Raw Transcript

Introduction: You ask we answer your immigration questions. Simple. And now your host immigration lawyer Jacob Sapochnick.

Jacob: This question comes for New York City and we have Andrew.

Andrew is asking what options do I have if my work visa is denied. Do we have any recourses to fight it? Excellent question Andrew.

Typically if an H1 or an L visa or any other work visa get denied the … we have 30 days to either file a motion to reopen or appeal the decision. And typically we decide whether a case is worth appealing or a motion to reopen depending on the facts. But by filing a motion to reopen we have another chance to point to the immigration officer where they miss the fact or they misread the law or they forgot to … or consider some factors.

Motions to reopen can be quite effective in many cases. It’s often that judicators are overburdened with work and sometimes they miss fact, sometimes they misinterpret evidence. And so it’s always the attorney’s opportunity to present the final arguments to convince them to reopen the file.

In many case we’ve managed to reopen the H cases, L visa cases by pointing the officer to the evidence that was already submitted how they misinterpreted it or they apply it wrong or regulations. What you cannot do in a motion to reopen is bring totally new evidence which is very important because if you forgot to mention that a person has a particular skill or degree that was supposed to be material to the original case you cannot bring it in a motion.
So to summarize, motions to reopen or appeals are one way to fight denied cases.

Closing: Thank you for listening to the Ask My Immigration Lawyer Podcast, the show that’s dedicated to answering your immigration questions. Simple as that. See you next week for another round of questions and much needed answers.