rbharol
07-01 10:45 AM
How did the show go?
wallpaper Desktop Wallpapers
dealguy007
04-28 09:43 AM
"Revitalizing the Golden State" looks great for reading but....
- Does legalized illegals really pay taxes?
- what is the possibility that they don't depend on Gov from the day they get their Citizenship?
- Illegals are here from more than 10 years....do the average age is around 40'.... they may work for 10 more years and then depend on Gov.
It is a know truth the advantage of giving GC to Legal EB's then Illegals but as you said we need clear message posted....
- Does legalized illegals really pay taxes?
- what is the possibility that they don't depend on Gov from the day they get their Citizenship?
- Illegals are here from more than 10 years....do the average age is around 40'.... they may work for 10 more years and then depend on Gov.
It is a know truth the advantage of giving GC to Legal EB's then Illegals but as you said we need clear message posted....
go_gc_way
08-29 01:14 PM
IV Members from Dallas can help with this.
Comments from IV?
Comments from IV?
2011 MAC WALLPAPERS - PC/MAC HELP
ivgclive
08-17 12:02 PM
EB2 or EB3?
Hello,
My I-140 got denied based on my Education.
I have 3 yrs + PG Diploma which is equivalent to US Degree according to my education evaluation.
Experience:
- 6 yrs of OUTSIDE USA experience
- 5 yrs of USA experience including 2 yrs of experience with current company.
- I am working as FULL time with an American Company at present
The JOB Description for PERM was:
"Bachelor�s degree in Computer Science plus 5 years experience; 3 year Bachelor�s degree plus 2 year post-graduate diploma in Software Engineering and 5 years experience acceptable. "
Gurus, please help me providing some info, if there is any chance of getting it approved if I file a Motion.. or what should I do next?
Since it was denied on Aug 4th this month, I have 30 days to reopen this case..
Please advise me..
Thanks in advance..
Regds,
Raju
Hello,
My I-140 got denied based on my Education.
I have 3 yrs + PG Diploma which is equivalent to US Degree according to my education evaluation.
Experience:
- 6 yrs of OUTSIDE USA experience
- 5 yrs of USA experience including 2 yrs of experience with current company.
- I am working as FULL time with an American Company at present
The JOB Description for PERM was:
"Bachelor�s degree in Computer Science plus 5 years experience; 3 year Bachelor�s degree plus 2 year post-graduate diploma in Software Engineering and 5 years experience acceptable. "
Gurus, please help me providing some info, if there is any chance of getting it approved if I file a Motion.. or what should I do next?
Since it was denied on Aug 4th this month, I have 30 days to reopen this case..
Please advise me..
Thanks in advance..
Regds,
Raju
more...
webm
12-19 03:12 PM
Bit sluggish at the year end, but loads of requirements lined up for January next year.
Hoping positive on this...In first Q atleast by March,09!! the market will be back from the backlogged IT projects boom..??
Hoping positive on this...In first Q atleast by March,09!! the market will be back from the backlogged IT projects boom..??
Prashant
06-20 03:20 PM
Done
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minimalist
04-03 12:30 PM
This definitely gives an incentive for people to start contributing. This is like for the people, by the people. To be able to have an organization with direct access to the USCIS in helping resolve desperate situations. But for this to continue to be in existence with that kind of outreach, needs monetary contributions from all members who are in their GC journey regardless of how safe or straight forward their case may be.
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green_card
07-13 12:34 PM
along with all the great work being done by IV, I have to admit, the one annoying thing that we have to contend with is the wild speculative rumors that spread like wildfire... can people please stop spreading these and just wait a few hours for the announcement....
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ArkBird
10-14 09:34 PM
Knock yourself out... After all happiness is not the only thing in life and what beats the double whammy of getting married and getting back on H1
God bless you my friend...
So I am in some real mess ....
I married to a gal in 2007 during my visit to my home country but it did not work out b/w her and me due to some family reasons. (Not divorced just separated)
I came back to US in 2008 and applied for 485. My green card got approved and now my wife is in my home country and I am in US.
Now my wife and I have reconciled and I want to bring her to US.
Can I apply for her Green card and bring back to US ASAP w/o waiting for 5 years as I married before approval of my GC. I can get papers from my home country showing that I got married way before my GC approval.
I did not show at any stage in GC application that I was ever married. I thought the marriage is gone so why show it and now it could hurt me. I even dont remember if there was any question regarding marital status on 485 application.
Please help me other wise I would just have to cancel my GC and go back to H1 to bring my wife here. I cant leave her any more with our stupid relatives who might again break our marriage.
Please help , I am very desperate.
So I am in some real mess ....
I married to a gal in 2007 during my visit to my home country but it did not work out b/w her and me due to some family reasons. (Not divorced just separated)
I came back to US in 2008 and applied for 485. My green card got approved and now my wife is in my home country and I am in US.
Now my wife and I have reconciled and I want to bring her to US.
Can I apply for her Green card and bring back to US ASAP w/o waiting for 5 years as I married before approval of my GC. I can get papers from my home country showing that I got married way before my GC approval.
I did not show at any stage in GC application that I was ever married. I thought the marriage is gone so why show it and now it could hurt me. I even dont remember if there was any question regarding marital status on 485 application.
Please help me other wise I would just have to cancel my GC and go back to H1 to bring my wife here. I cant leave her any more with our stupid relatives who might again break our marriage.
Please help , I am very desperate.
So I am in some real mess ....
I married to a gal in 2007 during my visit to my home country but it did not work out b/w her and me due to some family reasons. (Not divorced just separated)
I came back to US in 2008 and applied for 485. My green card got approved and now my wife is in my home country and I am in US.
Now my wife and I have reconciled and I want to bring her to US.
Can I apply for her Green card and bring back to US ASAP w/o waiting for 5 years as I married before approval of my GC. I can get papers from my home country showing that I got married way before my GC approval.
I did not show at any stage in GC application that I was ever married. I thought the marriage is gone so why show it and now it could hurt me. I even dont remember if there was any question regarding marital status on 485 application.
Please help me other wise I would just have to cancel my GC and go back to H1 to bring my wife here. I cant leave her any more with our stupid relatives who might again break our marriage.
Please help , I am very desperate.
God bless you my friend...
So I am in some real mess ....
I married to a gal in 2007 during my visit to my home country but it did not work out b/w her and me due to some family reasons. (Not divorced just separated)
I came back to US in 2008 and applied for 485. My green card got approved and now my wife is in my home country and I am in US.
Now my wife and I have reconciled and I want to bring her to US.
Can I apply for her Green card and bring back to US ASAP w/o waiting for 5 years as I married before approval of my GC. I can get papers from my home country showing that I got married way before my GC approval.
I did not show at any stage in GC application that I was ever married. I thought the marriage is gone so why show it and now it could hurt me. I even dont remember if there was any question regarding marital status on 485 application.
Please help me other wise I would just have to cancel my GC and go back to H1 to bring my wife here. I cant leave her any more with our stupid relatives who might again break our marriage.
Please help , I am very desperate.
So I am in some real mess ....
I married to a gal in 2007 during my visit to my home country but it did not work out b/w her and me due to some family reasons. (Not divorced just separated)
I came back to US in 2008 and applied for 485. My green card got approved and now my wife is in my home country and I am in US.
Now my wife and I have reconciled and I want to bring her to US.
Can I apply for her Green card and bring back to US ASAP w/o waiting for 5 years as I married before approval of my GC. I can get papers from my home country showing that I got married way before my GC approval.
I did not show at any stage in GC application that I was ever married. I thought the marriage is gone so why show it and now it could hurt me. I even dont remember if there was any question regarding marital status on 485 application.
Please help me other wise I would just have to cancel my GC and go back to H1 to bring my wife here. I cant leave her any more with our stupid relatives who might again break our marriage.
Please help , I am very desperate.
So I am in some real mess ....
I married to a gal in 2007 during my visit to my home country but it did not work out b/w her and me due to some family reasons. (Not divorced just separated)
I came back to US in 2008 and applied for 485. My green card got approved and now my wife is in my home country and I am in US.
Now my wife and I have reconciled and I want to bring her to US.
Can I apply for her Green card and bring back to US ASAP w/o waiting for 5 years as I married before approval of my GC. I can get papers from my home country showing that I got married way before my GC approval.
I did not show at any stage in GC application that I was ever married. I thought the marriage is gone so why show it and now it could hurt me. I even dont remember if there was any question regarding marital status on 485 application.
Please help me other wise I would just have to cancel my GC and go back to H1 to bring my wife here. I cant leave her any more with our stupid relatives who might again break our marriage.
Please help , I am very desperate.
hair 21 Beautiful Apple (Mac)
psaxena
01-19 10:05 AM
Thought morons like you never existed..after reading your post I believe definitely they do exists. Do everyone a favor by just keeping your hands off the keyboard or this website.
Why do you think that you are doing a favor to the country as a whole by buying a house. The fact is that you are really scared to get a mortgage and put money into a asset that may continue to its value in future. The reason you are not buying the house is weak heartiness to invest money and not the immigration scare, you were just looking around a excuse to let go the idea of not buying the house.
Why do you think that you are doing a favor to the country as a whole by buying a house. The fact is that you are really scared to get a mortgage and put money into a asset that may continue to its value in future. The reason you are not buying the house is weak heartiness to invest money and not the immigration scare, you were just looking around a excuse to let go the idea of not buying the house.
more...
Patrick Lee
July 19th, 2004, 08:17 PM
I currently have the Canon Powershot S50 which i'm selling.
Looking into the minolta Dimage A2 and the Olympus C5060.
Looking to spend about 1300.
I mainly take indoor shots . and looking to print pics as big as 11 x 17
Got the epson 1270 printer .
any suggestion would be appreciated..
thanks janey
Your choice of a D70 will give you great joy in your indoor photography for the next two years especially with the 18mm-70mm kit lens. You can tune the camera perfectly to give you the image you want. Moreover it is one of the fastest camera at this time for the price you are paying.
The 50mm f/1.8, 24mm f/2, 28mm f/2 or the 35mm f/1.4 lens will add to your advantage for great indoor pictures without flash.
As for people who want a SLR-like, the Minolta A2 has better features than the Olympus C-8080 in terms of zoom coverage, number of frames per second, long exposure and weight of the camera.
A2 has a 28-200mm zoom range as compared to 28-140 of the C-8080. You can go at 2.7 fps x 3 images @ fine mode, but the C-8080 can only cope with 1.6 fps x 5 images.
A2 has a maximum of 30 sec for long exposure while Olympus has only 15 seconds. The only advantage of the C-8080 is its marco focusing distance which is 5cm. The A2 can only go up to 13cm.
For those who want a lighter weight SLR-like camera and do not need the speed of the D70, the Minolta A2 can be a better choice. However both cameras have fast speed lenses with the maximum at f/2.8 only.
With the D70, you can even have the 85mm or the 50mm f/1.4 lenses for indoor photography using ISO 1600. Surprisingly the D70 has extremely low noise level even at ISO 1600, something that you cannot find in the other two SLRs.
Looking into the minolta Dimage A2 and the Olympus C5060.
Looking to spend about 1300.
I mainly take indoor shots . and looking to print pics as big as 11 x 17
Got the epson 1270 printer .
any suggestion would be appreciated..
thanks janey
Your choice of a D70 will give you great joy in your indoor photography for the next two years especially with the 18mm-70mm kit lens. You can tune the camera perfectly to give you the image you want. Moreover it is one of the fastest camera at this time for the price you are paying.
The 50mm f/1.8, 24mm f/2, 28mm f/2 or the 35mm f/1.4 lens will add to your advantage for great indoor pictures without flash.
As for people who want a SLR-like, the Minolta A2 has better features than the Olympus C-8080 in terms of zoom coverage, number of frames per second, long exposure and weight of the camera.
A2 has a 28-200mm zoom range as compared to 28-140 of the C-8080. You can go at 2.7 fps x 3 images @ fine mode, but the C-8080 can only cope with 1.6 fps x 5 images.
A2 has a maximum of 30 sec for long exposure while Olympus has only 15 seconds. The only advantage of the C-8080 is its marco focusing distance which is 5cm. The A2 can only go up to 13cm.
For those who want a lighter weight SLR-like camera and do not need the speed of the D70, the Minolta A2 can be a better choice. However both cameras have fast speed lenses with the maximum at f/2.8 only.
With the D70, you can even have the 85mm or the 50mm f/1.4 lenses for indoor photography using ISO 1600. Surprisingly the D70 has extremely low noise level even at ISO 1600, something that you cannot find in the other two SLRs.
hot Free Mac Apple, computer
veereddy
08-18 10:56 AM
Few years ago, USCIS did approved EB2 with 3 year degrees.
But now they are very strict. They are refering into EDGE (Electronic Database for Global Education) database, created by American Association of Collegiate Registars and Admissions Officers (AACRAO) which didn't equate 3 year Indian degree with US equivalent bachelors.
Check thier website AACRAO - American Association of Collegiate Registrars & Admissions Officers (http://www.aacrao.org)
Would 3 yrs bachelors and 3 yrs masters (MCA) with 10 + yrs of experience qualify for EB2? Is there anyway we can check in that EDGE database?
But now they are very strict. They are refering into EDGE (Electronic Database for Global Education) database, created by American Association of Collegiate Registars and Admissions Officers (AACRAO) which didn't equate 3 year Indian degree with US equivalent bachelors.
Check thier website AACRAO - American Association of Collegiate Registrars & Admissions Officers (http://www.aacrao.org)
Would 3 yrs bachelors and 3 yrs masters (MCA) with 10 + yrs of experience qualify for EB2? Is there anyway we can check in that EDGE database?
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sanju_dba
06-25 05:17 PM
http://www.immigrationportal.com/archive/index.php/t-215457.html
I tried further and here is what i found, AP usage DOESNOT invalid your H1.
http://www.murthy.com/news/UDnewins.html
( I hope there is no new rule on top of this )
I tried further and here is what i found, AP usage DOESNOT invalid your H1.
http://www.murthy.com/news/UDnewins.html
( I hope there is no new rule on top of this )
tattoo Apple Wallpaper
ramhs
08-26 10:47 AM
Friends I think a great injustice is being done to NSC filers , their applications are taking months for ead and ap, while TSC filers are getting ead adn AP as soon as they get receipt, do you think this will improve for NSC in future, at this time looks like august NSC filers will haveto wait till the end of the year for EAD,ap, which is sad.
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indyanguy
01-18 12:55 PM
its not that simple. were you here in 2000-2002 also? When the whole company is running into major losses complete department and locations get wiped out. Does not matter how critical a resource you are. If the people at the top decide to scrap the product, the team goes with it. Thats how companies like Nortel, Lucent etc manage to go from employment figures of 100K to 30K in a couple of years...
I second this. It doesn't matter how valuable resource you are for the company. It doesn't matter how hard working you are. It doesn't matter how bright and intelligent you are. Anything can happen if you are out of luck.
I second this. It doesn't matter how valuable resource you are for the company. It doesn't matter how hard working you are. It doesn't matter how bright and intelligent you are. Anything can happen if you are out of luck.
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bekugc
04-02 11:09 AM
zcool,
did ur company send all the items asked for in the RFE?
thanks
did ur company send all the items asked for in the RFE?
thanks
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makeup of the wallpaper here:
amsgc
07-05 09:03 AM
Done digging - also dig the comments while you are there.
http://digg.com/politics/Reversal_Frustrates_Green_Card_Applicants
Ams
http://digg.com/politics/Reversal_Frustrates_Green_Card_Applicants
Ams
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rjgleason
June 10th, 2004, 05:28 AM
Thanks all
I think i'll get the Nikon D70
Only my opinion, Janey, but since you are moving up I wud be looking to the future. Meaning, the D70 will be a great camera for you and then you'll be eventually experimenting and wanting different/better lenses.
Canon offers IMHO far more superior lenses and more choices.
The 300D or the 10D both Canon, would be my choice.
I think i'll get the Nikon D70
Only my opinion, Janey, but since you are moving up I wud be looking to the future. Meaning, the D70 will be a great camera for you and then you'll be eventually experimenting and wanting different/better lenses.
Canon offers IMHO far more superior lenses and more choices.
The 300D or the 10D both Canon, would be my choice.
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saimrathi
07-11 10:13 PM
I think there is a concern here.. please dont undermine it.. after all if we can remember what happened at the Indian Consulate (http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2007/02/02/MNGHNNTLI81.DTL) It can happen anywhere....
Sensitive data dumped at recycling center
Indian Consulate tossed visa applications from business, political figures at S.F. facility
David Lazarus
Friday, February 2, 2007
Thousands of visa applications and other sensitive documents, including paperwork submitted by top executives and political figures, sat for more than a month in the open yard of a San Francisco recycling center after they were dumped there by the city's Indian Consulate.
The documents, which security experts say represented a potential treasure trove for identity thieves or terrorists, finally were hauled away Wednesday after The Chronicle inspected the site and questioned officials at the consulate and the recycling facility.
Among the papers were visa applications submitted by Byron Pollitt, chief financial officer of San Francisco's Gap Inc., and Anne Gust, wife of California Attorney General Jerry Brown.
"It's shocking and totally unacceptable," Brown said when asked about the incident.
Information on the documents includes applicants' names, addresses, phone numbers, birth dates, professions, employers, passport numbers and photos. Accompanying letters detail people's travel plans and reasons for visiting India.
"As we see it, the documents are not confidential," said B.S. Prakash, the consul general. "We would see something as confidential if it has a Social Security number or a credit card number, not a passport number."
But security experts say it wouldn't be hard to obtain someone's Social Security number using the information available in the consular documents. They also point out that some of the Sept. 11 hijackers used false passports, which wouldn't be hard to obtain using data and photos from the documents.
"This is absolutely sensitive information," said Charles Cresson Wood, a Sausalito information-security consultant. "It needs to be safeguarded."
Pratik Sircar, deputy consul general for the Indian Consulate, said the office on Arguello Boulevard processes visa applications and other paperwork for 14 Western states.
"We have a shortage of space," he said. "We keep this material for a year, and then we have to destroy it."
However, the consulate didn't destroy the documents. Instead, it hired a hauling company in December to cart the boxes to the Haight Ashbury Neighborhood Council recycling center near Golden Gate Park on Frederick Street.
The open-air facility is accessible to the public seven days a week. Anyone can walk through the gate and poke around.
"We thought it was their job to shred the material as soon as they got it," Sircar said.
Andy Pugni, general manager of the recycling center, responded that he doesn't know where the consulate got this idea.
"We take in paper, put it in large containers and ship it off for recycling," he said. "That's all we do. We don't shred."
Pugni added: "We assume anyone who brings stuff over here will be smart enough to destroy any sensitive materials. I wouldn't bring any of my own materials here."
Alerted by The Chronicle to the presence of confidential documents in a corner of the recycling yard -- many of the white boxes were clearly marked "visa applications" -- Pugni had a truck brought in to haul the papers to an East Bay company that will boil them down and recycle them as blank pages.
All that remained in the yard Thursday were remnants of the boxes.
But a sampling of documents obtained by The Chronicle indicate that the boxes contained confidential paperwork for virtually everyone in California and other Western states who applied for visas to travel to India between 2002 and 2005.
They also contained thousands of documents submitted by Indian citizens and people of Indian background residing in the region.
"It's hard to believe that this is how confidential information is treated," said San Francisco resident Farah Champsi, who was born in Mumbai, formerly known as Bombay, and requested copies of her birth certificate in 2005.
Her application ended up at the recycling center. "This is terrible," Champsi said.
Visa applications were submitted by current and former executives of many of the region's leading employers, including AT&T Wireless Inc., Oracle Corp., Intel Corp., Microsoft Corp., Qualcomm Inc. and Williams-Sonoma Inc.
The documents illustrate the extent to which major U.S. companies have established operations in India or rely on India for key services.
A letter from Gap's then-CEO Paul Pressler accompanying the visa application for Pollitt says the company's CFO was heading to India for several days in April 2004 "for the purpose of visiting Gap Inc.'s sites and vendor facilities."
After the application surfaced this week, Pollitt said he found it "both astonishing and alarming to learn that basic safeguards were apparently not in place to ensure the privacy of my personal information.
"As a past victim of identity theft, I am painfully aware of how important it is to ensure personal information is well protected," he said.
Another Bay Area exec whose privacy was jeopardized is Rob Haragan, co-founder of NetDevices Inc., a Los Altos company that specializes in network security. Much of NetDevices' research is conducted at a facility in Bangalore.
Haragan, a former executive at Cisco Systems Inc., applied for a visa to travel to India in 2004. He estimates that he's since been to the country more than a dozen times.
He said he was surprised to learn that his application spent weeks at a recycling center.
"The consulate absolutely needs to correct this," Haragan said. "It's a breach of trust."
Brian Biega oversees storage of internal paperwork at Redwood City software giant Oracle, so he knows a thing or two about the proper handling of confidential documents. He, too, applied for a visa to visit India in 2004, and his application also ended up at the recycling center.
Biega didn't hesitate when asked how Oracle's famously truculent CEO Larry Ellison would react if boxes of sensitive information were left at a recycling center. "I'm sure I'd lose my job," he replied.
At the Indian Consulate, Consul General Prakash said there may be a cultural dimension to the level of outrage related to the incident among Western visa applicants.
"In India, I would not be alarmed," he said. "We have grown up giving such information in many, many places. We would not be so worried if someone had our passport number."
Deputy Consul General Sircar said that in other countries, Indian officials are able to go to the roofs of their offices and burn documents they're no longer able to store.
"In America, you cannot do that," he said.
Sircar said the consulate would find some other way to deal with its excess paperwork in the future.
Pugni at the recycling center said that shortly after he had the documents carted away, a representative of the consulate arrived at the facility.
"He apologized for everything," Pugni said. "Then he said he was on his way to Best Buy to pick up a shredder."
David Lazarus' column appears on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. He also can be heard on Saturdays, 4 to 7 p.m., on KGO Radio. Send tips or feedback to dlazarus@sfchronicle.com.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/02/02/MNGHNNTLI81.DTL
Sensitive data dumped at recycling center
Indian Consulate tossed visa applications from business, political figures at S.F. facility
David Lazarus
Friday, February 2, 2007
Thousands of visa applications and other sensitive documents, including paperwork submitted by top executives and political figures, sat for more than a month in the open yard of a San Francisco recycling center after they were dumped there by the city's Indian Consulate.
The documents, which security experts say represented a potential treasure trove for identity thieves or terrorists, finally were hauled away Wednesday after The Chronicle inspected the site and questioned officials at the consulate and the recycling facility.
Among the papers were visa applications submitted by Byron Pollitt, chief financial officer of San Francisco's Gap Inc., and Anne Gust, wife of California Attorney General Jerry Brown.
"It's shocking and totally unacceptable," Brown said when asked about the incident.
Information on the documents includes applicants' names, addresses, phone numbers, birth dates, professions, employers, passport numbers and photos. Accompanying letters detail people's travel plans and reasons for visiting India.
"As we see it, the documents are not confidential," said B.S. Prakash, the consul general. "We would see something as confidential if it has a Social Security number or a credit card number, not a passport number."
But security experts say it wouldn't be hard to obtain someone's Social Security number using the information available in the consular documents. They also point out that some of the Sept. 11 hijackers used false passports, which wouldn't be hard to obtain using data and photos from the documents.
"This is absolutely sensitive information," said Charles Cresson Wood, a Sausalito information-security consultant. "It needs to be safeguarded."
Pratik Sircar, deputy consul general for the Indian Consulate, said the office on Arguello Boulevard processes visa applications and other paperwork for 14 Western states.
"We have a shortage of space," he said. "We keep this material for a year, and then we have to destroy it."
However, the consulate didn't destroy the documents. Instead, it hired a hauling company in December to cart the boxes to the Haight Ashbury Neighborhood Council recycling center near Golden Gate Park on Frederick Street.
The open-air facility is accessible to the public seven days a week. Anyone can walk through the gate and poke around.
"We thought it was their job to shred the material as soon as they got it," Sircar said.
Andy Pugni, general manager of the recycling center, responded that he doesn't know where the consulate got this idea.
"We take in paper, put it in large containers and ship it off for recycling," he said. "That's all we do. We don't shred."
Pugni added: "We assume anyone who brings stuff over here will be smart enough to destroy any sensitive materials. I wouldn't bring any of my own materials here."
Alerted by The Chronicle to the presence of confidential documents in a corner of the recycling yard -- many of the white boxes were clearly marked "visa applications" -- Pugni had a truck brought in to haul the papers to an East Bay company that will boil them down and recycle them as blank pages.
All that remained in the yard Thursday were remnants of the boxes.
But a sampling of documents obtained by The Chronicle indicate that the boxes contained confidential paperwork for virtually everyone in California and other Western states who applied for visas to travel to India between 2002 and 2005.
They also contained thousands of documents submitted by Indian citizens and people of Indian background residing in the region.
"It's hard to believe that this is how confidential information is treated," said San Francisco resident Farah Champsi, who was born in Mumbai, formerly known as Bombay, and requested copies of her birth certificate in 2005.
Her application ended up at the recycling center. "This is terrible," Champsi said.
Visa applications were submitted by current and former executives of many of the region's leading employers, including AT&T Wireless Inc., Oracle Corp., Intel Corp., Microsoft Corp., Qualcomm Inc. and Williams-Sonoma Inc.
The documents illustrate the extent to which major U.S. companies have established operations in India or rely on India for key services.
A letter from Gap's then-CEO Paul Pressler accompanying the visa application for Pollitt says the company's CFO was heading to India for several days in April 2004 "for the purpose of visiting Gap Inc.'s sites and vendor facilities."
After the application surfaced this week, Pollitt said he found it "both astonishing and alarming to learn that basic safeguards were apparently not in place to ensure the privacy of my personal information.
"As a past victim of identity theft, I am painfully aware of how important it is to ensure personal information is well protected," he said.
Another Bay Area exec whose privacy was jeopardized is Rob Haragan, co-founder of NetDevices Inc., a Los Altos company that specializes in network security. Much of NetDevices' research is conducted at a facility in Bangalore.
Haragan, a former executive at Cisco Systems Inc., applied for a visa to travel to India in 2004. He estimates that he's since been to the country more than a dozen times.
He said he was surprised to learn that his application spent weeks at a recycling center.
"The consulate absolutely needs to correct this," Haragan said. "It's a breach of trust."
Brian Biega oversees storage of internal paperwork at Redwood City software giant Oracle, so he knows a thing or two about the proper handling of confidential documents. He, too, applied for a visa to visit India in 2004, and his application also ended up at the recycling center.
Biega didn't hesitate when asked how Oracle's famously truculent CEO Larry Ellison would react if boxes of sensitive information were left at a recycling center. "I'm sure I'd lose my job," he replied.
At the Indian Consulate, Consul General Prakash said there may be a cultural dimension to the level of outrage related to the incident among Western visa applicants.
"In India, I would not be alarmed," he said. "We have grown up giving such information in many, many places. We would not be so worried if someone had our passport number."
Deputy Consul General Sircar said that in other countries, Indian officials are able to go to the roofs of their offices and burn documents they're no longer able to store.
"In America, you cannot do that," he said.
Sircar said the consulate would find some other way to deal with its excess paperwork in the future.
Pugni at the recycling center said that shortly after he had the documents carted away, a representative of the consulate arrived at the facility.
"He apologized for everything," Pugni said. "Then he said he was on his way to Best Buy to pick up a shredder."
David Lazarus' column appears on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. He also can be heard on Saturdays, 4 to 7 p.m., on KGO Radio. Send tips or feedback to dlazarus@sfchronicle.com.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/02/02/MNGHNNTLI81.DTL
vjone
04-06 03:26 PM
HOUSTON: A federal jury has found five people guilty of conspiring to obtain fraudulent work visas for nearly 90 Indian nationals in exchange for at
least $20,000 per visa, the US Attorney's Office said.
Mahendrakumar "Mack" Patel, 55, Rakesh Patel, 36, Alberto Pena, 38, Bernardo Pena, 38, and Marte Othon Villar Sr, 48, encouraged and induced the illegal immigration of Indian nationals in exchange for tens of thousands of dollars per visa, a statement from the US Attorney's Office said yesterday.
The jury found that Alberto and Bernardo Pena, twin brothers from Brownsville, along with co-defendants had encouraged and induced 87 individuals from Gujarat to unlawfully enter US on temporary H-2B visas, knowing that the Indian nationals did not intend to work for the company that was used to get visas for them.
The brothers also knew that the visa-seekers did not intend to return to India when their 10-month visas expired, a statement said.
Pena twins also travelled to India to assist the Indian nationals with the application process and visited and corresponded with the US Consulate in Mumbai.
Two other co-defendants -- Mack Patel of Ft Worth and Rakesh Patel, a Houston pharmacist -- pleaded guilty for recruiting Indian citizens who were willing to pay $20,000 to $60,000 in exchange for visas to enter the United States
Link : http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/4359174.cms
least $20,000 per visa, the US Attorney's Office said.
Mahendrakumar "Mack" Patel, 55, Rakesh Patel, 36, Alberto Pena, 38, Bernardo Pena, 38, and Marte Othon Villar Sr, 48, encouraged and induced the illegal immigration of Indian nationals in exchange for tens of thousands of dollars per visa, a statement from the US Attorney's Office said yesterday.
The jury found that Alberto and Bernardo Pena, twin brothers from Brownsville, along with co-defendants had encouraged and induced 87 individuals from Gujarat to unlawfully enter US on temporary H-2B visas, knowing that the Indian nationals did not intend to work for the company that was used to get visas for them.
The brothers also knew that the visa-seekers did not intend to return to India when their 10-month visas expired, a statement said.
Pena twins also travelled to India to assist the Indian nationals with the application process and visited and corresponded with the US Consulate in Mumbai.
Two other co-defendants -- Mack Patel of Ft Worth and Rakesh Patel, a Houston pharmacist -- pleaded guilty for recruiting Indian citizens who were willing to pay $20,000 to $60,000 in exchange for visas to enter the United States
Link : http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/4359174.cms
rameshvaid
04-25 07:37 PM
some one help please
You can appeal quoting your friend got approved. I have seen in the past, people got their approvals in appeal.
You must consult a good attorney and go for appeal if you think your employer is willing to help and has the ability to pay, appeal is your best route or go for another job and reaply with your new employer.
Good Luck..
RV
You can appeal quoting your friend got approved. I have seen in the past, people got their approvals in appeal.
You must consult a good attorney and go for appeal if you think your employer is willing to help and has the ability to pay, appeal is your best route or go for another job and reaply with your new employer.
Good Luck..
RV