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

Interview and Discussion with OFAC Attorney Mehrnoush Yazdanyar. Website: www.YazdanyarLaw.com Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCP_z... Blog: http://www.yazdanyarlaw.com/blog/ 00:00 - Episode Introduction 01:34 - Background of Mernhoush Yazdanyar 02:04 - Initial Legal work and subsequent start of practice (Iran OFAC sanctions works) 02:34 - What she studies in college 03:02 - Her initial real estate legal work and her thoughts about being a lawyer before graduating as opposed to after being an attorney and finding the type of work that she was meant to do 06:25 - Her passion for working/interacting with the client directly which is lacking some types of practices 07:40 - Her experience in Immigration Law, and small family-based immigration practice before starting OFAC work 09:08 - How she got into OFAC work (First OFAC case and saw the effect of sanctions on individuals for personal (non-commercial) transactions 11:30 - How Currency Exchange process works for Iran and how to do it to avoid issues 13:28 - Issues when Moneychangers do Cash Deposits into Client Accounts 15:35 - IRS Scam for those doing money transfers and effect of investigations into individuals involved in the process (Checking to make sure no one is on the designated OFAC list) and general issues with Iran transactions 18:45 - U.S. Bank rejecting the funds and dealing with Currency Exchangers in Iran, and the importance of good wiring instructions 22:41 Typical OFAC Questions: Is OFAC over or gone? 24:50 - General Licenses for OFAC (two biggest are receipt of family money non-commercial person remittance, gift or inheritance and sales of real property that had before becoming a US Person, or after becoming a US person through inheritance) 26:00 - Opening a bank account from an OFAC sanctioned country national, while in the U.S. on a tourist visa. 28:50 - General licenses and Specific licenses for business activities with Iran (e.g. agriculture, foodstuffs, pharmaceuticals, etc). Also sure to adhere to other export regulations from the U.S. 30:36 - Definition of general v. Specific Licenses from OFAC 31:50 - Errors Iranian make when doing OFAC on their own, and sanctions violations they are not aware of 33:15 - Time frame for getting a specific license 34:30 - About the type of practice she has (sole practitioner) 35:40 - She has Offices in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Irvine and Sherman Oaks (and does a lot, especially with seminars and conferences) 36:38 - Her focus is on transactional side of OFAC (not litigation) 38:40 - How to deal with the businesses of having a legal practice and balancing work and personal life: Making sure to carve out personal time, working out 41:03 - Where she learned her craft and does continuing education 42:20 - How she did marketing and got clients when first started and how to deal with the volume of calls 46:00 - How to contact her: www.Yazdanyarlaw.com

Host John Khosravi, Esq. interviews Peyman Attari, Co-Founder, President & CEO of the EB-5 Investment Advisor Firm AISA Investment Advisors, LLC To learn more about the Immigration Lawyers Podcast, please visit www.ImmigrationsLawyersPodcast.com Show Notes: 02:00 - Origins: Oil Financial world 03:30 - Work in South Africa 06:00- Work in Emerging Markets 09:42 - Starting own firm and starting a family 11:21 - Learning about the EB-5 Program 12:10 - Decision to work with investors instead of the Regional Centers 14:00 - Registered investment advisor and its fiduciary duty/ Difference with broker dealer and standard of suitability 16:30 - Info about AISA Investment Advisers, LLC and its business model 22:00 - The pay fee structure for EB-5 Immigrant Investors 26:00 - How does the relationship with your firm and the immigration attorney work? 28:30 - What are the steps for the client to go through with you 33:00 - Responses to typical questions that come from the EB-5 investors: a - Which Investment would you do? The are supposed to recommend. b - Can you guarantee the investment? Explain why guarantees are not possible. c - When do I get my money back? Describe "wind down" decisions. 36:50 - Effects of retrogression / Need for redeployment of funds 39:00 - Company holds escrow account and the affect on Source of Funds 45:00 - Preference as to EB-5 model To learn more, visit: AISAEB5.com

Host John Khosravi's Interview and Discussion with Immigration Guru, Attorney, Professor, Author & Advocate Stephen Yale-Loehr (http://www.millermayer.com/) To learn more about the Immigration Lawyers Podcast, please visit www.ImmigrationsLawyersPodcast.com Show Notes: 00:00 Overview 01:00 Introduction 01:36 Personal Background & Professional Beginnings 03:30 What does it mean to be Of Counsel and his role in his firm 04:25 Asylum Processing Times (Newark Asylum Office) and Detention times 05:53 EB-5 (I-526) Processing Times and the EB-5 Program 07:05 Steve's EB-5 cases and trends (for example, third party loans). IIUSA (https://iiusa.org/) 09:06 Amount time for Family v. Business Practice for the firm and Steve. One-off complex cases, witness testimony, pro bono (asylum) Half of practice is EB-5 related now 10:00 How Steve does his book writing 10:50 Where Steve gets his information (AILA.org, Lexis, Dan Kowalski Daily online publications Bender's immigration bulletinhttp://www.lexisnexis.com/legalnewsro... / various listservs) 11:57 Practice management: in-house case management system Access database w/in house IT team 12:31 Kind of complex cases he is working on (J-Visa, Asylum, EB-5) 14:15 Issues with Immigration: multiplicity of agencies and opinons and inability to be proactive in anticipating constantly shifting workload 16:25 How immigration reform would happen / points system used by other countries 19:20 Career: things that shaped who he is / clients that affected him 22:00 Affect of stress of the cases: managing client expectations 23:30 Dealing with case issues (ombudsmen, email or congressional inquiry) 24:35 Parting words: helping new immigrations come, opportunity here for them and lawyers

Host John Khosravi's Interview and Discussion with Los Angeles Tech Entrepreneur and law firm management and marketing expert Michael Chasin, Founder Lexicata.com and LawKick.com. To learn more about the Immigration Lawyers Podcast, please visit www.ImmigrationsLawyersPodcast.com Show Notes: 00.00 Overview of the Podcast 01.03 Introduction 01:20 Background of Michael Chasin 02:33 Decision not to practice law and switch to business 03:30 "Not having a boss" 03:50 Starting legal marketing site "Law Kick" 06:32 Online marketing techniques for lawyers 07:20 Content strategies 08:25 Social Media 09:00 Sites you can sign up for for more online presence 09:35 Creating online presence by starting webs around the internet (Google Crawling) 11:55 Getting Reviews 12:20 Yelp 15:45 Modern Customer Service expectations from Law Firms 18:58 What should be in your profile? Photos, educational background, reviews and find things to relate with the client 22:00 Office management / info and client management 22:50 Background on Lexicata 22:22 Benefits of Intake forms 28:50 Final words of advice 31:20 Ways to contact Michael

Host John Khosravi's Interview and Discussion with Los Angeles Immigration Lawyer Tahmina Watson (http://www.immigrationlawyersinseattl...) Founder of Watson Immigration Law and Author of: "The Startup Visa: Key to Job Growth and Economic Prosperity in America". To learn more about the Immigration Lawyers Podcast, please visit www.ImmigrationsLawyersPodcast.com Show Notes: 00:00 Overview of the Podcast 01:55 Background (Education and Family) of Tahmina Watson 04:00 About Barristers v. Solicitors in the British Legal System 04:45 Pupillage (Apprenticeship) Position and Practicing Law in Great Britain 11:12 Why she came to the U.S. 12:15 Being able to practice in U.S. States 15:22 Personal Immigration experience 17:50 Getting started in Immigration Law 19:43 Her Blog (marketing/book) 20:20 Newspaper articles 20:43 Memberships in groups and Bar Associations 21:45 Social Media presence/Blog 24:00 Areas of Immigration Law she practices 25:00 Advocacy for "Start Up Visas" 26:20 Types of Visa categories she enjoys 27:05 Example of problem she has faced (example of USCIS OPT/H-1B Cap error that she fixed) 32:44 How she started her book 38:25 Publishing 44:05 Upcoming U.S. elections & future Immigration Policy 51:00 Practice Management 53:45 Office Quality Control (software: INS Zoom and calendars such as outlook and wall calendars) 55:32 Books recommended (Nutshell on Immigration & Kurzban) 57:45 AILA Membership (using mentors) 1:00:40 How her week looks like / Balancing Personal & Business Life 1:06:43 Asylum Timelines 1:07:10 Discussion on the future of EB-5 Immigrant Investor program

Host John Khosravi's Interview and Discussion with Los Angeles Immigration Lawyer Heather Poole (http://www.humanrightsattorney.com/), a Managing Partner of the Law Firm Stone, Grzegorek & Gonzalez LLC, well known Immigration/Human Rights Attorney, former Southern California AILA Chair and Member of the National Board of Governors.

To learn more about the Immigration Lawyers Podcast, please visit www.ImmigrationsLawyersPodcast.com

Show Notes:

0:45 Introduction to Heather Poole 2:00 Personal Background, Education and choosing immigration law (Lennie Benson: http://www.nyls.edu/faculty/faculty-profiles/faculty_profiles/lenni_b_benson/) 4:14 Her first legal job 6:20 Starting her solo law practice 8:45 Problems with answering your own phone, using answering/reception services (CallRuby.com) 11:55 What is going on with her now? The transition of merging law firms 14:20 History of firm (Professional Law Corporation) and Marketing (online), using marketing courses & focusing on a niche practice ares 18:20 failures and successes: example of needing to know Family Law as well. See her article at: http://www.slideshare.net/humanrtsatty/the-international-affair-la-lawyer-magazine-feature-article-immigration-attorney-heather-poole 24:20 Managing an office team - Using software, Microsoft Office 365, backing up data on a physical server, Abacus Law, AILA Link, Law Logix, 28:28 Being an attorney in other jurisdictions 30:56 What are the Characteristics of a Good and Bad Immigration Lawyer? 32:27 What keeps you up at night regarding cases? 34:30 Balancing Personal Life & Business Life 38:34 Future goals in the next 10 years

00:45 Introductions

01:20 Personal History

Early Life (Family & Education)

07:30 Military/Army Experience

13:00 Leaving Military And Law School

15:05 Post-Law School & Starting the Practice of Law

16:40 Starting Your Own Practice Tips

17:20 The Importance of Having A Business Plan

19:40 Sonia's Area's Of Practice (Family, Removal Defense, U & T Visas, VAWA Petitions)

20:45 Dealing With The Pressures of T/U/VAWA Cases/Clients

24:45 Becoming A USCIS Adjudications Officer

28:20 Experience As A USCIS Adjudications Officer w/ Tips

43:15 Running A Solo Practice

Marketing. Whether To Use Yelp? Using Avvo.com

Volunteering,...

50:15 Case/Issues In Sonia's Practice That Are On Her Mind

57:15 Meditation Techniques Sonia Uses To Help Deal With The Pressures Of Practicing Law