Category: Green Card

How to get Social Security Number during Covid 19

You don’t realize how important it is to have a social security number until
you don’t have one. The SSN is required to open up bank accounts, get medical insurance, get a drivers license,
work, and even to be able to be charged lower income tax on a filing as married tax return.

It’s important, it’s necessary, but has been nearly impossible to get during the Pandemic.
Social Security requires an in-person meeting, to apply for the number. And as
Social Security closed offices to the public back in March, this puts your new
immigrant fiance or spouse in between a rock and a hard place.

Fortunately, I recently went through this process with a client of mine, and in this
video will teach you what I found out, so you can get an SSN for your fiance or spouse.

Now, lets talk about “How to get that elusive Social Security number while Social Security offices
are on Covid 19 lock down.”

Normally to obtain a Social Security number (SSN), after immigrating to the USA on a spouse,
relative, or fiancée visa, one goes in person to the nearest Social Security Administration
(SSA) office presents identification and receives the SSN a month later.

Unfortunately during the COVID-19 pandemic most Social Security offices are closed and not
allowing in-person visits. This has caused a lot of frustration and delays for new immigrants
who need a social security number in order to open up bank accounts, get insurance, and apply for work.

Fortunately, you can still get the SSN. Here’s how.

The procedure is not publicly described at their websites, so to find out exactly what to do and how,
you MUST make a few phone calls to SSA to find out how and what to do in your area.

That’s exactly what I did recently and now I will share my experience with you.

K1 Fiance Visa

A recently arrived K-1 fiancée visa traveler, is eligible to obtain a Social Security number
by applying between day 15 and day 60 after arrival. Even though publicly and officially SSA
is closed to the public and not conducting in-person interviews, in practice they are conducting
some interviews and currently WILL do so for your Fiance Visa partner.

The way to do this is as follows:

Step 1: Google search for the telephone number of your local Social Security office, Call them. Identify yourself
that you need a first time, Social Security number for a recently arrived K-1 fiancée visa holder.

The key words to emphasise are “FIRST TIME”. The first operator you call probably can’t help, but should redirect you to
another number, at another office. You may need to make a series of phone calls. Rinse and repeat until you
finally reach the single, there is always one, actual office in your area that is handling First Time cases.

Step 2: Over the phone, provide detailed information about your fiancé including his/her local contact information and telephone numbers.

Step 3: Eventually, few days, or weeks, you will be called back and your Fiance provided a date to come in for
an in-person interview. The caller ID will says “US Government”‘. But it is not a spam call. It is Social Security.
I almost blocked the call cause I get many spam calls claiming to be something they are not. But this is legit.

An appointment date will be set, usually for a few days later. Your fiancé should bring passport, a filled in SSN application
(https://www.ssa.gov/forms/ss-5.pdf) and I-94. The I-94 is available online. https://i94.cbp.dhs.gov/,

It’s also a good idea to bring original and a photocopy or a certified copy and photocopy of your Fiance’s birth Certificate.
Eventually the Social Security number will be issued.

If you are already married, and if your new spouse has changed last name to yours, also bring the marriage certificate and a photocopy.

Social Security may or may not issue the SSN in the married name. Either way is OK, but is worthwhile to ask as it would save
you another trip later.. If they prefer to issue in the maiden name, and they regularly do insist on this because they
often only will issue the SSN to the name shown on the passport and I-94.

It is not a problem. Later once you get green card or work authorization return to Social Security, hopefully by then the pandemic is past,
and update to the new married name.

Regular Immigration (Spouse or Relative)

In the case of regular immigration, such as your spouse arriving on a CR1 or IR1 visa or a family member,
or diversity lottery winner, the process is similar.

Step 1: Google search for a local Social Security office’s telephone number Call and identify yourself that you
need a first time, Social Security number for a new immigrant. Emphasize “FIRST TIME”. The first person you call
probably can’t help, but should redirect you to another number, at another office. Rinse and repeat till you are
talking to the office in your area assigned to handle such cases.

Step 2: They will give you their mailing address and instruct your immigrant to mail them, passport and the filled in
social security number application form.

Step 3: Send to the Social Security Office,the immigrant’s passport, it show have his/her arrival visa,
and the social security number application form. https://www.ssa.gov/forms/ss-5.pdf
Use certified mail with tracking. You don’t want to take any chance that your passport gets lost.

Step 4: Eventually the Social Security office will call, and schedule a time to go to the
designated office, meet with the clerk and be approved for the SSN. There the clerk checks your passport id page
matches the applicant. Passport is returned at that time. And social security number is issued by mail a few weeks later.

This was Fred Wahl, The VisaCoach

Effects of Biden Presidency on Fiancee, Spouse + Green card Immigration

President Trump promised a “Wall” to reduce immigration. While only partial progress on a concrete and steel wall was accomplished, great strides were made in limiting legal immigration via a paper wall of stringent policies that greatly increased the complexity and difficulty of passing through the immigration process.

President-Elect Biden has yet to take office, however I do expect that within the first hundred days of his taking office, deliberate executive action will be taken in an attempt to unravel the “Trump effect” on immigration.

This is GOOD news for Applicants.

Today I am going to forecast how I expect the Biden Administration’s occupancy of the White House to affect your application.

President Trump vowed to reduce immigration. And he was successful.  Over 450 executive and administrative adjustments, both major and subtle, were made to toughen immigration rules and procedures. He instituted extreme vetting, where all applicants are more highly scrutinized than ever before, Banned entire countries from being allowed visas to the USA, added tighter Public Benefits eligibility requirements which created a virtual “wealth test”, and instituted a pervasive organization wide culture change in the way that USCIS views and treats immigrants.

United States Citizenship and Immigration service (USCIS), once viewed immigrants as its clients, to be served. It’s officers traditionally believed they were following a pro-immigrant, humanitarian mission. The mission was to help refugees escape persecution, American Companies bring in needed talent, and reunify families with their loved ones.

Many officers initially joined USCIS in order to pursue that noble mission. In the recent four years many of these same officers, disillusioned, have resigned, as under Trump, the priorities changed from helping eligible immigrants come to the USA,  to finding ways to keep them out.

In 2018, under the Director selected by Trump, USCIS’s official mission statement was drastically altered. Removed were references to a “nation of immigrants” and to immigrants as “customers” whom the agency serves.  Now the mission statement basically reads “enforce immigration laws”. Immigrants are no longer customers, now they are suspects. USCIS’s Budget for fraud prevention and detection doubled between 2016 and 2020

Here’s my forecast of what’s going to happen after President-Elect Biden takes office..

#1 New USCIS Director

To reverse the current “anti-immigrant” culture at USCIS will require a top down management change. That will start when President-elect Biden  chooses a new director of USCIS, and assigns him or her the mandate to return USCIS to it’s prior mission of treating immigrants as clients, not adversaries, and working towards assisting them navigate lawful, and proper immigration. With new top down guidance, USCIS should relax it’s restrictionist “extreme vetting” and move to return to its earlier, more Humanitarian mission.

#2 End of Immigrant Harassment

While detailed and proper screening of applicants is reasonable, unfortunately in recent years the application review process has deteriorated from normal and expected due diligence into in essence, in many cases, deliberate  harassment. Requests for evidence ( RFE’s) were frequently issued for non-material reasons.

Cases were denied for similarly trivial issues such as leaving fields that were not applicable, blank. Or incorrectly writing not applicable as NA vs N/A.

Revised Forms with no real modifications,  would be announced and instead of giving adequate time usually one or two months for applicants to change over to the new versions, only One, single,  day notice was given. And the applications that were already in the mail which had used the earlier nearly identical version, and which was the correct one to use on the day of mailing,  were rejected.

Cases that previously would not require an interview, would be held and delayed many months awaiting availability of already overworked and limited interviewing staff.

For a few months this summer, even cases which had successfully gone through the entire tedious process, including interview and official APPROVAL, were put on hold, waiting many months for the printing of their approved work, travel and green cards. A long term contract USCIS had with the printing company had expired. And even though the contract’s expiry date, and need for replacement was known, long, realistically years in advance, no action on USCIS’s part to replace the contract and obtain alternative printing was taken, at least not until a court order forced USCIS to take proper action.

This change of attitude will rely on the New top management at USCIS. Their leadership will be critical to return USCIS to a culture of helping immigrants versus holding them back.

#3 Faster Processing

Less energy wasted by USCIS staff seeking excuses to delay individual cases, will result in more efficient, smoother and overall faster processing of cases.

#4 Lower Denial Rate

With restriction of immigration no longer being the guiding rule of the day, expect the cases that were previously denied due to trivial and non-material issues, or which were not given opportunity to clarify and justify misunderstandings now should receive a fairer hearing, and the approval rate should rise accordingly..

#5 Fee increase to be adjusted downwards

USCIS does not receive taxpayer dollars to pay for its operations. Instead it is self funded by the fees it charges immigrants. Originally to be effective on October 2, USCIS had requested an overhaul of its fee structure. The fees for some applications such as green cards and US citizenship went through the roof, they increased tremendously.

At the moment, this fee increase is temporarily on hold, halted by a court injunction.

The new fees requested are calculated based on what USCIS feels is needed to pay for its operations. I expect that under the Biden Administration the future, “user friendlier” USCIS, will find that since less time and energy is wasted, deliberately trying to obstruct the immigration process, that their operations will be more efficient, and less costly. Once the cost accountants do the math again, the fee increases needed may be found unnecessary, or only a smaller increase is needed.

#6 End to “Trump” or “Muslim” Travel Ban

The so-called “Muslim ban” that bans the issuance of visas to the USA from citizens of 15 countries, Chad, Eritrea, Iran, Iraq, Kyrgyzstan, Libya, Myanmar, Nigeria, North Korea, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tanzania, Venezuela and Yemen will be lifted.

#7 Public Benefits “wealth test” Dropped

The most effective stumbling block to Legal immigration, to come out of the Trump administration was the broadening of the definition of what constitutes a public benefit. This new definition has been used to make it much more difficult for an immigrant to be deemed eligible to receive a green card and permanent residency in the USA. Not only are applicants required to prove that they never received public benefits, but must also convince the officer that in the future, no matter what happened, they would not possibly, conceivably, never, ever need public benefits forever into the future. This “wealth test”, and it’s extremely complicated resulting application paperwork will be removed or at very least greatly relaxed.

How Soon for these changes to happen ?

Immigration is not a hot-button issue for President-elect Biden as it was for President Trump. After the first few popular and headline grabbing executive orders are announced, namely dropping of the “muslim ban” and :”wealth test”, and appointment of a new USCIS Director, the rest of the job to reverse  the “Trump effect” will most likely be left in the hands of the newly appointed USCIS management.

We all hope President-elect Biden chooses the new USCIS Director well. This choice will determine how fast and how well the intricate unraveling of so many changes, procedures, policies and overall mentality that the Trump administration injected into US immigration takes place.

It’s going to take time. It may take years, and perhaps more than one administration to get back to where we once were.

Public Benefits Wealth Test dropped

Public Benefits, Public Charge Rules restricting Immigration have have been relaxed.

Under President Trump, the eligibility requirements for a foreign applicant who wanted to immigrate to the USA or adjust status to permanent residency were made much stricter.

This affected all immigrants including Fiancee’s and Spouse’s of US citizens.

The purpose was to keep immigrants out.

The rules were tightened to examine an applicant’s age, health, family status, assets resources, and financial status, and education and skills.

Required were health insurance, credit reports, proof of assets, and debts, diplomas, vocational certificates and most daunting of all was the possibility of denial, IF in an officers felt that an applicant, might, possibly, need government support in the future, even if never asked for assistance before, the application could be denied.

Good news. President Biden has tossed out these stricter requirements.

The older, pre Trump eligibility standards are now back.

And now, once again, only those currently receiving Cash Income Assistance or maintenance, Supplemental Security Income (SSI), Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and state General Relief Assistance are ineligible for immigration.

This was Fred Wahl, The VisaCoach

 

Trump Re-election: 2025 Effects on Fiance + Spouse Visa, Green Card Immigration

Effects of President Trump’s reelection on Marriage based immigratin, K1 Visas, CR1 Visas, and Green Cards

While President Trump’s specific immigration policies for his second term remain unclear, his past actions and statements give us a good idea on what to expect.

Our Country is Full

His 2019 tweet, “Our Country is Full,” and the numerous executive orders on immigration issued during his previous administration suggest there will be continued efforts to RESTRICT immigration.

While there is a lot of talk about building a wall on the border, deportation of illegals, changes to DACA and De-naturalization of Naturalized Citizens, and so on, this video is about the potential changes that may effect those applying for their fiancé‘s, spouses, and immediate family members.

I am Fred Wahl, the VisaCoach, I personally work with you preparing for you the forms and documents needed to bring your loved ones home to the USA, and unlike those common second rate services that abandon you once your application has been submitted I remain with you providing support throughout this complicated immigration journey.

I specialize in Marriage Based immigration. This is helping you get your partner, either fiance or spouse to the USA, and then obtaining lawful residency so that she or he can remain with you permanently in the USA.

This video is for those with a case in process or who plan to apply for a K1 Fiance Visa, a CR1 or IR1 Spouse visa, or a Green Card for your foreign partner. And please watch till the end, when I suggest proactive steps you can take now, to better weather any storm ahead.

Now, lets talk about the Potential Effects of President Trump’s reelection on K1 Visa, CR1 Visa, and Green Card Immigration

During President Trump’s last term, he signed 220 executive orders. Many on immigration.  President Biden revoked 71 of these orders, mostly right after he began his term of office.

I expect that most of immigration executive orders that President Trump had issued and which were revoked are now being dusted off, re-written in a way to make them less likely to be overturned (based on past experience) and readied to be reissued soon after his inauguration on January 20.

Travel Bans

Last time President Trump put a freeze on the issuance of visas for travelers from Eritrea, Iran, Kyrgyzstan, Libya, Myanmar, Nigeria, North Korea, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tanzania, Venezuela and Yemen

If this happens again, and your partner is from one of these countries, you may suffer years of extra waiting before your partner can join you in the USA.

Vigorous Enforcement of Immigration Laws

President Trump mandated that USCIS vigorously enforce and administer immigration laws, take no short cuts.

“We have to get much tougher, much smarter, and less
politically correct,”   President Trump said.

What this means is that immigration officers will very closely examine
and scrutinize all cases looking for reasons to deny. This will cause
delays in processing, and a greater percentage of denied cases.

Increased Requests for Evidence (RFEs)

When a case is being processed at USCIS, the USCIS reviewing officer examines the contents of each application determining an applicant’s eligibility. Sometimes a required document might be missing.  If so, then the officer issues an RFE (request for evidence) asking for the missing item allowing the applicant 87 days to respond.

During the previous Trump Administration, USCIS issued two or three times more RFE’s than we had experienced at any prior time. Often these were for trivial reasons. The only apparent reason for such ‘nitpicking” was to cause
a systemic slowdown to all case processing.

Extreme Vetting

During the last Trump Administration, proposed Extreme Immigration Vetting, where during consulate interviews, applicants were asked to hand over their phones so that their contact list and photos could be examined by the embassy or consulate and to provide social media usernames and passwords for examination of an applicant’s private and public posts.

Proposed last time, but not put into effect then was to require applicants to provide 15 years’ worth of travel, employment and address history, up from the current 5 years, and to institute an “ideological test” on the applicant’s view of society, culture and the USA.

Stricter Public Benefits/Financial Eligibility Rules

To sponsor your Fiance, Spouse or other family member, you must demonstrate that you have adequate income so that your increased household size with the addition of your foreign partner will never need to receive government assistance, Welfare, so called Public Benefits.

In practice if you as a sponsor are currently receiving “cash” type welfare benefits, such as food stamps, or SSI, you are already ineligible to sponsor your family member.

Last time President Trump pushed to widen the definition of who was ineligible due to receiving Public Benefits. He proposed adding anyone receiving “non cash:” type welfare benefits, such as Medicaid, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, Medicare Part D Low-Income Subsidy Program, and subsidized housing programs such as Section 8.

In addition to making more CURRENT recipients of public assistance ineligible, it was also proposed to exclude those who had EVER in their lives previously received such benefits. After all, the theory went “those who had needed assistance once, are more likely to need it again”.

This proposal did not pass Congressional approval last time. However, last time it was a Democratic majority Congress President Trump had to deal with.

This time is vastly different. This time President Trump is entering office with a popular mandate and Republican control of both houses of Congress. What he could not get enacted last time has a much better chance of approval this time around.

Focus on “Best and Brightest”

Similarly, proposed but failed last time were plans to change eligibility requirements to include whether a prospective immigrant has the “education, experience and health to be a successful member of US society”

Mandatory Interviews

After your fiancee has arrived on his/her K1 fiance visa, after the wedding, for your partner to remain in the USA, we apply to adjust your new spouse’s status from a visitor to a permanent resident.

Officially this process ends with an in-person interview for both you and your partner to meet with an officer who asks potentially intrusive
questions about your private lives, to assess in his opinion whether your marriage is “bona fide” or a “sham for immigration purposes”. A similar interview is held two years later for those who were issued temporary
“conditional” green cards.

The official process is, each K1 Fiance couple is interviewed twice, a CR1 Spouse couple once.

In current practice, if an application contains the evidence that the USCIS reviewer requires and convincingly demonstrates a “bona fide” relationship, often the USCIS reviewing officer, uses his discretion, reduces his/her  workload,  by approving the green card,  outright, waiving the interview requirement.

Here at VisaCoach, it is our policy is to always “Front Load” our petitions with well chosen, good quality evidence. This has resulted in the majority of our cases having their interviews waived.  At this is our client’s experience when President Trump is not in office.

President Trump’s previous executive order to USCIS instructed USCIS to never, never waive any interview. USCIS was ordeed to conduct interviews in each and every case, regardless of the officer’s opinion that an interview would be unnecessary. This executive order, when issued again, will further contribute to lengthening of USCIS processing times.

USCIS Delays and slower, processing times

The combined effect of these various executive orders of more rules, more restrictions, stricter requirements, will result in slower processing, delays and denials.

Higher Eligibility Standard for US Citizenship

During the last Trump Administration the Civics Test that a prospective citizen must pass was revised to a more rigorous exam, additional questions were added and a higher passing score required.  This stricter requirement was revoked by the then Democratic Congress.  Expect this order to returned, and the application process to become a US Citizen made more difficult.

Restrictions on Family-Based Immigration

A very troubling proposal is to reduce who US Citizen is allowed to sponsor to immigrate to USA.  Today a US Citizen is allowed to  sponsor his/her spouse and children, and also parents and siblings. The proposal being considered is to REMOVE parents and siblings from the eligibility list. If issued, no longer can a US citizen apply to bring  his/her mother/father, brother or sister to immigate to the USA.

Stricter Financial Eligibility Requirements

To sponsor your family member to immigrate to USA,  you are required to demonstrate your Financial Eligibility for marriage based immigration, to prove you have sufficient income,  keep your family member and your household from needing any public benefits.  Usually the proof required is only confirmation of employment income,  by presenting Tax Returns, and Pay Stubs. Proposals have been made to also require the sponsor to demonstrate adequate financial assets as well as insurance coverage.

What can you do?

Submit Before Rules Change

If eligible for US citizenship, or residency, apply as soon as possible, preferably  prior to January 20. This ensures that your case is processed under current rules and regulations.

Same applies If you are planning to apply for a fiance, spouse, son, daughter, mother, father, brother, and or sister. Get that application submitted and in process, ahead of any potential policy changes.

Strengthen your Financial Evidence

Maximize your income, while minimizing deductions on your 2024 tax return.  USCIS focuses on the line on your tax return labeled “Adjusted Gross Income”. If this number is below the Financial Eligibility Requirement, you will be required to find a co-sponsor, or if unable to find one, denied your application.  Find ways to maximize your “Adjusted Gross Income”. Do not “over deduct”.  Save the deductions for future years after the immigration process is behind you.

Schedule Interview Before Rules Change

If you have a pending Consular or USCIS interview,  try to schedule it as soon as possible, preferably to take place before January 20. This may help you avoid potential delays caused by policy changes.

Hire VisaCoach

Don’t go it alone. Seek professional guidance. There are “complicated” immigration times ahead.  Allow me to personally guide you on this journey.

This was Fred Wahl, The VisaCoach,

AOS Application Delayed ICE detains VisaCoach K1 visa client

US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has just detained one of VisaCoach’s K1 Fiancee Visa Clients. She is currently being held at a Texas Detention Center facing deportation.

She married her American fiancee on time, within 90 days of arrival. They had started to work with VisaCoach on her adjustment of status application.

Unfortunately, the couple had some domestic drama. She moved out. She was living at a women’s shelter. Someone, we suppose a member of staff at the shelter got a hold of her passport, noticed she had barely overstayed her visa then called and reported her to ICE. She had been in the USA for 110 days. She had overstayed her visa by only three weeks. We have helped other clients who had overstayed for years without any fuss.

Under normal circumstances, ICE would have ignored this as being too trivial an issue. They have much bigger fish to fry with millions of undocumented aliens who illegally entered the USA.

ICE takes Action to detain and deport

But this time, ICE took action, they came to the shelter in force and picked her up. Now she is in a cage in a detention center on the border with Mexico.

Her husband (they have reconciled) is desperately trying to keep her in the USA.

Now it’s a race between adjusting her status to a lawful resident, or deportation.

Late AOS Filing better than none

We rushed to complete and submit her Adjustment of Status application. The couple’s attorney, advised that when she comes before an immigration judge for her deportation hearing, that showing proof that she was married to a US citizen and that an AOS application had been filed, might sway the judge to deny the deportation order and release her from custody.

But it may be a close race, even though USCIS has by now received her AOS petition, it is usually a few weeks, sometimes months, before USCIS confirms that the application is in process by issuing a receipt. Once the case is “in process” her immigration status changes from “overstayed” to “pending”. Under normal circumstances when an alien’s immigration status is “pending” they can lawfully remain in the USA while the case is adjudicated.

We hope that ICE does not push the case and deport her before evidence of the USCIS receipt can be presented.

ICE responds to White House Pressure

ICE appears to be responding to pressure by the Trump administration, working to detain and deport as many as they can, as quickly as they can.  This action probably taken in order to provide headcount statistics to show Trump’s campaign promises on immigration are being kept.

We don’t know what is going to happen in this case. We hope things will work out, that the gal and her spouse will be reunited on this side of the wire. Maybe in a month or two we will have an answer.

What should You do?

Normally, in the past, USCIS couldn’t care less if a K1 visa traveler overstayed, as long as eventually the Adjustment of Status application was submitted. Routinely clients could be comfortable to hold off submitting their applications as late as 5 months after the 90 day expiry date of the “allowed stay”. Normal practice was that to submit within 240 days of arrival would not cause any issues.

Submit AOS within 90 days of arrival

Based on this recent experience, best practice is that clients apply much earlier, as close to the 90 day allowed stay as possible. And of course, before submitting, the foreign k1 visitor should stay close to home. Don’t go “walk about”. Don’t create an opportunity for some evil person to report an overstay to ICE.

Overstays stated on AOS application 

Under the current Trump Administration a revised version of the I-485 Form was issued. A NEW question has been added. “Have you (ever) been unlawfully present in the United States”?  This means that even if an overstay was a single day, the applicant must now officially report it and bring it to USCIS’s attention. The form is new, and I don’t have too many clients that overstayed, however I worry that one day USCIS may start making trouble for those who have overstayed before submitting their application for lawful residency. The latest I-485 now has their signed confession they overstayed. What USCIS may do with this is unknown but is certainly a concern.

Marry early, work on AOS early too !

My advice going forward is: You should marry as soon after arrival on the K1 fiancee visa as you can, then complete and submit your application for Adjustment of Status within the 90 days of allowed stay.

If you MUST overstay, minimize time “out of status”.

VisaCoach is available to help you prepare a strong and well documented AOS application. But REMEMBER it takes time to do things correctly. It takes time to generate valid evidence and document it.

VisaCoach ready for Fast Start on AOS

When a K1 client returns and hires us for Adjustment of Status, we already know them pretty well, so we immediately start the process off by posting at their online portal, a detailed evidence checklist on what is needed for AOS. On the same day you hire VisaCoach, you get detailed guidance and can get a running start working on the evidence that is needed. You fill out our questionnaires with updated background details and send them to us later. The sooner we start, the earlier we can submit the application while having enough time to do it “right”.

If I have news on developments of my client who is in detention, or learn of other issues with overstays and/or new issues with Adjustment of Status I will be sure to pass it on.