Hi, everyone. Attorney Megan Pastrana here. I attended a conference for business over the
weekend in Santa Barbara, California. Before I depart today, I went on a hike and it's
just so gorgeous here and I thought I wanted to make a video an immigration update or to share
information about immigration with all of you and also share this amazingly beautiful view. If you
can see behind me; the water and the boats and I'm here. The hotel is in the middle of nature. You
can hear the birds and just so peaceful and and you get to see me out of my lawyer costume; I'm
in my sweatshirt and even though it's sunny and beautiful here, it is chilly but it's just so nice
to go on a hike and I felt inspired and wanted to share some immigration tips with all of you.
I thought a great topic would be the top three tips for preparing for your immigration interview
then you'll want to stay tuned for all three tips because tip number three I think is probably the
most important and it's really what inspired me to make this video here today. Tip number one
is make sure that you review your application and all of the forms that you filled out and
the evidence that was submitted. Often times, immigration has a very long wait time before you
receive your interview. It's really important to go through that application, see if there's
any updates that have happened since you last filed, and it's also good to refresh your memory
about what evidence you might have submitted because the immigration officer will be asking
questions about that. I've seen a lot of times and the other attorneys on our team, we see that
when we go into an immigration interview, the officer will just start out with casual
conversation but they might be asking questions about that evidence that was submitted as a way to
confirm your relationship. For example, if you had put in information that you adopted a dog or a pet
and that was eight months or a year ago and they say, "Welcome here today. Grab a seat. How is your
cat Fluffy that you adopted?" That would start conversation so they can you know check with you
about your relationship. Review that application in detail. I'm not saying you would forget about
your adopted cat but just to refresh your memory on what you had submitted and to see if there's
any updates so that's tip number one. Tip number two is to make sure before your interview that
you have all of your documents. A lot of our clients are very meticulous and we love that.
Have a nice organized maybe not necessarily a binder but some kind of like file or something
where all of the documents are and have them all there. For example, your birth certificate,
your certified marriage license, if you have any records, updated relationship evidence. That's
a lot of documents so have all of that organized and ready to go for your interview and have both
of you know where all of those documents are and how they're organized so you aren't scrambling
the day before. Get that prepared well in advance and have all of those documents organized. There's
a car horn in the background hopefully that's not too loud for all of you. Tip number three
and what I would say is the most important tip that we tell all of our clients and sometimes
they're surprised to hear that that's our advice but tip number three is to take care of yourself.
By that I mean get a good night's rest come bright-eyed and bushy-tailed to your interview.
Knowing that you're going in for an immigration interview can cause some nerves anxiety stress
and so by taking care of yourself tip number three I mean do something that will help you
to kind of get in a better space, a better state of mind and so that's what kind of inspired me
to make this video today. Something that really helps me to navigate through when you're sitting
for an entire day and you're thinking and thinking something that really helps me and something that
my husband also likes to do is to go on a walk and so that's why I'm at here in nature and going
on a walk enjoying this beautiful view and just connecting. Connect with yourself more so whatever
that is what that is do some things that make you feel rejuvenated relaxed and get a good night's
rest and have yourself be in a really good state for when you're going in for your interview so
you're not fatigued and anxious when you're going in that day of your interview. Those are my top
three tips. I hope you enjoyed that information. I hope you enjoyed sharing this wonderful view
with me. If you have an interview coming up soon, best of luck to you. Thanks so much for watching!