Hello, everybody, and welcome to this quick live
about the news that happened today. We have quite a few things to report.
As you know by now, USCIS announced that they're going to be canceling the photos that are about to
happen a couple of days from now, August 30. We'll talk about that. And also,
today, there was an announcement about interview waivers for non-immigrant visas
at embassies abroad. So, we'll talk about that as well. Just to give you that update,
a lot of news to report. So, just wanted to come on here quickly and let you know. Before that,
let's say hello to a few of you, guys, our favorite subscribers. Hello, Giselle. How are you?
Odaya and Honda, how are you? Michael and Catherine, welcome, welcome.
I'm excited to see you all. So, like I said, it's quite late up here in San Diego and I was going
to do this live earlier today but I was busy today at the office. I couldn’t come on but
you're getting two benefits, two updates, the one on the furloughs that you probably know already,
and also, about interview waivers for certain visas at the US Embassy. So, let's talk about
the furloughs for a second. So, this is the announcement that
came from USCIS today. They said that they're not going to be doing the furloughs. They decided to
get back on their message. They’re specifically saying that they've done some financial cuts
and some measures to be able to avoid those furloughs. And they're going to be able to
finish the fiscal year without furloughing anybody. But what is really important about this…
and I want you to be aware of that because people are excited about
the fact that they canceled the furloughs but they're saying specifically,
“However, averting this comes at a severe operational cost that will increase the backlog
and wait times across the board. We have no guarantee that we can avoid these in the future.”
And so, based on my understanding of a few things that we learned today,
and there was actually an internal email that was sent to USCIS employees, and I had a chance to
take a look at some portions of that. Yes, they're going to be averting the furloughs right now but
it's going to impact specifically citizenship cases, we believe, whether there's going to be
delayed interviews, and oath ceremonies, and probably issuing decisions on some cases that
will be taking longer. So, everything comes with a price but at least the whole system will stay on.
And like I said, it's something that people were wondering if it's going to happen. I mean,
we thought that they're going to essentially make that decision because they had
a little pressure from the government. And senators were writing letters, and
there was the fact that it was clear that they didn't have, actually, a budget deficit. So,
all these things, it had to happen. But the fact is that they're not happy about it.
And we're going to see quite a lot of delays. So, thanks, guys, appreciate all the support. You can
post your questions in the comments. And I'll get to those questions even after the live stream.
Once again, those of you that are joining us right now, if you're here for the first time,
make sure you subscribe to our channel. Click that bell to be notified because we release videos
every single week. And also, give us a big like to make sure that YouTube is going to share that
video with more people that do. So, that's about the furloughs. If you have questions about the
furloughs, post them here. Let's talk about the interview waivers at the embassies. And
here we go. So, as you can see here, this was announced today
and this is the expansion of interview waivers, specifically for non-immigrant visas.
And let’s kind of read through this. “Of consular officers to waive the in-person interview
requirement for an individual applying for non-immigrant visas in the same classification.
So, in the past, it was only allowed for people that their visas will expire within a year,
12 months. Now, they're expanding it for people that their visas expire within 24 months.
And this is going to be until the end of the year. So, this is pretty good news.
This is pretty good news, specifically for people that are… it's just hard to get a visa
appointment right now. And they're trying to clear their operations, and therefore,
they are doing a lot of visa waivers right now, specifically for non-immigrant visas. Now,
I had quite a few questions from people before, that send me messages in our Facebook group,
asking if this also applies to K1 visas that are also considered to be non-immigrant visas.
We don't believe so. We don't believe that K1 visas are going to be getting their interviews
waived. And while they are non-immigrant visas, they are attached to a much broader
process that eventually leads to an immigrant visa. So, we don't believe that it applies to
K1 visas but it will definitely apply for certain tourist visas, certain work visas. It's definitely
going to help more people to avoid getting to an appointment and the interview at the embassy.
And just getting those visas renewed by mail is going to speed up the process for a lot
more applicants. So, this is something that was just announced today. And I thought I'll be
sharing that news with the furloughs. Like I said, those of you that are joining us right now,
we talked at the beginning of the stream, about the fact that ISCIS is no longer
going to furlough, it's more than a third of its staff. Instead, they're going to continue
operations. But what's going to happen is that they did warn the public that we're going to be
experiencing much more delays in case processing, specifically with naturalization cases.
And we believe also, with EAD card issuance. The other thing that I mentioned is the fact
that the State Department, at the same time, announced today that they're going to be doing
more visa interview waivers specifically for non-immigrant visas. In the past, they only did
that for visas that expire within a year. But now, they expanded it for two years validity,
which means that more and more people are going to be able to get their interviews
waived for non-immigrant visas. This is just for non-immigrant visas. And we don't believe that it
applies to K1s. If you have a K1 interview, you still have to get that scheduled, and get those
interviews and attend your interviews. And like I said, we don't have… I'll make a separate video,
probably coming up next week about another update as far as those embassies that are reopening. We
have a list of more embassies that are reopening. And I'll make another video to update you, guys,
on that as well. Let me take a few more questions. And then the rest of the questions you can keep
posting in the comments below. [inaudible] says, “I'm a green card holder. My priority
date is February 20, 2020. So how long does it take, you say, as to approve my I-130?” So,
Elko, once again, there's a difference between the priority date and the time that it takes
for USCIS to approve your I-130. To check the approval of your I-130. It depends on which
processing center, which service center your case is pending. You can check that online,
and I've done another video on that as well. So, that depends on when you filed it,
and where you filed it, the processing time of your I-130. Once the I-130
is approved, then you're going to go back and check on the priority date of your case.
Let's take… here we go. Nasiri is asking, “How about the interviews for immigrant visas? So, once
again, in this video, the update that I provided you today, specifically this thing right here.
This is for non-immigrant visas. This is not for immigrant visas. Okay.
So, as far as immigrant visas, we still don't have any information with respect to
if they're going to be waving immigrant visas. I don't think so. Right now, we're waiting for
the consulates and the embassies to reopen, and for the clients to be able to reschedule
their interviews and start getting to attend those interviews. And some of you
reported to me that they were able to get expedited appointments just by emailing the
embassy and asking for an expedited appointment because you'll be waiting for long to get
an interview because you’re separated from your spouse. You should definitely try to do that.
Once again, if you're watching this, you should join our Facebook group. In the Facebook group,
we have quite a few of our members that reported that they have been sending emails to their
embassies to ask for an expedited appointment. And some of you, guys, will be getting it. So,
I know that people were able to get that at the US Embassy in Kenya. We got a couple of clients that
got it in Pakistan. And we have from the European countries. We have London, Rome, and I believe,
Paris, were granting expedited appointments, specifically on the reasons that they're a
couple who are separated for long, and it's undue hardship. So, I do encourage you to try that.
So, let me take one more question. And then the rest of the questions, post them in the
comments. And I promise you, I'll get back after this video is not live and answer them.
A few questions about biometrics, let me take this one. Johnny says,
“My biometric appointment letter, I filed since March. I haven't had my biometrics,
but they sent me an RFE. So, like I said, just so you know, biometrics are also delayed, they're
going to be starting to reschedule them. But as I said, those of you that already had biometrics,
you don't have to worry about it, they're going to be waiving those. But for the new biometrics,
they will be scheduled. And as soon as they're able to open those processing centers,
so don't worry about it. It's not going to impact your case, they'll continue. Like I said, like
in this case, in your case, you received an RFE, even though you didn't have your biometrics,
they'll continue to do so. And again, like I mentioned at the beginning of the live stream
because there's going to be no furloughs, USCIS will continue to work as normal. Yes, there are
going to be delays, just like now. But eventually, they're going to catch up. And that's good news
that they're going to be closing or furlough people because I was really worried that… in fact,
what I thought is going to happen is that if they're going to furlough those people,
most likely a lot of segments or wings of USCIS are going to be closed.
And the concern is that people that were waiting for a year or year and a half to get their
interviews, that was going to shoot up to three to four years, you know what I mean? So,
I think that they realize that it will be inhumane, unreasonable, unnecessary for them
to do so, specifically, they have the money to stay open until the end of the year. So,
once again, there are so many questions here. Please continue to post your comments. Once again,
if you’re here for the first time, make sure you subscribe to our channel.
There's going to be a lot of big, big immigration news coming up in the next
several weeks as we are nearing the elections. And I'll be right here to announce that news,
analyze it to answer your questions. And again, I encourage you to join our Facebook group.
The link is in the description of this video. I'll continue the discussion with you over there. So,
once again, thank you for joining. I truly enjoy providing these updates for you even
though it's super late here in San Diego. It's almost 10 pm. But I'm still up and I wanted
to give you that information. Again, I thank you for subscribing and thank you for being…
send me your questions, your comments, your ideas. I wouldn't be doing this if it wasn't for you. So,
I appreciate all of you, each one of you. So, thanks for watching, and I'll see you
in our next video. Please keep posting your comments and I think you are. Thank you.