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What does The American Dream Mean to You?

June 9, 2016 by Thomas Geygan

This post was written by Cern Basher, CFA of Brilliant Advice on June 8, 2016 as a gift to our clients and readers, Mr. Basher retains all rights to this post.

Why did you move to the United States? Was it for work? Was it for love? Was it to get away from some danger in your life? Was it for freedom of religion or expression? Was it to give your children a stronger education and more opportunity? Whatever your specific reason, the desired result is the same – a better life for you and your family.

Part of the allure of the United States is something called “The American Dream.” The American Dream can be defined as “the ideal that everyone should have an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work, determination, and initiative.” This ideal is our national ethos.

The best thing about The American Dream is that you get to decide what “success and prosperity” mean to you. Many Americans aren’t shy about showing off the success they’ve had by living in big homes, driving expensive cars, and spending lots of money. There are also many Americans who choose to live more modestly but are no less successful or prosperous than their flashier counterparts.

So, what does success and prosperity mean to you?

Success is defined as “the accomplishment of an aim or purpose.” You may consider yourself quite successful for just being here in the United States, and for many that is quite an accomplishment. For those of you who made a difficult journey to get here, I applaud you. You have already shown that anything is possible.

Prosperity is defined as “flourishing financially.” Ah, now we come to the money.

Success and prosperity are obviously about more than just money, but there is no denying that money is part of both. And while I can’t give you a guide to your personal success and prosperity, I can share one very important “secret” to achieving it:

You can achieve prosperity in your life no matter how much money you make – if you save and invest.

It’s that simple. No matter how little you make, the secret to prosperity is to save and invest some of your money. Your future self will thank you for it!

The key part of saving and investing is to get started early. The sooner you begin the less money you will need to save and the more money you will have. The longer you delay, the more you will need to save to have the same amount of money in the future.

Consider Maria and Daniel who both moved to the United States to pursue The American Dream. Maria immediately begins to save $10,000 per year in an investment account. Then after 10 years, she stops saving. Daniel, on the other hand, waits 10 years before getting started. He then invests $10,000 per year for the next 10 years before stopping. Assuming they both earn 6% per year, who is better off?

The American Dream Chart 1
This is a hypothetical example of mathematical compounding. It’s used for comparison purposes only and is not intended to represent the past or future performance of any investment. Taxes and investment costs were not considered in this example. The results are not a guarantee of performance or specific investment advice. The rate of return on investments will vary over time, particularly for longer-term investments. Investments that offer the potential for high returns also carry a high degree of risk. Actual returns will fluctuate.

In this example, Maria will have almost twice as much money as Daniel after 20 years, even though they both initially invested $100,000. Her balance is higher because she gave the investment returns twice as much time to compound. For Daniel to have as much money as Maria at the end of 20 years, he would have to save almost $18,000 per year.

The American Dream Chart 2

The promise of The American Dream is very powerful. But if you don’t begin to save and invest now, it will be that much harder to attain. So don’t cheat yourself out of The American Dream. After all, isn’t that why you’re here?

Cern Basher, CFA


Cern Basher, CFA is the President and Chief Investment Officer of Brilliant Advice, a firm designed to help you imagine, create, and live your ideal life. For more information, visit www.brilliantadvice.net.



Cern Basher, CFA, Brilliant Advice

Filed Under: Soap Box, TIPs, Uncategorized

USCIS now allows attorneys to pay Immigrant Fee Payment

September 1, 2015 by Thomas Geygan

icon6USCIS has simplified the process for paying the USCIS Immigrant Fee online in their electronic immigration system. The revised payment process reduces the amount of information an immigrant must provide to USCIS. Additionally, in response to customer feedback, anyone can now pay the USCIS Immigrant Fee for an immigrant. For example, a family member, friend, employer, attorney, or accredited representative can pay the fee as long as they have the immigrant’s Alien Registration Number (A-Number) and DOS Case ID.
The USCIS Immigrant Fee is required for individuals immigrating to the United States as lawful permanent residents. USCIS uses this fee to process, produce, and deliver Permanent Resident Cards (Green Cards). If you have any questions about online filing, including how to pay the USCIS Immigrant Fee, please contact us.
online help form.

 

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Filed Under: AOS Family, AOS Marriage, Reform/New Laws, TIPs

TPS Registration Deadline for Liberia, Guinea, and Sierra Leone is August 18, 2015

August 5, 2015 by Thomas Geygan

deadlineTuesday, August 18, 2015, is the deadline for eligible nationals of Liberia, Guinea, and Sierra Leone (and people without nationality who last habitually resided in one of those three countries) to register for Temporary Protected Status (TPS). This deadline marks the end of DHS’ 90-day extension of the initial registration period. The TPS designations for these three countries run from Nov. 21, 2014, through May 21, 2016.

Eligibility

To be eligible for TPS, you must demonstrate that you meet all eligibility criteria, including that you have been “continuously residing” in the United States since Nov. 20, 2014, and “continuously physically present in” the United States since Nov. 21, 2014. You must also undergo thorough security checks. Individuals with certain criminal records or who pose a threat to national security are not eligible for TPS.
Additionally, you may apply for TPS even if you are a Liberian national currently covered under the two-year extension of Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) based on President Obama’s Sept. 26, 2014 memorandum. If you are a DED-covered Liberian national and you have an EAD or have applied for an EAD, you do not need to apply for another EAD related to this TPS designation. However, if you are granted TPS, you may request a TPS-related EAD at a later date as long as the TPS designation for Liberia remains in effect.

Registering

To register, you must submit:
• Form I-821, Application for Temporary Protected Status.
• The biometrics services fee (or a fee-waiver request) if you are 14 years old or older.
• Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization, regardless of whether you want an EAD.
• The Form I-765 application fee or a fee-waiver request, but only if you want an EAD. If you do not want an EAD, no application fee is required. There is no I-765 fee for initial applicants under the age of 14, or 66 and over; these applicants may receive their initial EAD cards for free.

Filed Under: Soap Box, TIPs

USCIS provides discretion in extraordinary circumstances for Child Status Protection Act

July 30, 2015 by Thomas Geygan

Natz4An alien seeking classification as a child under sections 203(a)(2)(A) or 203(d), or as a derivative beneficiary under sections 203(a) or 203(b), who has a “CSPA age”8 under 21, must have sought to acquire lawful permanent residence within one year of the visa becoming available.

The alien can request an exercise of discretion as to the one year requirement where the alien can show extraordinary circumstances kept the them from filing within the one year time frame.

In order to establish extraordinary circumstances, the alien must demonstrate that:

  • The circumstances are beyond the control of the alien and must not have been intentionally created by his or her own action or inaction. (See 8 CFR 208.4(a)(5)).
  • Those circumstances were directly related to the alien’s failure to file the application within the one-year period; and
  • The delay was reasonable under the circumstances.

Examples of extraordinary circumstances that may warrant a favorable exercise of discretion include, but are not limited to:

  • Serious illness or mental or physical disability during the one-year period;
  • Legal disability, such as instances where the applicant is suffering from a mental impairment, during the one-year period;
  • Ineffective assistance of counsel, when the following requirements are met:
    Alien filed an affidavit setting forth in detail the agreement that was entered into with counsel with respect to the actions to be taken and what representations counsel did or did not make to the respondent in this regard;
    Counsel whose integrity or competence is being impugned has been informed of the allegations leveled against him and been given an opportunity to respond, or that a good faith effort to do so is demonstrated; and
    Alien indicates whether a complaint has been filed with appropriate disciplinary authorities with respect to any violation of counsel’s ethical or legal responsibilities and, if not, why;
  • Death or serious illness or incapacity of the alien’s legal representative or a member of the alien’s immediate family.

Background
The CSPA was enacted on August 6, 2002, and provides continuing eligibility for immigration benefits to the principal and/or derivative beneficiaries of certain benefit requests when the beneficiary has aged-out by turning 21 years of age. The CSPA has wide applicability, covering family and employment-based beneficiaries, diversity visa immigrants, refugees, and asylees when delays in processing visa petitions or applications cause a beneficiary to lose eligibility for classification as a child solely due to reaching 21 years of age.

INA 203(h)(1)(A) and (B) state that to determine whether an alien satisfies the age requirement for classification as a child, the calculation is “the age of the alien on the date on which an immigrant visa number becomes available for such alien (or, in the case of subsection (d) of this section, the date on which an immigrant visa number became available to the alien’s parent), but only if the alien has sought to acquire the status of an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence within one year of such availability: reduced by the number of days in the period during which the applicable petition described in paragraph (2) was pending”. This is the calculation that will be used for the purpose of determining if an alien qualifies for classification as a child, but only if the alien has sought to acquire the status of an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence within one year of such availability [emphasis added].2 Previous USCIS policy on the “sought to acquire” requirement did not allow officers to use discretion in considering late filings. Matter of O. Vasquez allows for discretion in these determinations.

Filed Under: AOS Employment, AOS Family, AOS Marriage, Green Card, Green Card, TIPs

NVC sending termination letters in error

July 30, 2015 by Thomas Geygan

QuestionnairesWe, and other law firms, have received letters from the National Visa Center (NVC) indicating that proceedings to terminate immigrant visa application will commence, or that applications are being terminated under INA §203(g) for failure to contact the NVC within one year of notification of the availability of a visa, even when we have been in contact with the NVC within the one-year period. NVC has informed us that it is correcting the issue and is sending follow-up emails to show the cases are still in process, and that we should disregard the email received on July 29, 2015.

Filed Under: TIPs

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