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What is Going On With DACA in May 2019?

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Hi this is Kaushik Ranchod from The Ranchod Law Group with offices in Sacramento and Stockton. I’m here with Brian and we are here for our weekly Immigration Show.

Alright so today, we are gonna talk about the latest and greatest immigration trends and we’re going to talk about DACA. As you know with this administration we’re talking about the “loco” things that are going on… so eighty-six percent of Americans support DACA and there’s current house legislation that has been worked on to help make DACA happen because people who came here as children deserve to be legal.

Trump is receiving a lot of pressure from Republicans and Democrats and the courts on DACA, so we have to just keep on continuing to let our Congress people know that we support DACA so that something passes. Now moving on to the latest trend, what is happening – can you believe that immigration is finally moving on to electronic applications??!!

So this isn’t in all the applications it’s just some right now, but they’ve indicated that that’s the direction that they want to go: they want to become modernized and what I have to say is it’s about time! You know with many other different agencies you can file electronically as we’re not in the dinosaur ages anymore where we need to mail in applications – it’s such a waste of resources and time. USCIS has rolled this out with a couple of applications and we’ll see where they go with it just.

Continue to check in, watch our videos if you haven’t had a chance subscribe to our youtube channel so you can continue to stay informed. If you have questions you can call us at (916) 613-3553 or post your question below.

Thanks and have an awesome day.

Related Information on DACA

A Healthy Balance – Fun and Fitness Go Together

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How is this season treating you? For me, there are a lot of fun activities happening in the next few weeks that I want to share with you.
After talking about it for a while, we’re finally going skiing! I’m very excited. It’s been a while since we’ve skied, so we’re taking lessons. I think they’ll provide some much needed pointers and help us start off on the right footing — or should I say binding?

Skiing isn’t the only fitness activity we have going on this spring: My wife and I recently started taking dance lessons! We hope to eventually learn salsa, but we’re starting off with the fundamentals. It’s been a lot of fun! We’re excited to learn and get better together.
Speaking of getting better together, I’m going on my second fitness challenge at my gym, and three of my team members at Ranchod have joined the program. I feel proud to share that I’ve lost 16 pounds since starting this whole weight loss journey. Some of my team members have lost over 10 pounds, and everyone is getting healthier and fitter in the process. Committing to our health is an important value at Ranchod Law Group. Our employees even get a gym reimbursement to encourage healthy habits. It’s a team effort, after all.

Later this month, I’m hoping to visit my sister in Seattle for her birthday. It’s an exciting celebration, and I’m looking forward to some quality time with her. My hope is that we can go to Whidbey Island, which is north of Seattle in the Puget Sound. You take a ferry from Seattle to get there, and there are supposed to be beautiful views as well as some great hikes. We may even get to do some whale watching!

At home, Happy is improving quickly with the help of his kind and patient trainer. He’s been doing really well learning the skills the trainer is teaching him, like learning not to run out the door. Instead, he sits patiently and waits to get his little treat of chicken. We’re happy that Happy is settling into our home and becoming part of our family.

The last couple of months have been very busy at the office. We finished up filing the most H1B visas we’ve ever done. We’re grateful to be part of so many journeys of people starting new lives. We appreciate all of you who’ve referred friends, family, and clients to us. It is our joy and purpose to help people through the immigration process and keep families together.

We hope you have a wonderful next couple of months. Thank you for being part of what we do.
Here’s to a great spring,

Un cliente de Visa U recibe una llamada del número 1-888

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Nuestra oficina en Sacramento recibió una llamada de un cliente de U Visa que nos llamó porque recibió una llamada de un número 1-888-867-3913, y la persona con la que habló le dijo que sería arrestada en 3 horas y que necesitaba llamar al siguiente número : 1-877-487-0773. Mencionaron un nombre, Peter Jackson, y le dieron a nuestro cliente un número de caso.

Nuestro cliente es una madre que tuvo a sus tres hijos con ella. Estaba muy preocupada. Afortunadamente, ella nos llamó y llamamos al número varias veces. Pudimos determinar que era un fraude.

Tenga en cuenta este tipo de estafas. Ni ICE ni USCIS ni la policía llamarán a una persona para informarles que serán arrestados. Si no tiene documentos, pídale a alguien que tenga estatus que llame y pregunte en su nombre si no se siente seguro.

U Visa Client Receives call from 1-888 number

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Our office in Sacramento at The Ranchod Law Group received a call from a U Visa client called us because she received a call from a 1-888-867-3913 number, and the person she spoke with told her she would be arrested in 3 hours and needed to call the following number: 1-877-487-0773. They mentioned a name Peter Jackson, and provided our client with a case number.

Our client is a mother who had her three children with her. She was understandably worried. Luckily, she reached out to us and we were able to call the number several times in order to determine it was fraudulent.

Please be aware of these kinds of scams. Neither ICE, USCIS, or the police will call an individual to let them know they will be arrested. If you are undocumented, please ask someone who has status to call and inquire on your behalf, if you do not feel safe.

Who can file for a family petition?

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Hi this is Kaushik Ranchod from The Ranchod Law Group and I’m here with Brian for our weekly immigration update show and today we’re going to talk about who can file for an I-130 petition and why the USCIS processing times are taking so long. So first I’m gonna start off with the USCIS processing times: they have almost doubled in the last five years in the amount of time that it’s taking. You know every case is different but that’s the average – that’s just what’s happening you know right now with this agency and it’s unacceptable: you can contact your Congress person to let them know or look up the USCIS processing times crisis levels to take action because number of applications have gone down, but the times have gone up.

So for an application that was taking five months as of five years ago, now it’s taking ten months – you can call us if you have a question (916) 613-3553 or post your question below. This is very frustrating for everyone involved, for families, for businesses who need to hire key employees, it’s hurting a lot of employees businesses and families as a whole, but you can take action – you can contact your Congressman, you can contact your senator and you can also go to the aila.org website to find out what else you can do.

Alright so now we’re gonna move on to: who can file an I-130 family based petitions. United States citizens and permanent residents can file for different types of family members. So first we’ll start off with United States citizens:

  • they can file for their spouse;
  • they can file for their child both married and unmarried;
  • they can also file for their parents and also for their siblings.

Now depending upon each relationship, some of the processing times are going to take longer than others. Now lawful permanent residents, they can file for their spouse and they can also file for their children – that’s different than United States citizens because lawful permanent residents cannot file for their parents and they cannot file for their brothers or sisters. United States citizens and permanent residents cannot file for aunts and uncles or cousins or second cousins. So we get that question like “oh well I’m a U.S. citizen can I file for my cousin or my uncle?” Unfortunately you’re not able to, but you know there are those different options and then also look at the employment based options as well – that’s beyond the scope of this video but give us a call (916) 613-3553 – we are happy to answer questions, or post your question below and if you would like to have a topic discussed you could post it below and we may choose your topic for the next weekly show. I want to thank you for tuning in and have an awesome day.

Related Information on I-130

What does getting a DUI mean for me?

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Getting a DUI in California can be extremely costly. With the court fines, fees, insurance hikes, and equipment installed to your car, a DUI can end up costing over $10,000.

A DUI can also be costly for your immigration status if you are not a United States citizen. Depending on what status you are in, DUIs can have the following consequences:

If you are a legal permanent resident (green card holder) having a DUI will almost certainly delay your ability to seek Citizenship for either 3 or 5 years, depending on what program you are seeking Citizenship under. There may be creative ways to avoid this delay, especially if the arresting police or sheriff’s department is willing to cooperate, so make sure you consult with an experienced Crimmigration Attorney.

If you are in any other status other than a citizen or green card holder, having a DUI can result in the stripping of your status and even deportation. For instance, individuals with non immigrant (temporary) visas, or people with DACA, will almost certainly lose that status if they are convicted of a DUI. In some cases, even just an arrest for DUI can result in revocation of a visa. While a DUI is generally not considered a crime involving moral turpitude according to the BIA, it can result in the loss of discretionary benefits, such as DACA.

Even for individuals seeking consular process, such as through the I-601A Waivers process, can suffer consequences from a DUI. That is because many consular posts will view a recent DUI as a problem with alcoholism, which could delay the entire visa process by several years. Even worse, some individuals with a recent DUI may find themselves outside the United States for a year or more, completing a sobriety program to the satisfaction of the Department of State (DOS).

A DUI is that it often puts immigrants on the radar of immigration authorities, such as ICE, for the first time. It is not uncommon for individuals to live many years in the United States without any incident before being arrested for a DUI and finding ICE knocking on their door. Before that happens, consult with an experienced Crimmigration attorney who can counsel you on ICE’s investigative practices and the Fourth Amendment protections you might have to shield yourself from becoming an ICE target.

Need help? Call now at (916) 613-3553 or (209) 219-2377, send an email, or fill in the contact form.

Related Information on DUI

I-601 Waiver Success Story for a Pakistani National

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I601 Fraud and Misrepresentation (perhaps because of nerves)

We at The Ranchod Law Group pride ourselves on our success as it means we have had the opportunity to positively impact the lives of our clients. One such client is currently in Pakistan while his ailing mother lives in the United States as a Legal Permanent Resident. His mother depends on him for many things, including financial and physical support as she is wheelchair bound. He was required to remain in Pakistan due to a misrepresented fact that came about perhaps because of nerves. Our office argued that the bar should be waived due to the exceptional hardships his mom would endure without him being here. We were able to demonstrate that because of her chronic medical conditions, including depression and anxiety, that it was in her best interest to have her son here in the United States with her. She also does not have any income and very little financial support here in the United States, therefore having her son who would be able to work here is critical. We also demonstrated why his mother would not fare well in Pakistan, given the poor state of healthcare, lack of mobility for those in wheelchairs, and social stigma around mental health in the country. Additionally, we demonstrated how her son would be unable to adequately provide for her due to the economic conditions on Pakistan. Soon, our client will be able to join his mother here in the United States and provide her with the care and support that she needs and deserves.

Related Information on I-601 Waivers:

What is Exactly a 245i?

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Hi this is Kaushik Ranchod here with Brian and today we’ll answer the question: what is a 245 i? That’s what we’re going to be talking about, then family based form I-130 petitions. 245 i is just an awesome powerful tool that can overcome entering the United States without inspection: entering without inspection means you didn’t come in with a visa and if you have questions you can call us at (916) 613-3553 . So 245 i, what the heck is it1? Well if you had a petition filed for you April 30th 2001 or earlier, that would be like an form I-130 petition also in some certain kinds of employment-based green card applications, depending upon what was filed, that may qualify as well. So in that kind of situation it can overcome entering without inspection which would allow you to apply for a green card in the United States instead of having to a file for a Waivers. So you might be asking well why do I care? Why do I want to file for 245 i instead of like just doing an I-601A Waivers? Well there’s a couple of benefits:

  1. You don’t need to show exceptional hardship
  2. You gotta stay in the United States
  3. The processing times for 245 i are faster than if you did exceptional hardship Waivers case

So I know you might be asking well I had a petition filed, I meet the requirements for the dates, but I’m getting married now and the petition was filed by my brother or my parent do I qualify for 245 i? Well I’m gonna answer that question in just a second. The great news is in that situation you would qualify for 245 i, so I don’t want you to worry and if you have questions you can call us at (916) 613-3553 to learn about your options. We do see mistakes that notarios sometimes make or people who are less experienced ignoring the physical presence requirements. I want to make sure you’re aware of the physical presence requirement, so if your application was filed on or after January 14, 1998, you need to have shown physical presence. But when do you need a shop physical presence? This is extremely important you need to show physical presence on December 21st 2000. Now this is where an attorney can really help you to explain and guide you through all the physical presence requirements we don’t have time for that today, but we’ll do a video on that sometime in the future. Just keep in mind that there is a physical presence requirement with that date that I talked about earlier. All right I want to thank you, if you have something you want to know about post it because we want to be there to help you. You can also throw your questions out now, you can call us at (916) 613-3553 . Thank you and have an awesome day.

[editorial note: Section 245(i) is a provision of the Legal Immigration Family Equity Act(LIFE Act). Section 245(i) allows certain persons, who have an immigrant visa immediately available but entered without inspection or otherwise violated their status and thus are ineligible to apply for adjustment of status in the United States, to apply if they pay a $1,000 penalty.] Back to blogpost

Related Information on Section 245(i)

J-1 Hardship Waiver Approval for a Dominican national

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212(e) hardship waiver approval – Ranchod Law Group




A 212(e) Hardship Waiver Success Story

Our latest success story here at the Ranchod Law Group comes from a Dominican national who was faced with having to go back home without her United States -born husband and child because of her two-year residency requirement. The client sought our services as she had filed the Waivers on her own, but did not complete it by sending the necessary forms and documents to the Department of State ( Department of State Department of State (DOS) ) as well. Within weeks, we prepared a compelling statement of reason to show why separation from her family was not feasible–and also why her family relocating with her to the Dominican Republic would have resulted in exceptional hardship . We identified exceptional hardship s to our client’s husband, showing that he would be financially unable to provide for their two children, and our client in the Dominican Republic. Additionally, one of her children was diagnosed with autism, and we demonstrated why he would suffer exceptional hardship if his mother were to relocate back to her home country.

After about 4 months of anxiously waiting, we received the approval from the Waiver Review Division of the Department of State (DOS).

The client, her husband, and their children are now able to remain together in the United States where their son can get the specialized attention he deserves.

Related Information on J-1 Hardship Waivers