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interview mexico updates

Fiancé & Spouse Visa Interviews – Mexico Updates

For fiancé and spouse visa interviews, specifically in Mexico, there have been recent updates on the Department of State website. Typically, we don’t do country specific updates but Mexico is such a high volume consulate. They are the highest volume in the world. They have so many cases and one of the longest backlogs. This…

filing taxes when spouse

Filing Taxes When Spouse Has No Social Security Number

Everybody is filing their taxes during this time and a common question they all have is what to do when your spouse is a foreign national. They’re an immigrant and they don’t have a Social Security Number yet. What are you supposed to do when you’re filing your taxes? A lot of individuals think that…

locate uscis office

Locate the USCIS Office Processing Your Case

To locate the USCIS office that’s processing your case, it can be found on your receipt notice. After you mail your application, you will receive a notification from immigration that says form I-797, Notice of Action. Specifically, the example that comes to mind is a lot of people are having confusion over fiancé visas. For…

tourist visa denial

Tourist Visa Denial – Impact on K1 & CR1 Applications

A common question that we’ve seen from individuals who are on their immigration journey for a fiancé or spouse visa is that they want to know what happens if they previously applied for a tourist visa and was denied. A lot of people are worried about how that will impact their eligibility and their application.…

expedite requests facts

Expedite Request Facts

We know with COVID, so many people are waiting and separated. That’s painful and we know that you’re looking for creative ways to be able to be together and also to get that immigration process moving so you can be together and start your life together. We have had a lot of people ask, “What…

virtual immigration interviews

Virtual Immigration Interviews

For those of you who are going through an immigration process called Adjustment of Status, a process that happens here in the United States. The process for naturalization and sometimes, removal of conditions, includes an interview as part of the process in your case. We are constantly seeing USCIS, like so many organizations, having to…

i-864p updates

I-864P (2021) Updates

Starting April 1st, the I-864P guidelines have been updated. It’s something that happens every year and so we anticipated that. There’s part of a process to receive a green card called an Affidavit of Support. It’s also called form I-864. You have to show that before you can receive a green card, that the immigrant…

check visa statistics

How to Check Visa Statistics

The most common question we receive right now is “How long is it going to be before I get an interview and how long is it going to be before I can receive an approval on my K1 visa or my spouse visa to be able to enter the United States? Are the embassies open? Are they…

share your opinions

Share Your Opinions with USCIS!

USCIS announced that they’re requesting public input on how USCIS can reduce administrative and other barriers and burdens within its regulations and policies. On February 2nd of 2021, President Biden signed an order requesting that we restore faith in our legal immigration system and return back to the ideals and the understanding that we are…

us embassy moscow

Update! US Embassy Moscow

The US embassy in Russia just announced that they will be cutting consular staff down by 75 percent. Starting May 12th, they will be suspending all visa services for non-immigrant and immigrant visas and they will be reducing their services and staff to only accommodate life and death emergency situations for US citizens. This means…

tps valenzuela

Great News! TPS for Venezuela

On March 8th of 2021, the Secretary of Homeland Security designated Venezuela as a country for TPS, Temporary Protected Status. Temporary Protected Status is something that the Secretary of Homeland Security can decide to designate a country with temporary protected status if there are events in that country like natural disasters or a civil war…

us drivers license

K1 Visa: US Driver’s License

A lot of people are asking about this recently. There are a lot of people on our Facebook group that are receiving their K1 visas when entering the United States.  For the US Driver’s license, people are asking, “When can I get it? Can I just go with my K1 Visa? What do I need…

k1 and cr1 updates

Important! KR1 and CR1 Updates

Important information and updates about K1 and CR1 visas. It has been a very difficult year. That’s probably an understatement over 2020 with the pandemic happening. There has been so many delays in the US embassies and consulates. For those of you who are going through the fiancé visa process and spouse visa process, you…

work permit delays

Work Permit Delays (April 2021)

If you’re going through an immigration case specifically, an adjustment of status case, work permits are an option that’s available to some individuals who are actually in the United States and are able to complete their entire green card process here in the US. Who gets a work permit and when does a work permit…

k1 visa approved

K1 Visa Approved – What Next?

If you have a K1 visa that’s been approved, what happens next? The I-129F application, that petition that you file with immigration, that’s what you’re sending immigration to show you have a real relationship. When that petition is approved, that’s immigration saying, “Yes, we see that you have a real relationship and we’re approving your…

i130 marriage requirements

I-130 Marriage Requirements

We have a lot of individuals who ask us questions about the I-130 marriage requirements. Whether or not the individual has to get married in their country of origin and whether or not the marriage has to occur in a certain place. The I-130 petition is the petition that you file when you’re married to…

uscis response deadline

Important! USCIS Response Deadlines

USCIS has made an announcement that they’re extending the flexibility for individuals to respond to certain types of requests specifically Requests for Evidence (RFEs), Notice of Intent to Deny (NOIDs). Read: USCIS Extends Flexibility for Responding to Agency Requests Basically, if you receive a Request for Evidence, a Notice of Intent to Deny in your…

embassy backlogs

Embassy Backlogs and Proclamation 10052

Proclamation 10052 is a proclamation that was announced in 2020 that suspended the entry of certain immigrants into the United States. The Biden administration made an extension of that proclamation through March 31st of 2021. It has now sunsetted, which means it has ended, because we are in April of 2021. A lot of people…

public charge changes at us

Public Charge Changes at US Embassies and Consulates

Public charge changes at US embassies and consulates. We had released a video about this previously. Form I-944 and those changes in the public charge rule had been ended. There was a lot of confusion and so, let’s clarify them and also explain the changes at US embassies and consulates with regard to public charge.…

visa issuance trends march 2021

Visa Issuance Trends – March 2021

Visa issuance trends in March of 2021. The case type that we’re specifically seeing this change in is with spouse visas. A lot of people refer to them as CR1 or IR1. Anybody who is married to a United States citizen or lawful permanent resident and lives abroad, when you’re completing a spouse visa process,…

managing stress

Managing Stress in Your Immigration Journey

One of the most important things of your immigration journey is taking care or fostering your relationship and doing what you can to manage the stress of your immigration journey. I know that’s easier said than done. I’m not a medical professional. I’m not a therapist but I am a human being and someone who…

faster processing times

Great News! Faster Processing Times

Faster processing times is something that we are starting to see in some cases which is great. We know how important it is and how much all of you want to be able to get through your immigration journey as quickly as possible without an immigration cloud hanging over your head. These faster processing times…

updates on contacting uscis

Updates on Contacting USCIS

We’ve received a lot of questions from people about, “How do I talk to a human being? How do I get past the robot on the USCIS call line?” USCIS was created in 2002 by congress to more efficiently move cases through the immigration process and to provide customer service so individuals could receive updates…

important uscis form changes

Important! USCIS Form Changes

There’s been recent USCIS form changes due to the elimination of the form I-944.  Those changes are going to occur as soon as April 19th. We have videos on our YouTube channel about public charge and how final rule and public charge had been overturned. Watch: GREAT NEWS! Public Charge Updates (March 2021) Now what’s…

uscis interview changes

USCIS Interview Changes Due to COVID – August 2020

What’s going on with USCIS interviews now that they have begun reopening offices and rescheduling those appointments and implemented new protocols in response to COVID? The USCIS offices have started the process. They started in July of rescheduling appointments that had been cancelled and also scheduling new appointments for individuals whose applications are in line.…

why k1 fiance visa

Why K1 Fiancé Visa Application is Taking So Long

The fiancé visa time frames have been super rough. Six or seven years ago, fiancé visas took two and a half months or three months to get a fiancé into the US. Those days are gone. It used to be a lot faster. We are seeing pretty long wait times right now. Even before the…

automatic citizenship for children

Automatic Citizenship for Children of US Citizens

In the United States, there’s two ways that a person can become a United States citizen. Either by blood or by being born on US soil. If you have a parent that’s a United States citizen, you could acquire United States citizenship. If you were born in the United States, you could acquire citizenship by…

green cards for parents

Green Cards for Parents of US Citizens

If you’re a United States citizen, you might be thinking of the possibility of petitioning your parents. One of the first things that a lot of our clients want to do once they receive their citizenship is they want to know options for bringing their parents. Because sometimes, your parents might want to come and…

provisional waiver i601a

Provisional Waiver I601A: Requirements and Steps

What is a provisional waiver? To give you a little background, the easiest way to explain provisional waivers is to start out by talking about the Immigration and Nationality Act. The Immigration and Nationality Act is basically the book of the laws in immigration. Immigration has a long list of problems that a person can…

difference between in queue

Difference Between NVC IN QUEUE or DOCUMENTALLY QUALIFIED Notices

What’s the difference between a National Visa Center notice that says you’re in queue or that you’re documentarily qualified? You will see people reference In Queue notices and being documentarily qualified. The difference is just a change in terminology. It was fairly recently probably within the past year that the National Visa Center stopped sending notices…