0:00:06.7 Allie Winterhof: Hello, and welcome to Business Immigration 101 for Lawyers, presented by Charina Garcia. My name is Allie Winterhof, and I'm the Attorney Experience Manager at ARAG. We're gonna go ahead and have a short Q&A at the end of this session, so if you have any questions, you can submit those, using that ask questions feature there on the side panel. A little background on Charina, she is a partner at WR immigration, and manages the firms Northern California, Oakland office. She represents and advises many Fortune 500 and start-up companies, as well as individuals on both employment and family-based immigration matters. She has served on the executive board of the Northern California Chapter of the American immigration Lawyers Association, and was the Vice Chair of the AILA, National Liaison Committee for the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services California Service Center. She was also a member of the faculty of law review, CLE, Sterling Education Services, and Lorman Education Services which provides continuing education seminars. So thanks for being with us today, Charina, I'm gonna pass it over to you.
0:01:29.5 Charina Garcia: Thanks, Allie. Thank you for having me. I'm really excited to talk about Business Immigration 101. I have a lot to cover, but I'll go as slowly or as quickly as I can. You can certainly ask questions and we'll have time at the end to answer questions, so I guess we'll just take it away. James is my slide turner, so James why don't we... So just a legal disclaimer, you all are lawyers, so you understand this does not constitute legal advice. So informational purposes only. So we go to the next slide. So Allie talked a lot about myself, just a little bit about our firm, WR Immigration is a firm of about 150 immigration professionals, and we have offices in Northern California, Southern California, Boston, New York, and also in Shanghai. So the coolest thing about our firm, I always say is that we integrate law and technology, so we actually created our own customer relation management database using Salesforce. So the other part of my job, including practicing immigration law is also being the strategy and innovation partner and listening to our clients to try and figure out how we can utilize technology to really be efficient and manage a lot of their case matters.
0:03:00.5 CG: So that's just a little bit more about me, and we can get on the road and start the topics. So what I'm gonna do is cover a lot of basic information, the various visas, some special visas or immigrant status you may have heard of, Green Card sponsorship, a little bit about citizenship, and then just really the current trends that are going on, 'cause there are a lot of questions about travel and travel restrictions. If you want a more detailed webinar on travel, the current state of travel, our firm actually has a free webinar on Thursday, I believe then you can go to our website and sign in there and register, and that topic will be devoted for an hour just to the travel restrictions. So let's start off with what are the agencies we deal with. And so in immigration, we deal with the Department of Homeland Security, and then there are three sub-agencies there that we are always working with, and there's the USCIS, which basically is the organization that processes all the paperwork, the CBP, that allows you to enter and monitors your exit into the US and out of the US, and then ICE is the agency that actually is the enforcement arm, and is the agency that actually removes you from the United States.
0:04:29.8 CG: So there's the USCIS, the Customs and Border Protection, and then ICE Immigration and enforcement. So then we have the Department of State, and that is the agency overseas or international, that issues the visas and conducts the interviews so that individuals can apply for a visa and then also apply for a green card internationally, and there are various consulates and embassies worldwide that will handle various matters. And then the other agency we deal with is the Department of Labor, and this agency oversees the wage and hour issues, and just make sure that the US workers and foreign workers are protected. So these are the main agencies that we deal with, they all function differently. And then here's just some basic immigration terms, non-immigrant, so that is someone who's here on a temporary basis, and to the right you can see there's a visa stamp there that we were talking about the embassy will issue, and that is a temporary status that allows you to come to the US for a certain time period to conduct your studies or work, and then there's a fixed duration when you must depart. And then an immigrant visa or a green card is the one on the bottom of the slide, and that is what we call permanent residency, and that's where someone can actually live and work permanently in the US and they can work for any employer.
0:06:08.8 CG: So non-immigrants, they are bound, usually to a certain employer to work for, and then immigrant are permanent. And then on the bottom right is what we call the I-94, and that's the document that's issued by the Customs and Border Protection when folks enter through the airport, and that dictates how long someone can actually stay in the United States, and it's all electronic. So just a little bit about I-9 verification of employment, I think a lot of people wonder, "What is this form I-9?" And the form I-9 actually verifies that an individual is work authorized, so employers are required to complete this I-9 documentation within three business days of hire, and basically it's just to make sure that the person has work authorization and legal work authorization. If someone presents a green card then that person should not be re-verified, meaning that that person is work authorized. If they show a temporary green card that's expiring or has expired and has been renewed, that's a whole different story. So the number one rule when you're advising anyone about I-9 is never, never, never ask for specific documents, you have to allow the person to review the list of documents they could provide and then provide the documents they want to provide.
0:07:46.0 CG: And then on top of that, there is a new system called E-Verify, and this is an online system that the government uses, so when an employer will verify someone's work authorization by filling out the I-9, they'll then go online and take those documents and enter them into the system, and then within seconds, the government database will actually verify the person's work authorization. So that's an optional program that many employers have actually implemented, because there's kind of a carrot to signing up if you have foreign students and they're in a STEM Science technology engineering or math, major, they actually will get additional work authorization. So now we're gonna roll into the temporary visas and these temporary visas are visas that allow individuals to stay in the US for a certain duration of time. We can talk about the B-1. So the B visa is the most common visa type, and these are for individuals who are coming in for visits. So they're going to go on tour, visit Disneyland or B-1 is for business. So these are individuals who are actually coming to the US to attend meetings, negotiate contracts and attend conferences.
0:09:07.5 CG: And so visas can be applied at the US Embassy or Consulate abroad, but there are certain individuals who are from various countries that actually qualify under what we call the ESTA program, and under the ESTA program, these individuals can actually just show up at the airport, show their passport, and then they're admitted to the US for 90 days. Is very similar to me as a US citizen going to the UK and being committed for a certain duration of time without having to apply for a visa stamp versus a country like China, where if I wanna go visit, I actually have to visit the consulate here in San Francisco, apply for a visa, and then I would be allowed to enter China. It's not meant for employment, these visas are really strictly for visiting, for business visits, the question you should always ask yourself is, would you normally hire a US worker for this position, and if the answer is yes, this person should not be here on a B-1. There is a myth out there that the B-1 is a work visa, and a B-1 is not a work visa, it's simply a visa for someone to facilitate business travel. And like I showed you the I-9, there are penalties for employers for any unauthorized employment.
0:10:36.4 CG: So the other common visa type is the F-1 or student visa or the M-1, and I just gave you a chart here so you can kind of reference it, and if the individuals coming to the US to attend a university or college, high school, private elementary school, seminary, conservatory, or any other academic institution, including English language training, they would come in on the F visa, so F-1. If they're coming in for vocational or some recognized non-academic institution, like they're coming here for cooking school, then they usually will come in on the M-1, so that's the M-1 visa. So let's talk about the F-1. So the F1 students come to the US and they're enrolled in a full course load of studies, so that means they need to be full-time students, and when they come to the US, they have to have an intention to depart and there's a fixed duration of how long they could stay, so let's say they get accepted to attend college at UC Berkeley, then they would be issued an I-20, which is what you see on the right side, and that would actually designate how long they can remain in the US and study, and then their program, their major, they can certainly transfer to other schools, but they always have to talk to their international student advisor and make sure that they're doing things properly.
0:12:06.4 CG: When they graduate from their degree program, they actually will get a work permit card, and we call that Optional Practical Training. Optional Practical Training allows you to work for one year, and it has to be for an employer that's in your field of study. And the bottom shows you what we call an employment authorization card or an EAD employment authorization document. So like I said before, if the individual graduates with a degree in science, technology, engineering or math or STEM, and the employer is an E-Verify company, they are allowed to employ the student for an additional 24 months, so essentially you could have an F-1 student working for a company for a total of three years as an F-1. Go to the next slide. And then the other visa type is the J-1 Exchange visitors. So many individuals come in, and this is truly an exchange program where individuals come to the US to learn how to study, live, work here, and then they bring those skills back to their home country. And so the common ones are Au Pair Camp Counselor, Summer work Travel, there also interns and trainees, professors and research scholars, and then we have students who are in the university or in secondary, teacher, they are also physicians, and the J-2 dependents actually can come in for the length of time as the principal, and they also get work authorization for the spouse.
0:13:52.2 CG: The most common visa type is the H-1B visa, and so this is the visa type that many of the students transition to after they complete their studies. The H-1B visa is basically a professional work visa, and it allows individuals in who have a specific degree that's related to the occupation to be able to come to the US or work in the US for a maximum of six years. And so the H-1B is issued in three-year increments, and then it can be extended for another three years, and then it can continue to be extended past the six years if the individual is being sponsored for a green card. So for example, I have clients who are being sponsored for a green card who are from India, and they've actually been on an H-1B for over 10 years, because as I'll show you later, that's how long it can take for someone to get a green card in the United States. So the H-1B is just limited to a specific employer, and if you want to work for two employers, then the individual has to be sponsored for two H-1Bs, so it's position and location-specific, and there is a specific salary that needs to be paid to these workers and it has to be at least the prevailing wage, which is determined by various salary surveys like Radford or the government survey, or the actual wage, whatever is higher.
0:15:24.6 CG: And then spouse and children also can get an H-4. The spouse can actually work and get an employment authorization document, if the principal is further along in the Green Card process, then the spouse can actually get a work permit. This is subject to a numerical quota, so every year, we actually have a H-1B cap season, and the government's fiscal year runs from October 1st to September 30th. And this is only for private employers, if you are a university or a non-profit research institution, you don't really have to worry about this numerical quota, you can sponsor anyone any time during the year, if you are not a private employer and you meet those other requirements. So they're 65,000 each year, and that's for anyone, and then there's an additional 20,000 that's reserved for people who have a Master's degree or higher from a US University, so they graduated with a degree from a US university. And the next slide, we're gonna talk about the registration process. So a couple of years ago, they changed the process, so historically it was a race to file an H-1B. So in our office, we were busy with H-1B filing starting in January, and then we were basically filing all of them on March 31st so that they would be received within the first five business days of the year. So I've been doing this for a long time, so it was a very crazy time period all the time, every year, but now they actually have a registration process.
0:17:11.5 CG: So the difference is that instead of having the applications ready to file on March 31st, we actually have the ability to actually pre-register people, and then once they're selected, we would file. So employers actually create an account online, and then we as attorneys will actually help them and we will submit the registration for them, the registration in and of itself is basically just the employee name, whether they have a master's degree or not, and then their passport information. And what we do is we enter, there's a registration window that opens typically the beginning of March and then closes within three weeks it's open, and we start submitting all the registrations for our clients. You can only register a person once for a company and any related company, if you register them multiple times, they will cancel the registration and the individual will not be considered for an H-1B. So once they receive the registrations, then they'll conduct a lottery, so basically what they do is they conduct the random lottery for everyone who's registered and they utilize the 65,000 numbers first. If you're not selected in the 65,000 and you have a US Master's, then you go into a second lottery that's specifically only for US Master's degree holders, and that's the 20,000 pool, so the chances of being selected under the US Master's is typically higher because you basically have two bites of the apple.
0:18:54.0 CG: You can go into the 65,000 pool, and then you can also go into the 20,000 pool. Once you are notified of selection, then the employer has 90 days to file that application for H-1B. So it's really relaxed the time period for us, so we're just busy registering in the month of March, and then from April to June, we are submitting the applications. There is a wait list, so if individuals are not selected, they're actually put on a wait list, and this past year, they actually didn't have enough numbers used, so we actually had a second lottery. So, the second lottery was held in July, and then our employers were allowed to submit applications. So, this past year, there are 865,000 slots, 20,000 for masters, and there were 300,000 registrants, so you can kinda see what the chances are of being selected are not very high. Labor Condition application. So I had mentioned that the H-1B requirement is a prevailing wage requirement. And so the Department of Labor is the agency that oversees this, and employers are required to post at the work site, whether electronically or physically that they're going to be hiring a US worker, there's no name listed on it, it's just basically the occupation, and then the salary that's being offered.
0:20:28.6 CG: So the employer has to attest that they're gonna pay the higher of the prevailing wage or the actual wage, so just to give you an example, let's say a software engineer is being hired in Santa Clara County, and the salary offered offered is $120,000. Let's say the prevailing wage is $125,000, well, then the employer is gonna have to increase the wage to $125,000. Let's say the employer actually pays all of their workers $130,000, well, then the employer is gonna have to raise the wage to the actual wage, which is $130,000, so it's always the higher of either the prevailing wage or the actual wage. And then if there is no work, so sometimes if there is like during COVID, there were furlough H-1B workers are not allowed to be furloughed if it's a business necessity for them, there's no work. They must continue to be paid their salary, so we call it benching, so no benching is allowed. If an H-1B worker is terminated, then the employer must offer a reasonable transportation home and then must notify the immigration service and then withdraw the LC in the petition. The H-1B worker actually gets 60-day grace period to stay once they have resigned or been terminated.
0:22:03.4 CG: The H-1B fees are actually quite high. These are filing fees alone, this does not include any legal fees that we charge at our firm, so the filing fees for every single application is $460, and then there's a $500 fraud fee, which I'll explain later, and then there's another fee which we call the ACLEA fee, $750 if they have 25 or less employees or $1500 if they have 26 or more employees, and that fee is actually to be used to fund what we call the... We call it the education fund which is supposed to be used to educate US workers, so put back into the schools to ensure that there's more education, so there's less of a reliance on H-1B workers. There is also an optional $2500 premium processing fee, so this will guarantee that the case will be processed in 15 calendar days, regular processing is about 4-6 months, so if you pay the government the $2500, then they will process it in 15 calendar days. It doesn't mean they'll approve it in 15 calendar days, 'cause usually what they'll do is they'll issue a request for evidence and then the clock stops, and then once you submit the additional documents, then they will resume the 15-day clock.
0:23:30.1 CG: The other thing to note is that the employer must pay for all the legal and filing fees because you can't reduce the wage from the actual wage or prevailing wage and deducted from their salary. The only fee that can be paid by the employee if it's an employee request, is the $2500 premium processing fee, but all other fees must be paid by the employer. And so we talked about the $500 fraud fee, and basically what this funds is audit and enforcement and ensuring that individuals are actually employing the employees in the right position as what they stated in the petition. So, USCIS has hired 1500 investigators to conduct 30,000 work site visits. During COVID because the offices were closed, they still conducted the work site visits but they would ask the employee to meet them perhaps at the company parking lot.
0:24:31.7 CG: And what they do is that the agent, they look just like normal folks, they don't have any identification shown that they are actually conducting an enforcement or an audit, and they will ask to meet with the employee, they'll want to make sure that that individual is performing the job as listed on the petition, they'll ask to see payroll records, before when individuals are actually in the office, they would actually take pictures of the work space and keep it as part of the file and show that this person is actually doing what is stated on the petition. So that's information about the H-1B, there's a lot more, but I gave you mainly the basics of it. For the E3 visa... Oh, number one thing I forgot to tell you for the H-1B. Once you hold an H-1B number, you do not have to go back into the lottery. So, if you got an H-1B and you've used it for two years and you wanna change employers, you don't have to worry about going back into the lottery, you still have four years left on your H, so you don't really have to worry about that.
0:25:43.0 CG: So, I'm gonna talk about alternative visa types that are available. So, there is the E3 Visa and the H-1B1 Visas. And these are treaty-based visas, meaning that citizens of certain countries that have a treaty with the US can actually obtain work authorization. So for the E3, those are for the Australian citizens, and the H-1B1 is for the Singaporeans and the Chileans. So the concept is the same as the H-1B, they have to be payed the prevailing wage or the actual wage, and then they also have to be working in a specialty occupation, so a position that requires a degree to do the job. The nice thing is that it's renewable indefinitely, and what that means is that you can have an individual on an E-3 for long periods of time, past six years, 10 years, 12 years, but they must continue to maintain a non-immigrant intent, which basically means that, they're allowed to stay in the US temporarily but each time they renew, they have to demonstrate that they will actually return back to their home country when they finish their employment here.
0:26:56.6 CG: The spouses can obtain work authorization, so they can get a work permit card. And there is an annual cap, but it's never reached, so it's $5400 for Singaporean and then $1400 Chilean. We can go to the next slide, yeah. And then, the other visa type that also is based on a treaty is the TN Visa, and this is for Canadians and Mexicans. And this allows for a three-year work visa, also renewable indefinitely for certain occupations that have been identified as professional occupations, so you'll see positions as an accountant and engineer, scientific technologist, management consultant is one of the more difficult categories, 'cause that's the catch-all category but there is also that option. Like I said, there's no limitation on extensions, there's no annual cap, it can be applied at any time, but there is a non-immigrant intent, so they must, every time they renew, show an intention to return back to their home country after they finish their work here. Canadians are actually processed at the border or airport, so they simply present themselves at the airport or at the border with a package of documents, and then they're interviewed and then they're admitted for a three-year period. Mexican nationals are actually processed at the US consulate, so they have to make an appointment, and remember, that's a Department of State, so they make an appointment and then their issued a visa and with that Visa they can enter the United States.
0:28:37.6 CG: The nice thing is that there's no filing required with the USCIS, these individuals either go straight to the border, airport or to the US consulate. The next visa type is for our international employees. So these individuals have actually worked at a company internationally abroad in a managerial or executive capacity or they have specialized knowledge and they're being transferred to the US to work at a parent, affiliate or subsidiary of the overseas company. And so when they're coming to the US, they have to be coming to fill an executive or managerial position. And the important thing is looking at the corporate relationship, to make sure that there actually is a relationship in terms of a parent, subsidiary or affiliate, and the other item too is making sure that they are an executive, manager or a specialized knowledge individual. So, the nice thing about this Visa is that, anyone can be from any country, any national of any country, there's no quota. The other thing is that it allows for dual intent, meaning if you apply for this visa, you can come to the US and immediately apply for a Green Card, and that's completely fine. So we call that dual intent.
0:30:08.1 CG: The spouses can also obtain work authorization and they will also get a work permit card, and the other thing too is the process is, you either will apply for your L1 at the USCIS. So, submit an application to the USCIS office, they will issue it for one year, so we do many startups and new companies, and they will get an L1 for one year. If the company is more established, then you can actually apply for an L1 with the USCIS and request three years, and then keep renewing it for a maximum of seven years for a manager, executive or five years, for someone with specialized knowledge. If your company is even larger and it's a multinational organization, you can actually get a pre-approved blanket and then start moving people to the US by simply applying for the visa at the consulate overseas. So that's the L1 Visa. This is the other visa type that we utilize many times for individuals who wanna come in also for startups and they wanna invest in the US, or they're actually conducting trade in the US already. So basically, this is a treaty visa, and there must be a treaty between the US and the country where the person is a national of, the company that is here in the US has to be at least 50% owned by citizens of the treaty country.
0:31:48.5 CG: So let's say we have a treaty with the Philippines, which we do. The company has to be at least 50% owned by Philippine citizens, and that does not include Green Card holders, it has to be 50% Philippine-owned. We utilize this visa many times for individuals that have a start-up and they are investing maybe $100, $50, $200,000 into their company, and they may also actually have some funding as well. And we're able to get these E-2 Visas for our clients. It also has a non-immigrant intent component to it, so it basically means that you can actually obtain the visa, they're usually issued in five-year increments indefinitely, but you have to be able to show that you intend to return back to your home country after you finish your activities here. And I've had clients on an E-2 for 30 years, 25-30 years, and they just kept redoing it in Rome, Italy, and they had a software company. We can go to the next slide.
0:32:57.4 CG: So, there are two types. There's the E-1 Treaty Trader and there's the E-2 Treaty Investor. So E-1 Treaty Trader is where there's a substantial trade going on between the United States and that treaty country. And it's basically, it can be an import export of goods services, so many times we will do these types of E-1s with products, so it could be shoes being made in the Philippines and being imported to the US, or even services like software services, so we've done that before too. And then the E-2 visa investor is basically an investment, so the treaty company has to actually make a substantial investment in the US. Substantial investment is defined as in relation to the startup costs or operations. So we have actually successfully been able to obtain E-2s even for startups, like I said, where there is an initial investment of maybe $150,000, $200,000, but there's actually going to be growth and they're going to be hiring US citizens. So that's really important for this visa type.
0:34:09.9 CG: The individual coming, either can be the owner, an executive, manager or an essential employee. So if it's a Philippine-owned company, then the Philippine citizens can actually come in under the E, and they don't have to have worked for the company ever overseas as long as they meet the requirements of being an executive manager or essential employee. The spouses and children will also receive dependent visas, and the spouses can actually apply for work authorization, and that's through the EAD card. So now we're moving on to the visas that are defined more so for people based on their individual skills, achievements or abilities, and so the O-1 visa is what we call the extraordinary ability visa, and it could be in the arts, sciences, education or sports, and we have actually done these for startup companies, so we may have a serial entrepreneur who would like to work in the US and they have a company, and we are able to get them an O-1 visa.
0:35:21.2 CG: So, it's really important to look at the standards. So, they really have to be at their top of their field, and they have to be able to provide documentation, and what we're looking for is the criteria that the government requires, so it has to be at least three of the following criteria. So, major awards, high salary, press articles about the applicant, they hold a leading or critical position, they may have been cited, they may have judged the work of others, they may have done a variety of things that really has risen them to the top of their field, and that's really what we're looking for when we're looking at O-1s and it's very document-intensive, meaning that we will require our clients to get letters of recommendations from various people, I do many of them in the science field, but our firm also does them in the entertainment sector, in healthcare, in a variety of different sectors, and this has no quota, it can be applied for at any time, but it is also a non-immigrant intent, so the individual must plan to return home once they complete their activities here. We can go to the next slide.
0:36:38.3 CG: So H-2 visa this is for actually seasonal or agricultural workers, and there has been a big rise on the need to hire unskilled workers, and we're getting a lot of inquiries now from various industries, including wineries, construction sites, asking us about the H-2A and the H-2B program. So H-2As for temporary agricultural workers so the individuals coming in for seasonal work, and the employer must provide them with room board and transportation, there is no quota for this visa, it can be applied for at any time, but it's restricted to a season. So a season is usually a 10-month season. And then the H-2B is for non-agricultural workers, so we've seen this many times in the hospitality industry, also landscapers, we've worked on bringing in landscapers to Louisiana, and there's a quote of 66,000 per year, and it's split up by 33,000 available in April, and then 33,000 available in October, and it's really for seasonal work or peek load need or intermittent need, and so when we submitted applications for the landscapers in New Orleans, we were able to show a seasonal need, but you can also show a peak load need or intermittent need. Let's say there was the hurricane devastation and there were a need for additional workers to come in.
0:38:11.1 CG: The application has to be filled with the Department of Labor, there is a wage component to it, and then there must be recruitment done to show that there are no qualified US workers to do the job, and it is limited to certain country nationals so it's not available to everyone. There is a list that's usually generated each year, and again, a non-immigrant intent once they complete their seasonal work, they must return home, but they can come back and be sponsored again by another employer to come back on the H-2B. Dependents have ability to come but many times they don't come because of the seasonal work. So these are the other types of immigration status that's also available that you may have heard in the news. So during the Obama administration, there was DACA, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. So these were for children who came in at a very young age to the United States, many of them actually did not even know that they were here and they weren't documented, meaning that they actually didn't have a legal right to stay in the US, and so they created the DACA program, which has been challenged many times, but currently is still there, and these individuals actually receive work authorization and travel authorization.
0:39:34.4 CG: But right now, there's no path to Green Card, so the Biden administration is really looking at that and trying to overhaul and create some immigration reform, so there's a path towards citizenship or a Green Card. And then we have what we call TPS, and this is Temporary Protective Status, so when individuals are here in the US and they're from a country that has a natural disaster like a hurricane or war, then the government will actually designate them under a Temporary Protective Status, and they're allowed to remain in the US as long as the government continues that status, and then also obtain work authorization. So here's some of the countries that are currently under TPS. There's also what we call Deferred Enforced Departure, and these are basically when the President says and issues a directive that certain people from countries should be allowed to remain in the US and allowed to stay for a certain time period, and the most recent one is for Hong Kong, and these individuals actually are allowed to stay. It's not really a status, but they can stay and they can get work authorization, but at some point they will need to leave, so they have to pursue their own route to Green Card. We can go to the next slide.
0:40:56.9 CG: And then the other option is actually the special parole program. So right now there are parole programs going on and it's basically due to humanitarian or there's a significant public benefit. The one that's most in the news right now is the Afghan nationals. And actually applying for a humanitarian parole for them, so they can actually come to the United States and stay for a certain time period. It again is not really status, they're allowed to come here and live and work, and they can renew the parole status, but they have to find alternative routes to be able to stay in the US. And then there's also the refugees and asylees. So these are individuals who have a fear of persecution, they'll be persecuted based on race, religion, nationality or membership, and the way you can define them as a refugees, typically someone who's outside of the US. For example, the Afghan refugees who are gonna be coming to the United States to live and they can't return home, or folks who are asylees, who basically come to the US and request asylum when they enter our port of entry.
0:42:12.3 CG: These individuals actually will receive work authorization while their application is being processed. So I went through all the non-immigrant, well, most of the non-immigrant visas that also provide work authorization, but I also wanna cover some of the Green Card options and how people can get permanent residency in the US, which again is defined as the ability to live and work in the US on a permanent basis. There is a lottery for a Green Card, we call it the diversity lottery, and it's basically just like any other lottery, it opens up every year in October to November, and it's free, so individuals who are citizens of certain countries or they're born in certain countries, are actually allowed to apply for this diversity lottery.
0:43:06.1 CG: And you can apply every year. There is no fee to apply, just make sure that you're applying on the right website, 'cause there are many, many fraudulent websites there that people use, so always make sure you're applying on the Department of State website, and these individuals, in order to qualify, they have to be a citizen of a country that has a low migration rate to the US. So for example, the Philippines, Canada, UK, India, Mexico, they have a high migration rate to the Philippines, so they are not included in the diversity lottery, but a citizen of Japan could apply, a citizen of Belgium could apply. So citizens of Africa could apply, so individuals can apply every year, and we have actually had some clients that were actually very lucky and won a Green Card through the lottery. We can go to the next slide.
0:44:05.2 CG: So this is actually what we call a Visa Bulletin, and the number one thing you need to know about our Green Card process, unless you're married to a US citizen, or you're a parent of a US citizen, or you're a minor child of a US citizen, everyone else has to wait in line. And so this just shows you the dates that they're processing as of December 1st, 2021, so this bulletin comes out every month for the following month, so this Visa Bulletin actually just came out the other day, and it basically tells us whose cases the government is processing in the month of December, and so the top section are for the family-based clients, and these individuals actually are being sponsored either they're the spouse of a permanent resident, they're a child of a US citizen, and they're unmarried, and they're older than 21 or they're brothers and sisters of US citizens.
0:45:09.1 CG: And you can see that if I file a petition for my sister and she's in the Philippines and a citizen of the Philippines, and that's the category F4, it's gonna take her... If I filed it today, they're only processing August 22, 2002, so it was probably gonna take her over 20 years to come to the United States. And then if you look at the employment-based preference categories, these ones actually are employer-sponsored, so the first preference category is the highest category, so those are individuals who are outstanding researchers, professors, multinational managers, or they have some sort of extraordinary abilities, so you could think of your athletes, your artists, and then second preference are individuals who have at least a master's degree or bachelor's and five years of work experience. So if you were to look at this, and I filed the petition today for someone born in India as an employer, they are currently processing May 1, 2012.
0:46:19.0 CG: Right, so that's actually gonna take 10 years before they're able to get their Green Card. And then the third preference are those who simply have a bachelor's degree, and then other workers are those who are unskilled. So we have a little bit of time, so I can run through quickly the family-based immigrant visas, and so I talked about the immediate relative, so if you're a spouse, parent or minor child of a US citizen, then you actually can apply for a Green Card right away. The processing time can be 12 to 18 months, if the individual is here in the US, they'll actually get a work permit and a travel permit, and if the marriage is less than two years when it's approved, then it's conditional, and what that means is that you have to go back to the government within that two-year window and show documentation that the marriage is bonified, and you'll still be able to keep your Green Card and get a permanent Green Card.
0:47:22.1 CG: Also, adult child is considered 21 years old, so an adult child has to be 21 years old to sponsor a parent. And then these are the family-based categories I talked about. So I talked about the F4, like if I wanted to sponsor my sister who's a Philippines citizen, that that's the F4 category, if I had an adult child, also, that is what we call the third preference category, if I were a Green Card holder, and I had my minor children or my spouse, then that's what we call the F2 category. And then the F1 category are unmarried, adult children of US citizens. The magic date for immigration is 21, so when a child turns 21, then they're no longer eligible for benefits under the principle, but there are special provisions to protect them if they do turn 21 and still get their Green Card. So employment-based green cards, like I talked about the EB-1, those are the individuals with extraordinary ability, those can be self-sponsored, then we have the outstanding researchers, and then we have the multi-national managers and executives. So this is the highest preference category.
0:48:47.0 CG: And then I talked about the second preference category, which is for individuals with at least a master's degree or a Bachelor's and five years of work experience, and then the third preference category is all other professionals. And the basic process to go through sponsorship through an employer, if you don't qualify under the extraordinary ability category or EB-1 is the company actually has to test the labor market and prove they can't find a US worker, so they actually have to put ads in the newspaper, post online, post with the State Workforce Agency, and then once they conduct the test and it's certified, then they can proceed with the sponsorship, and that's what we call the visa petition. And then the last and final stage is actually the Green Card application, and that's where they get the employment authorization document or the travel document, and then they'll get their Green Card.
0:49:48.3 CG: The Green Card is typically good for 10 years. And then once they become a Green Card holder for five years, they can actually apply for citizenship, and if you're married to a US citizen, then you can actually apply sooner, you can apply three years after being a Green Card holder. And then right now for citizenship, it varies by location, but some can take as little as six months and some can take more than 12 months, and individuals can actually be a dual citizens, so you could be a citizen of the United States and a citizen of another country as long as that country recognizes it. And then just basic current topic and trends, there's a lot of questions about travel into the US. So as of November 8, individuals are able to travel internationally as long as they're fully vaccinated. So they have to have vaccination that's documented and approved by the World Health Organization.
0:50:50.3 CG: So we listed them here, and then they also need to make sure that they have a negative COVID test within three days a boarding their flight to the US. So it used to be location-based bans, but now anyone can come as long as they meet these requirements. That's what I have. And we can move on to questions now, Allie, if you want.
0:51:20.5 AW: Sounds good.
0:51:22.7 CG: Are there any question?
0:51:25.3 AW: Yeah, yeah. One of the questions that came in from Evelyn, "Can a professional, like a doctor, sponsor themselves for H-1B visa?"
0:51:34.9 CG: Oh, that's a really good question. So for the H-1B, you actually have to have an employer. And so what that means is that if you are a doctor and you have your own practice, it's gonna be harder for you to be sponsored for an H-1, because you have to be able to show an employer-employee relationship. And so let's say the hospital wants to sponsor you, then that's great, you could be sponsored as a doctor, but if you are starting your own practice and you wanna be sponsored for H-1, it's a little bit more difficult. And so, typically in those situations, we advise people to actually dilute their ownership, so instead of owning 50%, maybe only own 25% or 10%, so that you can show that there's a valid employer-employee relationship and be able to get your H-1B that way. So yeah, you can be sponsored, you can sponsor yourself for an H-1B, but not really, you have to have a specific ownership structure to be able to get it by through the USCIS. Thanks, Evelyn.
0:52:41.7 AW: Another question from Kathy, "How do you promote your firm's immigration services?"
0:52:49.4 CG: Oh, that's an excellent question about Marketing. So just to give you a story about myself. So I came from a boutique law firm, and I have been practicing for five years, and then I decided that it was time for me to move on and I found another firm that was basically a multi-service practice firm that did other types of law besides immigration, and it was a growing firm, and so I had to build my client base, and I did what many people did, I'm Filipino, so I reached out to my Filipino roots, and I went... And this was 15 years ago or longer. So I advertised in the paper, I joined all these different organizations, and I started doing things like that. But family-based immigration wasn't something that I really enjoyed as much as I enjoyed corporate immigration.
0:53:44.6 CG: And so what I started doing was doing more speaking engagements and then developing actually the practice developed just because I provided great service, and so I got up into the startup niche, and when I got into the startup niche, the VC started referring work to me, I started talking to corporate law firms, I'm near the valley, I'm in Silicon Valley. And so it was really easy because once I was able to establish my niche in the startup community, and this was back... I started practicing in '97, '98. So that's a long time ago, but that was a dot com boom, the bust, and then the boom again. So I was able to get a lot of clients that way. And then just doing... I would go to various universities and speak, and just really getting my name out there and really just building my knowledge base.
0:54:41.8 CG: If you wanna build your knowledge base and you've been excited by what you've heard, the first place I would recommend you go is AILA, and Allie had mentioned, I'm a member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, that's well worth the membership, I can't remember how much it is per year, but they have so many great programs, there's also annual conferences, and I have to just tell you, the people there are just really nice and they're really kind and they really wanna share their knowledge, so when I wanna move into a new practice area, people are always willing to share, share samples, share advice, share stories, and then we have LISTSERV. So just getting your name out there and doing marketing and trying to figure out what's your niche. Yeah.
0:55:32.3 AW: I like it. Another question from Evelyn, "What is the vaccine requirement for someone coming in on an approved spouse of citizen visa R-1?"
0:55:47.5 CG: R-1. Oh, I think she's saying immediate relative. So for immigrant visas, they actually fall under the exception, so US citizens and Green Card holders and immigrant visas actually don't have to be vaccinated, they fall under the exceptions, they still have to do the negative COVID tests and do any quarantine requirements, but you should always check with your airline, the airline is the one that's gonna prevent you from boarding the plane, so you should always check with your airline and make sure you have the proper documentation and you have all the proper exceptions. Because I have had so many clients call me and they were refused boarding, so just make sure you always call your airline beforehand and make sure you have the right documentation to board.
0:56:34.9 AW: Good to know.
0:56:37.7 CG: Yup.
0:56:37.8 AW: From Adriana. She says, "Thanks so much, presentation was fantastic."
0:56:43.0 CG: Oh, thank you.
0:56:44.4 AW: "Will the PowerPoint be able to be emailed to attendees?" In one caveat that I can give for that is to everyone on today's call, you will get a copy of today's webinar that will be emailed to you. So, I don't know, Charina, you made that what we're planning to do instead of using the...
0:57:05.1 CG: Yeah, yeah, yeah, the PowerPoint can be shared. That's perfectly fine.
0:57:10.4 AW: And then part two of her question is, "Any additional resources, books or websites you recommend for attorneys looking to explore this area of law further?"You mentioned membership...
0:57:21.6 CG: Yeah. Like I said, AILA is great, American Immigration Lawyers Association. That's the first place I would look. They have This Cookbook Series, they call it Cookbook, and it's basically a book of how you do certain case types and samples, and they just came out. It's a little bit expensive, but I think it's well worth it if you're starting out your practice or you wanna learn, 'cause they give you all these great samples and checklists and guides, even ethical things about... 'Cause many times we represent both the company and the individual or the spouse and the person being sponsored, a family member. So it has a lot of really good information there. So the Cookbook, I call it the Cookbook, just go on the... It's aila.org, A-I-L-A dot O-R-G. Yeah.
0:58:12.4 AW: Awesome. Okay, I wanna be cognizant of people's time, so maybe let's do one more question. And of course we will... We can reach out to anyone with additional questions separately via email. A question from Lauren, "Can someone hold triple citizenship?"
0:58:32.2 CG: As long as each country allows it, you can hold as many citizenships as you want. So each country has to authorize it, otherwise you can't do it. So the US actually recognizes dual, triple, quadruple citizenship as long as the other countries recognize it too. Yeah. And if people have questions, you're gonna get an email, and I'm more than happy to answer any questions, so just go ahead and shoot me an email once you get the information about how to reach me.
0:59:03.3 AW: Awesome. Well, thank you so much for presenting for us today and for taking the time. And thanks to everyone who hopped on to listen to Charina. Like I said, you will get an email later today or early tomorrow with a copy of the webinar and directing you to our website where you can see that. And then you will also get a separate email from us, just a survey about today's webinar, we wanna make sure that we're providing the content that you wanna hear, so be on the lookout for those two communications. So thanks again, Charina.
0:59:39.7 CG: Thanks, Allie. Yeah.
0:59:42.0 AW: And thanks for everyone who hopped on today.