The Immigration Lawyers Podcast | Discussing Visas, Green Cards & Citizenship: Practice & Policy

What really happens on the other side of the immigration system? In Episode 498, John Q. Khosravi, Esq. sits down with Nicholas Perry, Esq., a former government attorney who has worked at nearly every corner of the immigration bureaucracy: INS, ICE, USCIS, DHS Office of the General Counsel, EOIR and the State Department Visa Office. Nick shares what it was like to write the STEM OPT regulations, why the 2017 travel ban rollout was chaos from the inside, how the Dates for Filing chart came to life in the Visa Bulletin, and why TRIG exemptions are one of the most underused tools in immigration law. If you've ever wondered how the policies you deal with every day actually get made, this one is for you.   (1) Learn more about eimmigration: https://get.eimmigration.com/ILT (2) Start your law firm Marketing: ImmigrationLawyersToolbox.com/Constellation   TIMESTAMPS 00:00 Opening 00:33 Intro 01:21 Immigration Lawyers Toolbox Magazine 02:33 The new ILT Chrome extension 04:12 Meet Nicholas Perry, Esq. 05:03 From tour guide to congressional immigration caseworker 06:02 First job at EOIR 06:45 INS attorney in San Francisco and El Paso during 9/11 07:31 ICE and USCIS national security work 07:57 Seven years at DHS Office of the General Counsel 09:07 Writing the STEM OPT regulations 09:33 How a regulation actually gets made 11:03 Public charge, H-2A, H-2B and EB-5 rules 12:33 The new I-864 and skipping notice and comment 13:04 Working in the State Department Visa Office 13:47 The 2017 travel ban from the inside 15:42 Administrative processing and security advisory opinions 17:11 ILT Community and Constellation 18:37 Nebraska Service Center years 19:43 Changing administrations and early retirement 21:12 Launching Perry Immigration Law 22:36 How the Visa Bulletin works behind the scenes 23:55 Creating the Dates for Filing chart 25:58 How policy decisions reach the Visa Bulletin 26:46 TRIG and Iranian cases 27:25 What TRIG covers under INA 212(a)(3)(B) 28:33 TRIG exemptions and why they're underused 30:58 Final thoughts and how to reach Nick Spotify | iTunes | YouTube Music | YouTube Get a free website (first 10 sign-ups) and special pricing on marketing for your firm from Constellation Follow eimmigration by Cerenade: Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn Start your Business Immigration Practice! (US LAWYERS ONLY - SCREENING REQUIRED): E-2 Course EB-1A Course Get the Toolbox Magazine!  Join our community (Lawyers Only) Get Started in Immigration Law! The Marriage/Family-Based Green Card course is for you Our Website: ImmigrationLawyersToolbox.com Not legal advice. Consult with an Attorney. Attorney Advertisement. #podcaster #Lawyer #ImmigrationLawyer #Interview #Immigration #ImmigrationAttorney #USImmigration #ImmigrationLaw #ImmigrationLawyersToolbox  

In Episode 497 of the Immigration Lawyers Toolbox Podcast, John Q. Khosravi, Esq. sits down with Saman Movassaghi Gonzalez, Esq., a Miami immigration attorney with 23 years of experience who has grown her full service firm from 7 people during Covid to 65 employees today. Saman shares her story, from growing up in East Texas as the daughter of Iranian parents who came to the U.S. on student visas in 1971, to graduating law school at 22, closing her first firm because she wasn't ready yet, and relaunching it in 2009. She explains how she committed to posting a video every day on TikTok for three straight years, why being accessible to clients has been her biggest draw, and how hiring a COO, CFO, IT director and client relations team let her step away from day to day business decisions so she could focus on practicing law. She also talks about her firm's pivot into federal litigation for family based petitions and removal cases going into 2027. (1) Learn more about eimmigration: https://get.eimmigration.com/ILT (2) Start your law firm Marketing: ImmigrationLawyersToolbox.com/Constellation Timestamps: 00:00 Opening 00:33 Intro 01:56 ILT Chrome Extension: N400 & I751 Calculators, PDF Creator 03:42 Growing Up in East Texas with Iranian Immigrant Parents 04:56 Choosing Immigration Law & Law School in Miami 06:54 NSEERS and the Post 9/11 Crackdown 07:41 Opening (and Closing) Her First Firm at 22 09:21 Relaunching Her Firm in 2009 10:17 Full Service: Every Practice Area Except Adoptions 11:34 How She Posts So Consistently on Social Media 14:52 TikTok, Covid & the Butcher Videos 17:06 ILT Community & Constellation 18:42 Posting Every Day for 3 Years Straight 19:54 Growing From 7 to 65 Employees 21:28 Hiring a COO, CFO & Business Team 24:40 Wearing the Lawyer Hat vs. the Business Hat 25:50 Pivoting to Federal Litigation Going Into 2027 27:42 How to Connect with Saman Spotify | iTunes | YouTube Music | YouTube Follow eimmigration by Cerenade: Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn Start your Business Immigration Practice! (US LAWYERS ONLY - SCREENING REQUIRED): E-2 Course EB-1A Course Get the Toolbox Magazine!  Join our community (Lawyers Only) Get Started in Immigration Law! The Marriage/Family-Based Green Card course is for you Our Website: ImmigrationLawyersToolbox.com Not legal advice. Consult with an Attorney. Attorney Advertisement. #podcaster #Lawyer #ImmigrationLawyer #Interview #Immigration #ImmigrationAttorney #USImmigration #ImmigrationLaw #ImmigrationLawyersToolbox

What happens when a law firm has no partners, every lawyer owns shares, and AI prepares the first draft of the petition? In Episode #496 of The Immigration Lawyers Toolbox Podcast, John Q. Khosravi, Esq. talks with Jeff Joseph, Esq., past AILA President and now President of Immigration Strategy at Manifest Law, about how the firm is changing the business of immigration practice. Jeff explains Manifest's two-part structure: a technology company, Manifest OS, and a separate law firm whose attorneys own shares in it. The company raised about $72 million in its Series A at a valuation of over $750 million. He also covers the ABS model, why immigration was the strategic choice, how AI reviews filings and cut human error rates by 15%, the plan to expand into removal defense and family immigration, and what solo and small firms need to do to stay competitive over the next 2 to 3 years.   Timestamps 00:00 Opening 00:33 Intro 03:05 Welcome Jeff Joseph, Esq. 03:11 From his own firm to BAL to Manifest 03:37 What is Manifest Law? 04:46 Two companies, one mission: Manifest OS and the law firm 05:28 Attorney-led marketing 06:23 How Manifest attorneys earn: salary, origination and production credits 07:11 Two disruptions: AI and the ABS model 07:55 Why Manifest chose immigration 08:41 W-2 vs. 1099: B2C and B2B attorneys 09:31 Inside the technology: an H-1B case walkthrough 11:01 Is USCIS using AI too? 11:12 ILT Community and Constellation 12:58 AI reduced human error by 15% 13:21 Jeff's role: President of Immigration Strategy 13:59 Growth strategy heading into 2027 15:02 Expanding into removal defense and family 15:14 How cancellation of removal compares to an O-1 16:33 EOIR and ICE attorneys are using AI in court 16:50 Will Manifest license its technology? 17:22 The next 2 to 3 years for solo and small firms 18:28 Guardrails, and letting AI take the work lawyers hate 19:32 Stepping away from case work 20:07 Immigration practice keeps reinventing itself 20:51 How to connect with Jeff 21:21 Outro Spotify | iTunes | YouTube Music | YouTube  Get a free website (first 10 sign-ups) and special pricing on marketing for your firm from Constellation Follow eimmigration by Cerenade: Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn Start your Business Immigration Practice! (US LAWYERS ONLY - SCREENING REQUIRED): E-2 Course EB-1A Course Get the Toolbox Magazine!  Join our community (Lawyers Only) Get Started in Immigration Law! The Marriage/Family-Based Green Card course is for you Our Website: ImmigrationLawyersToolbox.com Not legal advice. Consult with an Attorney. Attorney Advertisement. #podcaster #Lawyer #ImmigrationLawyer #Interview #Immigration #ImmigrationAttorney #USImmigration #ImmigrationLaw #ImmigrationLawyersToolbox

Ruby Powers, Esq. returns to the Immigration Lawyers Toolbox Podcast to talk with John Q. Khosravi, Esq. about running an immigration practice today. They cover why many law firm owners find they are the bottleneck in their own firm, how to build a team culture that actually uses the tech you pay for, and how AI can help lawyers digest long regulations and compare new form versions. They also get into vicarious trauma and resilience, the lasting effects of detention, Federal Tort Claims Act claims, growing processing delays and when mandamus makes sense, USCIS denials without RFEs, and the move toward online filing. Timestamps: 00:00 Opening 00:33 Intro 03:22 New DOS FOIA request form for community members 04:13 Ruby Powers joins the show 04:40 Inside the Denver law firm retreat 07:04 The big lesson: owners are the bottleneck 08:46 Tech stacks and tools firms aren't fully using 10:23 Small tech wins and building a kaizen culture 12:54 Keeping up with sudden policy changes 13:38 Form changes: I-864, I-485, I-539, I-765 14:19 Using AI to read regulations and compare form versions 16:19 AI and confidentiality concerns 17:04 AILA Fall Conference in Atlanta 18:26 AILA Texas chapter fall conference in Santa Fe 19:41 Wellness talk: saunas, steam rooms, and acupuncture 22:15 ILT community page and Constellation Marketing 23:49 Self care in a high-stress practice 24:46 AI and legal marketing: GEO vs. SEO 25:52 Tracking leads and marketing ROI 26:42 Why law firm owners should be on LinkedIn 28:52 Vicarious trauma and vicarious resilience 31:38 The trauma of detention and reentry 35:25 Federal Tort Claims Act claims 36:26 I-130 delays and mandamus 37:42 Immigration court and pending I-130s 38:55 The real cost of detention: habeas and bond 39:33 Voter registration and voting plans 41:33 Naturalization and adjustment delays 42:01 Myth: mandamus leads to retaliation 44:09 USCIS denials without RFEs 45:02 Moving to online filing 49:01 Outro Spotify | iTunes | YouTube Music | YouTube Get a free website (first 10 sign-ups) and special pricing on marketing for your firm from Constellation Follow eimmigration by Cerenade: Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn Start your Business Immigration Practice! (US LAWYERS ONLY - SCREENING REQUIRED): E-2 Course EB-1A Course Get the Toolbox Magazine!  Join our community (Lawyers Only) Get Started in Immigration Law! The Marriage/Family-Based Green Card course is for you Our Website: ImmigrationLawyersToolbox.com Not legal advice. Consult with an Attorney. Attorney Advertisement. #podcaster #Lawyer #ImmigrationLawyer #Interview #Immigration #ImmigrationAttorney #USImmigration #ImmigrationLaw #ImmigrationLawyersToolbox

On this episode of The Immigration Lawyer's Toolbox Podcast, host John Khosravi sits down with Beatriz (Trillos) Ballerini, Esq., a Houston based immigration attorney, AILA Region 4 Director, and immediate past chair of the Texas AILA Chapter, to talk about the 54% NIW denial rate and why she's stopped taking new NIW cases, the growing uncertainty around adjustment of status and I-130 processing times, how she's rebuilt her retainer agreements for this administration, what's ahead for the Texas AILA Chapter including its November 18 to 20 conference in Santa Fe, the political shift underway in Colombia, and her own family's immigration story from Cali, Colombia to holding three passports today. Timestamps: 00:00 Opening 00:33 Intro 03:58 Welcoming Beatriz to the show 04:20 Growing up in Houston and finding immigration law 04:49 Her earlier career litigating international plane crashes 06:31 Launching her own practice in 2006 08:14 From family cases to 80% business immigration 10:18 Firm size, staffing, and long-tenured team members 12:11 Why NIW cases are so stressful right now 13:04 Adjustment of status and detention risk uncertainty 16:00 Managing client expectations and putting it in writing 16:26 Retainer updates with ethics counsel Craig Dupzyk 18:08 AILA's lawsuits pushing back on policy changes 18:34 Her role as AILA Region 4 Director 19:26 Leading the Texas AILA Chapter 20:12 Texas Chapter conference, November 18 to 20 in Santa Fe 23:05 Coordinating a chapter spread across Texas, Oklahoma & New Mexico 27:44 A growing chapter and mentoring new members 29:20 What's stressing Beatriz: the 54% NIW denial rate 30:00 Worrying about approved EB-1A clients stuck in limbo 31:00 Colombia's political shift under President de la Espriella 32:13 Direct filing I-130s at consulates for exceptional circumstances 34:10 USCIS's overseas offices and the new Ethiopia unit 34:43 Deportations to third countries and the human toll 36:07 Increased ICE activity around Houston 37:14 Holding three passports and dual citizenship through marriage 38:22 Her family's immigration story from Colombia 39:15 Discovering her own immigration history through a FOIA request 40:52 Her father's decision to naturalize after being strip searched 41:13 Comparing notes on growing up in immigrant families 43:08 The unpredictability of 30 day RFE deadlines 44:33 Where to find and follow Beatriz Ballerini 44:50 Closing thoughts Spotify | iTunes | YouTube Music | YouTube Follow eimmigration by Cerenade: Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn Start your Business Immigration Practice! (US LAWYERS ONLY - SCREENING REQUIRED): E-2 Course EB-1A Course Get the Toolbox Magazine!  Join our community (Lawyers Only) Get Started in Immigration Law! The Marriage/Family-Based Green Card course is for you Our Website: ImmigrationLawyersToolbox.com Not legal advice. Consult with an Attorney. Attorney Advertisement. #podcaster #Lawyer #ImmigrationLawyer #Interview #Immigration #ImmigrationAttorney #USImmigration #ImmigrationLaw #ImmigrationLawyersToolbox