Visa Lawyer Blog

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If you are a foreign national that will be a potential investor or will participate in commercial or professional business activities in the United States, you may qualify for a B-1 Temporary Business Visa by applying through the consulate nearest to you.

Business activities, according to USCIS, that are of a commercial or professional nature include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • Consulting with business associates
  • Traveling for a scientific, educational, professional or business convention, or a conference on specific dates
  • Settling an estate
  • Negotiating a contract
  • Participating in short-term training
  • Transiting through the United States: certain persons may transit the United States with a B-1 visa
  • Deadheading: certain air crewmen may enter the United States as deadhead crew with a B-1 visa

There are several eligibility requirements that a B-1 Temporary Business Visa applicant MUST fulfill when they apply for their visa through consular processing. They are the following:

  1. The applicants must demonstrate that the purpose of the trip is to enter the United States for legitimate business reasons
  2. The applicants must demonstrate that they will remain in the United States for a specified temporary period of time to take care of the intended business activities
  3. The applicants must demonstrate that they have sufficient financial resources to sustain themselves and their expenses during their stay in the United States
  4. The applicants must also demonstrate that they have a permanent residence abroad that they do not intend to abandon, as well as provide other proof of ties with the home country
  5. If you have any inadmissibility issues, you must consult with an attorney

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imagePresident Obama closed off the year by announcing his highly anticipated executive action on November 20, 2014 which will go into effect early this year, but the executive action was only one of many important initiatives that occurred in 2014.

2014 was a big year for immigrants for several reasons:

  • AB 60 California Driver’s License Applicants: Beginning January 01, 2015 undocumented immigrants can start the process of obtaining their driver’s licenses under AB 60 at their local DMV field office
  • Executive Action: Beginning February 2015, eligible applicants can apply for the expanded DACA program which shields undocumented individuals from deportation who were brought to the United States illegally as children, our office will be providing you with further updates early this year
  • Beginning May 2015 eligible parents of U.S. Citizens and lawful permanent residents can apply for deferred action thereby protecting them for deportation and allowing millions of parents to be eligible for employment authorization

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The purpose of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) administrative inspection is to determine whether the employer has violated the prohibitions against hiring or continuing employment of unauthorized aliens and Form I-9 violations. Usually, a 72-hour notice will be given to employers preceding the ICE Form I-9 administrative inspection. The Notice of Inspection indicates the date, time, and place for the inspection and the documentation that the employer is requested to produce.

Form I-9 inspection may be conducted by any of the three authorized government agencies: Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), or the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Special Counsel. DHS may initiate investigations after public complaints. Form I-9 inspection may be conducted either on the employer’s premises, at an agency office, or at the agency’s discretion. Employers that use electronic Form I-9 storage systems need only retrieve and reproduce the forms electronically retained in the storage system and supporting items requested by the inspecting agency.

If the employer does not comply with the request to present the forms and supporting documents, ICE may compel production by issuing a subpoena. A delay in the production of the forms and supporting documents may be considered a violation of compliance requirements. After a Form I-9 inspection, ICE will notify the employer as to its results. The current procedure is to notify the employer in writing of the result of the completed inspection. However, informal manner of notification may also been recognized as a valid notification as the Ninth Circuit has held that “even after an informal oral government notice, it is important for the employer to terminate the employee promptly to avoid knowingly continuing to employ violation.”

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Jose came into our office yesterday.  He had been here before.  About a year ago he came in to have a consultation with us and it seems we didn’t have the “right” answers that he wanted to hear.  This led to Jose searching for what he really wanted to hear.

For the past year, Jose has visited several immigration attorneys to confirm the information we had already given him.  The answer was always the same; except one day he found one attorney who gave him hope.  Unfortunately, the attorney took his hope, his money, and didn’t do anything to help.

We hear this story often and there isn’t a week that goes by where we don’t see a person who has entrusted their life and their savings to an inexperienced attorney, or worst yet, to an unscrupulous attorney or immigration consultant.  There are times that we have to give people the bad news – that there is nothing that can be done to help them.  The person is usually devastated and in their desperation will state “I’ll find a better attorney and he will be able to help me.”  The truth is, if you search for the answer you want to hear, you will always find someone who are willing to help you; that is they are willing help you be separated from your money – leaving you hopeless.

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The Law Offices of Jacob J Sapochnick is currently hosting a toy drive for children in need this holiday season. The toy drive will benefit an orphanage in Tijuana.

If you are interested in contributing, please bring your unused toys to our law office at 1502 Sixth Avenue San Diego CA 92101 by Thursday, December 18th.

We thank you for your support, Happy Holidays!

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President Obama’s executive action announced on November 20, 2014 fell short in many ways than one for many people residing in the United States—both legally and illegally. Though a marginalized few have been allowed to come out of the shadows, some of the world’s best and brightest have been completely ignored by the executive action altogether. The United States would be quite a different place without our hard working immigrant population and without our foreign born innovators, movers, and shakers.

Obama’s announcement on November 20th notably left out any indication that the creation of a more expedient and efficient system would be considered— through which highly skilled and highly capable foreign workers would be able to more easily attain permanent residency and visas. Industry leaders in areas such as the Silicon Valley, seeking to employ such highly skilled and highly capable foreign workers for their startup companies, have expressed their concerns, forming groups such as FWD.us, albeit with the knowledge that Congress must act in order for an all-encompassing solution to be reached.

Though Obama’s speech shed little light on the topic, a memorandum released by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security following the speech is much more informative. The memorandum announces that inventors, researchers, and founders of start-up enterprises who do not qualify for a national interest waiver, but who have been awarded what is considered ‘substantial’ financing by a U.S. investor OR who ‘hold the promise of innovation and job creation through the development of new technologies or the pursuit of cutting edge research’ can attain parole authority under section 212(d)(5) of the INA,6 on a case-by-case basis after being assessed by the DHS. Possessing parole in this situation would authorize extraordinary inventors, researchers, or start-up entrepreneurs to temporarily conduct their research or development of innovative ideas or their business while in the United States.

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By Marie Puertollano, Esq.

In the past few months, we have seen an increase in the number of instances when the green card application was approved, but the client never received it in the mail. What should you do in this situation?

Check your status online

First, you will need to go to uscis.gov. Under “Check your case status,” type your I-485 case number, which can be located at the top left corner of the receipt notice. If your case status shows that your green card was delivered, USCIS provides a tracking number from the US Postal Service (USPS) confirming the exact date, hour and zip code where the green card was delivered.

If you have moved and forgot to update your address, you will need to go to your old place of residence and request your green card from the person living at your previous place of residence. It is a crime to steal a green card. On one occasion, a client’s green card was delivered to an old address. The new tenant tore up the envelope with the green card in it, misplaced it, and brought it more than 2 months later. Continue reading

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Beginning January 02, 2015 in the state of California, undocumented immigrants will be able to benefit from Assembly Bill 60, The Safe and Responsible Driver Act enacted in 2013. Beginning immediately, undocumented driver’s license applicants, will be able to schedule an appointment on or after January 02, 2015 with their local DMV by calling 1-800-777-0133, online on the California DMV website www. dmv.ca.gov, or via their smart phones on the DMV NOW iPhone and Android applications.

Applicants should make sure to comply with the following in order to obtain their ‘original’ driver’s licenses:

  • Study for the driver license exam
  • Complete a driver license application form (DL 44) available at the DMV office
  • Under AB 60, applicants will need to provide DMV with:

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