In Long Island, New York.
I want to talk with you about a few things in this video.
The first is what you should do if you get the denial letter for the I-485 adjustment
of status application.
I've been seeing a lot of those questions lately and getting consultations.
I mean, having people come in here who have been denied and people are frantic and want
to know what to do.
So I'm going to chat with you in this video about that subject.
Then I'm going to dive into some of the questions that you guys sent me on McBean Immigration
TV.
So if you're interested in hearing my answers to your questions, stick around.
Friends, thanks so much for watching.
It just blows my mind to think about how many of you are being helped by these videos.
I get comments and emails and messages on Instagram and YouTube of course, and certainly
Facebook from people who tell me how helpful these videos are and I'm so delighted to know
that you're finding value out of this work and I just want to take the time and say thank
you for watching.
Thank you for sharing.
Thank you for being with me in this community.
I'm going to dive into this really shortly, but I just want to say to you, we're at a
time in our history here that we've got to rally together, right?
We've got to come together and do what we can to help each other because times are tough,
right, for immigrants.
So what I'm trying to do through McBean Immigration TV and what I do with my law practice and
McBean U and some of the materials that come through McBean U, I'm trying to help you win,
period, win.
Winning, meaning bringing your relatives here to the United States to live with you permanently.
Winning means that you're going to get to stay in the United States with your family
and grow here, prosper here and just have a life here because it's a great country to
be in.
So friends, that's what this is all about.
It's about winning by bringing people together and keeping them together.
So that's the goal.
With that being said, if you have not yet subscribed to McBean Immigration TV, I'm going
to want you to do so right away, subscribe and then hit that notification bell so that
you'll be one of the first people to get notice of my videos each week.
Now let's talk about denials.
Denials is a real thing.
When I say real thing, what I mean is that more and more people are faced with this.
People have been denied of immigration benefits forever, right?
Since we folks have been applying for immigration benefits, but things are different now.
When they get a denial, the consequences can be a lot more severe and it's more difficult
to overcome, right, some of the challenges that we are now with because of change in
policies under the Trump administration.
So the one denial that concerns me the most is with respect to the adjustment of status
application that I-485.
That denial comes with a awful consequence.
We're going to talk about that now.
When you're denied of the I-485, the new policy under the Trump administration is that that
denial will trigger their new policy to issue a notice to appear in immigration court.
I've done videos on this new policy.
Go back and look at those videos.
I'm going to put a link to those videos right here, right now, somewhere up here above me.
Click on that link and watch those old videos on that NTA policy, notice to appear policy,
because that policy is really hurtful.
It's hurtful because what happens is if you're denied of the adjustment of status application,
the government can put you in removal.
Now the pace of this policy, the implementation of it, it's actually, it's kind of slow, but
people are being denied and people are being put in removal as a consequence of it.
So I want you to know that that is what the policy is.
I don't know what the scale is in terms of how many people have been put in immigration
court under this new policy.
I just don't have that data or that information, but I do want you to know that the government
has the power to do that.
It is their new policy and it is being enforced from what I understand.
So you don't want to get that denial.
But if you do get the denial, you need to read that letter very carefully.
Yes, in that letter, there's threatening language that says that as a result of you being denied
of the adjustment of status, we are now aware of the fact that you are in the United States
in an unlawful status and you must leave the country within 33 days or something like that,
I believe the letter says.
So people are scared.
Some people are leaving.
I've been consulting with people who told me recently that they had their relative leave
the country as a result of that letter.
For some people, the consequence of leaving is even worse because when they do leave,
if they have other immigration violations on their record, it's going to be a major,
major challenge for them to reenter the United States.
So for those who leave and don't have a way back into the country, they may be out of
the country for a really long time depending on their case and depends on how many days
of unlawful presence they may have accrued in the United States and if they have any
background problems, right?
Because then there's a waiver that they may need to think about applying for.
There's just so many issues that crop up with getting this denial and then you leave and
that thinking that, oh, you can come back in and another few months when in fact it's
not going to be that easy to get back in.
But on the other hand, if you stay, the consequence is the government may put you in removal.
So people are in a very tough position right now.
Should they leave and then face the possibility of never coming back or should they stay faced
the possibility of removal and not having any good defense in court that would lead
to a green card so that they could stay here permanently.
So they're just like between a rock and a hard place.
So my first tip to you is if you get a denial of the adjustment of status application, speak
with a lawyer first before you take any action and do so immediately.
Don't sit on this one.
Friends, the adjustment of status application, a denial of that application is not something
you can sit on and consider for 60 days, 90 days, what to do, what to do, what to do.
No, you've got to go see a lawyer, whether it's someone like me.
Book the consultation, it's worth it.
Book the consultation to get it some advice, or if you have some other lawyer out there
that's doing a free consultation, good luck with respect to that strategy because sometimes
those free consultations don't really give you much of anything.
That's why they're free.
So be careful with that.
So if you're looking for good legal advice, seek out an attorney that you can trust.
Contact our office.
We're happy to help you and tell you the truth of what you're facing and what strategies
I would recommend or we would recommend for you to think about doing.
So, firstly, speak with a lawyer.
Don't do anything.
Don't take any further actions.
Speak with a lawyer.
Do so quickly.
Secondly, if there's something in that denial letter that you don't quite understand and
you're thinking, "Well, maybe I could just file a motion to reopen or reconsider this
decision because the government, I think the government got it wrong with this.
I'm not sure.
But I think that they were wrong when they calculated my unlawful presence days."
If you just think, "Oh, something isn't right, this doesn't sound right to me."
Again, speak with a lawyer so that you can get that interpretation and understanding
of what that language actually means.
Before you say to yourself, "Well, I believe the government got it wrong.
I'm just going to file a motion to reconsider this decision.
I think they got it wrong."
Well, to be successful with that kind of motion, friends, and the government tells you in that
letter, you must file that motion within 30 days of getting the denial letter.
So if you're within that 30 days and you think the government got it wrong, you're not too
sure, but you just think and you decide to file the motion to reconsider, you prepare
it yourself or you have some paralegal or an accountant or pastor or whomever put it
together for you and or some man that you know who does immigration and they do it and
they file this motion for you.
You've got to understand that, firstly, it takes a really long time to get a decision
on that motion.
So you're sitting there without a work permit for maybe 12 months, 15 months waiting for
a decision, and so that's one thing.
It takes a long time.
Secondly, you've got to really know what you're doing when you're filing that motion to reconsider
because you have to say to the government, you got the law wrong.
You got this thing wrong.
Here's some new facts that you guys didn't consider and should have considered when you
were making this decision in the first place.
You've got to be very crystal clear about what you're arguing in that motion.
Otherwise, you're wasting 12 months, 15 months only to get another denial, and that just
pushes you back, right?
So when you're thinking about filing that motion, speak with a lawyer first to make
sure that it's the right thing to do.
There are many times, many times I have consultations and I tell people, "You know what?
The government got this one right.
Don't file the motion because it's going to be a waste of your money.
Do not file it."
I don't take that case.
I don't file any emotion.
Someone comes here and they say, "Oh, you must file this motion."
They can't tell me what to do, okay?
I analyze the case and if I think the government got it right, I'm not going to do that, I'm
not going to file.
So be careful.
Speak with the lawyer, act swiftly.
Think twice about filing a motion to reconsider or reopen your case if they denied you.
Then thirdly, after you go through those first couple of steps, you may just have to refile.
When you come to the decision about refiling, you have to understand that you should only
refile if you're eligible for adjustment of status, if you're truly eligible.
Don't just refile because you think, "Well, if I refile, I'm going to get another work
permit.
The I-485 will be pending and as long as it's pending, I can always renew my work permit
and I could keep working."
Don't put the economics or the finances in front of a right decision with respect to
that I-485.
Let me reframe that.
Don't make the decision based on money only and the fact that you'll have the work permit
to work.
I know it's easy for me to say that and I know you have to feed your family and you
have to pay your rent and you have to do all these things to survive in America.
You have to buy a Metro card to get on that train or that bus.
I understand that, friends.
I get it.
But what I'm saying is I want you to think about the longterm consequences of what you're
doing because if you go ahead and refile that I-485 and you're not eligible for it, it's
just going to lead to further delays and your status here will still be pretty messed up
for a pretty long time.
So you want to make sure you thoughtfully consider with your attorney whether you are
eligible for it and whether you should refile.
So if you're able to refile and put together a better packet, a stronger packet, I would
say go for it.
Do it.
Do it right away.
Don't sit on it because again the issue is that NTA policy and you land in immigration
court.
Now let's switch the scenario off a little bit here.
Let's say you are denied and you decided to refile because you are eligible and you put
together a better packet and you do so, but you still get a notice to appear in immigration
court.
Now what?
Well, it's not the end of the world because if you are eligible perhaps through your US
citizen spouse, right, or a parent, then when you're in court, your lawyer has a very solid
defense, solid argument.
Your lawyer can ask the judge to place your case on the status docket, which is basically
a long adjournment, which would allow you to go through the process with USCIS if they
still retained jurisdiction over you.
If they have jurisdiction over your file, because they won't for some people, but if
they have jurisdiction over your adjustment of status application, they could continue
with their process, make a decision and you can go back to court, have your case considered
again, but with the evidence of, "Hey, I've been approved of the screen card and please
terminate my case, my removal matter."
But for some people, USCIS will not have jurisdiction over their adjustment of status case once
they're in removal.
That's a topic for another video.
But anyway, friends, I hope you see how complicated this process can be if you get a denial of
the adjustment of status.
So don't sit on that denial.
Work real fast with your lawyer, good credible lawyer to determine next steps.
Don't act the law.