Month: January 2018

Welcome to The Immigration Answers Show!

The Trump administration has made everything in immigration more difficult, even H1B visas. In this episode we discuss if there is still hope.

Submit your questions at https://immigrationanswershow.com/ to have them answered on our show!

Thank you for listening!

Transcript

[0:00] This is immigration answer show with Jim hacking episode number 29.

[0:05] Welcome to the immigration answer show with your host immigration lawyer Jim hacking.

In each episode Jim will answer your questions about the u.s. immigration system discover why the New York Times The Wall Street Journal national public radio and buzzfeed.com have all featured Jim and get the help you need navigating our complex immigration laws. Now on to the show.

[0:32] Welcome to the immigration answers show where we answer your immigration questions 3 days a week! You got questions and we’ll do our best to answer them every Monday Wednesday and Friday.

Today’s question about the u.s. immigration system:

 

Are employers really sponsoring foreign Nationals for H-1B worker visas?

 

Today’s question comes from shiv.

Shiv has just graduated from Parkway University and he is on optional practical training and he’s wondering are employer still sponsoring people for work visas.

He is not a American citizen nor does he have a green card so he is here on an F-1 student visa from back home and he’s wondering is it still worthwhile to find an employer who can sponsor for an H-1B, are employers still going through the hassle of getting H-1B worker visas for their foreign-born employees. The answer to this question is without a doubt a yes even today,

with all the toughening down of immigration rules and procedures by the Trump Administration people are still getting sponsored for H-1B visas.

We had a great meeting last week with the young man from Bangladesh who has a small company that he works for he’s been on optional practical training for the last year which is a bridge between F-1 student status and work visas in the United States opt allows a student to remain on their F1 visa after graduation.

And to work temporarily for a US employer and then if the US employer likes them enough then they sometimes not always but sometimes go ahead and sponsor the for National for a H1B.

[2:06] Although the process is a pain in the butt it’s still something that definitely is occurring so an employer who would want to sponsor you Shiv they would have to find out what the wages for your occupation are, it has to be a specialty occupation in order for you to qualify for an H-1B visa, and that means that it’s sort of like a professional job or one that’s on a sort of a general understanding that it takes a specific degree in a specific field for you to be able to perform that job and.

Of course there’s a lottery and so employers spend a lot of money on lawyers and on filing fees and a lot of hassle doing all the paperwork dealing with the Department of Labor.

And US citizenship and immigration service but at the end of the day there are still employers that are finding out that there are foreign-born.

Employees are potential employees are so special that they’re willing to go to bat for them and we see it every year every year I have some soon to come to me and say oh mr. hacking no one’s ever going to sponsor me for an H-1B I don’t know what to do.

I told him to hit the pavement to start looking for employees who already have sponsor people for H-1B.

To do a lot of the leg work and then to make a great impression on them if they do get their foot in the door and have the opportunity to shine.

And that’s what happened with our young man from Bangladesh should hopefully that’s something that can happen for you.

We really hope that as you start out on your opt Journey that you’re able to find an employer who’s willing to sponsor you for an H-1B.

You should not lose hope it’s still possible it’s still happening,

employers around the country are filing H-1B we expect there to be many more applications submitted then are at then their visas available for so there will probably be a lottery in this upcoming year.

[3:50] And the rules and procedures are being tweaked a little bit to make it a little bit more difficult.

The government is asking out for a lot more evidence to demonstrate that the employee is qualified for an H-1B so the hassle is there the hassle is real.

[4:03] For the most part employees are still endeavoring to do this they’re still trying to get people work visa so I wouldn’t give up hope yet shift.

I hope this answers your question I hope that it helps you on your path.

Towards finding an employment Visa at hopefully with the game the game of staying in the United States we really hope that you’re able to do that and it all your immigration dreams come true.

If you have any questions give us a call at 314-961-8200. We hope you found this immigration answer interesting and helpful we look forward to answering more of your questions in the future.

Please be sure to give us a review on iTunes or wherever you download your podcast and please share the show with people who you think might find it helpful.

If you have an immigration question that you’d like answered on the show head on over to immigration answer show.com backslash fq,

that’s www. Immigration and sir show.com fq and I’ll try to answer it on an upcoming episode.

[4:58] Thanks for listening to the immigration answer show with Jim hacking be sure to visit us on the web at immigration answers show.com if you have an immigration related question please send us an email.

Questions at immigration answers show.com.

We look forward to serving you on our next episode and remember the answers provided on the show our other General nature this show does not constitute legal advice and no attorney-client relationship is formed.

If you have specific questions about your situation be sure to consult with an experienced immigration lawyer.

Welcome to The Immigration Answers Show!

People sometimes want to know if USCIS will consider their non-citizen spouse’s income in determining the affidavit of support obligations in spouse based green card cases.

In this episode we discuss whether or not its worth it for your case.

Thanks for listening!

Transcript

[0:00] This is the immigration answer show with Jim Hacking Episode number 28.

[0:05] Welcome to the immigration answer show with your host immigration lawyer Jim hacking.

In each episode Jim will answer your questions about the u.s. immigration system. Discover why the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, national public radio, and buzzfeed.com have all featured Jim

[0:24] and get the help you need navigating our complex immigration laws. Now onto the show.

[0:31] Welcome to the immigration answers show where we answer your immigration questions 3 days a week you’ve got questions and we’ll do our best to answer them every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday now on to today’s question about the U.S. immigration system.

What happens if my foreign-born spouse makes a ton of money, I make very little money, and I want to sponsor him for a green card?

Today’s question comes from LeeAnn. LeeAn is in Germany, she and her former fiance and now spouse spend a lot of time in the United States and they’re currently living in Germany and Leanne is wondering her spouse now he makes a lot of money.

He makes well over the 125% of the poverty guidelines and she wants to be able to sponsor him and she’s asking whether we can include his income In the calculations for the Affidavit of Support, and you might be wondering what is an Affidavit of Support.

In marriage-based Green Card cases the government wants to make sure that the foreign-born spouses not going to become a charge on the government in other words that they’re not going to be able to pay for their own expenses, and that the government is going to end up paying for their medical bills, or food stamps or things like that.

So they make the US citizen spouse sign an Affidavit of Support and if a US citizen makes a hundred 25% of the poverty guidelines then they are able to sponsor the foreign-born spouse and everything is fine it keeps the case moving the case moves along swimmingly and everything is fine so in those scenarios that’s pretty straightforward. But then we have scenarios where the US citizen for whatever reason has not been working maybe they’ve been in school.

[2:08] Maybe they don’t have a long journey history or maybe they’ve had periods of unemployment during the prior 3 years. In those scenarios the person often needs a co-sponsor.

And LeeAn is wondering what can we forget about the coast sponsor and can we just use the income of my spouse because he’s making plenty of money.

And the answer to that is probably technically that you can but it’s a huge hassle and it really slows down your immigration case so in those situations we strongly strongly strongly encourage the u.s. citizen to find a co-sponsor and not to try to rely on the income of the spouse who’s making plenty of money. The reason for that is that usas is simply not set up to calculator consider the income of the u.s. citizens foreign-born spouse that is that they just don’t look at the income of the foreign-born spouses.

They won’t consider it they send back request for evidence it slows down the case by months and months of the cleaner thing to do is just to find a US citizen or green card holder who is willing to sign on as a co-sponsor what that means is they promise that.

If the foreign-born spouse gets benefits that is if Leanne’s husband gets benefits and.

He can’t pay them back and Leanne can’t pay them back then they the cosponsor will pay them back. It does take finding someone who’s willing to do that a US citizen or green card holder it does involve them turning over their tax income statements to USCIS to demonstrate the day the coast monster make enough money, but you’re going to find that it’s much better to do it that way then it is to try to get them to consider the u.s. citizens income the US citizen spouse’s income because it just aren’t set up for it and it’s hurting.

They have this calculator that they use and it just seems that every time we try to do something creative either using the foreign-born spouses income or using assets or things like that it never works it always comes back to us having to find a co-sponsor.

And it’s just so much easier so our suggestion in these situations is to disregard the income of the foreign-born spouse.

To focus on your income and if you don’t make enough to Simply find a co-sponsor it might not be the easiest thing but at the end of the day it’s going to get your case approved a whole lot more quickly and that’s the whole shooting match that’s what we’re after is trying to get the case moving quickly. The thing is we can try to make a point, we can try to fight with them, we can try to argue with them, but at the end of the day they have the keys to the kingdom they’re the ones that issue the Green card or the Visa andt at the end of the day we just like to do what they ask because in all honesty it’s just a whole lot simpler for everybody.

We hope you found this immigration answer interesting and helpful we look forward to answering more of your questions in the future.

Please be sure to give us a review on iTunes or wherever you download your podcast and please share the show with people who you think might find it helpful.

If you have an immigration question that you’d like answered on the show head on over to immigration answer show.com backslash fq.

That’s www. Immigration and sir show.com fq and will try to answer it on an upcoming episode.

[5:17] Thanks for listening to the immigration answer show with Jim hacking be sure to visit us on the web at immigration answers show.com if you have an immigration related question please send us an email.

Questions at immigration answers show.com.

We look forward to serving you on our next episode and remember the answers provided on the show our other General nature,

this show does not constitute legal advice and no attorney-client relationship is formed if you have specific questions about your situation be sure to consult with an experienced immigration lawyer.

Welcome to The Immigration Answers Show!

ICE has been detaining people at record numbers. Today we talk about whether or not you may be eligible for a bond while you are detained.

Feel free to submit any questions you have at https://immigrationanswershow.com/FQ1 or email them to info@hackinglawpractice@gmail.com

Thanks for Listening!

Transcript

[0:00] This is the immigration answers show with Jim hacking episode number 27.

[0:05] Welcome to the immigration answer show with your host immigration lawyer Jim hacking.

In each episode Jim will answer your questions about the u.s. immigration system. Discover why the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, National Public Radio and Buzzfeed.com have all featured Jim and get the help you need navigating our complex immigration laws. Now onto the show.

[0:32] Welcome to the immigration answers show where we answer your immigration questions 3 days a week you’ve got questions and we’ll do our best to answer them every Monday Wednesday and Friday.

 

Can I get out on bond if I’m facing deportation?

 

Immigration and Customs Enforcement has been detaining people at a record rate,

the numbers are way way up lately and so that has resulted in a lot of people being placed in removal proceedings and some of them are detained.

And so we’ve had a lot of questions and today’s question comes from Moh who’s wondering can I get out on bond if I am facing deportation and if ice is taken into custody.

[1:09] So let’s think about this for a minute first of all it’s important to note that not everybody who faces deportation has to go to immigration detention.

That is set aside for people who committed crimes or other serious offenses and immigration Customs Enforcement or the immigration judge thinks that you are.

Not sitting out a person to be allowed into the community that for the safety the community that you should be detained that’s one of the reasons that you can get the tape and so.

When you get put in the deportation proceedings to receive something called a notice to appear and that’s a document the list why the government thinks that you should be deported and one of the other things that you should receive as a bond determination so.

Immigration Customs Enforcement is the agency that comes out and initiates the proceedings they serve that notice to appear on the alien and they also make a determination as to whether or not they believe the person is eligible for a Bond.

I’ve been hearing rumors lately that ICE is doing a lot less of that but they’re just sending everybody to see the immigration judge and the problem there is that it usually takes 2 or 3 weeks depending on how busy the Immigration Court is.

To get to see the immigration judge in the Kansas City court that we deal with a lot we’re seeing two or three weeks before someone can get to see the judge so the first thing to keep in mind is that you want to hopefully.

Get bond from immigration Customs Enforcement from the officers themselves they have the authority if they choose to use it to allow you to get out on Bond and they can set the bond.

And then you have family members or someone else you can come down and pay the bond so that you do not have to stay in Immigration detention.

[2:48] Immigration detention is not a fun place to be as you might imagine.

How many places are located far away from where the individual usually lives which means it’s hard for lawyers or family members to go see that person so being an immigration detention is not fun.

[3:02] Another thing to keep in mind is that some people are subject to what’s called mandatory detention.

Mandatory detention is for people who have committed certain crimes and are there for statutorily ineligible.

What does that mean, statutorily ineligible? What that means is that back in the late 90s late 90s President Clinton signed a bill that said that if you are detained for certain crimes then you cannot get out on bond the judge can’t let you out on bond ice can let you out on Bond and your subject to mandatory detention that means.

You’re going to be sitting in Immigration detention.

From the start of the proceedings until you finally have your merits hearing at the Immigration Court in other words the entire deportation process.

[3:45] But if you’re not so between Android attention you’re going to have a chance to ask for bond from the immigration judge and the judges have a lot of leeway in determining whether or not they give bond.

If you’re not subject to mandatory detention and they can set it at what the what amount they want it has to be reasonable and there are certain parameters for that.

But for now what you need to know is that you’re going to have basically two chances to obtain bond to get out of immigration detention while your case is pending one is with immigration Customs Enforcement.

And the other is at a bond hearing with the immigration judge and it a bond hearing.

The government might take a position that you should not be allowed on a bond even though you’re eligible and you and your attorney or you by yourself will be arguing that you should be eligible for bonding you want to show reasons why I like.

But you are supporting your family that you are not a safety risk that you’ve not committed serious crimes.

That is not real hardship on your family for you to be held in Immigration detention and so for that reason you ask the judge to allow you out on immigration bond.

You didn’t pay the bond at immigration Customs Enforcement.

And that bond is used to make sure that you keep returning to court so if you miss Court you’re going to Forfeit that Bond and then immigration Customs Enforcement going to come and get you and they’re probably not going to let you out on bond again so it’s real important if you do get Bond,

they do go ahead and keep making all your court appearances getting a good bond in a bond determination is not something that’s very easy for most people you probably want to work with an experienced immigration lawyer somewhere in the country.

If you have any questions about Bond about immigration bond in detention if you’re facing deportation or someone you care about is and you and you need help you have questions make sure to give us a call at 314-961-8200 you can email us at hacking law practice.

[5:28] We hope you found this immigration answer interesting and helpful we look forward to answering more of your questions in the future.

Please be sure to give us a review on iTunes or wherever you download your podcast and please share the show with people who you think might find it helpful.

If you have an immigration question that you’d like answered on the show head on over to immigration answer show.com backslash fq.

That’s www. Immigration and sir show.com fq and will try to answer it on an upcoming episode.

[5:59] Thanks for listening to the immigration answer show with Jim hacking be sure to visit us on the web at immigration answers show.com if you have an immigration related question please send us an email.

Questions at immigration answers show.com we look forward to serving you on our next episode and remember the answers provided on the show are of a general nature,

the show does not constitute legal advice and no attorney-client relationship is formed,

if you have specific questions about your situation be sure to consult with an experienced immigration lawyer.

Welcome to The Immigration Answers Show!

We get so many questions on Fiance Visas we decided it was time we do a full episode on them. Listen in for walkthrough of the whole process.

Feel free to submit any questions you have at https://immigrationanswershow.com/FQ1 or email them to info@hackinglawpractice@gmail.com

Thanks for listening!

Transcript

 

Jim Hacking: How does the entire process work, of bringing my fiance to the United States, and getting them a Green Card?

Hi, I’m Jim Hacking, Immigration Lawyer, practicing law throughout the United States, out of our office here in Saint Louis, Missouri.

Today’s question comes from Siree. And Siree is a US citizen, and Siree has a fiance back home in India that Siree wants to bring to the United States. And Siree’s wondering, how does that process work? So let me walk you through it.

So only US citizens can sponsor their fiances. Welfare permanent residents, Green Card holders, are not allowed to sponsor fiances that come to the United States. So luckily Siree’s already a citizen, and that takes care of one big hurdle. And so the process works by filing a form called an I129F, paying the filing fee, and submitting documentation of the relationship. And so USCIS has been taking about five or six or seven months to approved I129F’s lately. And the things you need to put in there are sort of important. Obviously you have to submit all the right forms, and then you’re going to want to submit some particular evidence.

One piece of evidence is that you’re going to have to show that you’ve been in each other’s physical presence in the last two years, that is, that at some point in the last two years you’ve met face-to-face. You cannot file a Fiance Visa if you have not met your spouse face-to-face: that’s something that surprises people sometimes when they come to see us. And part of our job, as the immigration lawyer, is to prove that. We’re going to have to develop evidence, like your travel receipts, your plane tickets, photos, phone calls, emails, anything related to the trip itself. If you went to see shows, or tickets for anything, if you took train rides or if you met with family; you’re going to want to provide proof of all of that, because you have to sort of convince the immigration service that you have in fact met face-to-face. That’s one thing.

Another thing besides the forms that you’re going to have submit, is a statement that you and your fiance intend to marry within 90 days of arrival. So typically what we do is we have a simple statement from the US citizen, and a simple statement from the foreign national, and it basically says, who I am, how I met my fiance, sort of tell a little bit of the story, talk about the last time that you met face-to-face, because that’s also good evidence of those two years physical presence requirement that I just talked about, and then a clear statement in the affidavit or the statement, that you and your fiance intend to marry within 90 days of the foreign national’s arrival in the US.

So you send all that off to the Immigration Service and that goes to the USCIS, to the right Service Center, and then once that’s approved, like I said, five, six, seven months later, then your case is sent for processing at the Embassy. At this stage you have to file a electronic form with the Department of State: so you’re switching from one agency to another. At this point you’re switching from the US Citizenship and Immigration Service, which approved the Fiance Petition, and then sends it onto the State Department for processing at the Embassy.

And during that stage, you’re going to file a form called the DS160, and this is an electronic form that you fill out, and it has a lot of the same information that was already asked in the I129F, but like I said, you’re dealing with a different agency, so you have to outline all that same evidence and same information again. There might be a little bit more about criminal history of the foreign national. We have seen more and more questions added to the DS160, so it does take a little bit of doing, and then we have to submit evidence in the form of a checklist to the Immigration Service to get everything to the Embassy.

And then once it gets to the Embassy, each Embassy does things a little differently, it depends which Embassy you’re dealing with: some are very organized and methodical; some are very laid back and ‘loosey-goosey’ and so one good thing about working with our firm, or other experienced immigration firms, is that we’ve sort of developed a list of the things that each Embassy that we’ve dealt with before, has asked for: the little nuances or the little unusual things about that particular Embassy; and so that’s really helpful.

Eventually you’re going to pay that fee for the Non-Immigrant Fiance Visa, and then once the person comes they’re going to be issued a K1 Visa, and they’re going to be allowed to enter in the United States. Once the foreign national is here, and you, the US citizen, marry the foreign national, then at that point you’re going to file for Adjustment of Status, you’re going to file an I45 application, to adjust status, and you’re also going to file for a Travel Document and Work Card, because those adjustment cases are taking a really long time and you might want to have the ability to be able to leave the United States, or work in the United States, while you’re waiting for that Green Card to issue.

In the past there weren’t many interviews on these standalone Green Card cases where the Embassy has already approved the person to come, but we’ve been seeing more and more that USCIS, which is the agency that actually handles the Green Card, is scheduling more of these for interview, so you might get an interview on that, and you and your spouse are, at that point, going to have to show that it’s a valid marriage and demonstrate the relationship.

So that’s sort of the whole process, from start to finish. That’s how you get the Green Card for the foreign national through the fiance process.

Right now, through a strange quirk in the way things are working, fiances are coming to the United States more quickly than spouses. So if you have not already gotten married, that is probably an option that you want to discuss with an experienced immigration lawyer.

One thing you don’t want to do is what a client of ours recently did, and that is to pretend that they had a fiance case, at least that’s what USCIS thought; USCIS thought they were actually already married. So one thing that you have to be careful about is not actually filing for a fiance case when you’re in fact a spouse. And some people try to do that, or allege to try to do that, because they think they’re spouse/fiance is going to get here faster. So basically, if the relationship has been consummated, and a ceremony has been held in which it was recorded with the local government, for the most part you’re going to be considered married, and if you try to come as a fiance, that’s most likely going to get denied.

And if you have any questions or emails about this, or suggestions on other videos that you’d like for us to do, you can either record it at immigrationanswersshow.com, or you can email us at info@hackinglawpractice.com. You can also always give us a call to Schedule a Consult if you like, 314-961-8200.

Thanks a lot, and we hope you find this helpful.

Welcome to The Immigration Answers Show!

Hearing your naturalization case has been denied is the worst. In this episode we discuss what options you have when you get the news, and whether or not you should appeal.

Feel free to submit any questions you have at https://immigrationanswershow.com/FQ1 or email them to info@hackinglawpractice@gmail.com

Thanks for listening!

 

Welcome to The Immigration Answers Show!

Still waiting? On this weeks episode we explore whether or not you should apply for citizenship with a pending Green Card application.

Feel free to submit any questions you have at https://immigrationanswershow.com/FQ1 or email them to info@hackinglawpractice@gmail.com

Thanks for listening!

Transcript

[0:00] This is the immigration answers show with Jim hacking episode number 24.

[0:05] Welcome to the immigration answer show with your host immigration lawyer Jim hacking.

In each episode Jim will answer your questions about the u.s. immigration system. Discover why the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, national public radio, and buzzfeed.com have all featured Jim and get the help you need navigating our complex immigration laws. Now onto the show.

[0:32] Welcome to the immigration answers show where we answer your immigration questions 3 days a week you’ve got questions and we’ll do our best to answer them every Monday Wednesday and Friday now on to today’s question about the u.s. immigration system.

[0:44] Can I apply for citizenship while my i-751 petition to remove conditions on a green card while it is still pending.

Our question today comes from one of our viewers name Ty and Ty wants to know can he go ahead and apply for citizenship even if USCIS has not yet decided whether to give him a 10-year green card. So what are we talking about here well of course If anyone gets a green card based on marriage and that marriage is less than 2 years old at the time that the green card is approved they’re only giving a 2-year conditional green card and at the end of those two years in that three month. Before the 2-year anniversary of the green card.

They and their spouse have to file an i-751 which is a petition to remove conditions on that green card, that is to give them a 10-year permanent permanent green card.

And we say that that’s filed with the spouse and usually it is but sometimes the non-citizen does file without the US citizen but in this case we’re talking about a situation where the marriage is still valid, the couple is still together, and they have filed a joint I 751.

USCIS at the current time is taking way way way too long to decide these cases they used to take six or seven or eight months now they’re running a year-and-a-half easy.

So that means that by the time that they’re finally getting their green cards they were already eligible to apply for citizenship and it sounds like our friend Ty is in that situation so he and his spouse have filed an I 751 to remove the conditions on his green card.

That case has been pending and pending for way too long.

He’s now at the 3-year kark and at the three year mark if you’re still married to the u.s. citizen you can apply for citizenship and Ty is wondering whether that makes sense to do or not.

[2:22] It’s funny we just had a consult last week with someone who had gone ahead and done that.

We don’t usually recommend that people do that but I certainly understand why people are doing it and you want to get your place in line.

And there’s no rule that says you can’t so the rules specifically allow you to file for citizenship even if you’ve not yet received your conditional Green Card lifting through the i-751 so another words.

You don’t have to wait for the i-751 to be approved.

To apply for citizenship no just because you don’t have to the question Still Remains should you and so I think in this situation it comes down to whether or not you’re willing to take the gamble on your I 751 being denied.

The fact is most i-751 Czar granted especially if the marriage is legitimate in the couple’s done a good job of putting everything together so there’s certainly no reason why you can’t do it.

And the only reason you wouldn’t want to do it as if you’re worried that the i-751 is going to get denied.

The filing of the citizenship case does start that clock ticking and so I think there’s a real argument to go ahead and do it if someone came to me and asked me specifically should I do it.

I used to say no but now the given the fact that I 751 they’re taking so long.

I think I’d take the mindset of going ahead and doing it so if you’re willing to take that small risk that your I-71 going to get tonight or that your N400 naturalization application.

Is going to be pending for a long long time.

Then you should go ahead and file for naturalization there’s no rule that says you can’t you probably want to get things moving especially with the way things are so delayed immigration right now we think it’s probably the right call.

[3:58] Kyrie hope this helps answer your question if you have questions and you want to reach out to us you can go to our emigration answer show.com podcast that’s where the recording is to record your own questions if you like this video.

Please be sure to click like below share it on social media.

Make sure they give us a good review if you only some comments below that be greater if you have questions you want to email us to do a video or an audio recording of one of your questions shoot us an email at info at hacking law practice.

And if you have any other kinds of questions you can always call us at 314-961-8200 thanks a lot will talk to you later.

[4:34] We hope you found this immigration answer interesting and helpful we look forward to answering more of your questions in the future please be sure to give us a review on iTunes or wherever you download your podcast and please share the show with people you think might find it helpful,

if you have an immigration question that you’d like answered on the show head on over to immigration answer show.com backslash fq.

That’s www. Immigration answer show.com fq and we’ll try to answer it on an upcoming episode.

[5:06] Thanks for listening to the immigration answer show with Jim hacking be sure to visit us on the web at immigration answers show.com if you have an immigration related question please send us an email.

Questions at immigration answers show.com we look forward to serving you on our next episode and remember the answers provided on the show are of a general nature,

the show does not constitute legal advice and no attorney-client relationship is formed,

if you have specific questions about your situation be sure to consult with an experienced immigration lawyer.

Welcome to The Immigration Answers Show!

How helpful are letters when trying to prove that a marriage is valid? On this weeks episode we explore what you can do to make your letter some of the strongest evidence you can provide.

Feel free to submit any questions you have at https://immigrationanswershow.com/FQ1 or email them to info@hackinglawpractice@gmail.com

Thanks for listening!

Transcript

[0:00] This is the Immigration Answers Show episode number 23

[0:05] Welcome to the immigration answer show with your host immigration lawyer Jim Hacking.

In each episode Jim will answer your questions about the u.s. immigration system. Discover why the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, national public radio, and buzzfeed.com have all featured Jim and get the help you need navigating our complex immigration laws. Now onto the show.

[0:31] Welcome to the immigration answers show where we answer your immigration questions 3 days a week you’ve got questions and we’ll do our best to answer them every Monday Wednesday and Friday.

Now onto today’s question about the u.s. immigration system.

What information should I put in letters are affidavits from people that want to a test to our marriage being valid?

We handle a whole lot of spouse and fiance cases. In those cases sometimes our clients want to submit evidence above and beyond the financials and the photos and the documentation of a life together.

They ask us if we want to have a letter or an affidavit from a family member to explain to USCIS or the state department that our relationship is valid so the first thing to keep in mind is that this evidence is not particularly compelling. I don’t think that the immigration service sees this

as the most important evidence. If I had to give a hierarchy of evidence of course the best evidence of a valid marriage is a child with both parents on the birth certificate.

After that, the main thing that they’re concerned about is the commingling of assets, so they want to see documentation that you have incurred debt together, spent money together, have joined your money together, that you’re living together, that you’re incurring the bills that a normal married couple would have.

[1:45] But in the event that you want to submit evidence like this though we’re talking about today affidavits or letters I do have some important things to keep in mind number 1 is that you dont want it to be an affidavit and a letter signed by someone that may or may not even be a real person.

It is not very compelling to the immigration service I was in an interview a couple weeks ago in Memphis Tennessee and the officer said I don’t necessarily put any wait into the letters that people bring to me they could have been written by you could have been written by your lawyer I don’t really put much stock in it but I think that be harder to do.

It was an affidavit if the if the information provided by the person writing the letter of the affidavit

put it in writing and put it under oath in front of a notary that means they’re sworn to tell the truth, and that means that the letter should carry more weight so I think an affidavit would actually carry more weight than just a plain old letter. An affidavit is simply a written statement that is sworn to under penalty of perjury that is that you swear to tell the truth.

And what should you put in the affidavit? Well the first thing you want to do is going to have identifying information for the person providing the affidavit you want to have.

The person who’s writing at explain who they are what their full legal name is what their address is and their contact information because in theory usas could contact the person in,

verify what’s in the affidavit so you want to make it easy for the officer or at least show that you’re not scared to have them go contact the person who wrote to the affidavit.

[3:16] This piece of information that you’re going to have them put his their immigration status so it’s probably best to have an affidavit from someone who’s a US citizen or green card holder.

The next thing to keep in mind if you want to have someone who’s known you for awhile at least known one member of the couple for a while.

And they want to explain their knowledge the basis of their knowledge and how they know you what they know about you how long they’ve known you those kinds of things and then they want to talk about the foreign National how they were introduced to the for National Forest.

They’ve always on the for National and they’re just getting to meet this US citizen they want to explain what they’ve observed at they can’t just say I think this is a great couple.

And I think you should give him a green card now know what you want them to do is start and give examples of how they seen you two together.

How they seen you spend time together how they seen you interact together if they seen you fight that’s not so bad either because that’s what married couples sometimes do so.

Anything in there that can give it some flavor that can let the officer see that this is not just some regular old affidavit that this is like a form printed off the internet.

Those kinds of things are going to be helpful in the last thing you might want to have him do as is regardless of whether they knew the citizen longer or the beneficiary longer is to have them.

[4:26] Explain their feelings for the beneficiary explain why they think this is a good person why they think they should get an immigration benefit why you think they’d be a good lawful permanent resident United States.

And then you can even invite them to contact you if they feel the need I think those are all the great things put in the affidavit and then once it’s written up.

You’re going to want to take it to a notary public so notary public is someone who is authorized by the state that you live in to give.

Oats or do you receive those sent it to make people swear things under penalty of perjury so you have the notarized that they’ll put a little stamp on it and that’s going to go a long way towards making the evidence a little bit more compelling.

We hope you found this immigration answer interesting and helpful we look forward to answering more of your questions in the future.

Please be sure to give us a review on iTunes or wherever you download your podcast and please share the show with people who you think might find it helpful.

If you have an immigration question that you’d like answered on the show head on over to immigration answer show.com.

Backslash fq that’s www. Immigration answer show.com fq and we’ll try to answer it on an upcoming episode.

[5:35] Thanks for listening to the immigration answer show with Jim hacking be sure to visit us on the web at immigration answers show.com if you have an immigration related question please send us an email.

Questions at immigration answers show.com we look forward to serving you on our next episode and remember the answers provided on the show are of a general nature,

the show does not constitute legal advice and no attorney-client relationship is formed,

if you have specific questions about your situation be sure to consult with an experienced immigration lawyer.

Welcome to The Immigration Answers podcast!

How can you help your spouse adjust their status if you are an LPR? Tune in to this weeks show to find out.

Feel free to submit any questions you have at https://immigrationanswershow.com/FQ1 or email them to info@hackinglawpractice@gmail.com

Thanks for listening!

Transcript

[0:00] This is the immigration answer show with Jim Hacking episode number 22.

[0:05] Welcome to the immigration answer show with your host immigration lawyer Jim hacking.

In each episode Jim will answer your questions about the u.s. immigration system. Discover why the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, national public radio and buzzfeed.com have all featured Jim and get the help you need navigating our complex immigration laws. Now onto the show.

[0:31] Welcome to the immigration answers show where we answer your immigration questions 3 days a week you’ve got questions and we’ll do our best to answer them every Monday Wednesday and Friday now on to today’s question about the u.s. immigration system.

If I’m a green card holder can my spouse stay in the United States if I file for adjustment of status for them.

Every now and then we come across a case where there is a lawful permanent resident let’s call him Juan living in the United States.

And let’s say his spouse Maria happens to be in the United States on a student visa.

She is not a lawful permanent resident, she is just the spouse of a lawful permanent resident. The question is what kind of status does Maria have to maintain in order to be able to stay in the United States.

Here’s the general rule if you want to adjust your status- you need to be in valid immigration status at the time of your adjustment.

So in a situation like this Maria would need to maintain her student status throughout the time the Green Card case is pending and the reason for this is that there is a backlog

on the processing of green card cases for the spouses of green card holders. I know that sounds a little bit confusing, but basically there are a limit on the number of green cards that are available in all kinds of green card categories and that includes green cards for the spouses of green card holders, that is, lawful permanent residence’s husbands or wives. So that is the kind of thing that can screw people up because they assume that once they file for the Green Card based on their marriage to a green card holder that that allows them to stay in the United States.

[2:08] Some of this confusion comes from the fact that the spouse of a US citizen who is out of status is allowed to adjust status so the rules are different when you’re married to a US citizen so if one were already a US citizen then if Maria were out of status at the time that they applied for Jasmine or the time of her interview, that would be forgiven- the fact that she was out of st

atus but that rule only applies to US citizens.

That rule does not apply to the spouses of lawful permanent resident so that’s really where the confusion comes in so if you are married to a green card holder and if you want to adjust your status you need to make sure that you find some valid status to be in and that you maintain that status both at the time that you file and the time of your actual adjustment.

And in a lot of situations that can be up to a year and a half or two years or even longer depending on how many people are in line ahead of you.

[3:00] We hope you found this immigration answer interesting and helpful we look forward to answering more of your questions in the future.

Please be sure to give us a review on iTunes or wherever you download your podcast and please share the show with people who you think might find it helpful.

If you have an immigration question that you’d like answered on the show head on over to immigrationanswershow.com/fq.

That’s www.Immigrationanswershow.com/fq and we’ll try to answer it on an upcoming episode.

[3:32] Thanks for listening to the immigration answer show with Jim hacking be sure to visit us on the web at immigration answers show.com,

if you have an immigration related question please send us an email with your questions at immigrationanswersshow.com. We look forward to serving you on our next episode and remember the answers provided on the show are of a general nature.

This show does not constitute legal advice and no attorney-client relationship is formed. If you have specific questions about your situation be sure to consult with an experienced immigration lawyer.

Welcome to The Immigration Answers podcast!

Divorce is a difficult process to go through, but it doesn’t have to spell the end of your Green Card. This week we talk about what you should do after a divorce to get your Green Card.

Feel free to submit any questions you have at https://immigrationanswershow.com/FQ1 or email them to info@hackinglawpractice@gmail.com

Thanks for listening! Be sure to check us out on YouTube at http://bit.ly/2lOQ4Lv