Hello, Hello, everybody. And welcome to our Monday afternoon live immigration update.
Just wanted to come on here live, and let you know what's happening this week,
both with our upcoming videos and also with some major immigration changes that are happening.
I'm also going to give you a couple of updates that I was able to obtain
after attending the American Immigration Lawyers Association Conference last week.
So I'm going to give you a few insights as to what we learned at that event. And so maybe
answer a few more questions from viewers of this live. So if you're joining us,
let me know where you are from, post your comments. Like I said, there's a lot of updates
that I wanted to pass on to you about the videos that we're going to record this week. And
the changes that are happening in immigration, as we are starting this week. So let's get started.
All right. All right. So welcome. Welcome back to our immigration live Monday afternoon. So
the first thing that I'm going to do is I'm gonna give you the updates of today,
we got some important news, I'm going to share with you some updates from the
American Immigration Lawyers Association event that I attended last week, some things that you
definitely want to know and maybe take some questions. So let me know where you're from,
drop your questions, and I'll be right there with you. So today, the USCIS announced that
they are going to start allowing applicants that are either pending their U visa applications,
or about to file new U visa applications. As of today, they're going to be eligible for work
authorization. Now, those of you that don't know, and I'm going to make a longer video later this
week about the U visa. But typically, if you're an immigrant inside the United States, and you're
a victim of a crime, whether you are documented or undocumented, you qualify to apply for a
special visa-U visa to allow you to stay in the United States and eventually get your green card.
But guess what, the U visa is taking over five years to process. And those people that are
beneficiaries of this visa are not able to work, they just sit here and you know, do nothing. So
suffering, you know, because many of them are in tough financial situations. Well as of today,
this is actually not even on the USCIS website. But as of today, U visa applicants are going
to be eligible to apply for work authorization, and they're going to get deferred action status.
The way it's going to work is that if you file for your U visa, and you've been pending for the past
three, four, or five years, you're going to be eligible to apply for work authorization. As of
today, if you're filing a new U visa application, you're also going to be eligible for that status,
deferred action status, which will allow you to work as well, this is huge. This is going to bring
so many people into the workforce, it's going to help so many immigrants be able to get
work authorization. They're going to be able to support their families. I get so many emails and
comments from U visa holders in the United States that are not able to work.
Well, Today is a big day. I'm going to tell you in a few minutes, how it's going to work,
and how you're going to be able to qualify. Also, those of you that are joining us right now,
make sure you stick to the end of my live stream. I'm going to share with you a few
things that I learned at the American Immigration Lawyers Association Conference
last week that are not available anywhere online. And I'll be able to pass that information to you
because you are watching our live streams because you're subscribing to my channel.
Again, if you're watching this live stream and you're not a subscriber, make sure you subscribe
to my channel right now. So how do you qualify for the U visa work authorization, the new one that
just was announced this morning, three hours ago? Well, first of all, you either had to file your U
visa form I 918. That form had to be pending with the supplement that is signed by the government to
support your case as a U visa holder. And you had to finish your biometrics to make sure that you're
a person of good moral character. As long as you have those factors, and you have a qualified
U visa that is currently pending, You will be able to file your work authorization and get the
deferred action status under the new guidance that was issued this morning. Now I'm still
waiting for the full text of the guidance. And I'll make a full video later this week explaining
what the U visa is. How do you apply for the U visa? And how you can benefit from this new
policy change that happened today. That's one thing. What else has happened? And again,
I'm making a video about the new policy from USCIS that is helping people to, first of all,
expedite cases, right. So there's a new policy they came out just earlier last week, that is
going to expand who can qualify to expedite your case, under the Trump administration,
very few people could qualify. Now they expanded it, they expanded it to emergency situations,
they expanded it to financial hardship. So if you're suffering financial hardship,
you will be able to expedite your case. Now, guys, if you're watching this live right now,
and you're here, drop a comment. Post your question, and I will try to answer
your questions in a few minutes. I just wanted to lay out all the updates. I'm making a full video
about the new policy changes from USCIS. The expedited requests, the new guidance, to allow
more people to expedite. Remember, one of those cool things about the new guidance to expedite
is that if you have filed, if you're suffering from financial hardship, if you can prove to them
that you're suffering financial hardship, if you don't get your work permit on time
or your application, you could expedite it. This is a new thing that just came out last week.
Again, a new video coming up, on Wednesday, I'm giving you all the details. Another change is
that under the Trump administration, that a memo came out in 2018, that specifically said that
if you file an application, and you don't have all the evidence in the beginning, like you're
missing some documents, they have the right to deny your case. Well, under this new change that
is implemented as of last week, they have to go back to the 2013 policy to issue a request
for evidence. So if you find an application, you forgot your birth certificate, or you're missing
some documents, they can't just deny a case like they've done last year under the Trump
policy guidance, they have to issue a request for evidence. This is effective as of last week.
Expect more approvals coming your way, guys, this is great, great news. Again, I'm making a full
video explaining how it's going to be implemented coming out this Wednesday. And finally,
there is a change for a work permit. So instead of getting a work permit for one year only,
you guys are going to be able to get a work permit for two years, whether you file Adjustment
of Status applications, and many other and a few other applications that are associated
with getting benefits that will only give one year well as of now they expanding it for two
years. What is it going to do is it's going to shorten the backlogs because instead of filing an
application to renew your work permit every year, you're not going to have to do it every year,
it's going to be done every two years is going to reduce the backlogs. Right now they have
40,000 EADs pending they can adjudicate that change is going to help us a lot. Another
change is with respect to the lockbox. And let me share my screen right here.
Let me see here. It's not working and seems to be stuck. Well,
basically, what I was going to show you is the lockbox change, flexibility. So when you
file an application lockbox, whether it's an I-45 and an I-360 and I-90 to extend your green card.
When you do that, they had maybe 4,6,8, 10, sometimes 11 weeks to get a receipt,
and it took a while for them to adjudicate your application. By the time they started
working on your case, your check has already lapsed. And so they had to send your case back.
And you could have lost the opportunity to file for your citizenship, you may have been delayed.
So they are issuing new flexibility that was also published yesterday, I believe,
actually on Friday, which means that they're going to be issuing flexibility for you to be able to
file your applications if they rejected it just because you didn't file it on time. So all these
things are positive. And again, in the video that is coming up on Wednesday, I will provide a full
scenario as to how you're going to be able to take advantage of this new policy. Essentially,
if they send your application back because your check expired, you will be able to refile and
not lose your priority line. And also you'll be able to refile without paying a penalty,
the $30 penalty for your lead chip. This is all brand new. And we were shocked this happened last
week during the American Immigration Lawyers Association Conference and they announced that
they're going to be flexible with people that were rejected because the checks expired because
USCIS took forever to adjudicate it. It just doesn't make sense, right? Well, they finally
came together and they're going to make allow people to refile. If you file an application, and
because of their mistake, because it took forever, you lost your eligibility, you aged out your child
aged out, you'll be able to refile. And they're going to give you back your priority in line. So,
again, a new video is coming out, explaining all this in detail. So stay tuned, in a few days… now,
I promised you a few nuggets from the American Immigration Lawyers Association.
And I have a whole list here of tips and notes that I've taken
when I was at a conference. So what are some of the things that they talked about? Well,
first of all, guess what? Interview waivers. The USCIS as officials at the American Immigration
Lawyers Association Conference specifically said, they're going to continue to waive interviews,
they're going to continue to waive interviews for Adjustment of Status applications,
they're going to continue to waive interviews for family-based petitions, they didn’t tell the
guidelines as to how exactly, they're going to be doing it, but interview waivers are going to
continue to happen. And these are great news. Also, another change they announced is that,
you know when you file for your reentry permit or any other application, and you get your biometrics
appointment, sometimes you can make it right, to reschedule a biometric appointment right now. It's
horrendous, you have to call them you have to stay on the phone, you have to send them a letter,
well, there's going to be a new process coming out very soon, you'll be able to reschedule your
biometrics online by signing up online to a format to an online format. And you're going to be able
to reschedule your biometrics in five minutes. That is coming very, very soon to USCIS. Also,
premium processing is going to be expanded to a lot more applications. It's also coming out. They
announced it. So a lot of great news and I'm making a special video detailing all this. So
that's pretty much what I wanted to mention today in the live stream. So again, if you hear
for the first time, make sure to subscribe to our channel. I will try to take a couple of questions.
And I'll continue to answer those questions in the comments of this video. Again,
if you need my help with anything, if you need my help to apply for work permits based on new policy
expedite your case with anything we're here for you, our YouTube subscribers, all you have to do
is text me 619-483-4549. And we'll get back to you as soon as we can. We're doing our
best to answer all our text messages. We have a lot of them. So let's take a question from
somebody here, from Gene, “If you already filed for resident status and your spouse
asked for a divorce, what can you do to get residence? That's a great question. So basically,
if you are going through a divorce, and you already filed for residency, you can file for a
waiver, if you already have your green card. If it's the first green card, the other thing you
can do is self-petition based on abuse and many other things. So let's do a couple more questions.
And then I'll answer the rest of them. In the comments. Is there any incrementing the number
of U visas? Yes, they are going to be increasing the U visa right now we have 10,000 U visas,
they're going to be increasing it to 30,000, they’ve added 20,000 more U visas that are coming.
It's to be going fast, faster. Why is the biometrics thing so long? Because of the backlogs.
And remember, quite a few of you guys are going to get their biometrics waived, they're going
to be able to reuse those biometrics, which is great news. And also, as I mentioned, if you
get a biometric appointment, and you cannot make it instead of stressing out about rescheduling,
you will be able to call, you'll be able to sign up online and reschedule it automatically.
Alright, so why are green cards based on asylum are taking so long?
Well, remember, asylums are also facing a huge backlog. We hope, in the court reform that was
just announced a couple of weeks ago is also going to help reduce the asylum backlogs. But remember,
like the change that I mentioned at the beginning of this video with the U visas, it just tells me
that they're going to go and help also asylum seekers to smooth out their applications,
maybe reduce the backlog. They're going to be helping TPS DACA holders and also finally
people that are here illegally that re-entered. We're hoping for a lot more changes coming up
in the next few months. Today's change with the U visas is a big one. Because think about it,
for people, for years of waiting to get their work permits, and they were pending for years,
now they're going to be able to apply for work permits just because of a policy change at USCIS.
That means they can do policy changes for a lot more things than just U visas. And I believe that
this is going to happen. And this is going to be coming in the next few months. So once again,
guys, thank you, thank you so much for watching. I appreciate all of you. I'm going to keep answering
the questions in the comments. And again, don't forget to subscribe to our channel.
Click the notification so you don't miss any of our live videos. I always appreciate every
one of you. There are more than 150 people in the live. And I thank you for tuning in,
for supporting. You, guys, are the best. Thanks a lot. And I'll see you at our next live. And don't
forget 2 amazing videos are coming up this week with lots of updates. Thank you, guys.