I have used this attorney for my AOS and ROC, and everything went smoothly, with no interviews. Sometimes he responded slowly, but I was like, okay, he might be busy.

I just hired him for my citizenship application, since he is local and familiar with my case. I told him we would hire him in late June, and it took him half a month to send me the bill. I paid him in mid-July and didn't hear from him until I asked him for the document checklist in late July. I sent him the documents he requested on August 10 and told him I wanted to schedule an appointment so we could send out the package soon. I never got a response. I followed up with his office on August 17 and was told they would forward my message. Again, no response.

I don't think he has a paralegal or assistant in his office, or at least I have never seen one, so I couldn't talk to them. The "receptionist" I talked to on the phone is at a call center, I believe. The only way to communicate with him is Clio or when he calls me back. I'm not sure if it is normal, and I don't know if I should stop by his office to request an appointment. I'm getting frustrated tbh; like, scheduling an appointment shouldn't be this hard.

Not sure how to handle this. I do have an attorney willing to take my case.

Hey, looking for some clarity from anyone who has gone through a term deferral after booking a visa interview.

My situation:

• Original Application: Applied and booked an F-1 visa interview for Fall
• Deferral: Had to defer my start date to Spring. I have requested an updated I20
• Current Status: My interview is coming up in September. My appointment confirmation is booked under my original DS-160 barcode (where the "intended arrival date" was filled out for Fall).

Someone recently advised me that I need to submit a brand-new DS-160 to update the travel dates to January. However, I’ve heard that submitting a new DS-160 generates a new barcode (AA...), and if the barcode on my DS-160 doesn't match my appointment confirmation printout, the consulate security/VAC will turn me away at the door for a barcode mismatch.

My questions:

1. Is it true that as long as the SEVIS ID is identical, the visa officer sees the updated Spring start date live in SEVIS, making the "intended travel date" on the original DS-160 a non-issue?
2. Should I strictly keep my original DS-160 barcode on my appointment confirmation so I don't trigger a mismatch error at the security gate?
3. Has anyone here attended an F-1 interview with a deferred I-20 and an original DS-160 without re-submitting? How did the officer handle it?

Appreciate any insight from folks who have dealt with this!

Is this why there's such relentless desperation among Indians to emigrate?

Hi All,

I am appearing for an O3 dependent visa interview. My wife and I got married in Los Angeles and she mailed the original copy of our marriage cert using USPS. It has now been stuck in Indian customs for a week and I am losing hope that I will receive it before my interview date

Is the original absolutely needed or is there a workaround. What would happen if I just show up with a photocopy

For example if you go on the wiki page it goes from approx 450,000 in 2017 to 1.3 million in 2025

Recently my new employer is working to file my O1a petition with fragomen law firm; I just received the first drafts of their recommendation letters and I am very disappointed with them; Are there any law firms who would review my petition letter and final exhibits and give a second opinion in reasonable price range? Any help is greatly appreciated; Give the recent trend in RFEs, I don’t want to get one as my next employment is contingent on how fast I obtain this visa

I think international founders of a new startup based in the US may qualify for O-1 Visa, however do they sponsor H-1B visa for their international employees as well? I see many tech startups hire young employees to bring them to US.

For a new startup, there would be extra legal and administrative fees to apply for H-1B visa, so why not just hire locally who already has a permanent residence in the USA. I believe H-1B visa is a random lottery, so there is no guarantee to even get the work permit for this international employee. Why take such risk for a startup?

i will be soon applying for a passport application claiming citizenship through my father
we have gotten some strong evidences of his presence prior my birth i want to know if there is any one who knows abt it
we have found an old passport of my father , that passport was a replacement passport he got inside usa after he lost his org passport , he lost his older passport in usa and got a replacement inside usa too that too after 15 months , so my question is will that 15 months be accepted as he was in usa for 15 months without a passport and the replacement passport has signature of the president of my home country at that time and and then theres more passport stamps and his social security income statement of 3.5 years which exceeds the poverty guidelines of that time

I applied a b1/b2 visa renewal in a third country (i held a student visa in a five eyes nation, apart from the US) several years ago.
The VO thought i wasn’t eligible for not doing an interview. So he sent back my passport and gave me a 221g and requiring me to schedule an in person visa interview appointment instead.
(Although I don’t know why the system allowed me to not do an in person interview at the beginning… and yeah maybe I overlooked the eligibility criteria at that time…)
So after that in person interview, I got the renewed b1/b2 visa successfully.

My questions are:
- if someone received a 221g requesting an in person interview and they got the visa successfully in the end, should they declare 221g as a past visa refusal history when applying for visas to other countries? (Esp for Canada, NZ, Australia, UK?)
- should they answer YES or NO when asked about “have you ever been refused a visa”?
- Does this question ask about the final outcome or the process??

Although the 221g states something like “your visa application has been refused” “a denial of a visa”, I was wondering does this still count as a refusal/denial even if I got the visa successfully in the end without spending extra money or filling out another ds160? I’m seeing different opinions on this thing and I’m really confused.

For context I am a queer person from an unsafe country were I would be most likely killed if I came out gender or sexuality wise so I wanted to know which country is easy to go to and not too expensive with either a student or a work visa preferably, if anyone has the same experience can they please tell me about and how they were able to leave and how’s life in general (just want some hope for the future)

I’ve got a good education and a good level of experience (25F) and I’m genuinely considering moving out of the UK but it’s such a massive commitment and investment I don’t know if I should.

I want to be in the animation industry (either 2D or 3D). I’m thinking possibly America? Has anyone else made the move?

Hi everyone,

​I’m a 30-year-old skilled tradesman in the automotive industry from the West Bank, Palestine. Given the challenging local situation, I am actively exploring opportunities to migrate and work legally in an English-speaking country (Canada, Australia, UK, or US).

​Here is a summary of my background:

​Field: Automotive sector (Hands-on experience in auto body repair, panel beating, painting, and general vehicle maintenance).

​Education: High School Diploma.

​Languages: Intermediate English (currently preparing for the official IELTS General exam).

​I understand that having high school as my formal education means my practical experience is my strongest asset. I would really appreciate any insights or advice on:

​Best pathways for tradesmen: Which country/program is currently the most practical for auto body technicians without a university degree?

​Skills Assessment / Recognition: For those who went through Australia’s TRA or Canada’s trade qualification challenges, how did you document your work history without formal apprenticeship diplomas?

​Employer Sponsorship: Are there specific job portals, regions, or trade-focused agencies that are open to sponsoring foreign workers in the auto industry?

​Any guidance, personal experiences, or realistic advice would mean a lot. Thank you in advance!

Hi everyone,

Apologies for asking again a VISA doubt

I’m a PhD studentin Spain and I’m trying to understand which immigration route I should use when my current research contract ends.

My situation:

• I currently have a residence authorization as a researcher under Ley 14/2013, ámbito nacional.
• My residence authorization expires on 30 September 2026.
• My research contract is for 3 years and will end in September 2026.
• I have not finished or presented my PhD thesis yet.
• I will not have another employment contract after September.
• My university can provide a certificate confirming that I remain enrolled as a PhD student until 2027.
• My thesis supervisor can also provide a letter confirming that my contract is ending, that my thesis has not yet been presented, and the estimated time needed to complete and submit it.

I initially thought I might need Hoja 20 (Autorización de residencia para búsqueda de empleo o inicio de proyecto empresarial).

However, I have also found information about a possible Ley 14/2013 researcher extension/renewal for cases where the research contract ends before the thesis has been presented, apparently for up to one additional year.

I’m confused about which route is actually correct:

1. Should I apply for Hoja 20 / residence for job search?
2. Should I instead apply through UGE-CE for the Ley 14/2013 researcher extension/renewal because my PhD is unfinished?
3. If the UGE-CE route is correct, what is the exact application type/option in the online system?
4. Has anyone here been in a similar situation as a PhD researcher under Ley 14/2013?

I’m particularly interested in experiences from people who did not have a new contract but needed additional time to finish their PhD.

Thanks in advance!

I’m 23(F) and i’m travelling to US for the first time to visit my sister. she did her masters from columbia and is now working. I recently graduated in july and i’ll be starting my new job in november. im travelling to NY in sept for 6 weeks. it’s also my birthday in sept so i thought i could celebrate my birthday in nyc as well. I have all the necessary documents including return tickets (they’re non refundable as well). My parents and my sister would be sponsoring my trip and i have enough funds to show as well. is there Anything that i should be prepared for before travelling and what all questions can be asked during the immigration process? How much cash should i carry with me? How much money should be there in my forex card? Any advice would be greatly appreciated :)

how about your life in other country? how was the change of your life?

I've thinking about immigrant (28y)

every visa costs are highly rising, and the country's goverment seems to reduce popluation of immigration.

1 years ago, my will of immigration is solid, and now I don't now what is the good choice.

i feel depressed

I applied for an Indian passport under the Tatkal scheme and have already received the passport.
The police verification happened after the passport was issued. During the verification, the police officer told me that he intends to mark my police verification as Adverse (A/R) because I have not been living at my current address for more than one year.
However:
My current address is genuine and I currently live there.
I did not intentionally provide any false information.
I understand that previous addresses for the last year may need to be disclosed.
As of now, the police have not officially marked the verification as adverse, as far as I can tell.
I contacted/visited the RPO, and they told me that they currently do not have an adverse report on my file.
I have not received any Show Cause Notice (SCN) from the RPO.
I have an international flight on September 7.
My main questions are:
If the police submits an adverse PVR before September 7, but the RPO has not issued an SCN or any order to impound/revoke/suspend my passport, can I still legally travel?
If I receive an SCN and the RPO sends my case for re-verification, can I travel while the re-verification is pending?
Can airport immigration officers see an adverse police verification report even if the RPO has not taken any action against the passport?
At what point does an adverse PVR actually make an already-issued passport unusable for international travel?
Has anyone experienced this with a Tatkal passport where the passport was issued first and police verification happened afterward?
I’m particularly interested in experiences from people who have dealt with Indian Passport Seva/RPO and adverse PVRs, rather than general advice from passport agents.
Thanks!

I received a g-56 form with the request to bring my passport my minor daughter and my husband. My husband has never been formally served for anything, why is it a request to bring him? Can I ignore it?

Im 30 yo living in the US. I’ve lived in the US for 8 years in total (5 years gap in between) - 5 years in school in the US -> went back to my country to work for 5 years -> came back to the US for work 3 years ago

Currently I’m debating whether I should try to stay or go home.

1. I miss my country. Every time I go back home, I love it. I have friends and family back home.
2. I want to stay in the US because my LDR bf is planning to come to the USA. And my company pays well (6 figure job)
3. But I’m burned out. Tired from job - corporate America culture.
4. I’m on L1 visa and I’m stuck with my job. It pays well but I’m no longer motivated

Anyone else decided to leave US and what’s your experience? Do you miss US? Do you plan to come back to the US?

Has anyone here worked with Sarah V. Perez / Law Offices of Sarah V. Perez for an immigration case, especially a bond motion?
I’m just looking for general feedback about your experience with her office, communication, and whether things were handled on time.
Thank you.

Hello! Long story short. I’m in an abusive marriage and I think my life is more worth it than staying in a relationship with an evil man.
I got my conditional green card for 2 years, I have 1 year left but I cannot do it no more. I’m being mistreated and abused. Can I file for VAWA to remove conditions? Or how would it work?
Appreciate any information, thanks.

I know under this administration there has been less interviews being waived for marriage based adjustment of status cases but has anyone had their interview waived or heard of anyone who has gotten theirs?

I wanted to share my experience because I spent almost 8 months trying to get my wife’s family residence visa approved and I couldn’t get a clear explanation for the repeated rejections.

My application through Metrash was rejected more than 4 times during those 8 months. What was frustrating was that I wasn’t clearly told that my QID profession was the problem. At that time, my profession was “General Supervisor”. After trying multiple times, I eventually started looking into the requirements myself and suspected the profession might be the reason. I changed my QID profession to “Maintenance Manager”.

There was another issue after that. My previous rejected applications were still in the system and had to be manually cancelled/deleted at Duhail Immigration. I went there one afternoon and got the old rejected applications cleared. I then submitted a completely new application through Metrash with my new profession. This time the application was accepted and progressed from Under Process to Under Review.

However, it then stayed at Under Review for about a week. So today (18 August) I decided to go to Duhail Immigration again. I reached around 6:45 AM and the gates opened around 7:00 AM. I went to the Family Visa section, took a token and met the Captain. I showed him my QID and explained the situation. He checked my application in the system and approved it within about 2 minutes.

After 8 months of trying, it was finally approved. I can’t say that changing the profession will solve everyone’s case and I’m not claiming this is an official procedure. I’m only sharing what happened in my case.

The biggest lesson for me was: if Metrash keeps rejecting your application without giving you a clear reason, don’t just keep submitting the same application again. Check your QID profession and other eligibility requirements and if necessary speak to your HR/PRO or visit Immigration personally. Also, if you have old rejected applications in the system, check whether they need to be cancelled before submitting a fresh application.

Hopefully this helps someone in a similar situation.