USCIS in the Trump Era – Part 2

Under Trump, US Immigration has gotten harder and as lawyers we’ve had to step up our game accordingly.

By Chris M. Ingram, LL.M., ESQ

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USCIS in the Trump Era – Part 2 – EB1 Green Cards

Due to the surprise success of my last article on USCIS in the Trump Era, I’ve been persuaded to write a Part 2. Who knows, I may have to write a Part 3. Our clients and our prospective clients are clamoring to ask questions about their future. Is your future in President Trump’s hands or that of Congress? Will there be changes to US Immigration that could affect your family? Ok, so let’s dive in.

Trump seems to be all about making it harder for people to relocate to the USCIS. We are even more determined to bring our clients in and we’re winning.

The Latest Travel Ban 3.0

President Trump has and can change the lives of any of our clients emigrating from Chad, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Somalia, Syria, Venezuela and Yemen. There will of course be legal challenges to this. The latest Travel Ban is set to take affect from October 18^th 2017, subject to any federal injunctions if granted under a legal action. For further details on this latest Travel Ban, please click [here]

EB1 Green Cards

In this article, I’d like to focus on how EB1 Green Cards for Aliens of Extraordinary Ability have been affected this year in the Trump Era.

Our law firm specializes in preparing and processing EB1 Green Cards for Aliens of Extraordinary Ability. Indeed, at any given time we are handling about 100 of these EB1 petitions. Each month we take on new cases and each month we submit completed cases for adjudication. We certainly have our finger on the pulse of USCIS, and we monitor closely how these cases are being adjudicated.

As much as I have my challenges with USCIS – racism is not one of them.

Is There Racism in USCIS?

We submit EB1 cases for adjudication for clients from all over the world and as they are adjudicated we are looking for any kind of adjudication patterns, including whether we can detect any indication of racism in USCIS. We are happy to report that we can find no demonstrable evidence of racism or ethnicity bias, and with the volume of cases we submit through USCIS, if there were a noticeable trend of rejection based on ethnicity, we’d be able to detect it very quickly.

Is USCIS Tougher on Approving Cases Under Trump?

The answer here is, absolutely. This year, USCIS has really taken a particularly hard line against approving EB1 cases. We have definitely seen trends in what USCIS will be more aggressive on. For example, for a while and completely out of the blue, USCIS made it very difficult to get the EB1 High Salary category approved.

Could someone remind President Trump that his grandfather, Frederick Trump, emigrated from Germany and did quite well. Also, President Obama’s father, Barak Sr., came from Kenya, Africa and his son also did well. Yesterday’s immigrants have become tomorrow’s US Presidents.

So, what we had to do is go back to the drawing board and really try to work out what USCIS’ issue was, and then figure out how best to overcome the issue. Sadly, USCIS does not announce if they have an internal policy change in adjudicating a particular category, they just move the goal post and we have to find out through trial and error what the new protocol is.

Because we’re relentless, we figured what USCIS now needs and we made the adjustments, and subsequently, USCIS routinely accepted this category.

USCIS, has also clamped down on other EB1 categories like Critical Role and we have to go through the same process of discovering precisely what the new issues are and then re-formatting our cases to meet what we perceive to be the new USCIS standard.

As a law firm that specializes in this field and with the volume of cases we have, we are able to overcome almost any challenge USCIS puts our way, but truth is, EB1 Green Card cases are much harder than before. Expertise, in this field can make all the difference.

Improving Your Chances of EB1 Success

USCIS in the Trump Era has definitely raised the bar – and so must we.

We are now educating all of our clients and prospective clients that although we continue to win a very wide variety of EB1 cases, from Project Managers, to SAP Architects, and STEM professionals, the bar for approval has definitely been raised.

Winning EB1 Green Card cases was never easy; these cases certainly required a lot of work. It’s just that now in this USCIS Trump Era, everyone has to be prepared to work much harder to gather the very best evidence and for us to do our very best work in order to win these cases.

In order to win an EB1 petition you have to satisfy three categories from a list of ten: –

EB1 Green Card Visa Requirements Check List:

Evidence of Eligibility: 8 C.F.R. 204.5(h) (3)

Find your EB1 categories. Our youngest EB1 success was just 23 years old.

“Initial evidence: – A petition for an alien of extraordinary ability must be accompanied by evidence that the alien has sustained national or international acclaim and that his or her achievements have been recognized in the field of expertise.

Such evidence shall include evidence of a one-time achievement (that is, a major, internationally recognized award), or at least three of the following or the worker may submit “other comparable evidence” if the following criteria do not apply:

(i) National Award – Documentation of the alien’s receipt of lesser nationally or internationally recognized prizes or awards for excellence in the field of endeavor; [More Info]

(ii) Invited Membership – Documentation of the alien’s membership in associations in the field for which classification is sought, which require outstanding achievements of their members, as judged by recognized national or international experts in their disciplines or fields; [More Info]

(iii) Published Material About You – Published material about the alien in professional or major trade publications or other major media, relating the alien’s work in the field for which classification is sought. Such evidence shall include the title, date, and author of the material, and any necessary translation; [More Info]

(iv) Judging – Evidence of the alien’s participation, either individually or on a panel, as a judge of work of others in the same or an allied field of specialization for which classification is sought; [More Info]

(v) Innovation – Evidence of the alien’s original scientific, scholarly, artistic, athletic, or business-related contributions of major significance in the field; [More Info]

(vi) Scholarly Articles – Evidence of the alien’s authorship of scholarly articles in the field, in professional or major trade publications or other major media; [More Info]

(vii) Exhibitions or Showcases – Evidence of the display of the alien’s work in the field at artistic exhibitions or showcases; [More Info]

(viii) Leading /Critical Role – Evidence that the alien has performed in a leading or critical role for organizations or establishments that have a distinguished reputation; [More Info]

(ix) High Salary – Evidence that the alien has commanded a high salary or other significantly high remuneration for services, in relation to others in the field; or [More Info]

(x) Commercial Success – Evidence of commercial successes in the performing arts, as shown by box office receipts or record, cassette, compact disk, or video sales.” [More Info]

After working with the client, and we’ve submitted to USCIS our three EB1 categories, our cases would almost routinely be approved.  Sometimes, USCIS would request additional evidence and providing we responded with the evidence they requested, we’d typically get an approval. We still do. However, as USCIS cherry picks on pushing back on one or more of our arguments, they can actually drag out the process and incur more costs for our clients as we will go back and forth with USCIS until we win. We never back down!

Going for a Fourth EB1 Category

Go For It!

To try and minimize the USCIS ‘back and forth’ situation, we are now talking to our clients to try and work up a fourth EB1 Green Card category. We can still win with three EB1 categories, but if we can go for a fourth category from the start, why not? The down side is that it does cost more in attorney fees, but on the up side it could really improve your chances of getting to a “yes” (an approval) faster.

US Immigration Success in the Trump Era

For sure, President Trump has made getting Green Cards harder, but we’re not afraid of working harder for our client’s American Dream. The allure of America has not dimmed, we are still living in the land of the free, home of the brave. It’s just that today, we have to work harder to experience it.  I’m writing this article not to scare anyone off, but to encourage all our clients and perspective clients that they have hired or will hire a law firm with a winning mind set. As the late Tom Petty said in his famous song “Well, I won’t back down”. Will you?

Immigration Law Offices of Chris M. Ingram

US Immigration Law Offices of Chris M. Ingram
Chris M. Ingram LL.M., ESQ – Immigration Attorney
Admitted in New York.
Practice Specializing in US Immigration Law
401 Wilshire Boulevard, 12th Floor,
Santa Monica,
California 90401
Tel: 310 496 4292

Specializing in the E2 Visa, EB1 Green Card, L-1A Visa and O1 Visa and K1 Visa Marriage-Based Immigration. Attorney Chris M. Ingram is dedicated to providing the very best in US Immigration legal representation. Enjoy our website.

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