Criminal Defense

If you are not a United States citizen and you have been charged with a criminal offense, you should consult with qualified immigration counsel to determine whether that criminal charge will adversely affect your immigration status. Our consultation may assist you and/or your attorney in fashioning a plea, which will avoid adverse immigration consequences. Or, in the case of a conviction, our consultation may assist you in devising a strategy to revisit the disposition through post-conviction litigation or in developing innovative legal arguments and strategy for immigration court removal proceedings in support of a motion to terminate on the grounds that the particular conviction does not trigger removal.

U.S. Citizenship is obtained either by birth, derivation or naturalization. U.S. citizens may live and work in the U.S. permanently, and can not lose this status by extended travel abroad. U.S. citizens have many benefits and privileges, including the privilege of voting in U.S. elections. U.S. citizens may petition for the permanent resident status of their parents, spouses, children and siblings.

Requirements:

• Generally, 5 years in permanent resident status [Three years may be sufficient for those married to U.S. citizens.]

• Generally, physical presence, continuity of residence, and good moral character standards.

• Satisfactory exam results in U.S. government, history, and civics as well as the ability to speak, read, and write English [Some exceptions to the testing requirements exist based upon age and duration of permanent residency, as well as medical limitations.]

The Nonimmigrant Visa Classification covers a broad range of visas used to enter the U.S for work, pleasure or study. Some visas allow you to attempt to obtain permanent residency (a green card) and thus not required to prove nonimmigrant intent. Most nonimmigrant visas, however, require you to establish the demonstration of nonimmigrant intent. This means you should demonstrate that you have a permanent residence in your home country that you have no intention of abandoning. The duration of time you may spend in the U.S. can range from a few days to several years, depending on the visa. In most situations, your spouse and unmarried children under the age of 21 may accompany you on a derivative visa.

There are several ways to sponsor family members to obtain permanent residency in the U.S.

Adjustment of Status (AOS): If the spouse and/or children are here in the United States, they may qualify to apply for permanent residence (a green card) without returning to the home country. The process includes filing an application with USCIS and proving your relationship is bona fide (real).

In most cases, your spouse will be able to receive work authorization from USCIS within a few months. Depending on your spouse’s status, he or she may also qualify for an advance parole document to allow travel outside the U.S. while the adjustment of status application is pending.

 

Consular Processing: A spouse and/or children abroad can apply for a visa at a U.S. Consulate in their home country.

 

Fiancée/Fiancé Visa: You can bring your fiancé(e) into the U.S. by sponsoring them for a K-1 fiancé(e) visa. Entry is allowed for 90 days to get married. After that, an application for adjustment of status (AOS) can be filed here in the U.S.

 

K-3 Visa: The K-3 visa was initially created to allow your spouse and his or her minor children to live in the United States while your immigrant petition was being processed at USCIS. It also allows them to obtain employment authorization while they are waiting.

Deportation is the removal of an alien who has entered the US either lawfully or unlawfully. To avoid being the subject of removal proceedings, aliens must always maintain a valid immigration status or lawful presence in the US. Should one find themselves in removal proceedings, various forms of relief are potentially available. They include, but are not limited to: Waivers, Cancellation Of Removal, Deferred Action, and Asylum to name a few.

 

Waivers: Often, but not always, waivers require that you can establish hardship or extreme and unusual hardship to you or your family if you were to be deported. Sometimes, the length of your stay in the U.S. makes a difference, too. There are numerous waivers in U.S. immigration law, some depend on your status or the status of your family, how long you have lived here, the nature of the immigration violation or criminal history and how and when you entered the United States

 

Cancellation of Removal: there are two types.

1. If you have resided in the US for more then 10 years, can demonstrate you are a person of good moral character and that if deported, it would result in extreme and unusual hardship to either a spouse, parent or child who is either a lawful permanent resident (green card) or a United States citizen. You may be granted Cancellation of Removal at the discretion of an immigration judge, which will then allow you to apply for adjustment of status (green card). This is called Non-LPR Cancellation of Removal.

2. If you are a lawful permanent resident facing deportation for any reason including many criminal convictions (drugs, guns, assault, theft, fraud, crimes involving moral turpitude) or immigration violations such as fraud, and have resided continuously in the U.S. for 7 years after being inspected and admitted in any status, have a green card for 5 years, and have not been convicted of an aggravated felony, this may be granted as a matter of discretion. This is called LPR Cancellation of Removal.

 

Deferred Action: Certain people who came to the United States as children and meet several key guidelines may request consideration of deferred action for a period of two years, subject to renewal, and would then be eligible for work authorization. Deferred action is a discretionary determination to defer removal action of an individual as an act of prosecutorial discretion. Deferred action does not provide an individual with lawful status.

 

Asylum: Asylum may be granted to an individual who qualifies as a “refugee” within the meaning of the Immigration and Nationality Act . The definition includes the requirement that the asylum applicant demonstrate that he or she is unwilling or unable to return to his or her home country because of past persecution or a “well-founded fear” of future persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion. A grant of Asylum will allow you to apply for adjustment or status (green card). Political Asylum and refugee law is constantly changing.