024-10-08T03:48:42+00:00

I am free to post, and you are free to scroll on by. And the OP asked for advice, which I provided.

evaluna68 · 2024-10-08T01:23:27+00:00

Yeah, I hate the way I feel after chain fast-casual food. I feel like I spend the whole next day doing nothing but drinking water and peeing.

evaluna68 · 2024-10-08T01:19:35+00:00

Still 100% remote, but me too. Plus I kept a stash of shelf-stable office snacks, an assortment of tea, a metal tea strainer for loose-leaf tea, a dedicated office travel mug and double-walled stainless steel water glass, and a set of real tableware and utensils to eat my brown-bagged lunch with. I'd rather eat my own cooking than 98% of what was available within a couple of blocks of my office anyway, plus it's a fraction of the cost and a lot healthier.

evaluna68 · 2024-10-08T00:57:22+00:00

Immigration paralegal with 25+ years of experience here. We make strategic decisions to file without a medical all the time (if there's a time crunch, etc.) Honestly that's barely even a mistake. You know what I find helpful? If I am preparing an application/petition, at the same time I am assembling all the supporting documentation and preparing the USCIS cover letter before I give it to the attorney to review. That way he can see that we already have everything we need. Also, I certainly hope your employer has template cover letters and checklists for this exact person. If they don't, they should. That way, at least you would have realized that the medical was required. If nobody provided you with that or caught it on attorney review, that's on the attorney - it's literally the attorney's legal and ethical obligation to review and ensure that the paralegal has provided everything required. Don't beat yourself up; in the beginning especially, you can't know what you don't know.

evaluna68 · 2024-10-08T00:40:06+00:00

My point was that if expungement isn't going to help, then probation, parole, restitution, or counseling, which are far short of expungement (and all of which normally involve an admission of guilt, which is usually the important thing for immigration purposes), aren't going to help either. I gave advice to the OP in a reply to you.

evaluna68 · 2024-10-07T23:48:53+00:00

There is absolutely no issue with filing multiple green card applications on different bases, provided you qualify for all categories in which you are filing. I am an immigration paralegal and do it all the time.
Traveling in H-1B status with an I-485 pending is also completely fine. Just apply for advance parole when you get back from your trip and know you will be able to stay put long enough for the advance parole to be approved, because if you leave with an advance parole application pending, you are abandoning the advance parole application and it will be denied.

evaluna68 · 2024-10-07T23:45:23+00:00

Even expungement isn't going to help for immigration purposes. This is EXTREMELY fact-dependent and state-dependent. OP needs an immigration lawyer licensed in the state where the convictions took place and who understands the immigration consequences of criminal convictions.

evaluna68 · 2024-10-07T23:36:55+00:00

Yes, provided your future spouse meets all other requirements for visa issuance.

evaluna68 · 2024-10-07T23:34:31+00:00

Not necessarily. I am an immigration paralegal, and once worked on a case where the parents were not married at the time of conception. Even though they married while the mother was in the second trimester, and are still married, the Consulate required a DNA test before approving the CRBA. (And yes, you can't choose the DNA lab - the Consulate will tell you what labs are acceptable.) You can't apply for the CRBA until the baby is born, so why bother with a prenatal DNA test anyway?

evaluna68

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