Hey friends, I'm going to talk about my five tips on how to speed up case processing times
under this coronavirus pandemic.
You don't want to miss this one.
Stay tuned.
Thanks for watching this video.
I'm Latoya McBean-Pompy, an immigration lawyer in New York and I'm also the founder of Smart
Immigration Academy.
Please subscribe to McBean Immigration TV, hit the notification bell and share this resource
with other people because you never know who really needs answers to these questions.
I so appreciate you and yeah, let's get straight into it.
Friends, case processing times as you guys know are long.
They are awful, they are unbearable.
I've been talking about case processing times forever now because the government under the
Trump administration has made a real policy to delay, deny and discourage and just basically
frustrate the whole process.
So I understand how hard and difficult this process is for many of you.
So in this video I want to talk about five things that you guys can do to speed up processing
times so that you don't experience further delays with your case.
Delays means being away from your family longer or being anxious and fearful longer.
It means that you cannot work.
It's awful the consequences of a case being delayed.
So I want you to get out your pen and your paper and just follow along in this video
and be sure to follow these tip.
Now, number one, hire a lawyer.
Hire a lawyer.
Don't be afraid to work with a licensed attorney on your immigration case.
Now you might be saying to yourself, "Oh boy, she's only saying that because she's a lawyer
and she wants us to call her and work with her and have a consultation and blah, blah,
blah."
No, that is not the only reason why I'm sharing that with you, absolutely not.
Friends, I cannot tell you the number of times I see people who come to me after the fact,
after they've been denied, after their file has been rejected, after they've waited so
many months and years to only get to the end of the process and to learn that they've been
denied because of a mistake that they made during the process and so I want to spare
you of that.
So work with a lawyer.
Work with a lawyer who is licensed and credible and who has a good reputation.
Certainly, as you've heard me say before, someone who you can trust and it feels good
on the inside of you, that this is the individual who cares about you and your family and your
business and everything and that individual wants to see you move forward.
So work with someone who cares about you and who want to see your case approved.
So that's the first thing, a lawyer knows what's going on with changes in immigration
law and what new forms they need to use, what arguments and what strategies they should
use in your case.
Because friends, every case is different.
So tip number one, work with a lawyer.
Tip number two, follow up on every RFE and or step that the NVC has.
Follow up promptly, promptly.
Don't sit on any requests from the government for more information from you.
As soon as you get that RFE notice, that letter that asks for more evidence or clarification,
work with a lawyer to respond accordingly.
Then if you're going through the NVC process, the National Visa Center process, also make
sure that you're going through each and every step as quickly as you possibly can.
Don't sit and wait to move on to the next step because coronavirus is in effect and
you've heard that it's slowing the process down and interviews aren't being scheduled
therefore you're not going to follow through with the NVC steps at this point.
you're just going to wait it out.
So my advice to you is do not wait.
Don't wait.
Just go forward and move swiftly with every single request that the government makes of
you or has, right?
Tip number three, if your case was rejected or denied, friends, immediately find the answers,
immediately figure out what went wrong.
Why was your packet rejected and mailed back to you?
What happened?
What was missing?
Talk with counsel, a lawyer to figure out what happened, where was the misstep?
Why was I denied?
Find the answer immediately and then try to make the correction as quickly as possible.
Tip number four, file a mandamus.
A mandamus is a federal action that you file in federal court that forces the hand of the
government to act, to make a decision in your case.
For example, if you're going through the naturalization process and your case has been on unreasonably
delayed or your visa is taking more than a year to process after you've already given
the government everything that they've asked for and you're just waiting and you've been
behind them all the time, emailing, calling and writing them and there has been no real
action in your case, then you speak with a lawyer to find out whether you should file
a mandamus to force the decision.
Now the mandamus doesn't force the decision in your favor, no.
It doesn't work that way.
You could either receive an approval or a denial, but it forces the government to act
swiftly, make a decision on your file and get you moving.
So that is what a mandamus is.
Tip number five, and this is the last one.
Don't wait to file your papers.
Do not wait, friends.
Some people have been writing me on social media and they're saying, "Maybe I should
just wait.
Coronavirus delays are real and it just doesn't make sense for me to file my adjustment of
status application right now.
Let me just wait.
Should I just wait?
Should I wait?"
Do not wait, don't wait.
The reason I say this is because the government is still open.
They're still processing applications and petitions.
They're still moving cases forward.
Yes, it is slower now and interviews are not happening, right?
Visa interviews are not happening.
Green card interviews aren't happening.
They've stopped all in-person activities.
But behind the scenes they are still there working and so they should be working on your
file if you've actually filed, right?
So you've got to want to file.
Don't sit on it.
Another reason why you don't want to sit on it is because things are happening to make
the process that much harder.
For example, fees are going up, filing fees are going up.
Secondly, we know that there are changes that are being made to the affidavit of support
requirement, and with respect to that real quickly, they've given us a 30 day notice
that they will want to collect the bank account information on everyone who submit an affidavit
of support.
So your sponsors are going to be required to give their bank account information to
the government, and also they can give their credit report and other changes are being
proposed to the affidavit of support.
So as you can see, things are just getting harder.
So don't wait, don't wait.
File right away.
So in summary, friends, my top five tips are work with the lawyer, follow up really quickly
on every RFE that you receive and follow up with every step in the NVC process, do not
delay things.
Thirdly, if your case was rejected or denied, immediately find the answers to the problem
and then just refile.
Number four, file a mandamus action if your case has been unreasonably delayed.
The last tip, tip number five is to not wait to file your applications because things are
getting more difficult.
So friends, I hope you found this video helpful.
Be sure to share it with other people and comment below.
Let me know what you think about my top five tips to get your case moving and to get it
moving fast even under the corona pandemic.
Friends, take care and stay healthy and remember what is most important in this life, it's
not really just to get your immigration document or your immigration benefit.
No, the most important thing in my view is to love each other and to live in harmony
with the people around us who we love.
So cherish those moments with your family and friends, and guys, I'll see you in the
next one.
Bye-bye.