Red ink stains green card bid
Thursday, August 23rd 2007, 4:36 PM
Q.The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) rejected my green card application, saying that the sponsoring company didn't earn enough money. What can I do about it now?
My boss filed an application with the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) to certify me as eligible for permanent residence. The DOL approved the application. However, when my boss filed a petition for me with the USCIS, the agency denied the application because his company has lost money for the last three years.
Oscar Pellejero, White Plains
A. Your employer can try resubmitting the petition with new evidence. He needs to show that despite the business losing money, he has the resources to pay your salary. After all, many big companies, like General Motors, lose money year after year. Nevertheless, they pay their employees.
When a business applies to the Labor Department to qualify a worker for permanent residence, the agency doesn't check whether the employer can pay the offered salary. That becomes the responsibility of the USCIS only after the Labor Department certifies the employer's application. It is the USCIS' responsibility to make sure that the job is bona fide or real, and that includes verifying that the employer has sufficient resources to pay the salary.
Even where a business is losing money, an employer may apply for a worker. However, the employer must prove he can pay the worker's wages. If you are working for the company now, at or close to the offered wage, that may be sufficient proof the employer can pay you.
If you're not on the payroll, the employer's accountant may be able to explain how the business manages to operate at a loss. Perhaps he has private funds to offset the losses or a bank loan or line of credit used to maintain the business.
Petitioning for son
Q.Can I petition for my son, though my name is not on his birth certificate? I am a U.S. citizen. I have a child born out of wedlock in Haiti, age 28.
Name Withheld, Brooklyn
A.You can petition for your son, provided you can prove you are his natural father. If you have what is called secondary evidence of your relationship, start with that.
Examples are affidavits from your son's mother and others who know the facts of your fatherhood, a baptismal certificate, church or school records or a record in a family Bible.
If this evidence is not available or it doesn't convince the USCIS and the U.S. consul in Haiti that you are the father, you may be required to take a DNA test.
If either agency requires the test, a laboratory accredited by the American Association of Blood Banks must perform it.
Note that Haiti is one of many countries that consider children born out of wedlock to be the legitimate children of both parents. So, proving you are your child's father wins the case. In countries where children born out of wedlock are considered illegitimate, a father must have established a relationship or recognized the out-of-wedlock child before the child turned 21. This relationship may be formal, such as official recognition, or informal, such as providing financial support.
Visa Bulletin update: After we went to press last week, the U.S. Department of State announced that it could "reestablish cutoff dates in many of the Employment preference categories." That's a reversal of its report that no employment-based visas would be available this year. This means that in some employment categories, applicants can get immigrant visas before this fiscal year ends on Sept. 30. Check the September visa bulletin at
Visa Bulletin for September 2007.
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08-25-07, 08:26 PM
Immigration: Can I petition for my son, though my name is not his birth certificate? 
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