I am currently working in the US on an L1-B. I had tried to petition for enter on a L1-A using the functional manager clause. The immigration office did not accept this. He wanted to see names of people I would be supervising. The officer did, however, have no problem admitting me under L1-B. I accepted the entry under an L1-B without realizing the impact this would have on acquiring permament residence status. Is there any way to get my L1-B changed into an L1-A?

It is not as serious as you may have thought. There is actually no legal requirement that you be in L-1A status before you seek permanent residence under the employment based first preference. The requirement is that you must have worked abroad for at least one year in a managerial capacity. The fact you may initially enter to work in the United States as something other than managerial is not relevant.

However, since the first employment based category requires you to be seeking permanent employment in the United States as a multinational manager or executive (and not a specialized knowledge worker), you will have to convince them that your U.S. job is currently managerial.

By being admitted under L-1B, you have not automatically taken a contradictory position, since a position could be both managerial and require specialized knowledge. You may be able to try the functional manager argument again by filing an amended petition. Alternatively, you could say that you were initially admitted in a specialized knowledge capacity but have been subsequently promoted to a managerial position. However, make sure the job is actually different from the initial one.

Notwithstanding the above, if you previously confirmed that your job abroad that was not manager or executive, it may be difficult to now argue that you have one year of employment abroad in a "managerial or executive capacity."

I recently won the DV-99 lottery and going through the requirements I found out that I must provide a military record. I am a greek citizen and living abroad therefore I have not served in the greek army. However, my deferrment from service has expired. As a result, when I return to Greece I will have to appear before a martial court. This is rather common in Greece and in general it is a formal procedure where one justifies why he couldn't serve and there is no punishment whatsoever. If I ask for a military certificate it will quote that my deferrment has expired and I must appear in martial court. Am I obliged to show the greek military certificate? Can that be a reason for turning down my application?

Section 222(b) of the Immigration and Nationality Act ("INA") reads as follows:

"(b) Every alien applying for an immigrant visa shall present a valid unexpired passport or other suitable travel document, or document of identity and nationality, if such document is required under the regulations issued by the Secretary of State. The immigrant shall furnish to the consular officer with his application a copy of a certification by the appropriate police authorities stating what their records show concerning the immigrant; a certified copy of any existing prison record, military record, and record of his birth; and a certified copy of all other records or documents concerning him or his case which may be required by the consular officer. The copy of each document so furnished shall be permanently attached to the application and become a part thereof. In the event that the immigrant establishes to the satisfaction of the consular officer that any document or record required by this subsection is unobtainable, the consular officer may permit the immigrant to submit in lieu of such document or record other satisfactory evidence of the fact to which such document or record would, if obtainable, pertain.'' (See 22 CFR 42.111; 22 CFR 42.112)

The INA permits applicants to provide alternate evidence, but only if the required document is unobtainable. In your case, a military record is obtainable. Therefore, you will have to produce it. However, it should not affect your eligibility for permanent residence.

If you refer to the grounds of exclusion contained in the INA, you will see that failure to appear for foreign military service does not render you excludable. While evasion from military service in the United States armed forces (during a time of war or period declared by the president to be a national emergency) results in excludability, this does not apply to you.

What is the significance of priority date? Does it mean that I will get Green Card after that day, or does it mean that my application will be processed after that day? I noticed that each center is processing a slightly different date for the same application. Does every service center exactly follow the priority date rule?

Your question is confusing, but I will try to answer it. The priority date for a pending permanent residence case is either the date that the petition is filed (in family-based or employment-based cases that do not require labor certification) or the date that the labor certification is filed (in employment based cases that require labor certification).

The Department of State Visa Bulletin announces the priority dates reached that month for each preference category, worldwide, and for particular countries or areas with special problems. When your priority date reaches the date for your category on the visa bulletin, a visa is now available for you and your adjustment of status or consular processing can begin. This is not the date that you are granted permanent residence; it is the date that your final processing can commence.

You appear to be making reference to the INS Service Center Processing Times that we post on our web site. They do not show priority dates at all. Instead, these reports show the receipt dates of applications currently being processed. They are intended only to give people an idea of the backlog for specific cases filed at the service centers, nothing more.