OC Immigration Attorney

We just received the news that my client’s I-751 was approved and the conditions were removed from his permanent resident status. The couple married in 2004. In 2005, his green card was approved based on his marriage to a United States Citizen.

As is the case with any newly married couple in their situation, he was granted a green card on a conditional basis meaning the couple was required to file an I-751 two years after the green card was approved. The I-751 is generally accompanied by evidence that the marriage was entered in good faith. The couple filed the I-751 on time in 2007. They included evidence such as joint bank account information, joint asset ownership documents, lease agreements and insurance information among other things.

They attended an interview with a USCIS officer in 2007 to answer questions about their marriage. Since that interview, they heard nothing from USCIS regarding a decision on their joint I-751 petition. Earlier this year, they retained The Nunez Firm to look into the status of their case and the reason for the delays. After writing several letters and meeting with USCIS information officers and supervisors, we just received the good news that their I-751 was approved.

The Orange County couple was extremely happy, and the husband is looking forward to applying for naturalization as a United States citizen. If you are experiencing unreasonable delays with the processing of your case or you are in the process of filing an I-751, contact The Nunez Firm to schedule a free and confidential consultation. Managing Attorney Jay Nunez will personally discuss your case with you and help you understand the options available to you.

In U.S. v. Grageda, the Ninth Circuit held that a conviction under California Penal Code 245(a)(1) (Assault with a deadly weapon) is categorically a crime of violence as defined by Federal Sentencing Guidelines 2L1.2, which the Ninth Circuit held uses “materially” the same language as Section 16(a), which is the provision cited in the crime of violence definition cited in INA 101(a)(43)(F). The Ninth Circuit rejected an argument that California Penal Code 245(a)(1) is a general intent crime in which the “least touching” is sufficient to sustain a conviction.

If you or a loved one has been convicted of a crime and now face deportation or removal proceedings, contact The Nunez Firm to discuss your case during a free and confidential consultation.

On Tuesday, federal agents opened fire on three vans carrying at least 70 people suspected of being illegal immigrants when the van drivers tried to crash through the San Ysidro border crossing, which divides San Diego and Tijuana. The San Ysidro border is considered the busiest such crossing in the world.

Seventy-five Mexicans were detained in total. Some suspected of attempting to cross into the United States illegally, and some arrested for alien smuggling. Four people were injured.

The authorities closed the San Ysidro border station for approximately four hours after the shooting, which occurred at around 3:25 p.m. local time in San Diego. One van driver and one passenger were taken to a San Diego hospital with gunshot wounds. One had serious although not life-threatening injuries, the police said.

No agents were injured, and no gunfire was reported from the three vans. An investigation is ongoing.

The incident shows a growing boldness in recent months among alien smugglers, immigration officials said, as well as the increasing number of immigrants caught trying to cross illegally through official southwest border posts, rather than risking the arduous journey through backlands between stations. 

If you are currently in the United States illegally, or you have been charged with alien smuggling, contact The Nunez Firm for a free consultation. Managing Attorney Jay Nunez will discuss your case with you and help you determine whether you can improve your immigration status in the United States.

My Orange County client, who is the wife of a US Citizen, just received her green card. She entered the United States on a student visa in 2001. She overstayed her visa and accumulated unlawful presence starting in 2004. In 2006, she met her husband, and, after he proposed to her in 2007, she became his fiance. The couple got married in 2008. Several months later they retained The Nunez Firm, and we began the adjustment of status process for her to obtain her green card. After the couple’s interview with USCIS, the green card application was approved, and she just received her green card this week. The couple currently lives in Newport Beach, California, in Orange County.

Even though she over overstayed her visa and was in the United States illegally for several years, I was able to help her obtain a green card due to her marriage to a US Citizen. If you are married to a US Citizen and interested in obtaining a green card and lawful permanent resident status, contact The Nunez Firm for a free consultation. Although our office is located in Irvine, California, The Nunez Firm has assisted clients from all over the United States. Managing Attorney Jay Nunez will discuss your case with you and help you understand your immigration options.

In Matter of Martinez, the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA), which is the administrative appellate court for the Executive Office for Immigration Review, held a lawful permanent resident alien is eligible to seek special cancellation of removal for battered spouses under INA Section 240A(b)(2). The BIA analyzed the history of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) and concluded that special cancellation of removal for battered spouses should not be limited to aliens who do not currently have valid immigration status. The BIA held that special cancellation of removal should be available to lawful permanent residents as well.

This case will likely help lawful permanent residents who are ineligible for LPR cancellation of removal due to stop-time rule issues.

If you or a loved one is currently in immigration court proceedings, The Nunez Firm might be able to help you. Contact The Nunez Firm today to schedule a free and confidential consultation.

For too long now immigrants detained in Downtown Los Angeles’ B-18 Unit have been held in deplorable conditions. Detained immigrants were denied sanitary drinking water for days. They were not allowed to brush their teeth or change clothes for weeks. Toilets would regularly overflow and be left that way. B-18 is a holding unit in the basement of the federal building. Generally, it is used for detained immigrants awaiting a court hearing in the building; however, many immigrants were forced to stay there for weeks at a time.

On Wednesday, a settlement was reached between Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the attorneys that filed a lawsuit complaining about the horrendous conditions of B-18. The ACLU of Southern California, the Paul Hastings Law Firm, and the National Immigration Law Center represented the immigrants’ interests.

Under the terms of the settlement, a detainee cannot be held in B-18 for more than 12 hours unless s/he is awaiting a court hearing. Lawyers for detainees may visit their clients while in detention in B-18, and ICE will provide lists of people being detained in B-18 as well.

Although the settlement is welcome news for detained immigrants, their families and immigrant advocates, the director of immigrants rights for the ACLU of Southern California, Ahilan Arulanantham, warns that the conditions in B-18 are not unique among federal detention facilities nationwide. “This is an important step,” he said, “but it’s one small step.”

If your loved one is being detained while awaiting immigration court proceedings in Los Angeles, Lancaster, San Diego or elsewhere, contact The Nunez Firm to schedule a free consultation. Managing Attorney Jay Nunez will discuss your case with you and help you understand the options available to you.

If you are currently, or have previously been, a member of the U.S. Armed Forces, you may be eligible to naturalize and become a U.S. citizen under special provisions of the U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act. Generally, a candidate for naturalization must meet very specific requirements. However, a current or past member of the U.S. Military might qualify without meeting some or all of the qualifications.

Under Immigration and Nationality Act 329, you may qualify for naturalization if you meet two requirements. First, you must have served in the U.S. Military during an “authorized period of conflict.”  Authorized periods of conflict include World War I and II, the Korean War, Vietnam War, and September 11, 2001 and after. Second, either after enlistment you were admitted as a permanent resident of the United States, or at the time of enlistment, reenlistment or induction you were physically present in the United States or a qualifying territory. Service in the U.S. Military for purposes of INA 329 includes service in the Army, Marines, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard, Certain Reserve components of the National Guard, and Selected Reserve of the Ready Reserve.

Alternatively, under Immigration and Nationality Act 328, a current or recent member of the U.S. Military may naturalize if you have served honorably for a total of at least one year, you were a lawful permanent resident, and you will be filing your naturalization application while in service or within six months of being discharged.

The special naturalization provisions for military personnel help the applicant avoid the regular requirements such as being a lawful permanent resident (green card holder) for five years, exhibiting good moral character, and residing in the United States for the necessary amount of time. An individual serving in the U.S. Military during an authorized time of conflict might be able to move from not having a green card to being a U.S. citizen under INA 329.

Additionally, the standard application fee (currently $675) for naturalization is waived for military personnel. If you or a loved one is a member of the U.S. military and wishes to become a U.S. Citizen, contact The Nunez Firm for a free and confidential consultation. The Nunez Firm can help you prepare the necessary evidence and forms, and Managing Attorney Jay Nunez will prepare you for and attend the naturalization interview with you.

Today I received notice that a green card was approved for my client from Orange County. The client is the foreign spouse of a US Citizen, and the couple lives in Irvine. The couple was engaged for over a year, and they married in 2008. After their marriage, they moved from Huntington Beach to Irvine. We filed the visa petition in the US Citizen’s name on behalf of the foreign spouse in late winter 2009. Along with the visa petition, we filed the adjustment of status application. I attended the adjustment of status interview in Santa Ana with both spouses over the summer, and everything went well. Today we learned that the foreign spouse received her green card. The couple is very happy, and they hope to visit her family in Mexico over the Christmas holiday.

The foreign spouse was eligible to adjust status and obtain her green card while in the United States because she entered the United States legally using a visitor’s visa in the late 1990s. Although she overstayed her visa by almost ten years, the US immigration laws allow her to obtain a green card without having to travel back to Mexico. If she had entered the United States illegally, she would not be able to obtain a green card through adjustment of status. She would have needed to travel back to Mexico to consular process. That would have been a much more difficult situation, because she would have needed an I-601 extreme hardship waiveras well. Over the last two years, I-601 extreme hardship waivers have become increasingly difficult to obtain from Ciudad Juarez.

If you are married to, or plan to marry, a US Citizen, and you hope to obtain a green card, contact The Nunez Firm. Managing Attorney Jay Nunez will meet with you personally for a free and confidential consultation. He will advise you of your options and likely chances of success.

The Nunez Firm received a work authorization approval notice today for a client from Orange County. He is married to a US Citizen, and she has filed the visa petition and adjustment of status application for her husband to obtain his green card. We filed the adjustment of status forms and evidence in early July 2009. Apparently, the wait times for processing the work authorization applications are approximately 8-10 weeks right now.

If an individual marries a US Citizen, and the US Citizen spouse files the necessary green card application and petition, the foreign spouse is eligible to receive work authorization while the adjustment of status application is pending. This allows the foreign spouse to begin working legally in the United States rather than wait the 6-9 months it generally takes to receive an approved green card.

In this case, my client can begin using his work authorization card immediately, even though he will likely wait another 1-3 months to obtain his green card.

If you are married to a US Citizen spouse and wish to discuss the possibility of obtaining a green card and work authorization, contact The Nunez Firm to schedule a free and confidential consultation. 949 903 0088.

Over the past several years, the number of intending immigrants denied a visa due to a “physical or mental disorder” has increased significantly, according to the State Department’s Visa Office. In 2003, consular officials denied 62 immigrant visa applications and 21 non-immigrant visa applications due to a physical or mental disorder.

In 2008, embassies denied 479 immigrant visa applications and 329 non-immigrant visas on the same grounds. During the same time period, the total number of immigrant visas issued has seen only a slight increase. Additionally, it is becoming more difficult to get initial refusals overturned on appeal.

Intending immigrants are being denied visas due to driving under the influence or other alcohol-related convictions from many years ago. U.S. Immigration Laws prohibit the admission of an immigrant with a “serious mental or physical disorder that could cause harm to himself or others.” The State Department views these alcohol-related convictions as indicative of a “serious mental or physical disorder.”

If you or a loved one has been denied an immigrant or non-immigrant visa on any ground, contact The Nunez Firm to discuss your case during a free and confidential consultation.