3. SOURCES
Primary
Secondary
•There are currently no real reliable and current secondary sources on this subject.
• I’ve relied heavily on my Primary sources for information by conducting interviews with them at their establishments.
• Other sources where from friends who are currently in the U.S. and have migrated from the D.R.
• My own visits and talks with the locals, while on vacation (10 times)
• Vagabond Journey.com – “The Average Wage in the Dominican Republic” by Wade Shepard – 2009
• “The Newest New Yorkers. 2013 Appendix” by New York City Department of Planning
• U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Website
• Embassy of the United States in Dominican Republic Website
4. TABLE OF CONTENTS
• INTRODUCTION TO THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
• WHAT IS A PETITION
• INTRODUCTION TO OUR BUSINESS
• HOW OUR BUSINESS IS ORGANIZED
• COSTS/ INCLUDING START UP COSTS
• PRICING
• OUR MARKET AND WHAT WE ARE OFFOERING
• MARKETING
• ALTERNATIVES TO OUR BUSINESS
• WHY HIRE US?
7. INTRODUCTION TO THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
- Infrastructure -
• Many homes do not have water mains. Instead, they have underground
wells.
• Underground water can be contaminated.
• Many towns don’t have 24 hour electric service, leaving many without
lights or refrigeration for many parts of the day.
• A postal system is non- existent, usage of couriers is popular.
8. INTRODUCTION TO THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
- Economic -
• The Dominican Peso trades at 43 to 1 us dollars
• The unemployment rate is anywhere from15% to 20% according to one
website.
• The average wage for a Cafeteria worker , a Janitor or a farm worker is the
equivalent of 93 to 179 US dollars a month
• A bank teller makes about $200. a month.
• Accountants make about $8,000. a year.
• Many Dominicans work in the agricultural and textile industries which pay
no more than $150. a month
• Many other folks own a Barbershop, drive a taxi, or have a “side of the
road” business.
9. One can conclude, that with economic wages in the Dominican Republic
this low, and it’s poor infrastructure compared to the United States, most
young and Progressive Dominicans, have aspirations of migrating, mainly to
the USA to change their families’ future.
Because of this, the USA has set up obstacles to screen out criminals, and
Dominican nationals that would come here and be a charge (come here just
to use the public services.) to the American public. So the U.S. Immigration
service has set up a petition process in which Dominican U.S. citizens and
Permanent residents could petition for their :
A) Relatives
B) Spouses, children
C) Certain employees.
10. WHAT IS A PETITION?
An immigration petition is basically an application a person files to request
that another party be granted legal, permanent residence in a particular
country. For example, a spouse may file an immigration petition in an effort
to secure legal permanent residency for his loved one. Likewise, an
employer may file an immigration petition on behalf of a valued employee.
A Petition can only be filed by a U.S. citizen or a Permanent resident.
11. WHAT ARE THE PETITIONS THAT U.S. CITIZENS AND PERMANENT RESIDENTS FILE
FORM I-130: This is the petition for family members such as:
• Mom and Dad
• Your spouse and unmarried children
FORM I-140: This is the petition for an alien worker to become a permanent resident
in the United States.
FORM I-129F: This petition can only be filed by a U.S. citizen. It is a petition to bring
your fiancée (and in some cases their unmarried children) into the united states to
marry you.
12. PETITIONERS NEED TO SHOW ALL TYPES OF PROOF AND IDENTIFICATION TO
COMPLETE THESE PETITIONS
• BIRTH CERTIFICATES
• TAX RETURNS/ PAYSTUBS
• PASSPORTS
• PHOTOGRAPHS
• JOINT BANK ACCOUNTS/ PROPERTY OWNERSHIP
•MARRIAGE LICENSES
• Documents written in foreign languages must be translated to English
13. THE PETITION PROCESS
Many of the people in the united states hire lawyers or notaries to do this
work because:
A) Complex paperwork and some documents need to be translated if they
are in Spanish.
B) They don’t have the time to do it themselves – too busy.
C) They don’t want any problems.
14. THE REASON PEOPLE COME TO DOMINI IMMIGRATION P.C.
There are literally hundreds of Legal services that do this type of work both
here in the U.S. and in the Dominican Republic. Many of the Lawyers in
practice are generally good people, but then you have the ones that just
want to make a fast buck.
Our mission here at DOMINI IMMIGRATION P.C. is to provide our clients in
the United States with reliable and trustworthy services regarding not just
their petitions, but all of the rest of their immigration needs.
We also provide a courteous and professional staff.
15. Our company would be a “One Stop shop” Immigration services company that
would serve immigrants from the Dominican Republic and eventually other
Caribbean nationals who are here in the United States and want to petition for
their loved ones.
This business would provide legal services and document preparation for our
clients.
This company would then provide a no-nonsense approach to the immigration
process, through our Agents in the Dominican republic for immigrants who wish to
come to the USA to:
A) Be with their family
B) To start a family
C) To work temporarily in the United States.
16. OUR HEADQUARTERS IN NEW YORK CITY
PETITIONERS IN THE
UNITED STATES
OUR AGENTS IN THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
RELATIVES OR EMPLOYEES IN THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC RESPOND, THEN COME
TO OUR AGENTS
THE PETITIONERS SEND
NOTICE AND THE
LOCATION OF OUR
AGENTS
NEW DOMINICAN
IMMIGRANTS
We service them on their post Visa
needs:
Green card application
US citizenship application
Legal counsel
OUR AGENTS
KEEP 60% AND
OUR MAIN OFFICE
GETS 40%
A) Family members or Business owners in New York who
want to petition for their relatives or employees respond to
the ads that they find on the back of car service business
cards, restaurant menus, and newspaper ads that have
been placed by our main office. They then
come to our office to buy services. Either in a complete
package , or they may just want an individual form filled
out for them.
B) Relatives or Employees are directed (by their
petitioners) to our agents in the Dominican Republic. They
pay the equivalent of $200 US Dollars to one of our 5
agents, who are located in major cities throughout the
Dominican Republic to prepare their Visa applications.
Agents may charge more for extra work. Our agents get
60% , our New York office gets 40% .
C) Once the new Dominican immigrants have arrived in New
York, and become stable, they may want to come to our main
office to receive the same courteous and honest service that
they have received when they met our agents in the
Dominican republic. They then can choose our package or
Individual forms pricing when they come, to either become a
US citizen or a Permanent US Resident. Our lawyer is also
available to them for an hourly fee to take care of any legal
counseling or assistance they may need.
17. HOW OUR BUSINESS IS ORGANIZED
This business would be organized as a P.C. which means:“Professional Corporation”.
The business would consist of (1) small office to be located in Harlem New York, that would serve
as our main office. This office would employ one (1 ) Licensed Immigration lawyer who , besides
being authorized to handle the client’s paperwork, a licensed lawyer is the only one in the office
that is authorized to give advice (the assistants may not).
The lawyer must also appear in court to represent clients dealing with deportation issues etc., or a
client may ask the lawyer to accompany them to the U.S. counselor’s office for their green card
interview.
The New York office would also employ 1 assistant to begin with. We may hire another as needed.
ASSISTANTS
• May have merely a Notary public license and familiarity with immigration .forms.
• Allowed to interview clients and take gather and reviewing their documents.
• If an assistant were to have a doubt about a client’s integrity, they must forward it to the lawyer
who has an abundance of resources and can verify the information.
18. OUR MAIN OFFICES ARE AT 55 WEST 125TH STREET NYC
• DOMINICANS LIVE IN MANY PARTS OF NEW YORK CITY
• MOST OF THEM LIVE IN UPPER MANHATTAN AND THE BRONX
• MOST DOMINICANS THAT DON’T LIVE IN THESE AREAS EITHER HAVE FAMILY OR
FRIENDS NEAR 125TH STREET
• 125TH STREET IS HIGHLY TRAFFICED BY OTHER LATIN AND CARRIBEAN ETHNIC
GROUPS THAT MAY USE OUR SERVICES.
19. OUR METHOD OF DISTRIBUTION - AGENTS
Our method of distribution is indirect.
Our lawyer from the New York office has contacts with five (5) Lawyers in
the Dominican Republic, whom have their own small offices and would act
as our agents. There will be at least 1 agent in select major cities for
convenience, including the capital city, Santo Domingo, in the “Distro
Naccionale”, which is the area with many national offices. It is the district
where the U.S. Embassy is located. These agents ask for about $200. per
case. (which is $8500 Pesos).
- Our agents comply with our mission of trust worthiness.
- We have a 60/40 agreement. (Agents may charge more for extra work)
20. •We have 5 agents:
• 2 Santo Domingo (capital city/ “la capitai”)
• 2 Santiago (biggest city outside of the capital)
• 1 Puerto Plata (popular with tourists/k-1 visas)
21. WHAT TYPES OF PETITIONS ARE WE SELLING
We are primarily selling a service to prepare petitions for the most popular visa
types, which are:
Employment based
H1B – Employers wishing to petition for Professional workers (Doctors, etc.)
L1 – Employers wishing to petition for Managerial or executive staff.
Family based
K-1 – Is for men or women who wish to bring their boyfriends/girlfriends to the United States to
get married.
K-3 – Is for a spouse who is already in the United States and wants to petition for the other and his
unmarried children.
B1/B2 – This is a visa for non spouse family member/non essential employee who plans to visit
then return home.
22. PRICING
• Package pricing:
• $800. per Adult per/ level of service $450. per child (under the age of 14)
•Form fees imposed by the U.S. department of immigration are additional.
A husband who is petitioning for his wife and kid would wind up paying us
$1,670. (petition adult + child + Form fee ($800. + 450. + $420. - I-130 form fee)
Once he submits all necessary documents. We would then proceed to:
• Create a folder exclusively for his documents
• Fill out and sign the proper petition for him (in his case I - 130)
• Use necessary postage and means to send and file the petition.
• Promptly notify him if the petition is accepted or rejected by the U.S. Immigration
dept.
Our lawyer will charge an hourly rate of $250 dollars for research or court
appearances.
23. PRICING
We have fees for processing single forms/ per person (we charge a service fee in addition).
Form Fee Our service
charge
TOTAL
$420 $150 $570
$340 $150 $490
$1,070 $250 $1,320
$450 $100 $550
none $75 $75
$680 $150 $830
$380 $125 $505
I-130 – Family based/ I-140 Employment based
I-129 F Fiancée based Petition
I-485 Application for a green card
I-90 Application to replace lost/ stolen green card
I- 864 Affidavit of support
N-400 U.S. citizenship application
I-765 Employment Authorization
24. COSTS
EXPENSE COST
STARTUP COSTS (Including furniture, office equipment,
security deposits etc.)
$200,000 Bank Loan
RENT (our #1 largest expense). For the use of 520 sq. ft.
of space at 55 W.125th street.
$21,000 per month @$40 per sq. ft.
ONE (1) LICENSED LAWYER with 5 years of experience.
Speaks Spanish and has practiced law in the D.R.
$45,000 a year
ONE (1) ASSISTANT (NON-LEGAL ) with Notary license. $24,000 a year
VARIABLE COSTS (monthly): UTILITIES – Phone & Internet (TWC) $80. Electricity (CON ED) $165.
OTHER – Paper, Postage, repairs to office equipment etc.
INSURANCE - $1,000,000 liability insurance (monthly cost unknown).
Rate would be based on ind. Insurance company and policy.
25. OUR MARKET
-We are primarily marketing to petitioners a future of togetherness, and
happiness through the unification with their families.
-We are Marketing to the hard working Dominican in the United states who
are the taxicab drivers, cooks, security guards and businesspeople who have
been able to become stable and prosperous. And would like to bring their
relatives, fiancées or employees to the United States to become permanent
residents or U.S. citizens.
26. ADVERTISING
Radio Print
300,000 Daily readers
DOMINI IMMIGRATION
WE BRING FAMILIES TOGETHER CAR SERVICE
Business Cards
About 1000 for $50. at VISTAPRINT.COM
RESTAURANT
Our Ad
Restaurant
Menus
Back Front
27. ALTERNATIVES TO OUR BUSINESS
There are many alternatives to our business model. The main alternatives
besides competing with the literally hundreds of Law firms and notaries
throughout the New York City area, are:
28. 2) Books - There are immigration books (Nolo law books is a good publisher, “For Dummies” is a
popular one) available for purchase at any major book stores (or the Nolo website) for as low as
$40. Or just $20 For the E - book versions.
3) A free lawyer through the Family Unity Program -
A city council-funded pilot initiative that provides for two (2) public defenders’ offices to hire
lawyers to represent poor immigrants in detention. It's the first program of its kind in the country.
Now city lawmakers are poised to expand it almost ten-fold, making New York City the first
municipality to provide legal defense to all detained indigent residents facing deportation.
1) Do it yourself! – All of the immigration forms that we do come with detailed instructions,
listing the fees and explaining what documentation is needed to file the form.
• These instructions include telephone numbers and addresses that explain how to get help!
• These forms can be requested in Spanish or in English.
• Anyone who can comprehend them can easily do what the instructions say and fill them out
manually or online then printing them out. Instructions on where to mail the forms is also
provided.
29. WHY HIRE US?
There are countless problems that come about from people who finally turn to
services like ours to assist them in unraveling the damage caused by trying to do it
themselves.
Immigration law is constantly changing and the terminology used is hard to
understand. There are very specific procedures that must be followed one must know
exactly what action should be taken, what the deadlines are, the applicable forms and
supporting documentation and how to present a convincing argument in a case.
