Who has the burden of proof in I-601 waiver cases? The waiver applicant. The immigrant. This means the applicant has the responsibility for showing the Qualifying Relative will suffer extreme hardship if the applicant’s waiver application is denied. There are three different levels when it comes to a person’s burden of proof. Related Podcasts: Episode 170: Towards Simplifying The Meaning Of Hardship In Immigration Cases Episode 166: Community Service: A Plus Factor For Immigrants Recommended Links For More Information: I-601 And I-601A Qualifying Relatives: How To Unlock Hidden Hardships Beware The Role Of Discretion In I-601 Hardship Waiver Decision-Making

As I visited a book store the other day, I gravitated to the Classics Literature section.  Glancing through the selections, I paused when my eyes reached Dante’s Inferno, a literary masterpiece about one’s spiritual journey through nine rings of hell.  That was not the book’s only message, as it also illuminated the suffering of exile and leaving behind what a person loves most.   Although composed over 1,000 years ago, it remains applicable to the plight of Central Americans migrants seeking refuge in the U.S. who must overcome their own nine rings of hell. Related Podcasts: Episode 87: Why Immigration Reform Depends On (Defeating) Smuggling Episode 123: The Immigration Danger Of False Friends Recommended Links For More Information: Why The U.S. Must Grasp The Root Causes Of Central American Migration Central American Children Refugees: A Failure To Plan Ahead

The concept of hardship is used in all sorts of immigration cases. Yet, nowhere is it defined in immigration law. Why? Because it’s one of those terms incapable of a tight clarification. If you feel puzzled, you’re not alone. Related Podcasts: Episode 40: Ditch Robotic Hardship Formulas Episode 95: Hardship Insights For Immigrants Without Lawyers Recommended Links For More Information: What Happens To U.S. Citizen Children Forced To Relocate? The New USCIS I-601 Hardship Waiver Guidelines – What Are The Differences?

I’ve long subscribed to the marketplace of ideas. As former Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote back in 1919, “The best test of truth is the power of the thought to get itself accepted in the competition of the market.” I agree. No one can lay claim to alone know the truth.  And to the extent truth is left untested, it tends to become rigid dogma.  Why, then, in a nation which presumably prides itself on free speech, do people speak over others, refusing to listen to what others have to say? Related Podcasts: Episode 21: Trickle Down Hate Episode 43: Immigration Karate Chops Recommended Links For More Information: The Anti-Immigrant Propaganda War Why The One-Party Blame Game Is An Outdated Political Anachronism

The number one issue I hear when people talk about 601 waivers pertain to  economic and financial concerns. Immigrants and their spouse almost instinctively equate hardship with monetary issues. And that’s natural. But it’s too short-sighted.  Related Podcasts: Episode 66: Unclaimed Immigrant Income Taxes https://immigration-mastermind.captivate.fm/episode/immigrant-seniors Recommended Links For More Information: Four Insights About The Economic Contributions Of Immigrants 8 Tips For Winning Your I-601 Family Unity Hardship Case

Language bloat. Sentences that go on forever. Words you’ve never heard before. Phrases you don’t comprehend. Lawyers are especially guilty. This cancer – writing and speaking in ways that others do not understand – often shows up at court hearings.  Related Podcasts: Episode 89: Beware Misleading U Visa Advertising Episode 80: A Lawyer And His Mother Recommended Links For More Information: Why Do Lawyers Talk Like That? The Hidden Immigration Danger Of Deceptive Social Media Advertising

Many experts will tell you community activities of the immigrant are not important to whether a I-601 waiver is granted or denied. They’re wrong, flat out wrong. It's especially effective for immigrants who have lived in the U.S. too long without permission. It transforms the perspective of that time from a negative to a positive. Related Podcasts: Episode 102: Immigrants Do Not Come To America To Steal Jobs Episode 42: Cookies And Immigration Recommended Links For More Information: Beware The Role Of Discretion In I-601 Hardship Waiver Decision-Making Immigrants Who Give More To Others Than They Ask For In Return

I miss old friends I will never see or talk to again.  Old friends whose life paths I know nothing about.  That saddens me.  I thought we’d be friends forever.  Now we’re just memories to each other.  Related Podcasts: Episode 90: A Small Thank You To Cafeteria Workers Episode 160: If There's A Will, There's A Way Recommended Links For More Information: Persistence Is Often The Key To Immigration Success From Cambodian Immigrant And Political Refugee To College Professor

How do you measure a broken heart? More precisely, how do you measure the emotional distress and loneliness one feels if they are separated from a spouse or other loved person due to the denial of a family unity waiver? And how do you present evidence of such loss to an immigration adjudicator? The obvious answer is through a psychological evaluation. But not just any psychological evaluation will do.  Related Podcasts: Episode 141: 10 Tips For Underdogs Episode 94: Words Matter: The Political Myth Of Anchor Babies Recommended Links For More Information: 10 VAWA Keys To Prove Extreme Cruelty And Win A Green Card 8 Tips For Winning Your I-601 Waiver And Family Unity Hardship Case

It’s no secret. Immigration law in the United States is in need of an overhaul. I’ve long pondered whether such change will occur through politics, or whether the legal process is the only option truly available to reformers. Both approaches have limits. Related Podcasts: Episode 157: Divide And Conquer Episode 144: Flawed All Or Nothing Immigration Reform Strategy Recommended Links For More Information: Why Immigrant Advocates Should Join The War Against Smuggling Lessons From The Same-Sex Marriage Supreme Court Victory

In many, if not all, USCIS offices, the government uses checklists to review green card marriage applications. These issues on these checklists are not supposed to be the end-all to evaluations of permanent resident applications. In fact, many of the issues are subject to various interpretations. But they help officers spot certain responses that need to be looked at a little deeper. Related Podcasts: Episode 154: Two USCIS Warnings: NOIDs Vs RFEs Episode 45: How To Prevent Immigration Filing Fraud Recommended Links For More Information: The USCIS Fraud Checklist: Green Card Applicants Under Review DHS Immigration Fraud Policy: Misfocused Blame Game

Imagine being six years old, watching your father being killed by a firing squad. Standing there, with your mother and slightly older sister. That’s Vinnie’s story.  Related Podcasts: Episode 41: Unfair Cambodian Refugee Deportations Episode 96: The Age Of Immigration Darkness Recommended Links For More Information: What You Need To Know About Cambodian Refugee Deportations From Cambodian Immigrant And Political Refugee To College Professor

I wanted to retire. I felt unmotivated to fight. My passion for law had disappeared. My mother had passed away. Fighting my own emotional wounds, I had nothing left over to give to others. Related Podcasts: Episode 80: A Lawyer And His Mother Episode 42: Cookies And Immigration Recommended Links For More Information: The Battle For Immigration Justice: Why Compassion Matters A Tribute To My Father: An Immigrant Success Story

The Violence Against Women Act, commonly known as VAWA, provides protection for immigrant spouses and children who have suffered abuse and cruelty at the hands of a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident. There are two roads to protection under VAWA. The first is through filing a self-petition with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.  The second occurs by filing for VAWA cancellation of removal at immigration court.    Immigrants, facing deportation charges at immigration court, often do not know the differences, causing them to lose their cases. Related Podcasts: Episode 127: VAWA For Immigrant Males Episode 104: New U Visa Procedures To Help Immigrant Victims Of Crime Recommended Links For More Information: VAWA For Immigrants VAWA Protections For Abused Immigrant Children

The immigration history of the United States has several embarrassing moments – some of which still affect immigration programs today. Many, many decades later . . . Take the Filipino World War II Veterans Parole Program, (known by its acronym – FWVP) implemented by the Obama Administration on June 8, 2016.  Three years later, in 2019, Its termination was announced by President Trump, as part of his effort to purge immigrant-friendly measures - only to be taken off the chopping block by the Biden Administration. But that’s not the real story. The real story dates back nearly 70 years ago.     Related Podcasts: Episode 108: The Untold Story Of The Chinese And Black Slaves Alliance In The American South Episode 93: The Plight Of Afghan And Iraqi Translators Recommended Links For More Information: Filipino Family Reunification: A Battle To Restore A 75-Year Old Promise What Is The Filipino World War II Veterans Parole Program (FWVP)?

In a previous episode, I discussed how immigration reform might occur with a united political front of supporters from diverse cultural backgrounds. Afterwards, several listeners and colleagues disagreed. “Carlos”, they said, “your views are based on a pipe dream.” They missed my point. I know that we may never be able to achieve perfect unity.  But we can – and should – minimize the fragmentation and segregation in the house of immigration reform. Related Podcasts: Episode 151 : United We Stand Episode 10: Why Immigrants Should Support The Cuban Adjustment Act Recommended Links For More Information: No Room For Segregation In The House Of Immigration Reform The Anti-Immigrant Propaganda War

Question: When is a victory NOT a victory? Answer: When the case is about immigration law. Okay, I exaggerate.  A little bit. Take the Morales-Santana decision. The case involved how U.S. citizens confer U.S. citizenship to their children born in another country.  Related Podcasts: Episode 65: The Truth About Dual Citizenship Denaturalization: A New Fear For Immigrant Communities? Recommended Links For More Information: What Is The Citizenship Of A Baby Born In Airspace? Unlocking The Doors Of Citizenship After A Missed Family Generation

I am strongly pro-immigrant. I want immigrants, especially from poor countries, to have the same opportunities as those of us from wealthier nations. But I’m torn on the issue of professional visas. My discomfort arises from the dog-eat-dog attitude displayed by some immigration lawyers. They complain about the loss of skilled immigrants because these workers will return to their home countries and work for U.S. competitors. They’ve even invented a term for this situation. Reverse brain drain. Their position is disingenuous. Related Podcasts: Episode 117: Undocumented Immigrants: A Few Statistics Episode 66: Unclaimed Immigrant Income Taxes Recommended Links For More Information: The Misguided Notion Of Reverse Brain Drain Four Insights About The Economic Contributions Of Immigrants In The United States

A few episodes ago, we discussed the meaning of Requests For Evidence, known as RFEs.  We talked about how they are not an indication that your case is about to be denial. Today, I want to explain a different type of notice called NOIDs, short for Notice Of Intent To Deny. Many green card seekers get confused with the differences between a NOID and an RFE. Let's explore their similarities and differences.  Related Podcasts: Episode 149: Do Not Fear A Request For Evidence Episode 45: How To Prevent Immigration Filing Fraud  Recommended Links For More Information: Does A Request For Evidence Lead To A Green Card Denial? What You Need To Know About Requests For Evidence

Today, let's discuss a practical subject. Renewing your green card. We’ll begin with the question most frequently asked by persons about renewing their green card. "Will I be deported for having an expired permanent resident card?" Related Podcasts: Episode 72: What's In Your Immigration File? Episode 2: Three Filing Mistakes To Avoid Recommended Links For More Information: 11 Insights You Should Know About Winning Permanent Residence (Here And Abroad) Immigrants Without Lawyers: Five Common Pro Per Mistakes