CORONA VIRUS / COVID-19 ADVISORY

Due to the health risks posed by the Corona Virus tragedy, our office is following the directives of the governor of California in order to minimize the risks to our staff, our clients and our community. Our office will continue to operate fully, as it has thus far, observing our normal schedule, Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. We will continue to schedule appointments to meet with clients and will do this via ZOOM or Telephone only.

If you would like to schedule an appointment with any of our lawyers or staff members, please do so by calling our office at 619-291-1112. You can also contact us via e-mail at [email protected]janbejar.com

Thank you for your understanding.

AVISO DE CORONA VIRUS / COVID-19

Debido a los riesgos para la salud planteados por la tragedia del Virus Corona, nuestra oficina está siguiendo las directivas del gobernador de California para minimizar los riesgos para nuestro personal, nuestros clientes y nuestra comunidad. Nuestra oficina seguirá funcionando a pleno, como lo ha hecho hasta ahora, cumpliendo con nuestro horario habitual, de lunes a viernes de 8:30 a.m. a 5:30 p.m. Continuaremos programando citas para reunirnos con los clientes y lo haremos solo a través de ZOOM o por teléfono.

Si desea programar una cita con alguno de nuestros abogados o miembros del personal, hágalo llamando a nuestra oficina al 619-291-1112. También puede contactarnos por correo electrónico a [email protected]

Gracias por su comprensión.

Resolving Immigration ProblemsIn An Honest & Responsible Manner

Diversity lottery winners from travel ban countries out of luck

The U.S. Diversity Immigrant Visa (DV) lottery grants immigrant visas to 50,000 people from countries with historically low rates of immigrantion to the U.S. This year, two applicants from Iran and two from Yemen were among the randomly selected winners of that lottery, which was supposed to allow them and their families to move to the U.S. and become lawful permanent residents.

Unfortunately, their dreams of moving to the United States are being deferred — and that may mean those dreams are denied altogether.

The reason is the Trump administration’s travel ban. The four families met the strict requirements of the program, were thoroughly vetted and completed their consular interviews on time. They met all the requirements of the program, but the U.S. government has decided not to honor its end of the bargain. The reason? They were told they don’t have a “bona fide relationship” with the U.S.

In January, President Trump signed an executive order temporarily banning travel or immigrantion from certain, mostly majority-Muslim nations. He revised that temporary order in March. Then, in September, he issued a purportedly permanent ban on people from eight nations: Iran, Yemen, Syria, Somalia, Libya, Chad, North Korea and Venezuela.

Since Iran and Yemen have always been among the countries affected by the ban, the State Department refused to issue visas to the four DV lottery winners and their families.

The DV process is not supposed to involve discretion. Once the randomly selected winners successfully complete the eligibility, vetting and interview process, U.S. law requires that they be given the visas — but a federal judge has just declined to order that.

Moreover, the rules say that if DV lottery winners don’t complete the process by Sept. 30, they could be denied their visas and have to apply again. The federal judge who declined to order their visas be granted did offer some small relief: If there were any excess visas left after Sept. 30, they will be saved for these families.

Unfortunately, winning a Diversity Immigrant Visa is probably a once-in-a-lifetime proposition. According to the U.S. Department of State, 9,399,747 people applied for the program in 2015, with similar numbers in previous years. The number of winners is limited to 50,000 per year. There won’t be any excess visas.

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