OC Immigration Attorney

Today, one of my Anaheim clients had his final deportation merits hearing in the Los Angeles Immigration Court. He had committed several petty thefts in the past. He stole cds and other small items from retail stores. He stopped in 2002 when he began receiving psychological treatment for his behavior. He attended classes to help him stop stealing as well.

He became a lawful permanent residentin 1992; however, because of his many petty thefts convictions, he was deportable. We asked the immigration judge for cancellation of removal which is a discretionary form of relief. We presented the judge with evidence that my client was rehabilitated, had extensive family in the United States, consistent employment history and was a dedicated member of his church.

As is always the case with cancellation of removal cases, the Los Angeles immigration court judge weighed the positive factors in favor of my client remaining in the United States against the negative factors supporting his deportation. The immigration judge stated that the case was a close call, but ultimately he believed my client deserved a second chance and should be allowed to stay in the United States. The immigration judge stressed that if my client committed another deportable offense, cancellation of removal would not be available again.

My client, his wife, children and other family members were extremely pleased with the outcome. They thanked the immigration judge repeatedly after the trial, and several members of the family cried due to their joy. Because my client’s cancellation of removal application was granted, he will be allowed to stay in Anaheim with his family. He expressed his interest in filing a naturalization application as soon as possible so that he never has to worry about immigration court and deportation again.

If you or a loved one is in removal or deportation proceedings in the Los Angeles Immigration Court or elsewhere, call The Nunez Firm to schedule a free consultation. Managing attorney Jay Nunez will discuss your case with you and help you better understand how you can avoid deportation.

My client was granted asylum in 2008 based on religious persecution in his home country of Vietnam. He was an outspoken advocate of religious freedom and a Christian missionary. He suffered beatings, severe interrogations and arbitrary arrests by the Vietnamese Government. He left Vietnam for the United States in early 2008, but his wife and three children stayed behind. He moved to Westminster, California.

Due to the severe persecution he experienced in Vietnam, he was granted asylum in the United States. After his asylum grant, he was eligible to have his wife and unmarried children under 21 years of age join him in the United States. He was unsure of the process for petitioning for them to come to the United States, so he hired The Nunez Firm to help him.

Petitioning for a spouse and unmarried children under 21 years old can be somewhat complicated in some situations. The asylee must file a Form I-730 for each child and the spouse. The form must be accompanied by evidence of the relationship including birth certificates, marriage certificates, recent photos and proof of financial ties to the children. If any of the children were born from a previous marriage, the father must prove that he financially and emotionally supports the children. This can be done by providing wire transfers or receipts showing financial payments. Neighbor, teacher and school administrator affidavits attesting to financial and emotional support will be helpful. If the child’s other parent is cooperative and agrees to let the child immigrate to the United States, an affidavit by him/her is helpful as well.

In this case, my client had three children in Vietnam. Two were from his current marriage, but one was from a previous relationship. School administrators and neighbors attested to my client’s involvement with the first child. The school administrators said my client was active in the child’s education and academic life. The neighbors stated that the child lived with my client permanently. Even the child’s mother stated that she believed the child would have a better life with my client in the United States.

We just received the approval notices for all four I-730s today. Now, my client’s wife and children will apply for consular interviews in Vietnam. Hopefully, they will be in the United States within four months.

If you need help with any part of the asylum process or have been granted asylum and wish to petition for your family abroad, contact The Nunez Firm to schedule a free and confidential consultation.

The Nunez Firm has relocated its offices to Lakeshore Towers in Irvine, California. Lakeshore Towers is located on Von Karman next to the 405 freeway. The new address is:

The Nunez Firm                      18101 Von Karman     Suite 330                       Irvine, CA 92612

The phone number (949-903-0088) has not changed.

I just found out that my client’s I-751 was granted. My client lives in Irvine with his wife and young daughter. He is originally from Brazil, but he came to the United States four years ago on a student visa. While studying in the United States, he met his US citizen wife and the couple married. After the marriage, his wife petitioned for him to obtain a green card. He filed the I-485 and I-130 to adjust his status to lawful permanent resident. The green card application and visa petition were approved, and he received a green card. Because the marriage was less than two years old at the time of the adjustment, he was issued a conditional green card.

Essentially, an alien with a conditional green card (conditional permanent resident) has all the same rights as any other green card holder; however, two years after the conditional green card is issued, the alien must file a Form I-751 to have the conditions removed from the green card. The I-751 should be filed jointly by the alien and the US citizen spouse. The I-751 should include evidence that the marriage was entered in good faith and proof that the couple lives together. Photos of the couple, birth certificates of any children, bills showing a shared residence, joint income tax returns, apartment leases or mortgage documents, and affidavits from friends and neighbors are just some forms of evidence that will help show USCIS the marriage is real. The I-751 should be filed during the 90 days immediately preceding the two year anniversary of the green card approval. Filing late will likely result in a loss of permanent resident status. If the marriage is no longer viable or has terminated due to death or divorce, the alien can apply for a waiver of the joint filing requirement. 

After the I-751 is filed, USCIS will set an interview for both spouses to attend. The USCIS officer will ask the couple questions together and separately. The USCIS officer will ask each spouse questions about themselves and the other spouse. Then, the officer will ask the same questions to the other spouse, and s/he will compare the answers. The questions are used to determine whether the couple actually lives together and entered into the marriage in good faith. Does your spouse have any tattoos or scars? Does your spouse drink coffee in the morning? How many bathrooms are in your home? Does your shower have one knob or two for water? Does your spouse work out, and is it in the morning or evening? The questions are generally very easy if the couple is in a valid marriage. However, if the couple entered into the marriage in order to evade the immigration laws, the questions will often reveal it.

In this case, the couple had a young daughter together, which always makes the case stronger. We provided USCIS with substantial evidence proving the validity of the marriage including the daughter’s birth certificate, utility bills, cable bills, joint credit card statements, joint bank account statements, joint tax returns, apartment lease documents, affidavits from neighbors attesting to the couple living together, and countless photos of the couple together and with extended family members.  The couple did fine at the interview, and it was clear the marriage was valid and in good faith. Approximately six months after we filed the Form I-751, the I-751 was approved, and the conditions were removed from the husband’s green card.

If you have married a US citizen or lawful permanent resident and wish to adjust your immigration status or have the conditions removed on your green card, contact The Nunez Firm to schedule a free and confidential consultation.

A client of mine was arrested last week for an outstanding warrant. The police officer asked about his immigration status, and my client admitted he did not have a green card. After serving several days in Santa Ana jail for the warrant, United States Citizenship & Immigration Services put an INS hold on his release. An INS hold is when the federal immigration agency requests that the police or sheriff detaining an individual not release the person because there are immigration issues, and the person might be deportable.  

I managed to speak with an immigration officer in Santa Ana about my client’s case. I explained that he had no serious criminal record and he was married to a US citizen. I told the ICE officer that my client was eligible to receive a green card through his marriage, and we were in the process of filing the paperwork. I asked the ICE officer to remove the INS hold and release my client. Several hours later, my client was released from custody, and his wife picked him up.

Although most INS hold situations involve more effort to have the hold removed, and some involve motions for bond hearings and other strategies, it is possible to have an INS hold removed or have the person released on an immigration bond. If a loved one is in jail or immigration detention, contact The Nunez Firm to discuss your situation. The Nunez Firm can help you to get the INS hold removed and get your loved one out of detention.

A client detained in Lancaster’s Mira Loma Detention Center had his cancellation of removal application granted today. He had criminal convictions, which made him deportable; however, cancellation of removal was available because he had the required number of years as a legal permanent resident in the United States, and his criminal convictions were not aggravated felonies.

In a cancellation of removal case, the judge weighs positive factors against the negative factors. Positive factors include family in the US, military service, ownership of real estate or a business, extreme hardship to family members if deportation occurs, and others. Negative factors include nature of criminal convictions, immigration violations and other evidence of bad moral character.

In this case, my client had extensive family in the United States including his wife and two young daughters. His criminal convictions were not very serious and they occurred many years ago. For the last four years, he has not had any problems with the law. His wife and children would experience a great deal of hardship if he were deported to Mexico, because he was the sole source of income.  He has been given a second chance to stay in the United States with his family. I wish him and his family the best of luck.

If you or your loved one is in deportation proceedings or detention, The Nunez Firm can help you. Call for a free and confidential consultation.

The Detention and Removal arm of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”) has begun a new strategy to ensure that immigrants in removal proceedings show up for their removal proceedings. They are forcing immigrants in removal proceedings to wear ankle monitoring systems in order to track their movements, and ensure that they attend hearings. 

The most absurd part about this plan is which immigrants are being selected. ICE in Atlanta went to the immigration courtroom and applied the ankle bracelets to immigrants that actually showed up at their hearings. The people actually showing up for their hearings and most likely to show up for future hearings are being forced to wear ankle bracelet monitoring systems. Immigrants with no criminal record and relief from deportation available are being forced to wear the ankle bracelet as well.

The ankle bracelet monitoring system is a ridiculous waste of taxpayer money. Additionally, forcing these people to publicly wear an ankle bracelet, which is commonly used to monitor accused criminals and sex offenders, is humiliating  and inhumane.

If you or a loved one is in detention or deportation proceedings, contact The Nunez Firm to discuss your case. The Nunez Firm can help you obtain release on bond if you are in detention. Managing Attorney Jay Nunez has vast experience representing clients in deportation proceedings, and he has helped his clients avoid deportation.

Thus far 670 miles of the border fence have been completed, but that might be the end of the project. President Obama’s new budget does not allocate any money for extension of the controversial fence. The border fence project has experienced significant problems. Texas landowners have challenged the right of the federal government to enter and survey their land for fence construction. Additionally, in border regions where the fence is already built, many illegal immigrants have found creative ways to circumvent the fence including ramming cars into it, tunneling and even removing fence portions and replacing them with disguised Styrofoam.

Instead of the border fence, President Obama is supporting a virtual fence approach with cameras and movement sensors.

The Federal Government have announced plans to start construction on a new “virtual fence” along the Southern Border. The virtual fence will span most of the 2000 mile border. The construction is scheduled to start within the next few weeks, and it will take approximately five years to complete.

The virtual fence will include permanent towers, sensors, cameras and communications gear used to detect drug smugglers and illegal immigrants. Initial construction will start along the Arizona border.

The press secretary for the House Homeland Security Committee estimated the total cost of the virtual fence to be $6.7 billion by 2014.

Plans for a virtual fence along the Canadian border are not yet fully developed.

Today, I found out that a fiance visa was approved and issued to the fiance of one of my Irvine clients. I represented him and his fiance throughout the fiance visa process. The fiance visa was approved months ago, and the consular interview just occurred recently. He called me today to tell me that his fiance was flying from Thailand to the United States some time this month.

Once she arrives, I will help them adjust her status and have her conditional green card issued. He sounded very happy that everything worked out and his future wife will be in the United States soon.

United States Immigration Laws allow for the fiances of US Citizens to immigrate to the United States in order to marry and begin their lives with their future US Citizen spouses. To begin the process, the US Citizen spouse must file an I-129F form with United States Citizenship and Immigration Services. There are several documents that must be filed along with the I-129F. If the I-129F is approved, it will be forwarded to the American consulate in the alien fiance’s home country. A consular officer will notify the alien fiance of the approval and provide the necessary forms and instructions regarding the visa application. The alien fiance will apply for the visa and attend a visa interview at the consulate.

There are several reasons an alien fiance might be denied a fiance visa including drug addiction, communicable disease, mental disorder, criminal history, and immigration fraud history are just some of them.

The future married couple should understand that the alien fiance is being permitted entry into the United States for the sole purpose of marrying the US Citizen. The marriage must occur within the first 90 days of the alien fiance’s arrival to the United States. After the wedding, the couple must file the I-485 to adjust the alien spouse’s status and receive the conditional green card (conditional permanent residence).

After two years of marriage, the couple will apply to have the conditions removed from the permanent residence and the alien spouse will be a lawful permanent resident with no conditions attached. In order to have the conditions removed, the couple must file an I-751 with supporting documents proving the marriage is valid. An interview with an USCIS officer will be conducted and the officer will determine whether the marriage is valid, in good faith and not fraudulent.

The Nunez Firm is experienced with fiance visa processing and all the subsequent steps necessary to get your fiance to the United States permanently. The process can be complex, and mistakes can cause extensive delays in processing. Additionally, aliens from some foreign countries (Some European Countries, Australia, and others) might not want to pursue the fiance visa process, because it may be quicker to immigrate to the United States using other strategies. Contact The Nunez Firm today to schedule a free and confidential consultation.