Jacob: All right. Hello everybody. This is
Jacob Sapochnick and Marie Puertollano from
the Sapochnick Law Firm. And we are doing
our weekly update. We have been away for a
few weeks because of the H-1B rush season
and we are now back to update you on recent
immigration changes. And those that are joining
right now, just post where you're from and
if you can hear us well. I want to make sure
the audio is good and we're going to be covering
some updated topics and also going through
some changes and as always we'll be answering
your questions. So, I'm getting messages also
on my phone and everything. So, let's get
through it. How did you survive the H-1B s
first of all, Marie? Marie : Barely. It's
a very stressful season. A lot of changes.
We, well, we sent out our case and it's done.
It's really, there's no more H-1B available,
so… Jacob: Right. So there are no more H-1B
visas available. The cap has been met properly.
And we started receiving notices, received
notices from USCIS as well for cases that
we filed. First, the notices that we're getting
are the Masters cap and I think, we've got
all on Masters cap, right? They are all Masters
cap? Marie : Well, I hope not. I hope not.
All our premium processing with 100% was selected.
So, you have a choice to choose premium processing.
For our clients who chose premium processing,
100% was selected. So that's great news for
them. For the Masters cap, without premium
processing, we don't have everything back
yet. Usually, we have 80% selection. 80%.
Jacob: So, we're still waiting. Okay. So,
let's run through the updates first and then,
we'll leave the space for people to ask questions
and then even after the live stream, if you
want to ask questions, you can post them in
the comments and we'll get back, we'll come
back and answer them. So, H-1B cap, we are
still receiving the receipts for Masters and
also, next year as you know, there's going
to be a whole new H-1B process with an online
registration. So, this is the last year of
the traditional process. So, we'll see what
happens next year. And again, those people
that file this year, hopefully, you'll get
it because it's definitely going to be more...
we think it's going to be a little bit different
next year. Marie : And always told our client
to ask their employer to check if the check
was cashed. Once the case, the check is cashed
for the H-1B, means you won the lottery. Then,
you might take two, three weeks to get the
receipt notice. But that's the first thing
that will… Jacob: All right. So, let's move
on to some of the changes. One of the main
changes that we've seen is that they are going
to cancel the Infopass. So right now, if you
want to make an inquiry on your case or you
want to know what's going on with your file,
you can go online line and make an Infopass
appointment. And then, you can check on your
case. So, why don't you talk about those changes
and why they're happening. Marie : So, soon
you will not [inaudible] us. We will not be
able to schedule directly an Infopass. Right
now, you just go on your computer and you
just try to file an appointment. By the end
of the year, you're going to have to call
immigration, the 800 number. Talk to the office
about your problem, if the officer decides
it's worth an Infopass, then the officer on
the phone will schedule you for an Infopass
appointment. They had a very interesting conference
on, a teleconference on February 14. Where
they explained, they want to limit as much
as possible, people coming in for an Infopass.
They are tired of seeing too many people.
I think they have more than 20,000 inquiries
per day on site. So, they want to limit it
for stuff such as extending your [inaudible]
receive notice, extending your I-90, get the
I-551 stamp and for the [inaudible] in place
because you need the I-94 for... so, most
of the needs really to be on site. If you
just need an update about your case, you can
go online at the USCIS website and they want
everyone to use it [inaudible] them on-site
at their field office. Jacob: Right. So again,
this is... we'll have to see how that thing
is going to work. But we've been using the
Infopass system for years now and we can just
make an online appointment and go down to
the local office and get information about
our cases and people could do it without a
lawyer as well. And now, it's going to be
kind of like a discretion of the officer if
they can do it. So again, for people that
are joining just right now. This is our live
weekly show where we ask an immigration lawyer,
where you can ask questions and we'll answer.
We'll also update you on the most updated
information on immigration. So, this is your
chance to ask questions and get some updates
about some recent changes we just talked about.
For those of you who are joining us right
now, we talked about the H-1B filing season
that cases were filed. H-1B visas are no longer
available. We received our first receipts
recently as well. We have quite a few Master
cases that were selected. And the second thing
we talked about is that they're going to eliminate
the Infopass system. So, those of you that
want to inquire about your cases are no longer
going to be able to do it unless you call
the office, the immigration office and get
the officer, to convince them to get you an
Infopass. For those of you that are joining
us right now, I see a bunch of people coming
in, let us know where you're from. Just post
your city, your country and let us know where
you're tuning in. We love to see many of you
right here. I don't see everything here, but
we see, Atec has a question and we have all
this, Rocio and Bharat and Carkeek. So yeah,
keep posting questions. We'll answer them
in a few minutes after we're done with the
updates, we're going to answer all your questions
and promise we're going to go through all
these questions. So, we have Imelda, from
Texas and make sure you put some hearts and
likes the comments and we love... welcome,
welcome to the show. So, the second update
is the medical exam. So, the medical exam
is valid for six months. Right? And what are
some of the changes that are happening? With
the... so, it's going to be valid for two
years now? Marie : Now, it's been... the medical
exam, any green card application, needs to
do shots, so you need to go on a medical exam.
It's now valid for two years. From the day
the doctor signed the form and the form must
be signed 60 days maximum before you file
your green card case. So, in our office, we
chose a policy. We do not send any more medical
exams with a green card package. We wait to
get the courtesy notice and then the person
does the medical at this point, which is usually
around 30 to 60 days before the interview,
this is our office policy because it's been
very difficult. We don't know when it eventually
expires. So it's better, we don't send it
out at all. You just wait to get your courtesy
notice, and then you do your medical at this
point, which is 60 days before the interview
usually. And many people are afraid it's going
to delay their cases not to send a medical
exam, this is not true. We do it. We have
no problem with delays. So, we advise to...
you can, if you want not to submit your medical
exam and just wait, just a few weeks before
the interview. Jacob: Right. Because the expiration
is so short, we want to make sure that you
don't have to do it multiple times. So, yeah.
So welcome to Rocio, to Letty. Nice to see
you. Shamaniel, let us know where you're from.
Shahid is there, what country you're from,
what city, and put your hearts and likes in
there. Perfect. So, the next update is the
new I-539 form. It's already effective. This
form is used to change your status, extend
your tourist visa, change from a tourist or
a student or anything else. So, this form
has been updated. And what are some of the
main updates that do you notice? Marie : So,
there's a new form. So, the new form, you
can only use this form now and they added
an $85 biometric fee. So, if you want to extend
your status or change your status, even if
it's just a mere tourist visa, you're going
to have to be fingerprinted. Even children
have to be fingerprinted. Even if... your
child, your two years old, you're going to
have to go to the field office, get fingerprinted.
We expect it's gonna impact more than a quarter
of a million people a year. So, it's like
a quarter of a million people are going to
have to be fingerprinted. This $85 fee is
going to bring around $30 million to immigration,
additional revenue every year. But because
of all these fingerprinting. And this thing
that they do need is fingerprinting they're
going to make a better security, making sure
that the people who want to stay in America
or change their status are not criminal because
you do your fingerprints, it means the FBI
is going to check your bag on shake and if
you have criminal record. Then, what we don't
know, are they going to do it yet because
they stopped on March 22nd. But who knows,
maybe they would stop removal proceedings.
Jacob: So, it's definitely a more invasive
process. Before, we will just file a form
and either you get an extension or not. Now
you actually have to go and get your biometrics
and so it's definitely going to be a... it's
different, like everything else in this process.
And finally, they will be canceling the EAD
work authorization for H-4 spouses. So, spouses
of H-1, who are now able to work. If their
H-1 spouses are going through a green card
process, they're going to be filing for their
EAD, that's going to be canceled, we think
it's going to happen sometime by summertime,
which is pretty sad that they're doing this,
but it's happening. So, do you want to say
anything about this? Marie : Well, the process
here in America for H-1B while waiting for,
usually a green card, for example, Indian
national, you can wait eight to 10 years here
in America to get your green card. So, in
the meantime, your spouse is not allowed to
work by law. So, this regulation from 2015,
I think, a law that spouse to work... because
you were like eight, 10 years without working,
it's a huge waiting time. So, these are on
100,000 people who have a work permit, and
Trump administration who would like to cancel
all these work permits. We don't know if they're
going to cancel all existing work permits
or let them expire and don't allow to renew.
If your work permit and you're H-4 and your
work permit expires by the end of the year,
self-renewing immediately as soon as you're
on the 180 days, I would just… send me to
I-765. Jacob: Right. So at least, try one
last effort to renew it before they cancel
it. But it's definitely a bad sign that they
are doing it. All right. So now, these are
the main updates. So, we said we cover the
H-1B season. We talked about Infopass cancellation,
the new I-539, and H-4 cancellation. So right
now, let's get down to your questions. So
right now, we're going to answer your questions.
Once again, let us know where you're from.
And we have, Shibachi here. Hello, Shibachi,
how are you? Mila is there. Mariza Rocio,
Atec, Michael. Okay. Caroline has a question.
"Can a lawyer check with immigration if the
person has a clean record?" So, lawyers can
do two things. We can do a foyer request to
find out the person's immigration information
and in that, we can find if there were any
deportations or things like that. So, that
is yes. And also we can help do an FBI record
check and so help clients find out about their
criminal stuff. So yes, we can definitely
help with that. Clyde is asking, oh, "Thanks
for your help." You're welcome for watching.
Atec has a question. What is your question?
Baharat. "I am a hairdresser. Tell me what
is the process for a visa? Currently, I am
in New Zealand." So, hairdressers particularly,
have to start their own business. So, either
you come here as a trainee on the J-1 or you
can start your own hairdressing company under
the E-2 and [inaudible] is going to have any
E-2 coming up soon. Hopefully, yeah. So, yeah.
E-2 or J-1, or... yeah, those are pretty much
the main options for a hairdresser. Karthik.
Hello, Karthik. He was released on parole
from Otay Mesa and he's transferred to San
Francisco. The EAD clock has been stopped
but previously, it's been 67 days now. It's
passed. My hearing was on August the 8th.
Is there any way to start the EAD clock again?
What do you think? Marie : I don't understand
why they stopped your clock. So I would...
we need to see more with your case. I don't
understand why they stopped the clock. Jacob:
Yeah. Karthik that doesn't make sense. Kind
of, what's happening here? Why don't you just
send us a private message and me and Marie
will respond to you. Because it's a very particular
question. We want to answer questions that
are specific to everybody. And by the way,
this is a good point to let you know, a disclaimer
that we are both immigration lawyers but we
are not your lawyers. And so, whatever we
say here is for general information only.
We provide it as a courtesy service to the
Facebook followers and everybody who is watching
this. But we are not your lawyers so we don't
give you legal advice. We just provide general
information. So Karthik, if you want specific
information, you have to send us a private
message and set up an appointment to speak
with us. Imelda is from Texas. Perla is from
Singapore. Hey, so, I was just there, close
by a few weeks ago. I was in Hong Kong. Nogan
is, "My name is Nogan." Welcome, Rosio. "My
husband applied for her [inaudible] September
2017. He is a green card holder. How many
days do you need to get approved?" Well, Rosio,
first of all, it depends on where you from.
So, there's a visa bulletin and green card
holders have a particular wait... It's F-2A
and you have to go there to the visa bulletin,
look at the F-2A category for your country
and put that date. Right now, we have... we
estimate, about two years average. Once again,
hello Letty. Hello, Balgroom. Mo, J-1 to H-1B
as the question. How? Well, there's no H-1Bs
anymore, it is possible to switch from the
J-1 to the H-1B. Marie : Oh, I know. The only
what to choose to switch was [inaudible] is
your cap exam. So, you should go to university
or… Jacob: Yes. Ignacios, Massachusetts,
hello. Atec, "I am from Afghanistan. We are
expecting a baby on July." Congratulations.
"I want to ask my mother to help us. How can
I do that?" So, if you're a citizen. You can
easily do that. If you're not a US citizen,
you can invite her as a tourist to visit.
Charles, hello. Melina, hi Melina. Semani
says, "How much do I need to file for green
card through a marriage?" Marie : 1760. Jacob:
The filing fee is 1,760. And if you want to
know our costs, just send us a private message
and we share that information with you happily.
Mr. Chung, "If someone calls ICE to report
an illegal immigrant and does it without concealing
their name, would the illegal immigrant find
out who reported them? Marie : No. Jacob:
Typically... first of all, there are two things.
First of all, even if you call ICE, it doesn't
mean they're going to act on it. Right. But
even if they do, they never going to release
the information of whoever reported it. So,
don't worry. Yeah. But don't be a reporter.
Ah, I'm just kidding. "How can I apply for
a visitor visa?" [inaudible] for a visitor
visa, you have to go to the US Embassy's website,
make an appointment. You can do it online
using form DS-160 and depends on what country
you're from, there'll be an easy process to
follow. Marie : Be careful to show a lot of
ties to your home country. They want to be
sure you're coming back home and you're just
visiting. So, a lot of ties, house, loans,
property, everything. Jacob: Yusuf. "Look,
I'm just asking if... I'm an Egyptian citizen,
can I apply for a work visa, but also I'm
still a college student... how can I just,
[inaudible]? How can I start? Tell me the
easy way, the cheap way. Marie : There's no
easy way. Jacob: That's a long question, right?
The first step is to decide why you want to
come to the US. So, if you want to come as
a visitor, you apply for a tourist visa. If
you're wan to... somebody as young as you
are, my recommendation is to become a student,
apply for a student visa and it's easy. Nice
to meet you again, Magobu. Nice to meet you
too. Ahmed. I love familiar names. Perla.
Let's see. My [inaudible] been going on for
nearly 10 years. This is accurate. Well, there
are many ways to inquire. If you have an attorney,
they have ways to do it. If you don't have
an attorney, there are other things you can
do by writing to the Congressman. It's a process.
10 years is a long time. You definitely need
somebody to help you. So, send us a private
message, please. Marisa is from San Francisco.
Welcome, Shahid. What? Did I miss somebody?
Oh, Loma. I'm sorry. "What if a tourist visa
is expired?" If you're here with an expired
tourist visa, if it's less than six months,
you can still leave without penalties. If
you overstayed more than six months, you're
going to be barred for three years. If you
stay for more than a year, it's going to be
10 years. So, we don't recommend to overstay.
Pankash, "Hey Jacob, what's going on in DACA?"
What's the update on DACA? No update.Marie
: Still the same. You can extend. Jacob: But
no new ones. You can extend DACA, but there's
no new DACA. Marie : And no advanced parole.
You cannot travel and come back. Jacob: You
can't leave. Yeah. Shahid, "America needs
to be safe." No, that's not nice, Perla. Be
nice. Anybody who was on the chat be courteous
to the other members. We don't want people
to be banned. Anna Isabella from Italy. "I'm
Italian, my fiancee is in the USA and he is
an American. Which options we start to get
married?" Perfect. Anna, please send us a
private message. We can help you with that
for sure. But the best way is to... you first,
you apply for a fiance visa, you get the fiancee
visa and then you can come to the US or you
can come here as a visitor and there's a way
to adjust your status from inside the US but
of course, there are risks with that as well.
But one way or another we can definitely help
you and Anna just send us a private message
and we'll be happy to assist you. Now is the
best time to get married. Norhan, [inaudible]
that's all different than live. That's a whole
different Facebook live and we'll do one,
on the benefits of marriage and... Norhan
Harb. "Hey guys, already have my wives, 37..."
multiple wives. He says, his one wife is green
card, "Would I be able to apply for a visitor
visa? I am from India." Well again, you may
or may not. It's risky because they may think
you're going to come here to stay. So, you
know, I don't know if it's gonna happen, but
you can try. Dasia, hello. "Would it be a
bad thing if my fiancee's submitted a K-1
after just applying the last year for the
diversity visa lottery?" No, it doesn't matter.
You can apply for the lottery and apply for
your fiancee visa. Totally different processes
and we encourage them to do that because the
lottery is not a guarantee for diversity.
Anna, "I live in Belgium at the moment." Perfect.
"I used to visit Belgium very often." But
yeah, no problem. You can be anywhere in Europe
and there'll be a great process for you to
do. "I live in Minnesota. My..." Oh, H-1B?
Okay. It should be approved in March. And
April [inaudinble], "USCIS sent a request
to [inaudible] revoke. Can I file an amendment
now?" I don't know. I don't think it makes
sense if they already want to intend to revoke.
Marie : Well, you can file, but you need to
get this one approved. You need to… Jacob:
File [inaudible] response to the intent.
Marie : ...respond. You have only 30 days
to answer but you need to get this one approved
because if you file an amendment or you file
an amendment continual processing. Jacob:
Yeah. So I would do that. We have so many
questions. Abdulah is from Ghana. "I had my
interview in the consulate and it's been approved
and it's been four weeks now and still haven't
gotten my passport." I mean, the best thing
to do in those cases is just follow up with
the consulate. You can just go straight to
the consulate and follow up and they should
give it. Yeah, any other... April, "My brother
petitioned his two illegitimate... under 16.
The USA is asking for additional evidence.
What are the best evidences? Okay. Again,
this is a private... it's a specific question
to your case. Please send us a private message
and we'll respond because the people here,
they don't need to know specifically every
case. But… Marie : As a general rule, things
like pictures, a lot of pictures showing he
gives you money. It's [inaudible] the kids
because you need to show that that was in
the pictures for all the years that the kids
was growing up. So we submit a lot of pictures
in these kinds of cases. Yeah. Jacob: Jimmy
is asking how much to file for three kids.
Once again, this is a private message. Send
us a message and we'll tell you specifically
the prices. Laura, "Do you need to prove a
legal entry in order to file for a marriage-based
green card?" Actually, no. That's a good question.
So what she means by that, if you come here
illegally, you cannot adjust your status in
the U S you're going to have to go back to...
you're going to have to go to the US embassy
and file your case. So you do have to prove
legal entry to get in here. Absolutely. Very
good question. What else? We have Betty. Hey,
Betty. "I would like to call you to talk about
my case. Absolutely, Betty. So, this is the
number. Can you type in (619) 819-9204? There
you go. This is our phone number. We put it
here, (619) 819-9204. You can call the office,
set up an appointment. I'll be happy to talk
to you about your case. Emmy, "I am Emmy from
the Philippines. Would like to know if a person
who is a Filipino by birth and been a US citizen
for 30 years, dual citizenship would lose
whatever benefits he's enjoying in the US.
Medical note". No. So the US... you're safe
for now. Marie : Be careful because you need
some benefits in America. You need to be in
America to receive them. So be careful. You're
not going to get everything. Jacob: But I
think she's talking about canceling already
existing benefits. But you cannot get benefits
if you... unless you establish a… Marie
: Because they're not going to give you a
medical [inaudibel] if you don't live in America.
Jacob: No, that is true. Let's see. And again,
if we don't answer any of those questions
live, you can keep posting them. We'll try
to get to them in the comments. Let's try
to get another question. Okay. Pankaj, "how
is..." Marie :“If I'm going to file for
new visa?” Jacob: New visa is delayed like
four and a half years now, right? Or more.
It's very difficult for you to get it. But
again, if you qualify, there's a procedure
for you to follow. Marie : And there's only
5,000 visas a year. So right now, the waiting
time is 10 years. Jacob: Yeah, very difficult
to get that. Any other questions? Let's see.
A lot of them here. Trying to get through
all of them. Okay. "How can you visit United...
my parents and brothers, living in New York
with a green card. Okay. Well, I mean, the
only way is, try to get an E-2 or a tourist
visa if approved, which is not easy these
days. Anyway, we are going to shut down the
live in a few minutes. So, we'll continue
to answer those questions throughout the day
and we'll go back to the feed. Hopefully,
you found this live informative. What I want
you to do is if you can share it right now,
so anybody who's watching right now, just
share it on your page, so your friends or
people can see it as well and get the benefits.
So, If you can do us an amazing favor just
share it right now. Right now as you watch
live. And you can send me a private, PM right
on our page. We have the messenger option.
Just send me a question, post them here on
the feed and we'll continue to do those live.
We'll try to do them once a week if we can.
And then of course, if there's any breaking
news, we'll do them as needed and let us know
what topics do you want to hear? Yeah, we'll
do a separate one just on that. Again, that's
another update. Israel now has an E-2 effective
of May 1st. So, Israelis are now able to file
for investor visas, and I think, we'll do
a whole separate live just on that for Israelis.
But just so you know, if you're Israeli and
you're watching it, make sure you apply for
the E-2. All right guys, thank you for joining
us. I hope you enjoy this live stream and
we will see you… Marie: Next week. Jacob:
At our next stream, yeah? All right. Thanks,
Marie for always being here and we'll see
you next time. Thank you. Marie: Bye.
