JUAN CAMILO:
Hello everyone, thank you for joining us. You are watching a replay of the program we do on Actualidad Radio with attorney Martha Arias. She is an expert immigration attorney with whom we regularly speak whenever we want to understand some issues related to immigration.
What is happening at the border? What are the new laws that are coming into effect? There are so many migration topics that come up every week. What is the status of the residency cases for people who are petitioning for a brother, a father, or a mother?
Well, anyway, all these topics such as what is happening with TPS or the possibility of changes for the beneficiaries of the DACA program. In short, there are many immigration-related issues that are always a concern in South Florida, throughout the United States, especially now that we are facing a presidential election.
So stay tuned because we are going to connect with attorney Martha Arias.
What is happening with the announcements made by USCIS on topics related to immigrant visas and some similar issues?
So, we will connect with attorney Martha Arias in just a minute, but take advantage of this moment for those who have a question related to immigration, for those who have a doubt. This is the moment to leave those questions. This is the moment to share your concerns. So, well, nothing more.
Attorney, I believe you are already there.
MARTHA L. ARIAS, ESQ.:
Yes, I’m here, Juan Camilo. Good afternoon.
JUAN CAMILO:
Good afternoon. I don’t see you, but people will tell me if they see you because sometimes this happens, but it seems that the attorney is indeed connected well. It’s me who doesn’t see you, but well.
MARTHA L. ARIAS, ESQ.:
I see you well. I mean, I don’t see you well. I hear you well, but I don’t see you. But if I see myself, because sometimes it was the opposite that I saw you, you didn’t see me. The important thing is if people see us both, let’s ask those who are watching and listening to leave a message if they see us both, right?
JUAN CAMILO:
Yes, yes, yes, because someone had written to me internally and said no, I do see you both. So it seems we don’t have a problem. Some people have already been connecting, so let’s give people a chance to connect a bit more.
Here they are writing that yes, indeed, we can be seen without any problem. So, for some reason, no, I don’t see you, you don’t see me, but people see us, which is what matters, right?
MARTHA L. ARIAS, ESQ.:
Well, exactly. That’s like magic. Even though, well, we see each other.
JUAN CAMILO:
Exactly. Well. Well, do you have any questions here? J. Enrique says that it is clear that we both look very well. If you have any questions related to immigration, take advantage because we have attorney Martha Arias with us. She is an expert in immigration matters who always helps us understand many of the most important issues on the local scene, the national program, what is happening with the new immigration laws, what is happening with new laws that are coming into effect or with changes that are made at the last minute, or in issues also related to pronouncements from USCIS or the Border Patrol or the cases that are more delayed or national policy changes.
So, from now on, I invite you to share this video, to subscribe to the Actualidad Radio account and the account of attorney Martha Arias, which is @martha_arias98. Martha with an H in the middle. And to start, I think we are going to see some of the questions that have made news in recent days.
Attorney, USCIS recently reported that they are trying to use all available immigrant visas. Tell us a bit about what they mean by this and what impact this might have.
MARTHA L. ARIAS, ESQ.:
Yes, indeed. Well, greetings to Macha from New Jersey. I find it excellent that they listen to us and watch us from New Jersey and also that they repost or forward or reproduce these videos because they are very informative for you and for all those who might have an interest in the immigration issue in the United States.
Juan Camilo, the information is that immigration has a quota of visas that are granted each year for employment visas. Normally, the first three which are EB-1, EB-2, and EB-3 are the ones most used and filled. What immigration announced is that they will try to use all available visas in all employment-related categories before the fiscal year ends. Remember that the fiscal year starts on October 1 and ends on September 30 of each year.
So, at this moment, we are in fiscal year 23-24 which ends now on September 30, we are already in July, so there are a few months left for them to approve the maximum number of visas and use those available quotas. For this reason, people may receive or their lawyers may receive calls from immigration officers asking for certain documentation or certain information to process those petitions and approve them as soon as possible.
So, if you receive a call from immigration because you might not have a lawyer, don’t be afraid because they are calling, it is because it is being processed. Obviously, it is worth mentioning, immigration does not ask for any money over the phone. If they are asking for money, that is not the immigration service. Contact your lawyer, contact the immigration service directly.
JUAN CAMILO:
If you have any questions related to these topics, if you are pending a visa and want to know if you can benefit from these announcements made by USCIS, the best alternative is to call expert immigration lawyers.
And that’s why we always consult with attorney Martha Arias. Below you will see in the first comment the phone number for Martha Arias. It is (305) 671-0018.
(305) 671-0018 or visit her website ariasvilla.com, which is the name of the law firm. There you can find a lot of information and also make an appointment.
Attorney, another important question also related to USCIS. Tell us a bit about what the new guidelines they announced for parents to make their children citizens or children to become citizens through their parents. What is changing?
MARTHA L. ARIAS, ESQ.:
Yes, indeed Juan Camilo, citizenship through parents is acquired through two sections of the law, one called the acquisition and the other derivation.
The information we are discussing at this time is an update made by immigration on the acquisition. It is acquired when a child is born outside the United States to American citizen parents. It can be the mother or the father.
This citizenship has certain requirements to be fulfilled, but there has always been an issue of interpretation in some of these requirements. So, the Immigration Service recently published a clarification. Let me give you an example.
If the father or mother, that child was born outside the United States, let’s say to an American citizen father, but the father’s name was not written on the birth certificate, the immigration service would not grant citizenship to that minor, because it says that the father’s name must be written on the person’s birth certificate close to the time of birth.
This, for example, is one of the clarifications.
Another clarification that seems extremely important is;
when both parents were American citizens but were not married and let’s say one of them dies, the mother can grant citizenship to that child as long as she had lived in the United States for at least one year before that child was born.
If the mother was going to be able to grant that citizenship when they were not married, the mother and father of that minor, even if both were American citizens.
There is another interesting thing that this clarification talks about, and this seems the most interesting to me, the Immigration Statute says that;
a person only has one chance, that is, one opportunity to apply for derivative or acquired citizenship.
If you apply in that way through the N-600 and it is denied, there is no right to appeal or the person could not refile the petition. So, hence the importance that people always choose a lawyer to make this petition.
This clarification says that people could, if their citizenship was not approved, request the reopening of that previous N-600 or that previous case to move forward with their case.
So, well, this is one of the things about this acquired citizenship. If you have any questions, you can call my office to request an appointment and I will gladly analyze each case or your particular case.
JUAN CAMILO:
What the attorney just said is very important. Keep that in mind. Many people became citizens waiting to meet the time and then we would fill out a document which is the N-600. We called, filled out the papers, sent them, and became citizens.
And if something went wrong, we made the respective amendments. We sent another form. In the worst case, we had to pay extra.
These new rules say that we will no longer have those options. If something went wrong, then, well, it doesn’t matter. Later I will amend it. No.
Now those processes, if we fill out something wrong, cannot be appealed. That is why it is so important that we consult with expert immigration lawyers. Attorney Martha Arias is one of the lawyers we constantly consult at Actualidad Radio because she is someone with many years of experience in immigration matters and knows the law very well.
These laws change a lot. These laws are constantly changing. We do not have to wait for a major comprehensive immigration reform. Occasionally announcements like these come out, that something will change with DACA, that something will change with the N-600, with the such-and-such form, or with the TPS dates.
It is important that we have expert lawyers to guide us when these things happen, when we have these changes. Well, the phone number for Martha Arias is the one you see below, (305) 671-0018.
Attorney, another very interesting topic that we received updates on in recent days is that there are some changes in the Biden administration’s policies regarding temporary work visas.
MARTHA L. ARIAS, ESQ.:
Not much has changed regarding temporary work visas. What was announced this week that is important is how DACA, that is, those young people who have DACA protection, called Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, who are here in the United States, graduated from a university career and have a job offer.
Many of these young people cannot receive that job offer here or receive residency either because they may have entered illegally, their parents brought them without a visa, and therefore they cannot receive it, but they have that offer.
What the government announced is that these young people will be able to go to their country of origin and process the temporary work visa through the company that is requesting them and process the D3 waiver.
The D3 waiver, D, the number 3, D3, is a waiver that covers many of the inadmissibilities that people who are applying for a temporary work visa may have so they can return to the United States.
This D3 waiver is granted by the U.S. consul in the person’s country of origin. For example, let me give you an example, a DACA. A young person who came here to the United States very young, has DACA, has it approved, and graduated from university, a university degree, let’s assume he is an engineer and works with an engineering company, and that company is willing to make him a temporary job offer, like the H-1B visa, which is for professionals.
That person goes, requests the petition here. It is approved, and he will go to the consulate to have the H-1B visa processed. At that moment of leaving, that young person may have incurred illegal presence, meaning he may have been illegally in the United States for more than six months after turning 18 and requires a waiver.
So, this D3 waiver is what will help him return quickly. President Biden announced that these D3 waivers will be processed as quickly as possible.
That is, they will be processed by the consulates expeditiously so that these young people can then go, receive their work visa, and return to the United States as quickly as possible to continue working for that employer.
That is the news. It is very, very important that people who have DACA and have the job offer, contact their immigration lawyer or call us if they have that opportunity, job offer and can also apply for this and this D3 waiver or we can gladly help them because this will benefit many, many of these young people.
JUAN CAMILO:
Of course, because one of the concerns is that they can surely study, but when it comes to working, the conditions are very different.
That is why it is so important if you know someone who is a beneficiary of this DACA deferred action program to make the respective consultations with expert immigration lawyers. You can also follow attorney Martha Arias’s account, which is here above, @martha_arias98.
This Instagram Live will be published there, so you can share it. And then we will also publish these questions, these concerns. If you are interested in the DACA issue or in these temporary work permits or in the citizenship issue, in short, everything we have talked about today, you will find it there and always also on her website AriasVilla.com and at her office phone number, which is (305) 671-0018.
Call and make an appointment, because it is better to be well-informed and well-advised. These are not issues to improvise on.
Attorney, let’s talk about other topics and a question that is also interesting here. I don’t know what the designated STEM program is, and I mean STEM careers like science, technology, engineering, and mathematics from the Department of Homeland Security. Are they adding or including some careers or something related to this?
MARTHA L. ARIAS, ESQ.:
Yes. Remember that people who have an F1 visa, which is the student visa, can do practical training at the end of their career. This is what is called OPT. This practical training allows them to work in the United States.
Young people who have a career that is within STEM careers, which is what you say, sciences, technology, engineering, and mathematics, have the right to extend that OPT for up to 24 months. That is, they have the OPT for 24 months.
What the government announced this week is that on July 12, it announced that it will publish in the Federal Register about 8 more classifications or 8 more careers that can enter these STEM programs. That is, the spectrum or possibility of an OPT under STEM will be expanded a bit more for international students.
It is supposed to enter precisely today, July 23, the day it is scheduled to be published in the Federal Register. So, young people who are with the OPT or who are thinking of applying for the OPT, review this Federal Register, at least starting today, July 23 or from then on, to see if their careers are within these new careers that would have access to OPT through the STEM program.
JUAN CAMILO:
Attorney, if you have any questions about this, if you are students or your children are STEM students, STEM is an acronym for S-T-E-M, and sometimes they add an A because they sometimes include arts. So, science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Sometimes these careers are not directly engineering, but something very related to engineering. So that is why it falls under STEM careers.
If you have doubts about any of these programs, remember that you can call attorney Martha Arias. The phone number is (305) 671-0018. Follow her on Facebook as well at Arias Villa Law and on her website which is ariasvilla.com.
There you can make an appointment, resolve your concerns. And remember that this should be done with experts, with professionals. Don’t improvise on these immigration-related issues.
Attorney, internally they are asking me if the prices that were pending to be adjusted in terms of immigration papers have already changed. Have the fees we have to pay for those papers already gone up or not yet?
MARTHA L. ARIAS, ESQ.:
Yes, since April of this year 2024, the fees for most immigration petitions have increased. Some went down, but very few went down. Most fees increased.
So it is important that before sending a petition, go to the immigration website. They have a “fee calculator,” that is, a calculation of the fee that the person has to pay among the petitions they have to send there. Print that fee calculator and add it to the petition you are sending as proof that you are sending the correct payment.
And I give you this advice because many times people send the correct payment, and immigration uses subcontractors to receive those initial packages, scan them, and process them. Sometimes these people make mistakes and return the petitions saying that the fee is incorrect.
If you attach that page of the fee calculator to your petitions, at least I am doing it in the office to make sure we are also sending the correct fee and also to prove to the person processing that initial package that the fee has already been consulted on the same immigration page.
JUAN CAMILO:
Another question internally that they are sending me, attorney, and it is coincidentally about a matter we were discussing yesterday on another Instagram Live, is about the elections in Venezuela. This Sunday, Venezuelans will vote. There is a presidential election to try to remove dictator Nicolás Maduro by democratic means despite the difficulties.
Many people are traveling from Miami to go to Venezuela to vote, despite all the difficulties and the lack of democracy in Venezuela. People are making the trip to Venezuela to participate in the vote.
Who do you think should not travel? Those who have what status or are presenting what papers should avoid traveling to Venezuela, even to participate in this electoral process.
MARTHA L. ARIAS, ESQ.:
Well, definitely if a person is applying for asylum and is Venezuelan, obviously, this would be the person who should least travel because if their asylum is approved, it could be considered abandoned. There are ways they can request travel permits, but if they travel to the country of origin from which they are seeking asylum, this is fatal. So, that is number one.
Second, if the person is in a process of obtaining residency, they cannot travel unless they have a travel permit. The travel permit is an advance parole. This is requested directly from immigration. They have to request it before the trip, do not travel. Even if they are married to an American citizen, they cannot travel without that travel permit.
Third, people who have TPS and, in addition to having TPS, have dual nationality. I would not advise many of those people to travel to their country of origin, that is, to Venezuela. This can affect them in the future. Maybe not immediately, but in the future, in any other petition, it can affect them.
So, I would say those are the main people who cannot travel. Now, obviously, if the person is in a court process, let’s say the person has
TPS but has an administratively closed case in court or has TPS and still has an open case in immigration court, those people should not travel outside the United States either.
People who have arrests, consult an immigration lawyer first before traveling because there are certain crimes that do not make the person deportable, that is, they will not be deported while in the country but make them inadmissible to re-enter or if they are allowed to enter, they may have problems at the airport. So those people who have committed crimes, had arrests, should also be careful not to travel.
JUAN CAMILO:
Attorney, finally, they wrote to me internally, related to a news story that was very popular a few days ago and continued for a while. And it is that when we celebrated the final of the Copa America, here in South Florida, many people sneaked in, many people ended up arrested, detained.
And this week a news story became very popular in a Colombian media outlet saying that many of those people had already been facially recognized at the stadium and that they had been identified and would probably be arrested and could potentially even have immigration consequences. Is this true?
MARTHA L. ARIAS, ESQ.:
Yes, it is correct. People who enter the United States with any temporary visa, including the tourist visa, must be careful about how they handle those visas and how they behave.
I think there is no need to warn anyone to behave well in a third country, but unfortunately, well, it seems there are people who need to be reminded that when they arrive in a third country or another country that is not their country of origin, they must behave appropriately according to the law.
Entering a sports venue or any other venue, even any private or public place, without authorization, without a ticket, without an entry ticket, without authorization, is a crime. It is called trespassing. Trespassing is like trespassing a dwelling or entering a dwelling without authorization. It is a crime, it may not be a serious crime, but it is a crime.
In Miami or here in the state of Florida, it is more of a misdemeanor, depending on the situation, and there are also other levels of aggravation. It can be more aggravated if the person enters, trespasses, and also commits crimes within that dwelling, within those premises, within that place. Let’s say the person enters without a ticket but also vandalizes the place, vandalizes, damages any property or doors or gates that are set up.
It can be another crime. What can the crime be? There can be many: inappropriate conduct, disorderly conduct, vandalism, damage to others’ property, or damage to property. If they hit a third person, one of the people inside the venue, it can also be assault or battery. There are many, many crimes that can be typified, that can be created with behaviors like this.
And the thing is, in the United States, it is very typical that if the person can have three, four, five charges for that behavior, they will be given three, four, five charges; they will be given all the charges that exist. Tourist visas are discretionary, meaning the consul has the discretion to grant or deny them.
So, if the person committed crimes, if they are seen in the videos with these behaviors, it is very likely that they will deny that visa or its renewal in the future.
So, yes, of course, there can be negative immigration consequences for people who were in that situation at the stadium and who rushed or tried to get in and who sat in the stands because obviously they were in the stands because they didn’t have a ticket.
These people were slowly being taken out of the stadium. I saw them; they were being placed in the lower part of the stadium, and I saw them in the lower part of the stadium, and they were being processed. Many of them were arrested; they were searching for their information and then arresting them after taking their data. Some escaped, but others did not, and others were indeed arrested.
Obviously, after being arrested, they can be sent to a deportation process or maybe not, but they will be recorded with those charges.
JUAN CAMILO:
Well, attorney, this is a topic we will surely talk about again as we continue to see how these detained people are processed and charged, but a reminder for people to know that laws also have immigration consequences when violated, and that is why it is so important not only to have exemplary behavior but to really know the consequences before committing any excess.
Time is always short. If you have any questions, have any concerns about migration issues, below you will find the phone number for attorney Martha Arias. It is (305) 671-0018.
Or you can also visit her at ariasvilla.com. And of course, follow her; above is the account of attorney Martha Arias. It is @martha_arias98.
Attorney, as always, what a pleasure to have you with us and until next time.
MARTHA L. ARIAS, ESQ.:
Thank you, Juan Camilo. A pleasure to be with you. I hope you share these videos and also visit my Instagram @martha_arias98. Follow us, press like, and follow us to bring you more content, more information. There is my office phone number, also my website, which is ariasvilla.com. Thank you, Juan.
JUAN CAMILO:
Thank you, attorney. Thank you all, and we will see you next time.
