Ask an Immigration Lawyer

Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals update, What you need to know today.   00:02 Are you confused about the current situation with DACA? What's happening? What you can do? Who Qualifies   00:16 We want to talk about the current situation with the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, also known as DACA. What's going on? People are confused about it. Is it still in effect? Can we file? Can we renew?   00:39 But this program started in 2012 by an executive order issued by President Obama essentially allowing children live abroad into the United States illegally by their parents who are also undocumented who went to school and are not criminals and fulfill a few other requirements to be able to get a two year permit to work and stay in the U.S   01:31 One of the most important rulings came by a court in San Francisco in January of 2018. And they said that President Trump's decision to end DACA is based on flawed legal premise   02:10 it's very important to understand that as a result of that decision, people that already had DACA could continue to renew it, but no new applications of DACA, we're allowed under this decision.   02:46 As of now, what we know is that people that had DACA can continue to renew until further notice. People that never had DACA are not able to file   03:38 we just wanted to give it a little bit of an update because there's a lot of confusion as to what's happening with DACA and that's what the situation is about today. If you have any questions, please post them in the comments below.  

E-2 Investor Visa, how to show the source of the investment funds? 00:00 We'll talk about how to prove the source of funds of your E-2 investments   00:10 How do you prove whatever source of investment you have? How do you actually prove it?   00:25 we want to see the documents in that property, whether it's a house or cars or any other valuables. you have to provide those documents. 01:03 They sold the house, we want to see their, their documents so the person who gave you the gift has to prove where they got the money. 01:20 20 If your funds are coming from real estate we want to see, you know, the deed. We want to see proof of the bill of sale, the whole transaction history of the sale of the property in your home country 01:52 And so if you have stocks invested in France, in Switzerland in the Caymans, we need to see at least three years of tax returns and statements from those accounts to show how you funded your investment because it came from those things. 02:56 56 If your source of funds is profits for example you won the lottery or gambling we have to be careful because we have clients that made money in legitimate gambling.  As long as you pay taxes for this, as long as it legitimately recorded in your country, there is a way to also use those funds to invest in a business.   03:24 typically five years of tax returns and letter from a certified accountant in your country to show that it's a legitimate source of earnings and then we can use that for your, you know, for investment   03:44 As long as you reported those income and you pay taxes and you can documented income from crypto currency can also be used in an E-2 visa investment.   04:34 Yes, a lot of new forms of currency can also now be used as a source of funds as long as we can document that. So hopefully that kind of gave you a little bit of a, of a, of a background and explanations as to how you can document source of funds   05:17 If you have questions, post them in the comments below, send me an email. Jacob@h1b.biz  

Can loans or gifts count as a source of funds for an e-2 visa?   00:00 Can loans or gifts counts towards source of funds for an e-2 visa as an investor.   00:17 As many of you know, in order to get an E-2 visa as an investor in the U.S. you really have to demonstrate a substantial investment, but also you have to show where the money is coming from for your investment.   1:11 A lot young entrepreneurs that are finishing school in the U.S. and they want to start a business. They're getting a gift from their families.   2:07 It's important to show how the person who gives the money is able to get the money and the person receiving the money has control of that fund in his bank account before they invest into the business.  That's a perfect way to be able to use gift money in an E-2 visa case. Another way is loans. We have a lot of people that have clients that they have some money, but I also want to be able to get a loan in their home country to be able to support the business.   2:54 I never recommend to use a loan from U.S. bank.  It's going to be very difficult to get you an E visa and the U.S. embassies are not keen to see foreigners trying to get money from U.S. bank   3:41 That's the only way where we can use a loan if you secure it with a real estate or some personal belongings that are high value that will be one way to be able to use the loan in an E visa fund.  Otherwise, if there's no security behind it, the U.S. embassies are going to like that.   4:20  

What is an E2 Investment Visa And the the Kiwi Act or the E-1 Visa for Citizens of New Zealand? 00:01.  Announcing an amazing change in the law that allows now people from New Zealand to come to the United States and start a business no matter what area you have an interest to start a business   00:58 The E-2 visa will allow any investor from New Zealand, first of all to start any company as long as they invest a substantial amount. Again, we recommend at least 50,000 U.S. dollars, but ideally it will be 100,000 that can be invested in any business.   1:58 You can purchase a business. So as long as you purchase a business, it could be a franchise, it could be an existing business or you can start your own business. So you can start a consulting company, you can start a restaurant, a coffee shop, whatever you desire, you can do that. As long as you can prove that the money that you bring from New Zealand is legitimate.   2:46. You can state at the port of entry that you were coming to, to be here an investor.  You have a few months to set up your company, to move the funds into your U.S. entity. You'll be able to get an office space if it's going to be a consulting company. If you're going to buy an existing business, you'll be able to put your money in escrow and purchase that business, show that you are using the money that you brought from New Zealand for the purpose of the business   3:34 Once the E-2 visa is issued, you'll be able to come to the United States and start your business. If you're married, you can bring your spouse and your spouse will be eligible for a work permit as well. There's another visa that it was passed as part of this new legislation, the Kiwi Act, and that's an E-1 Visa.   4:16 The E-1 visa would allow somebody from New Zealand to start a trading business with the U.S.  This is a visa that had never existed before, but now people from New Zealand are able to apply for the E-1 or E-2 visa to start their, their trade business. So if you're interested in doing a trade business, it's another option for you guys to do that by applying for the E-1 visa.   5:11 It's an amazing opportunity that will help trade in business from both countries, between the U.S. and New Zealand. And it also applies to U.S. citizens that want to come to New Zealand and start companies. It's a reciprocity kind of visa that allows people from the U.S. do the same thing in New Zealand   5:54 And again, it's just a temporary visa. It's not a green card. You don't immigrate.  You can come for a couple…a few years. Try your luck in the U.S. and share your, your experience and just the culture of New Zealand with us, people of America.  

Updates on EB5 Visa, what you need to know.   00:00 Major changes to the EB5 half a million dollar visa coming up this week   00:13 this program extended to December 7, 2018, which means that everything remains the same, including the amount of money, 500,000 into a regional center and million dollar into a direct program, and half a million dollars into an undeserved area where people invest in targeted unemployed area projects.   01:08 It means that people that are doing EB5 visas, people that are interested to invest in these programs so they can get their green cards are already concerned because there's been a lot of rumors that the government is going to increase the amount.   01:28 There are rumors that this program is going to be canceled altogether   01:54 If extended in what form? Is it going to be the same amount? Are there going to be any restrictions on the EB5 regional centers? We have no idea   02:02 EB5 is unique program that is created by the U.S. Government allowing investors that are investing in regional centers, which are government programs that are licensed by the government to build real estate or energy projects.   02:30 Those investment is, is done in a way of a…of a loan because at the end of the five year period, some of these investors, most of the investors are able to get their money back.   03:03 Every time the program is about to expire, we are concerned and our clients are concerned there could be major changes. But right now, the regional center, EB5 program still in effect   03:31 It has been extended through December 7th.  We encourage you, those investors that are serious about it to do email us. You can email me directly at jacob@h1b.biz.   04:02 If you have questions, post them in the comments below and let me know what you doing with this video and let us know also what other videos you would like us to make because we are here for you

Employer's five most common mistakes when they are filing the labor certification also known as Perm. 00:03 The five most common mistakes that employer's make every single time when they are involved in the process of filing a labor certification.   00:26 When you prepare an ETA 1989, which is also the PERM application, it's very important to check every single line on that form. The number one mistake is that employers would do it on their own or even work with attorneys on experience in the process, they fail to check the form correctly   01:19 Employers and people that are working with employers make mistakes in the placement of the ads. Most common mistake that we see is putting those ads in the wrong dates and the wrong information.   01:51 It's really important to outline the recruitment schedule beforehand.   02:14 Employers and people who work with the employers who prepare the form, they fail to match the experience of the employee,   03:13 Once the ETA form has been submitted, there's an email sent from the Labor Department to the employer and a lot of employers are failing to respond to that email and that could be resulting in abandonment of the case.   03:51 Not keeping clear records and not doing everything you're supposed to be doing during the recruitment process.   04:26 Avoid those five mistakes and you'll be golden and you have your Perm Labor certification application approved in no time.   04:45  Hopefully this was helpful to you and you enjoy our videos.    

What's the difference between a fiancé visa and a marriage visa?   00:00 A fiancé visa or marriage visa. What's the difference?   00:10 We'll talk about the difference between a K-1 visa, a fiancé visa, and a marriage visa.   00:29 What is it K-1 fiancé visa?  A fiancé is usually reserved for people that are engaged to U.S. citizens only. 01:06 It's also important to understand that the fiancé visa can be sometimes quicker than a marriage visa.   01:42 Marriage visa is reserved to green card holders that want to file an I-130 for their spouses or for U.S. citizens that want immigrate as sponsor. 02:36 The main difference between a fiancé, visa and marriage visa is that first of all, for a fiancé visa, the couple/  They don't have to be married   03:22 They want to be able to test the relationship by living here together. Sometimes, those couples, it's the first time they actually live together.   03:56 It's good to know that there is the option of doing your fiancé visa before marriage and there's an option to file for a marriage visa once you're already married   04:25 Hopefully you understood the difference between the K-1 fiancé visa and a marriage visa. If you have any other questions, post them in the comments below or email them to me, to jacob@h1b.biz.

How International Students can accrue unlawful presence? 00:01 A new USCIS policy can have devastating consequences on students who overstayed or violate their status   00:15 The new UCIS policy coming up August 9, 2018 that will change the way a students, F-students, J-Students, M Students are considered to be accruing unlawful presence in the US if they violated their status by not going to school or working   1:25 The only way they could accrue that if they were apprehended by immigration official, by a judge who determine that at that moment they accrued over presence.   2:26 but the essence of accrual of unlawful presence will happen at the time of that interview when that person willmeet the immigration officer.   3:37 If they are here now, before August 9th they should try to speak with an immigration attorney to see what they can do facing that change in and the upcoming date because after that they will be a accruing unlawful. And it's important to make plenty because we have 180 days and then you have the one year. And it's important to plan that   4:40 Keep in mind that this is a policy change that is coming in August 9th. It will be impacting all students that are here in DS status that currently are in violation of status   5:33 it's important to understand and plan how you're going to try to change your status. Once again students that are currently in violation of status are going to start accruing unlawful presence after August 9th based on this new memo  

How to choose the right immigration lawyer for you 00:00 You need an immigration lawyer, but how do you find the right one   00:11 We wanted to answer one of the most common questions that I get asked how to find the right immigration lawyer for you.   00:36 It's really important to start with a referral   01:06 Most immigration attorneys are offering free consultations. And so it's important to choose some of those that are offering free consultations.   01:25 . Most immigration attorneys are working on a flat rate basis. 02:00   02:47 Most attorneys are working on an hourly basis, but a lot of immigration attorneys are shifting to the flat fee model, which basically allows you to know upfront how much are going to cost you to pay for the case, how much you're going to take time on, on their side to prepare the file.   03:42 Another important factor is to find out if this attorney is a member of AILA, the American Immigration Lawyers Association, which controls most of the immigration bar.   04:22 Most attorneys that are practicing immigration law should have a public profile on Google reviews, on yelp and on AVO, which are the three main sites that you should definitely check your attorneys on Google.   04:45 The other thing you want to check is to see where they are licensed and if there are any disciplinary actions with their, with their bar association. Some attorneys are licensed in one state and they can practice immigration law in another state because the federal law, so it doesn't matter where they are, they can practice immigration law   05:26 I think the most important advice is that it's important to meet with a few attorneys before you make a decision because everybody has a different style.  There are many, many good lawyers out there and it's up to you to find the right one for you.  

How to fill out the Form I-485 for an Adjustment of Status in the United States? 00:01  We don't give legal advice but I felt it would be nice to show how to complete a form, what it looks like. It's all done for general information only and when you have a case like an adjustment of status based on family, on deployment, those are really complicated things and you should definitely work with an attorney   00:35 We will now begin with form I-45, and this form is extremely important that you have all of your information correct because this is the form that the USCIS will use in order to prepare your green card.   02:07 Information about you continues with the country of birth and country citizenship. The alien number again, is only if you've been in the U.S. before. So if you entered the U.S. through crossing the border or an airport and you were admitted at a port of entry, which you have to have been admitted at a port of entry in order to file for adjustment of status, you will click on this that you were inspected.     03:56 Some people have entered a with an advanced parole or a humanitarian parole. And if that's your case, then you want to click on this one. And if you came into the United States without admission or parole, you want to click on this one.   05:03 They want to know the name as it appears on your I-94.  Usually it is almost the same as it appears on your passport   05:46 Are you applying for adjustment based on immigration nationality act, section 245-I? So some people who have petitions that were filed prior to April 30th of 2001and entered unlawfully without a visa would mark yes here. And those people would have to complete another form as well, but we're just focusing on the marriage case right now so you probably entered legally, you're going to answer no   06:31 This section is usually not for marriage cases because it has to do with petitions that have already been filed for other people through an employer or through a relative it's really important for you to be very honest and very clear.   08:06 It wants you to provide your most recent address outside the U.S. where you lived more than one year. That would also match the information that you put on your I-130. How many times have you been married before? So and this includes annulled marriages, so you want to put down how many times you've been married before.   09:53 Information about prior marriages, this is where you put all your prior marriages, where you get married. You do need to have this information, so hopefully you remember it or have it with you   11:02 Read this carefully. It's telling you how many children you need to enter in here, whether they're married or unmarried, living with you or elsewhere. You want to include any missing children and other children that were born outside of your marriage.   12:32 some of the questions are very intricate and you have to be very careful how you answer these. So let's start with the first one. Have you ever been a member of, involved in or in any way associated with any organization, association fund, foundation, party, club society or similar group in the United States or in any other location in the world, including any military service. You want to put that information here because this is needed for your background check. So it's very important that you complete this as thoroughly as possible. 13:30 It's asking if you've ever been denied admission to the United States. So if you've ever tried to enter the U.S. and they said no, you can't come in or they canceled your visa or anything like that happened. 14:32 You'd want to answer. Yes. Have you ever been denied a visa to the United States? If you applied for your B-1, B-2 visa and it was denied or you're applying for an F-1 visa and it was denied and then later you apply for another visa and it was approved, you still have to answer yes that you've been denied a...

How to get a green card if U.S. citizen passed away? 00:01 ] A U.S. citizen spouse just passed away. You're about to get your green card. What do you do? How do you get your green card on your own?   00:14 There are cases where a couple of starts the process, they file their I30 to 45. They're going through the process and suddenly a tragedy happen and the U.S. citizen spouse passes away, an illness, a car accident What do you do?   1:09 There is a petition called I360, a widow petition where if the person is still married at the time of death and they were living together as a bona fide marriage that the surviving spouse can file an I360 petition as a widow, and then complete the process on her own.   2:03 It's very important to document all the paperwork and come prepared for that interview with your attorney to make sure that they understand the law and will adjudicate the case.

How to get a Green Card through an employer? 00:04 The first step in the process of getting a green card through an employer is actually have the employer commit to giving you that job.   00:18 The first step in the process is going to be, we called his perm, PERM Labor Certification, the Labor Certification.  And the Labor Certification process involves essentially an employer filing a petition with the Labor Department and several other things with the Labor Department proving that there are no U.S. citizen workers that are qualified to do this job. 1:18  The reason is because not only that employer has to sign the forms, be involved in all the recruitment process and everything else that we're going to describe, but also they have to be paying most of the fees that are involved in the process, including the lawyer fees   2:31 Once we have a certified labor certification, after we went through all the hoops of advertising and doing whatever is required, the employer with that certified labor certification, they can go ahead and proceed to filing the immigrant petition.   3:25 Employer will provide financial documents, pay stubs, tax returns and if all those are met then the I140 will be approved.   4:24 Typically when you do file the I140 or the 45 immigration may request more evidence and if that's the case you have to respond and hopefully the case will be approved, but that's in general the process to file a green card through an employer.   5:16 If the applicant is married, typically we advise to file the application for the spouse at the same time where when you file your own adjustment of status application, because if the green card is already approved for that employee and they are married and they failed to file for their spouse, they'll have to file for their spouse separately.  

  A lawyer tips on the petition for an alien relative and How to fill out the Form I-130 to Immigrate a Spouse Show Notes: 00:00 A breakdown of how to complete an actual I-130 family petition a form.   00:35 The form I-130. This is the petition for an alien relative, so this is where you are petitioning your spouse and you want to make sure that you complete this form as thoroughly as possible   00:46 Remember the petitioner is the U.S. citizen, so if you are a U.S. citizen through naturalization, you used to have an alien registration number.   01:46 You do want to enter your social security number.  You want to enter your last name, first name and middle name, and you want to make sure that you have typed incorrectly.  You want to enter the city or town that you were in and your country of birth, your date of birth, and your sex, male or female, 02:18 Make sure your address is correct because if it's wrong, you're not going to get your receipts. So don't forget the apartment number or floor number, whatever it is that pertains to you. But make sure it's complete. 03:09 You do want to fill out 13A since when have you been living at that address   03:42 The dates don't have to be precise. They can be approximate, but you want to enter the month, day and year. 04:08 If this is the only marriage, then you're just going to mark one in this box. 04:38 Make sure that you mark down if you've had other previous marriages   05:08 Your current status, of course, is married because you're filing for your spouse. And you want to enter here your date of marriage, of your current marriage, not any previous marriages   05:30 Under the name of all spouses, of all your spouses, if this is the only marriage you have been, you only need to complete the first one and where it says date marriage ended, you can leave that blank. If you were previously married, then you want to enter the name of your previous spouse. And if you were married more than two or three times, you want to go to the last page and enter that information and we'll show you that at the very where you can enter this   06:05 They want to know where your father was born and where he resides now.   06:52 You're going to mark down whether you're a U.S. citizen or a legal permanent resident to lawful permanent resident. And if you got citizenship through your birth or through naturalization or through your parents   07:54 If you are a lawful permanent resident, then you need to include this information, your class of admission and where you were admitted in the state you were admitt   08:09 Employment history, so if you are currently employed, this is where you put your current occupation and the date that you started   08:57 Biographic information. So you interfere Hispanic or Latino or not Hispanic, and if you're Hispanic, you are lawfully legally by the Supreme Court   09:27 This is where you're going to talk about your spouse, the foreign national who is going to be applying for adjustment of status   10:01 The U.S. social security number, if they've never worked in the U.S. before and they've never had an a number before or work authorization, they are not going to have a social security number so you can leave that blank.   10:14 Beneficiary's name, this is important information because it's used for your background check. And especially if you have a common name, it's really important that you put your name as thoroughly as possible. 11:04 Other information about the beneficiary, this is where you put the birth city, country and the sex of the beneficiary   11:39 We're going to go to the beneficiary's physical address and if they are currently here in the U.S. and it should be the same address is the petitioner.   11:58 Other address information, you provide the address in the United States with the beneficiary intents to live.   12:28 Information about the...

00:03 We will cover one of the most complex areas of immigration law and as the waivers of grounds of inadmissibility.   00:23 We'll  specifically about the I-601 Waiver that is a very powerful waiver that can waive grounds of unlawful presence, or certain criminal activity as well as misrepresentation and fraud.   00:44 It is very important to connect a qualifying relative that will be the focus of our waiver because if there isn't qualifying relative by law, then we don't have a waiver and that case would not be possibl   01:35 What is the standard of I-601 waiver? The legal standard is extreme hardship.   02:00 It is extreme hardship to the U.S. citizen qualifying relative this case, a parent or a spouse   02:18 We have things like family ties in the U.S. or in the foreign country. If the U.S. citizen, spouse or parent has been live in the U.S. for many, many years, they have strong roots here. Uprooting them from here is going to cause them extreme hardship cause they don't know anybody in a foreign country   02:45 Another factor for extreme hardship are medical and psychological conditions.   03:19 Another factor is that if the U.S. citizen spouse or parent, you already have a very, very important job here. 03:52 Let's put it in the case to show that country conditions make it so difficult, almost impossible for that U.S. citizen qualifying relative to move and therefore it's going to result in extreme hardship 04:34 use exhibits. We use affidavits in a certain way that will make it easier for the adjudicating officer to approve that 601 waiver case. 05:24 There are waivers like the 608(a) which are specifically for unlawful presence. There are waivers, like the 212(d)(3) for people that are non-immigrants. There is the I-212 waiver, therefore people that have been removed   05:54 We have more articles on our website that will focus on that. Please subscribe to our channel

00:02 We are going to talk about immigration changes and updates   00:43 We're going to start off with some of the topics because I know you all want to know the most pressing and most important things that are happening in immigration.   01:23 President Trump met with top CEO's and Fortune 500 companies yesterday and they were just had a dinner talking about different things.  They basically were pressing him on immigration. they actually wanted him to create a program that will allow skilled workers to be able To come here in a much better way. 02:04 Another important thing that happened that was the announcement by a judge, that the DACA program will continue.   02:24 A judge gave 20 days to the  Trump Administration to reinstate that DACA for extension and for new obligation.   03:21 Its also constitutional challenge because one judge is saying give you 20 days to bring back that DACA and another judge pulled on the seat today or this week, destroyed DACA so maybe it's going to go to the Supreme Court.   03:53 As of now, DACA applicants that hold DACA, they can continue to renew it until further notice, but any new DACA applicants, if you're somebody who would qualify for DACA today, you can do it until there's going to be some other decisions   04:25 I still think that Congress is going to come up with a law for the dreamers.   05:00 Right now it remains to be scene and will continue to update you.   05:12 Most of the family petitions were actually getting interviews. But now, every green card application is subject to an interview, which makes it, first of all, much more complicated. Makes the process much more confusing because even officers, and I'm not always aware of what they should be asking, what are the, some of the standards.   05:53 Let's start with marriage petitions and I-864 for joined sponsors. What are some of the, what are some of the issues that we see there?   06:13 In late term, when you get married in each to your husband and your wife easily with U.S. citizen doesn't make enough money, you need to, for example, for a couple, you make less than $20,000 a year on tax, you have to find a sponsor.   07:39 Some of these marriage cases they're trying to detect fraud and so they determine that if somebody is willing to sign paperwork and they're not really connected to the couple, maybe there's some sort of a, you know, something shady going on.   08:17 Try to find co-sponsor that you know maybe it's a friend or a family, a coworker or somebody, but not just somebody that you paid because that's going to create a problem down the process whether it's your first interview or second interview 08:43 Another question that we see that they ask, and it's a question that is on the form I-45, whether it's for an employment base or family case is whether you're violated your terms of your visa.   09:26 You have to be upfront if you overstay, you have to say yes   10:02 In a sum the way you answered those questions can trigger more investigation for no reason specifically with the question of overstay and that some instances were overstay is not an issue, but you need to know which ones are those instances.  Make sure you have that full DOJ-FBI report because if you don't, sometimes there can be things that can be discovered at the interview and if you don't see it in advance, it's very difficult to deal with it and maybe already too late at the interview and sometimes can result in denial or even arrest at the interview. 11:04 Make sure you have full DOJ-FBI criminal reports then before you actually attended interview and any attorney can help you with that   11:30 That’s also why you have to your record before you're interview because it brings a lot of problem because they know if you're off charge.   12:42 It's always better to be informed as to what you have in your criminal records file before you...

How a Citizen of New Zealand get a E2 Business Visa for the U.S. 00:00 The new E2 visa and E1 visa for citizens of New Zealand is a new opportunity based on the Kiwi Act that was signed recently by President Trump and this visa will allow citizens of New Zealand to come to the United States, invest and start their own businesses.   00:47 You must have at least $50,000 to $100,000 as a minimum investment to invest in your own business. This is an amount of money that you currently have in New Zealand that you either earned it or you inherited it or you got it as a gift.  Another requirement is that you actually have to come to United States and open and start a company.   01:20 If you identified the business before you arrive and you're able to purchase that business and using that purchase you can start your…your business in the United States and obtain an E2 visa.   01:39 Another requirement is that we have to prove where the money came from.   02:09 The U.S. government would like to see what is your plan with your business.   02:37 Another requirement of the visa of the E2 and the E1 visa that you need to have a business plan five year plan to show what you're going to be doing with your business in the United States   03:17 Another requirement is that it has to be a substantial investment   04:03 It's going to be a huge opportunity for startups, for entrepreneurs from New Zealand to come to the United States and try their luck in here.   04:48 Again, it's a temporary visa, so you're not abandoning your residents in New Zealand, but it's an amazing opportunity   05:09 It's called the Kiwi Act signed into law into August 2018 by President Trump, welcoming citizens of New Zealand to come to the United States and started companies using the E1 or E2 visa.   05:33 If you enjoyed this video, please let me know. Post it in the comments below and we'll look forward to connecting with you on Facebook right here