New York City offers a thriving media and entertainment industry. The World Atlas calls it the world’s media capital.  The headquarters of all four major American broadcast networks are right here: NBC, CBS, ABC, and Fox. It’s home to Sony Music Entertainment and Warner Music Group.  That means there are plenty of individuals who come here from abroad, hoping to pursue careers in the industry. If you’re one of them, then you’ll need one of the US visas that cater to artists and entertainers.  These are: The O1 Visa The P1 Visa The P2 Visa The P3 Visa The B1 Visa We’ll go over them one at a time. The O1 Visa What It Is A visa for people who possess “extraordinary ability” in the arts, science, business, education, or athletics. If you’ve landed a role in a production or are coming to perform you may be able to get one of these visas. This visa gets you three years in the United States, ensures your spouse and children are eligible for the O3 visa, and supports dual intent. Requirements You’ll have to show a record of extraordinary achievement. You may well need a written advisory from a peer group, labor organization, union, or management organization. You should also plan on providing evidence as to past performances, roles, awards, or other evidence of activity.  The P1 Visa What it Is This visa is for entire entertainment groups, such as a rock band or theater company.  It can cover that entire band’s support personnel as well. This will give the group up to 1 year in the United States, enough for a substantial performance tour. Spouses and children can qualify under a P4 dependent visa.  Requirements At least 75% of the group must have had a substantial and sustained relationship with the group for at least one year. The group must be internationally recognized. The employer of your group must file a petition on your behalf, and you must submit a statement from an appropriate labor organization.  The P2 Visa What it Is A temporary visa for those who are performing as part of a reciprocal exchange program between the United States and another nation.  Requirements You must be entering the United States as part of a government-recognized reciprocal exchange program. There are quite a few programs available, for all manner of entertainers.  The P3 Visa What it Is A visa for those who are coming to perform, teach, or coach, under a culturally unique program. This visa lasts for one year. Spouses and children of performers can qualify for a P4 dependent visa.  Requirements This visa is open to those who are “developing, interpreting, representing, coaching, or teaching a unique or traditional ethnic, folk, cultural, musical, theatrical, or artistic performance or presentation.” The visa holder must be coming to the United States to participate in a cultural event or events to further the understanding or development of the art form.” You will require a written consultation from an appropriate labor organization and a copy of the contract between the petitioner and the beneficiary or the summary of the terms of an oral agreement between the petitioner and the beneficiary, as well as an explanation of the event and the itinerary, along with other supporting documents.  The B1 Visa The B1 visa is not, strictly speaking, an entertainment visa. This is the B1 business visitor visa that allows you to be in the United States for business purposes. As entertainment is a business, this visa can sometimes be appropriate.  However, this visa may not allow you to perform unless you are entering a competition for which there is no remuneration other than a prize, or to utilize recording facilities for recording purposes only where the recording will be sold outside of the United States and no public performances will be given. Artists, sculptors, and writers can come in to do their work here as long as they don’t intend to regularly sell their work here.  This visa lasts for just six months and does not support dual-intent. This visa offers no special eligibility to your dependents, though they may be eligible for a tourist visa.  Get Help Today Choosing the right visa is not easy. Reach out to our office to get guidance in this department so you get your best chance of coming to the United States to pursue your entertainment goals.  See also: What Happens When You Make Errors on Your Immigration Paperwork?  The 5 Most Common Immigration Mistakes?  Do Immigrants Have to Pay Taxes?

The process of applying for a green card is difficult and stressful. It’s easy to make mistakes. Some mistakes are common. Here’s what you need to know. #1) Using the Wrong Filing Location Filing locations change often. Any time you use the wrong one you’ll experience processing delays in a process that is already full of them. Check your filing location at this link. If you don’t want to try to navigate the process of finding your proper location you can also file online.  #2) Waiting Too Long to Apply You should submit your I-130 petition as soon as you get married. The longer you wait to apply the longer you’ll wait for your benefits. This could mean your spouse falls out of status or will be unable to work for a certain period of time. #3) Mishandling Questions Navigating the questions on the I-130 petition is one of the biggest reasons why most couples will want to consult with an immigration attorney before moving forward. They’re more confusing than they appear at first glance. This office has seen many couples get into trouble because they think they’re being asked one question when they’re being asked something else entirely. Correcting those mistakes can be costly as a best-case scenario. The worst-case scenario is that USCIS will assume that you are lying to them or are attempting to commit fraud.  #4) Insufficient Evidence USCIS wants to see evidence that you’re really married. This means they want to see evidence of a shared life. When you submit your application you should be prepared to submit paperwork proof like evidence that you have a joint bank account, evidence of a shared lease or mortgage, copies of shared utility bills, and more. It’s also a good idea to get photographs of shared life experience and testimonials from loved ones. The more evidence you provide up from the less you leave USCIS to ask you for later. Don’t leave them to wonder about any corner of your relationship if you can help it. From Day 1, you want to present a strong case that your marriage is real. #5) Failing to Prepare for Your Interview Some of the questions that USCIS asks are frankly a little obscure. Even people marrying under perfectly mundane circumstances wouldn’t necessarily know the answer to them. This won’t save you if you don’t prepare in advance. It’s better to look up lists of common questions and to fill your spouse in on the answers to those questions. If USCIS still manages to catch you with one you don’t know you can just say you don’t know, and move on. But the fewer times this happens, the better. The Biggest Mistake: Attempting an I-130 Application Alone When you have an immigration lawyer on your side you can bring them to the interview. USCIS officials tend to spend less time trying to trip you up when a lawyer is with you. Having an attorney also means you improve your likelihood of getting the job done right the first time. Reach out to our office to save money and time on your green card application. Our help ensures that problems are anticipated and dealt with in advance and that the process runs as smoothly as possible. Call today. See also: What Happens When You Make Errors on Your Immigration Paperwork? How a Dismissed Criminal Charge Can Impact Your Immigration Case 5 Immigration Interview Mistakes  

The various forms that you’ll need to fill out to secure your immigration status in the United States are anything but straightforward. They’re especially labyrinthine if English isn’t your first language. Don’t be fooled by the fact that every immigration benefit comes with its own form, or by the fact that you can submit your immigration documents electronically.  Errors and omissions are common, as are misunderstandings. It is easy, for example, to assume you understand what a question is asking you only to find out later the real answer was something completely different.  Whether your mistake was unintentional or intentional, you’re going to need to rectify it, and fast. The Most Common Errors The most common errors are as follows: Failing to submit all the evidence and paperwork demanded by the form. Failing to get a certified translation of any documents that are not submitted in English. Answering questions incorrectly. For example, many immigrants do not understand the difference between a criminal charge and a criminal conviction, which means they answer “no” to a question about police encounters when they really should answer “yes.”  Errors are also common in cases where the immigrant has trusted the wrong person, falling prey to immigration scams, notorio scams, or “document preparation services” that don’t do the job right. What to Do When You Realize You’ve Made an Error If you haven’t involved an attorney yet, now is the time to do so. You may need legal help to rectify any error that you’ve made. You’ll need to move fast, because you need to contact USCIS as soon as you receive a notice that the government has received your application. You can ask them to correct the error. What you want is for you to point out the error before USCIS spots it. If they notice the error first, they’re likely to reject your application, or they’re likely to delay it with a Request for Evidence form. They may even decide you were lying or forging documents on purpose, which will be the kiss of death for your immigration application. Errors can be costly and expensive, requiring additional fees to fix. Get Help Today Don’t leave your immigration paperwork to chance. It is usually less expensive and more effective to work with an immigration attorney from Day 1.  The Law Firm of Kyce Siddiqi can help make your immigration process easier, smoother, less stressful, and more successful. Contact us to get help today. See also: How a Dismissed Criminal Charge Can Impact Your Immigration Case How Marijuana Could Impact Your Visa Application Do Traffic Tickets Impact an Immigration Case?  

Most people think that getting a criminal charge dismissed means that it’s gone away forever and is no longer a problem. That’s true for citizens, but it’s not true for immigrants. Even a dismissed charge generates a police record, and it’s the police record that can be a problem. It can call your good moral character into question. Offsetting a Dismissed Charge If you’ve had a dismissed criminal charge then there are ways you can reduce its importance. For example, a positive work history, volunteer work, and peaceful participation in community life can be used to show that the dismissed charge was a one-time blip in your stay here and not indicative of a pattern of trouble. Much depends on how the charges were dismissed as well. If they were dismissed due to a lack of evidence you might have a stronger case for good moral character than you will if it was a deferred prosecution agreement where you accepted certain conditions to avoid being taken to trial. Handling the Paperwork The paperwork is one area that gets a lot of immigrants into trouble. They think the run-in with the police has essentially disappeared when the charges have been dismissed and so check “No” on immigration paperwork even when the answer is yes. You have to disclose every run-in you’ve ever had with the police. Even traffic tickets. And one of the questions is whether you’ve been charged with a crime, not whether or not you were convicted of it.  Get this wrong and you’ll be accused of lying, which means your application can be denied. They’ll already know about the arrest when they run your biometrics: they’ll get the record from your fingerprints.  Drug Crimes Drug crimes are the most troublesome, as immigration officials have the power to deny immigration benefits if they have any reason to believe that you’ve been engaged in drug-related activities.  Even possession of an amount of marijuana that has been decriminalized for citizens can get an immigrant into trouble. Have you been charged with a crime? You should be working with a criminal defense lawyer, but you also immediately need to place an immigration attorney onto your legal defense team. Your arrest could trigger removal proceedings even if the charges are dismissed.  Even if the arrest was some time in the past you will require an attorney to help you create a strategy for moving forward with any immigration application you plan to submit here in the present.  Reach out to the Law Office of Kyce Siddiqi to get the help you need today.  See also: How Marijuana Could Impact Your Visa Application Do Traffic Tickets Impact an Immigration Case? 5 Immigration Interview Mistakes

Under the Biden administration DACA continues to be a hotly contested issue. As of right now no path to citizenship exists for DACA recipients. Certain changes have arisen that DACA recipients should be aware of. The government is not approving new DACA applicants. Texas v. United States is a multistate challenge to the legality of DACA claiming President Obama exceeded his authority by creating the program. The ruling bars DHS from processing new applications or the 81,000 pending applications currently sitting in limbo status. This also means if your application has expired you will be treated like a first-time applicant and your application will be put on hold until the current challenges to the law continue working their way through the legal system. You can still apply for “advanced parole.” Advanced parole is an immigration benefit that allows DACA recipients to travel outside of the United States for specific purposes. You must be traveling for employment purposes, to pursue an education, or for humanitarian reasons. If you have recently traveled outside of the US as a recipient of this benefit you may return.  Your benefits have not been suspended. If you are a current DACA recipient who has been approved for the program then your benefits continue to remain firmly in place. You can also continue to submit renewal applications if your application has not expired. Stay on top of all of your application deadlines to ensure your status does not expire.  That means you are eligible for work authorization and are under a deferred removal order.  The fight over DACA continues. In September President Biden proposed a rule to “preserve and fortify” DACA. This essentially would replace case-by-case prosecutorial discretion to defer removal with codified guidelines that have basically been in use since DACA’s initial formation. It does not expand who DACA covers or what benefits DACA recipients are entitled to.  It separates deportation protection from the granting of employment authorization. DACA recipients would still be allowed to apply for a work permit but the application would no longer be automatic.  Continue to watch DACA legislation efforts, and legal challenges. This landscape continues to change very quickly. Immigration activists are pushing for DACA legislation that would not be quite so open to legal challenges. Attempts to create some sort of pathway to citizen do continue. Our office will continue to keep you informed about potential pathways to citizenship.  It’s also a good idea to contact our offices for a consultation. You may personally have other avenues open to you that you may not have yet considered. See also: What Are Your Rights if ICE is At Your Door Do Immigrants Have to Pay Taxes? What Are The Grounds for Cancellation of Removal?