Is a copy of a birth certificate and divorce papers acceptable to USCIS or do I need originals? You should never send original supporting evidence to the USCIS, unless they specifically ask for it. Always send a photocopy. The USCIS won’t return you your original supporting documents back either, so be prepared to never see […]

Is there a way to complain to the USCIS if they do deny? There is an official appeals process and you would normally use to file an appeal. Appeals don’t overturn a decision very frequently. The types of criteria that have a great chance of appeal are if something was objectively in error on the […]

“I’m a green card holder. “How can I bring my mom and daughter to the U.S.?” You’re not going to be able to bring your parent as a green card holder. Parents can only be petitioned by U.S. citizens, so you will need to naturalize yourself. That’s something we can help you with, or you […]

What’s the difference between immigrant and non-immigrant “intent”? The type of visa is determined by the purpose of the travel to the United States. Immigrant Visa An immigrant visa is for someone that intends to immigrate to the US or permanently live in the United States. Most immigrant visas have a path to citizenship after a number […]

In a disturbing memo issued by USCIS (PM-602-0163) on July 13, 2018, we were made aware of a new policy which will make it much easier for the Trump Administration to issue denials for legal immigration cases across the board (with the exception of DACA), including fiance visas, spousal visas, green card applications and more. According to […]

For various reasons, some of which you may never really find out, your case, you may get an update from the State Department that tells you your case is in “Administrative Processing”, or AP. What that means in terms of immigration matters, is that there is something about your case that they don’t like, so […]

“Once the USCIS and NVC approves the case, and the case is mailed out to the beneficiary’s local embassy for interview, should the interviewer still look at adjusted gross income or gross income?” For the fiance visa, absolutely. Because they don’t even look at income until the embassy. So for a fiance visa, which is technically […]

“I’ve read they passed a bill on where they go into your social media after interview, which would prolong the process, and that’ll effect a lot of K-1 Visas and my fiance is from the Philippines.” The government has always had that authority to investigate pretty much anything. They already do a background check on […]

New standards are being rolled out that are designed to basically make it harder to immigrate to the US. The process to immigrate has always included a quite extensive vetting process, but these new measures are likely going to make it even harder. This is likely to cause more delays, requests for evidence and denials. […]

“Do Social Security Disability payments count towards the income requirement when bringing my fiance or spouse to the USA?” Income is income. Regardless of the source of the income, you can still count it and still use it. You must provide proof and evidence of income. Having said that though, if you look at the […]