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the form i-130 is one of the most important immigration forms because it forms the basis of all family-based immigration cases and in this video i'm going to share with you the five worst mistakes i see people make with the form i-130s [Music] hello my name is jose pineda and i've been a licensed attorney in terrace texas since 1996 and together with my very awesome team i've been exclusively practicing u.s immigration law for the past 23 years now this video is not about the top five mistakes these are the worst mistakes the top five mistakes are basically what we call scrivener's errors where people make mistakes spelling names or addresses and maybe insufficient evidence but those mistakes they can be fixed the worst mistakes what this video is all about can often ruin the i-130 and it will delay the reunification of loved ones there are an infinite number of honest mistakes that anyone can make with the form i-130 some mistakes are done while preparing the form and others after it has been already approved but before we begin i'd like to make it clear that in this video we're going to be talking about honest mistakes and not intentional lies in my business immigration law we refer to intentional lies as immigration fraud and we're not touching that subject in this video so let's begin wars mistake number one the format 130 is signed by the beneficiary the immigration regulations are crystal clear a properly filed i-130 at a minimum is one that has been signed by the petitioner and is accompanied by the correct fee and that's it but i've seen it too many times where the beneficiary not the petitioner signs the form and the real problem is when uscis overlooks that mistake and wrongly approves the i-130 because because years or decades later another officer either at the embassy if the beneficiary is applying for a visa or at the local uscis office if the beneficiary is applying for adjustment status well that officer will notice the error and the officer will have no choice but to deny the entire case because of that improperly signed i-130 ouch so please don't get upset if your attorney insists on reviewing the form i-130 before taking on the case i and just about every other reputable attorney that i know of has learned this lesson the hard way worst mistake number two assuming that you're divorced and failing to obtain a copy of the divorce decree this situation is different than intentionally concealing a prior marriage because there was no divorce that's an intentional lie and again we call that immigration fraud the situation that we're discussing here is where the marriage and assumed divorce are mentioned in the i-130 the petitioner never hit it but the petitioner failed to obtain a copy of the divorce decree therefore failed to submit it and wrongly assume that a mention of that divorce would be enough in the i-130 and the fed pattern is typical and the consultation goes something like this so where did you file the divorce i didn't do it my wife did it and she did it all from montevideo did she send you proof of the final divorce well she sent me something a long time ago but i don't know i lost it i cannot find it so how do you know that she divorced you well because she married some other guy about 10 years ago and they have children and they living very happy with each other yeah unfortunately that doesn't tell me anything so let's go ahead i'll give you a chance to go ahead and get the divorce decree and then come back and i review it and we'll post it right here okay okay i'll do that and i'll let you know and inevitably the prospective client returns empty-handed telling me that the wife filed for divorce but never finalized it and so they're still legally married to each other and all subsequent marriages are void so never ever assume a final divorce you need to obtain and submit proof of the termination of marriage worse mistake number three declaring the beneficiary was in immigration proceedings this actually happens a lot where the beneficiary has previously filed for immigration benefits or maybe has been detained by immigration authorities during the admission process in the past the problem is that immigration proceedings is a meta term only used in the form i-130 just about everyone unfamiliar with u.s immigration law broadly interprets the meaning of immigration proceedings and incorrectly assume that immigration proceeding means any contact or interaction with the u.s immigration system and like every other assumption about u.s immigration law that assumption is wrong in reality immigration proceedings means removal deportation or exclusion proceedings and if the beneficiary was never in those types of proceedings then don't say that he or she was in my opinion this is a very unfair question because it's asking non-lawyers like you to reach a legal conclusion now the problem with checking the yes box to that question is that you're almost guaranteeing that uscis will set aside that i-130 for special handling this translates to years yes years of delay while uscis sits on the petition and eventually schedules an interview to determine exactly what type of immigration proceedings you were referring to in that format 130. what's mistake number four in immediate relative cases assuming that the beneficiary's children are derivative beneficiaries and will therefore immigrate with their parent repeat with me twice there's no such thing as derivative beneficiaries in immediate relative petitions again there's no such thing as derivative beneficiaries in immediate relative petitions why not i don't know ask congress because they wrote the law but what this means for example is that if you are petitioning for your immediate relative spouse then you'll have to individually petition each one of his or her children likewise if you're petitioning for one of your parents then you also have to petition each one of your siblings separately and remember that your siblings are not immediate relatives they're gonna have a much longer waiting list before them worst mistake number five withdrawing an approved petition after an argument never ever ever withdraw an approved petition withdrawal of an approved petition serves no useful purpose whatsoever if the petitioner does not want the beneficiary to proceed with the visa or adjustment of status all the petitioner needs to do is to stop cooperating and the case will eventually disappear all by itself whether it will be 203g terminated by the national visa center or in a marriage situation when the petitioner and beneficiary divorce each other because divorce as you probably know will automatically revoke that petition why do i detest the withdrawal of an approved petition after a family argument no matter how severe because we just never know when the petitioner and beneficiary will kiss and make up so it just happens all the time i even had a case where the petitioner and beneficiary spouses they withdrew the petition by themselves went ahead and divorced without telling me any of this and then one month after the divorce when they were almost ready to go to their visa interview they come into my office and inform you the divorce and guess what by the time that they informed me they had remarried already go figure so again never ever ever withdraw an approved petition in the heat of the moment because withdrawal is a permanent solution to a temporary problem and it serves no useful purpose whatsoever and there you have it the five worst mistakes that i've seen on forms i-130 first the petition is signed by the beneficiary ouch second assuming that you're divorced and not obtaining a copy of the divorce decree to send in with a petition third declaring that the beneficiary was in immigration proceedings fourth in immediate relative cases wrongly assuming the beneficiary's children's were derived beneficiaries and fifth withdrawing an approved petition after an argument this is jose pineda and if you found this video useful give it a thumbs up so take care and have a great day thank you [Music] you