Help again regarding contract...continuation

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Dear everyone, lawrence, suzanne,

Hi. This is an update about my friends situation. Lawrence, it seems that the agency(2) that I told you (the one based in Makati), they were able to file for her papers at all. When she went to their office about the demand letter, she asked for proofs that she was being petitioned. They showed her NCLEX eligibility letter from CA, a receipt notice I-140 and the approval notice. And also a letter from NVC asking her to pay the VISA FEE Bill for her family and after that submission of DS-230 forms. All of these documents are dated from Jan 2005 - June 2005. But my friend learned about her papers just today. So in essence they have done their part in having her petitioned but has failed to update her. They are also admitting that her papers might have been forgotten that it was just found now. And my friend was not aware or was she informed of updates with her papers. So years passed and another retrogression arrived and my friend is still here. The bigger problem is my friend has signed with an agency(1) 1st in the year 2001, and because of delays with these agency(1) she signed up with this another agency(2) in Makati which is the one that is sending her a demand letter. Yes, she admits she should have not done that. Signing in two agencies. But after several years she went back to her agency(1) again(the one she signed up in 2001) and this agency claims that they have just started to petition her I-140 last Aug 2007. So if that is true, there are now 2 I-140 petitions submitted, but the I-140 from the 1st agency is still pending for approval, while the I-140 from the 2nd agency is already on Packet 3 I think but dated June 2005. What should she do? She is afraid that she is already committed with both agencies and that her immigration papers would be affected and she might not be able to immigrate with the US already. THe first agency has her original papers including the VISASCREEN. Please advise us on what to do. Thank you in advance.

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Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.

personnally if the dates are 2001 and they have only just filed I140 then they have not kept to their part of the contract. I also think the same with the second agency if she has had approval and NVC wanted the paperwork back in 2005 then again they have not kept to their contract. Just because they had forgotten is not an excuse she should not owe anyone money. I would also ask for her visascreen back with them not keeping to their part. When was visascreen completed as it is only valid for 5 years and then she needs to reapply?

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Suzanne will be more of a help here but both agencies have their shortcomings, esp. the 1st one. In my opinion, agency 2 admitting they have forgotten to update her and admitted they may have lost and/or forgotten her file is already admission of fault and agency 1 is just pure incompetent since they have just filed it recently and did agency 1 give her also copy of her notice of receipt or her case number as well so that she can check it out for herself if that case number is truly her petition. Any one can just say that there is a case pending. Surely, she doesn't trust agency 1 anymore. She signed in agency 1 in 2001 and they only recently filed it? I wouldn't even trust that there is indeed a file pending after what happened. Agency 2 filed it in 2005 and never updated her until now. Isn't that suspicious as well ?? A contract is two-way. If the agencies didn't do their end of the agreement and both of them did not base on what you've said, then there is a good reason that the contract has been violated.

Again, only way is for your friend to consult a lawyer and straighten everything out and there should only be one petition pending at a time or she'll risk not getting one at all and not consulting a lawyer and trying to straighten things out w/ them behind doors by herself would not be good for her. Remember, both agencies did not update her whatsoever and suddenly after a few years, there is suddenly a case that was filed and pending. And let me guess.. they only showed this magical cases only after she has been nagging them about her case status this past few days and weeks. If she didn't nag them about it would they even contact her? I really don't think so. I don't buy any of it if you ask me.

Just my two cents.

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For the agency that she signed with in 2001, and they are just filing her papers? What in the world were they thinking? 6 years to do something, they need to be reported to the US Embassy and the Philippine Consulate. This behavior is utterly insane. The friend definitely does not need to worry about a thing with them, they certainly did not do anything in a timely fashion.

And for the other? They received approval two years ago? But forgot to do anything further, or even let your friend know? They did not do anything in a reasonable time either. Just because they lost the file, or forgot about it for almost two years, it is their fault, and your friend cannot be blamed for anything. This agency is the one that needs to deal with what they did. If an agency is this lax, what in the world will they be doing later on? This just reinforces what I keep stating about many of the agencies that operate over there. They do not know what end is up.

If your friend wishes to stick with #2, that is her choice. But definitely does not need to worry about #1, as they broke everything possible having to do with that contract. No one owns anyone, and that they never did a thing in 6 years? They need to be put out of business. I do hope that they are reported to every licensing agency over there.

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Hi Suzanne, Lawrence, and Silverdragon,

Thanks for your replies. Actually, my friend and I are somewhat relieved from your replies. But she is very much concerned on what to do next. Agency 1 has spent for her English exams(TSE, TOEFL) and NCLEX BON and PEARSON Fee only, and VISASCREEN together with Filing Fees (I-140).Agency 2 has spent for her immigration fees(I-140). How will she proceed? If she should proceed with Agency 2, together with the NVC notice that was dated June 2005, will she still be in Packet 3 when the retrogression is lifted?Because in the letter it states that it expires in 1 year. And it is already expired. Can she still back out from Agency 2??

What would she do if Agency 1 has already filed an I-140 for her?Will you be able to check the name of the person who is in the I-140 case number through the USCIS website? .Sorry for asking so many questions, but your advise would mean a lot to us. At this point, my friend is in a lot of confusion. She has suffered a lot, waiting almost 6 years when she should have been in the US years ago. Suzanne, Lawrence, and Silverdragon, thank you very much.

Will await your response.

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I-140 approval does not have an expiration date per se, the file may just need to be updated, but the approval still is there. That is one thing in her favor.

And as for the company that she signed with in 2001, she just has to have an attorney write a letter for her. No one in the world would believe that someone would just wait around for them for 5 years plus. And to think that someone was going to sit there, they are plain stupid.

And a highly recommend that your friend contact the US Embassy over the first agency, as well as the PEOA. What they are trying to do is not legal in any way shape or form. And she does not owe them a thing, they never followed up so she should not be penalized for their stupidity.

She just needs to get an attorney to follow up on this. She already has the approval on the I-140 from agency#2, and I would go with that. But even would rethink that because of their lack of following thru for almost two years. You friend could have easily been in the US and working for more than a year. And if they give her any issues she should send them a bill for the time that she wasted.

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Do everything what Suzanne posted. Have your friend consult a lawyer, report the case to POEA (that's what they are there for) in coordination w/ the lawyer and report it to the US Embassy as well, esp. if their main office is based in the US. This would be hard if there is no lawyer involved.

It would also do your friend some good if she can find others in the same predicament. They can just share one lawyer and if they are many of them, it can be a class suit if the lawyer would advice so.

Just my two cents.

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