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Ask an Immigration Lawyer

Jacob Sapochnick Esq.

Thinking creatively about the American immigration system. In this new and exciting series of short Immigration Sounds Bites, Immigration Attorney and podcaster, Jacob Sapochnick, takes the audience on a daily journey of discovery about Immigration in America. You ask, we answer, Simple. All your Immigration Questions, from our Facebook Page, Blog and Emails. Listen in on this no-holds-barred look at the current state of our Immigration system, we share stories of inspiring Immigrants, highlight news and current events, and always answer your questions. Would love to hear from you, email jacob@h1b.biz with any suggestions for the show.
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Top 10 Ask an Immigration Lawyer Episodes

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03/20/19 • 5 min

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.
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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
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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
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03/15/19 • 8 min

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.
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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
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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.
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03/12/19 • 6 min

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.
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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
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03/08/19 • 7 min

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.
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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...
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FAQ

How many episodes does Ask an Immigration Lawyer have?

Ask an Immigration Lawyer currently has 16 episodes available.

What topics does Ask an Immigration Lawyer cover?

The podcast is about News and Podcasts.

What is the most popular episode on Ask an Immigration Lawyer?

The episode title 'AIM - 32 DACA update what you need to know today' is the most popular.

What is the average episode length on Ask an Immigration Lawyer?

The average episode length on Ask an Immigration Lawyer is 11 minutes.

How often are episodes of Ask an Immigration Lawyer released?

Episodes of Ask an Immigration Lawyer are typically released every 23 hours.

When was the first episode of Ask an Immigration Lawyer?

The first episode of Ask an Immigration Lawyer was released on Feb 27, 2019.

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