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ResourcesVisa & Immigration LawUS Immigration LawIs a Do-It-Yourself (DIY) IR-1 Visa a Good Idea?

Is a Do-It-Yourself (DIY) IR-1 Visa a Good Idea?

Transcript of the above video:

As the title of this video suggests we are discussing DIY, or do-it-yourself IR-1 visas.

I am bringing up this topic not particularly because I have an opinion one way or the other on do-it-yourself applications. I have been doing this 10 years. Frankly we have plenty to do here at the office. This isn't really something about whether or not do-it-yourself-ing is a good idea inherently, it is more about is “it a good idea in light of recent changes that were in a recently promulgated USCIS policy memorandum?”

What am I talking about? Well, there was a policy memorandum which was issued by USCIS over this past summer; the summer of 2018, which came into effect September 11, 2018 and basically it rescinded what is called the no possibility" doctrine that was inherent in the USCIS adjudicator's manual and what this "no possibility" doctrine  basically stated was, if someone filed an IR-1 visa petition and the thing was lacking of evidence of whatever kind that went to the heart of whether or not the couple was eligible for benefits then unless there was no possibility at all that the IR-1 petition could be approved, the adjudicator needed to issue a Request for Evidence. Well in most cases where you had evidentiary deficiency, an RFE was quickly issued and so long as the RFE was fulfilled and the evidentiary deficiency was remedied an approval generally speaking was forthcoming. Now under this new doctrine, the "no possibility" requirement has been stripped away so if it is not proven on its face that the couple is eligible within the four corners of the filing, it is possible that adjudicating officers at the USCIS can go ahead and simply deny such petitions out of hand resulting in a lot of lost time, resources and money for the couple that is petitioning for those benefits.

So the thing to take away from this video for do-it-yourselfers is, it is a very good idea to keep a close eye and heavily scrutinize what you are filing; try to understand as best you can what you are filing. Also it may not be a bad idea to at least consult a legal professional on the finer points of this stuff because those that have done a decade’s worth of these cases or even just five of these cases as opposed to someone who has just done one, there is insight to be gained from those who have undertaken these cases on a regular basis.

Now that being said, everybody can choose what is best under their circumstances but in light of these recent changes in this policy memorandum, I really think that we are going to be seeing a larger number of denials in these cases and they are going to be denials based on deficiencies of evidence, especially evidence of eligibility.