• Deportation
• Family Reunification and Naturalization
• Litigation and Appeals
• Business and Employment

Family Reunification and Naturalization

1. Adoption - Plans for adoption of a foreign born child should always be reviewed with an attorney. There are significant differences with adoption for children residing in a foreign country, whether an adoption agency is used, or whether the adoption takes place for a child residing inside the U.S. Immigration through an adoptive parent also compromises the child’s ability to petition his or her biological parent
2. Child Status Protection Act (CSPA) - The Child Status Protection Act is a complex statute affecting several different groups of immigrant children in different ways. For children of U.S. Citizen petitioning parents, their age is “frozen” for immigration purposes at the time of filing of a petition. For children of Legal Permanent Resident (Green Card) petitioning parents their age is “reduced” by the number of days, months or years that their immigrant visa petition is pending before approval. CSPA is applied to several other groups of visa petitioners including: I-130 (family based) I-140 (employment based) I-360 (Vawa or Religious Worker) I-516 or diversity visa petition. A one year deadline from the date of approval of a visa petition must be observed.
3. K-1 Fiancé/Fiancée Visa & K-3 Spousal Petitions - K-1 Fiancé’ visas can be a convenient way to bring in a fiancé prior to marriage. The K-1 beneficiary however must marry within 90 days and be petitioned by that spouse. Similar restrictions apply to a K-3 applicant who was married overseas and has an I-130 immigrant visa petition pending.
4. Marriage Based Petitions - Marriage based petitions can be filed by a United States Citizen spouse for immediate processing or by a legal permanent resident spouse (green card holder) and subject to a waiting period for the visa to become current. Petitions filed for persons residing in the United States typically process within a 6 to 8 month period and rely heavily at the time of interview upon proof of a bona fide (real) marriage. Documentation of the marriage and preparation for the interview are the key to success.
5. Family Petitions (Parent/Child/Brother/Sister) - Family petitions are filed through a U.S. Citizen child who has reached age 21, through U.S. Citizen parents at any time and U.S. Citizen brothers or sisters who have reached age 21. Significant waiting periods exist for many family based visa petition categories and the applicant should be familiar with the “Visa Bulletin” maintained by the Department of State to determine when they will be eligible to apply for a green card based on an approved family based petition.
6. US Citizenship & Naturalization - Citizenship may be obtained through birth in the United States or proof of one or both parent’s citizenship if they are born abroad with certain important restrictions. Immigrants who have maintained status as a legal permanent resident in the United States may naturalize after three years, if they were petitioned and remain married to a U.S. Citizen spouse. Legal permanent residents must otherwise file after establishing 5 years of residency in the U.S., good moral character and passing the citizenship and English exams.
7. V Visa and V2 Visa Recipients - Many persons entered the U.S. under the V Visa program allowing entry to the U.S. for persons whose immigrant visa petitions were pending more than three years. I prosecuted a case for V-2 recipients which resulted in them being able to maintain status in the U.S. despite reaching the age of 21. Persons who now seek to adjust status can avoid filing for a waiver under 245i and paying a thousand dollar penalty if they can show they were a qualified V-2 visa recipient at the time of entry to the United States.
8. Spousal Battery (Self-Petition - VAWA) - Congress created relief for persons who are married to a U.S. Citizen or Legal Permanent resident spouse. In these cases an individual may be able to “self-petition” based on a claim of spousal battery or domestic abuse using form I-360. Men or Women may file and abused spouse petition and documentation of the abuse is crucial to success on this claim.