Hi, everyone. In this video, I'll be discussing with you the four main ways that can help to
speed up your immigration process. We know how important it is for you to be able to be with
your spouse, with your family, to be able to start your future without an immigration cloud hanging
over you. So, that's a question we receive frequently, "How can I make the process faster?"
We will be discussing four main tips for helping to move your immigration case along
and before we jump into those four tips, I'd like to introduce myself
and the firm. For those of you who are new here, I am Attorney Megan Pastrana from Corado-Pastrana
the immigration firm for couples. Our firm is dedicated exclusively to assisting couples
through the immigration process. We've helped hundreds and hundreds of couples navigate
the immigration system from filing adjustment of status and completing consular processing
to fiancé visas, removal conditions and naturalization.
If you haven't already subscribed to our YouTube channel, we'd love to have you subscribe
and hit the alerts notification. We post weekly videos to give you updates about
what's going on in the world of immigration and also fun tips and facts like this video.
We also have an immigration Facebook group called Immigration for Couples and the link is below.
We'd love to have you join our Facebook group. We have weekly live chats with our attorneys where we
discuss updates in immigration and also important facts and information you need to navigate the
immigration process. Let's dive into the four main steps or the four main pointers of how
to keep your immigration case moving along.
Step one: file as soon as possible.
That seems pretty straightforward. You would you think that that sounds logical but we see all too often that couples--
it's overwhelming, not only are you planning on what immigration path is the best for you. You might also be planning on
where you'll be living and your wedding and you can get decision-fatigued. We get it.
Having to make so many important decisions about your life. Sometimes, it can be overwhelming and we've noticed
and we've seen a lot of couples that are just overwhelmed with all of the decisions they need
to make and they will delay in filing. That's not a judgment at all.
It's just something that we have noticed that many couples, from the overwhelm of trying to make so
many decisions in their life, they just delay. Procrastinate on getting their application filed.
While we highly recommend that you explore the immigration options
you have available to you and choose the path that's best suited to you, when you've identified
what option that you're going to follow for your immigration case
it's really important that you file the first step right away.
Again, step number one: file your application right away.
Wait times are extremely long.
Frequently, cases can take over a year or more to complete and so it's really important that you get your application filed as soon as possible
and while your application is pending you can begin to make other decisions
in your life about where you plan on living and if you need to plan a wedding and things like that.
But getting the application filed as soon as possible is huge. So, don't delay if you have had
an opportunity to explore your options. We recommend scheduling a consultation with one of
our attorneys to determine what path is best for you and once you've determined that, get your
application filed right away.
The second tip is to work ahead.
We know that a lot of couples who are going through the immigration process already had that mindset about wanting to work ahead.
But knowing how to do that effectively is really important. Some couple-based cases have a few steps. You might have to
file your I-130 petition or your fiancé visa petition first. And then, you might be waiting
many months to get a decision.
But during that time, use that time to look ahead and look at what the next steps are
in the case and what documents you can be collecting and preparing so
when that next step in your case comes along, you can hit the ground running and avoid delays
on that front as well. Our firm has do-it-yourself packages as well as
traditional full representation, where our firm and attorneys and team are in the driver's seat.
But for both of our clients, whether they're going through the do-it-yourself process or full
representation, we're always working ahead.
For our do-it-yourself clients, you'll have a step-by-step instructions for every phase of the case
and also document lists and what things you can begin working on while you're waiting for the petition
or while you're waiting for that first step of your application while that's pending.
Working ahead is extremely helpful. It can take
months off of your case processing times if you have things ready to go when the next
step comes around to get everything filed and keep moving ahead.
That's what we do for all of our clients here at Corado-Pastrana and we highly recommend that for you as well.
Step two again is working ahead.
Step three is to always make sure that if you receive a request for evidence or for more documents from immigration on your case, you respond as soon as possible.
Not only should you respond as soon as possible, you should respond properly. You should be very
careful when you get those requests for evidence. Sometimes, requests for evidence are things that we
can anticipate. At our firm, if we know that there are certain things that an individual might
not have been able to get before their adjustment interview such as a medical exam or something like
that, we can be prepared with that. For the most part, you want to do everything possible
though to avoid getting a request for evidence. If you do get one though, it's very important
that you respond quickly but accurately. It's very important. We have seen individuals who--
We practice immigration law exclusively and it can be quite a labyrinth and sometimes things
can seem straightforward but those requests for evidence, you need to be very careful in
making sure you respond accurately because we've seen it all too often individuals who've done
their own case innocently think that they are understanding what the request is asking for
only to respond and have their application denied. That's going to set you back
a lot. Typically, you'll have to start over with filing your application and
we hate to see that happen. So that's why step or tip number three is to make sure not only that
you respond quickly to requests for evidence but also that you respond accurately.
Our firm offers do-it-yourself courses that help you to navigate some of the common immigration
some of the things that people tend to overlook that cause a request for
evidence if they're trying to prepare their own application.
Our team can work with you if you've gotten a request for evidence, we can help you to understand what it means
and how you can best respond to that request for evidence because we'd hate to have you
not respond accurately. So responding quickly and accurately on your request for
evidence is very important. If you happen to be in a situation where you've received a request
for evidence, please see the link below and also above. We have two links for
you to schedule an appointment with one of the attorneys on our team so we can help you
to get clarity on what needs to be done in your case. So, that's step three.
Step four would be to make sure that you're using all of the tools
available to you in terms of monitoring your case processing times. USCIS has a case processing
times tool to give you an idea of how long cases are taking on average. It'll also have a date
where they're currently processing applications. There's a way that you can make an inquiry
on outside of processing times or an outside of processing times request on the USCIS tools.
Sometimes, cases can be outside of that processing time and what
our firm does is we will reach out to USCIS via that tool to inquire about what the delay is and
also the other tool you can use is if your case is well beyond those processing times
and you've made numerous attempts to contact immigration, receiving congressional support
reaching out to your representatives is something you can do.
Now, immigration cases take a long time.
That doesn't mean that you can reach out to your congressional representative or senator
because it's taking a long time. You have to be outside of
normal case processing times. But again, using that USCIS processing times tool to make that inquiry
and receiving congressional support when applicable is a really great
way to keep your case moving forward. Our firm does that frequently and helping clients to
get their cases moving along by using those two tools.
Those are the four steps for helping you to keep your immigration case moving along.