What is the Census and should I complete it if I’m out-of-status?
You might think the US census, a survey of the living population, has nothing to do with you if you’re undocumented, or just not a citizen. You would be wrong. The census is organized by the government government to survey current population by state. Citizens, permanent residents, long-term visitors, work visa recipients, and undocumented immigrants […]
What are out-of-pocket costs and how are they different from attorneys fees?
When hiring an attorney, it’s important to understand what you’re promising to pay the law firm before you sign on the dotted line. The attorney fees and out-of-pocket costs will be listed in the retainer agreement, so it is important to carefully read the retainer agreement before agreeing to it. Many times attorneys will only […]
The 7 New 2020 Laws Affecting Employers and Business Owners in California
If you’re a business owner with employees, it is time to familiarize yourself with these seven new employment-related laws that went into affect on January 1, 2020. Ensure you follow best hiring practices and follow these laws for existing employees. 1. New minimum wage California has a new minimum wage. If your business employees 25 […]
Who and what is exempt from the new Public Charge rule?
On Monday, February 24, 2020, the new United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Public Charge rule goes into effect. While we’ve written about it in-depth before, we would like to assure our readers which services and benefits are exempt from the rule, and who the rule does not affect. This article serves to clearly […]
What Parts of Your Business Should You Evaluate Before Expanding Overseas?
After becoming successful, many companies to expand their business operations globally. In the US, most entrepreneurs fail within the first five years, so if your business is still standing—congratulations! As a result, you might think because your business is successful here in America that you can easily spread your business out to the rest of […]
AB 5 and the Independent Contractor
AB 5 and the Independent Contractor In December 2019, the Governor of California, Gavin Newsom, signed into law Assembly Bill 5, which drastically changes how most businesses classify independent contractors. A worker is more likely to be classified as an employee instead of an independent contractor. Although the impetus for this law was to […]
Immigration and the Internet
Immigration and the Internet We live in interesting times. Our current government appears to be stressing preventing people from abusing our immigration system over helping people to legitimately immigrate, or even visit. As such, people planning on coming to the United States, and visitors and green card holders here in the United States must be […]
Outsourcing, Offshore and Overseas: What Do I Need to Know?
Many successful entrepreneurs are faced with the eventual decision of taking their business global. Outsourcing and offshoring are two popular options for businesses to take their operations overseas. If you’re not familiar with the two terms, outsourcing involves moving some or all business operations to a third party whereas offshoring involves physically doing business in […]
Telling your story in your immigration application or petition
Storytelling might not be the first thing that comes to mind when planning your immigrant or non immigrant benefit application or petition, but it is worth considering. The United States Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) forms request a great number of facts while leaving little room for explanation. As such, many self-applicants may believe they […]
4 Common Mistakes On Immigration Applications and Petitions
Immigration clients often come to us with botched cases. Either they tried to do it themselves and failed, or they hired a less-than-reliable paralegal office that mishandled their case. Some mistakes are made even in our care. Here are the four most common immigration application/petition mistakes we hope you’ll avoid. Submitting an incomplete or erroneous […]
Instagram and Fair Use
In my last blog I talked a little about copyrights and the First Sale Doctrine. In this blog, I’d like to go back to Copyrights to discuss Copyright law and the Fair Use Doctrine. Here is the situation: Instagram, with over 1 billion monthly uses, has become a common place for individuals and companies to […]
Does your business act like a business?
Don’t say we didn’t warn you, but the implementation of new tax regulations may cause many business owners to lose their business deductions when their “business” is reduced to a mere hobby. Budding entrepreneurs need to ensure their business is set up correctly. Meanwhile, existing business owners need take a magnifying glass to their business […]
Copyright and the First Sale Doctrine
With the explosion of the Internet and the different media outlets, such as Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Youtube, Tik-Tok, just to name a few, the issues surrounding copyright ownership and rights have come to the forefront. But these also only reflect long time issues regarding copyright ownership. One such issue is what the doctrine of First […]
Business Safety Requirements You Shouldn’t Ignore
As a business owner, you understand the plethora of risks that are placed on not only yourself but your company as well. The most important of areas to have a risk assessment conducted on is on your safety requirements. A common mistake made within a variety of “low risk” jobs such as you would find […]
If I marry a US Citizen, will I avoid deportation?
Many of our non-status clients believe marrying a U.S. citizen will solve their immigration problems. Undocumented clients will either jump into a marriage head first for a chance at a marriage green card, or they’d wait until they’re detained to marry their beloved. Then, they’ll come to us and expect the marriage certificate to solve […]
Event Space for Your Small Business
Hosting events for your small business is a great way to bring your team together, gain exposure in the community, and network with industry partners. Whether you’re planning a training, networking, or some other type of special event, it’s vital that you make the most of it. To help you plan the perfect event, here’s […]
Choosing a Trustworthy Real Estate Agent
The services of a real estate agent can be very useful when you are looking to buy or sell a home. Buying and selling a home can be a considerably lengthy and involved process. Having someone on your side can save you a lot of time, stress, and money. Unfortunately, not every real estate agent […]
Pros and Cons of Becoming a Government Contractor
Employment with the government, whether full-time and permanent or on a contractual basis, comes with a unique set of opportunities and challenges. The nature of government operations differs dramatically in many ways from the private sector. For example, there are generally tighter regulations around government work as well as more reporting requirements, whereas with the […]
7 Most Frequently Asked Questions about the EB-5 Visa
With the upcoming EB-5 investor visa changes underway, many clients have been asking about the EB-5 visa. If you’re interested, we encourage you to apply for the EB-5 investor program before November 21, 2019. By applying before the deadline, you can take advantage of current investment thresholds ($1 million, $500,000). If you reach the end […]
How Data Analysis Can Improve Your Small Business
If the term “data analysis” seems frighteningly out of reach for your small business, let us clear up how it can be of help. We are also a small business and often find ourselves dealing with an overwhelming amount of data, or options, and we feel like it’s getting out of hand. So data analysis […]
