Areas of Practice

Deportation Defense.

We represent clients in their removal (deportation) proceedings in immigration courts. Deportation defense includes accompanying clients to preliminary (master calendar) hearings, individual (merits) hearings; responding to charges filed against them by various immigration agencies; developing strategies to defend clients from being ordered removed (deported); and pursuing strategies to help clients win legal status where U.S. immigration laws have provided a remedy.

Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS).

SIJS is an unusual humanitarian form of immigration relief for young people are unable to reunify with one or both parents due to abuse, abandonment or neglect. SIJS involves an unusual interplay between state and federal laws, first requiring a custody order from a state court – through guardianship, parental custody, dependency or delinquency hearings – and then requires the state court to make a determination that the young person is eligible for SIJS because reunification with at least one parent is not viable. SIJS has literally saved the lives of thousands of young immigrants who seek a safe harbor from domestic violence, abandonment, dire poverty and deportation proceedings by giving them a path to become permanent residents of the United States (the “green card”); and ultimately to become U.S. citizens.

Asylum.

Asylum is a traditional form of immigration relief for those who are unwilling or afraid to return their home country due to past persecution or a well-founded fear of future persecution on the basis of their race, religion, nationality, sexual orientation, or membership in a particular social group. A grant of asylum allows immigrants to legally live and work in the United States and eventually become permanent legal residents, thus putting them on the path to U.S. citizenship. Spouses and children of applicants may also receive benefits.

U Visa.

The “U visa” is not really a visa, but is another form of humanitarian immigration relief for victims of certain violent crimes who suffered substantial physical and/or emotional abuse, and who have cooperated with law enforcement in the investigation and/or prosecution of the crime. The crime must have occurred in the United States, and generally must have been reported to the police. The crime victim’s immediate family members–spouses, children, parents and siblings – may also be eligible to receive legal status. U visa approval allows immigrants to legally live and work in the United States and eventually become permanent legal residents.

Appeals.

When necessary, we represent clients before the Administrative Appeals Office (AAO), the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA), and the Ninth Circuit Board of Appeals.

Family-Based Immigration

I-130/I-485 petitions.

We help clients petition for qualifying family members who are eligible to adjust status (obtain green cards) without having to leave the United States.

I-130/Consular Processing and I-601A Waivers.

Where a qualifying family member is not eligible to adjust status in the United States, we assist with the alternative-consular processing. Some family members may qualify for the I-601A waiver based on extreme hardship to a U.S. citizen or permanent resident spouse or parent.

Naturalization

N-400 petitions.

We assist clients at every step to becoming a U.S. citizen, from preparing and filing the initial petition to preparing for the citizenship exam, and we accompany clients to all USCIS interviews.

Areas of Practice was last modified: March 2nd, 2021 by pbadmin