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Family-Based Immigration Petitions

If you are a United States citizen, you are eligible to file a petition for your spouse, children, parents, and/or brothers and sisters to obtain their permanent residency in the United States.

 

If you are a Lawful Permanent Resident of the United States, you are eligible to apply for your spouse or children to come to the United States to live permanently.

 

We can help you file the proper paperwork to make sure that your application is handled timely and professionally.  Should a problem arise, our team is prepared to handle it promptly and efficiently to make sure your family member will become a Lawful Permanent Resident as soon as possible, while explaining each step of the process to you.  Sometimes the government’s instructions are confusing, contradictory or redundant. We will help you make sense of them and get the government what they truly want to move your case into approval status.  With us, you will know what to expect each step of the way because we are always available to answer questions and clear up confusion.  Winning client cases and making you feel cared for empowered along the way is our passion.

Adjustments of Status

Please refer to the family-based immigration petitions section before reading this section.

 

If are a United States citizen and your spouse, parent or child entered the United States using a valid visa, has been paroled into the country or is grandfathered under 245(i) (petition filed before April 30, 2001) that relative is eligible to adjust status to permanent residency inside the United States.  This can be a faster and easier process than consular processing abroad because your relative will not to wait for a consular appointment, travel abroad to attend that appointment or await the approval of any needed inadmissibility waivers abroad (which can take years).  It is also easier to have direct contact with the government office having jurisdiction over her.  You may need a waiver if you have certain criminal convictions or if you have ever misrepresented a material fact in obtaining an immigration benefit.  We handle waivers of inadmissibility all the time. Call us to see whether your relative will face any inadmissibility issues before you apply for adjustment of status, otherwise your relative could be denied status and possibly be put into removal proceedings.

Consular Processing

If your relative is not eligible for adjustment of status in the United States, you still have the option to process the family-based petition at a U.S. consulate in your home country. We can help prepare your for all steps of the process, including the application, the affidavit of support, the medical exam and all likely consular interview questions.  You may need a waiver at the time of consular processing. Please call us for a consult before you send your relative to your home country or to the interview at the consulate for consular processing to see if the consular officer will likely request a waiver.  There are several different types of waivers that we commonly prepare in our office: including provisional unlawful presence waivers (we do the most of these and these can be done before you leave the country! Yay! Less time abroad), misrepresentation waivers, removal order waivers, permanent bar waivers, criminal convictions waivers (only certain crimes require this waiver and spoiler alert, drug possession often cannot be waived unless it is for a small amount of THC), and smuggling waivers (that is if you brought your children into the country when they were still minors (these are the easiest waivers to win but cannot be done before you leave for your consular interview, which means you will have to wait for the waiver to get approved while you are abroad).

Waivers of Inadmissibility

Whether you are adjusting your immigration adjusting status in the United States or processing the visa petition at a U.S. consulate in your home country, it is crucial to analyze whether you will need a waiver of inadmissibility.

 

Any time a person becomes a Lawful Permanent Resident, she or he must “admissible” into the country. There is a laundry list of acts, enumerated Section 212 of the Immigration and Nationality Act that make an immigrant inadmissible. For example, having certain criminal convictions, or living in the United States without legal status can make an immigrant inadmissible.

 

Hardship Waivers

 

Usually to win a waiver case, the attorney and U.S. citizen or Lawful Permanent Resident relative must come up with enough compelling evidence that the relative will suffer what is called “extreme hardship” if the immigrant is not granted the waiver.  This requires proving that the U.S. Citizen or Lawful Permanent Resident needs the immigrant relative in the United States to avoid suffering what the law calls “extreme hardship.”  It also requires proving that the U.S. citizen or Lawful Permanent Resident will suffer extreme hardship if she or he is required to move the immigrant’s home country to be together during the during the time period that the immigrant is inadmissible.

 

Many factors can be used to prove extreme hardship to the U.S. citizen or Lawful Permanent Resident spouse or parents.  The strongest evidence usually involves medical conditions or extreme economic hardships.  However, there are many other hardships that the government will consider, which, taken as a whole, can amount to extreme hardship.  These include poor country conditions in the home country, lack of familial support, educational and career opportunities; language barriers and cultural barriers.  It is vital to have an experienced attorney analyze the facts of your particular case to help you put together the strongest possible waiver application to ensure that you and your relative can live together in the United States.  The most important factor, however, is that you have been a good person during your time in the United States.  That means you have supported your family, worked hard and most importantly have not committed crimes that could be deemed a danger to the community.

 

To avoid a visa denial and/or removal proceedings, it is very important to know whether your relative will face any of these inadmissibility issues before embarking on the journey to become a Lawful Permanent Resident.  The smartest thing anyone can do before making a big life decision that will have consequences for many years to come is to seek advice from an expert in that field.

VAWA Law (Violence Against Women Act)

VAWA is one of the most important parts of the Immigration and Nationality Act because it is an enormous and powerful shield for those who have been stripped of their power for being an immigration.  The law was passed in 2000, and VAWA stands for the “Violence Against Women Act.”  To qualify for immigration VAWA benefits, we must show that the immigrant could have benefitted from an immediate relative family-based immigrant petition filed by a United States Citizen or Lawful Permanent Resident spouse, parent or child, and that the immigrant suffered physical abuse or extremely cruel emotional treatment from that relative during the course of their relationship, which prevented that.  VAWA applicants are eligible to apply for their own immigrant visa petitions via Form I-360.  Evidence of the abusive relationship is foremost in VAWA cases and usually based almost entirely on the immigrant’s detailed affidavit.  Only the victim knows what really happens behind closed doors.  We have talented and professional writers talk directly with each client to note down every element of the abuse that the immigrant would love to forget.  We can help you prepare the strongest case possible so that you can benefit from this extremely strong and important safety net built into immigration law.

 

Resources for VAWA

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U Visa

U Visas are another extremely important aspect of immigration law. – The U visa has helped hundreds of thousands of people obtain immigration status after being the victim of a qualifying crime.  In order to get law status after being the victim of a crime, you must have called the police and have cooperated in the investigation of the crime.  That means follow-up phone calls, meetings and court-appearances with police officers or the local district attorney’s office.  What a lot of people don’t understand about U visas is that the most important aspect of the gaining status under a U visa is calling the police and then ALSO living in a jurisdiction where your local police department or district attorney’s office that is willing to sign the certification form.  I’m going to be honest: not all jurisdictions are willing to help immigrants obtain their status.  It is sad but it is true.  The most important and delicate phase of the case can be obtaining the certification if the jurisdiction we are working with does not have helping immigrants at the top of their priority list. But that is where you need your attorney to advocate for you most: at the local level, explaining in simple language why it is good for the community for you to gain lawful status.

 

U visas are wonderful because they officer a generous waiver of inadmissibilties and they provide a direct pathway to permanent residency and U.S. citizenship.  In addition, your spouse, children and parents (if the victim was under 21 at the time the visa was filed) can be included. Parents of minors who are US Citizens can also be considered victims if they supported their children in reporting the commission of the crime to local authorities.

 

The first step to seeing if you qualify for a U visa is obtaining the police report.  If you can’t obtain the police report, please know the approximate date of the incident, the name and date of birth of the victim and address or general location of where the crime occurred.    

 

Being the victim of the following crimes allows you to apply for a U visa:

 

  • Domestic violence

  • Felonious Assault

  • False Imprisonment

  • Kidnapping

  • Rape

  • Murder

  • Sexual abuse

  • Obstruction of Justice

  • Trafficking

  • Other violent crimes

  • Extortion/Blackmail

  • Attempt to commit any of these crimes

 

It is imperative that you help the police and district attorney’s office as much as possible to bring charges against the person who committed the crime.  If you have been the victim of a crime and you think you could qualify for a U visa, call our office as soon as possible so that we can have contemporaneous contact with law enforcement and to ensure your cooperation in the investigation and prosecution of the crime.

Certificate of Citizenship or Passport Applications

If your parents or grandparents were Citizens of the United States, you may already be a citizen!  Call our office for a consult to see if you are already a citizen.  If we can make a persuasive argument that you already are a U.S. citizen, we can then decide whether to file for a Certificate of Citizenship via form N-600 and/or to file directly for your U.S. passport.

Naturalization

If you have been a Permanent Resident of the United States for five years, or in the case of a current spouse of a U.S. Citizen, three years, you are eligible to become a U.S. citizen! This is great news because becoming a citizen is the final step in the immigration process and it will grant you many rights and benefits that are unavailable to Lawful Permanent Resident.  Immigration lawyers roundly encourage Lawful Permanent Residents to become U.S. Citizens as soon as possible, for the following reasons:

 

  • You are protected from ever being deported

  • You can leave the country for as long as you want

  • You never have to pay another immigration fee again!

  • You can vote

  • You can petition for additional relatives to come to the United States

  • You qualify for more benefits from the federal government, such as Medicare, Medicaid and other social benefits.

  • You are eligible to apply for federal employment

 

To become a U.S. Citizen, you need to be conversant in English, be able to write basic sentences in English and you need to have a basic understanding of the how the U.S. government works and its history.  There are many free study guides available to help that you will pass the English/Civics portion of your Naturalization interview.

 

If you are in the Milwaukee area, Voices de la Frontera, an immigrant right’s group, offers fantastic and FREE English and civics classes on Wednesday evenings from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. and on Saturday mornings from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.  I strongly encourage you to attend.  Please visit vdlf.org.  MATC and other local technical colleges also offer free naturalization preparation and general English As A Second Language courses.

 

It is one of the happiest days when my clients pass their tests and are sworn in as US Citizens because they are protected for life and because immigrants make this country what it is!

Removal Defense

Attorney Ryan previously handled numerous removal defense cases including defensive asylum, cancellation of removal and adjustments of status.  In 2022, she has greatly reduced her removal defense case load due to her young son’s type 1 diabetes diagnosis.  She now handles mostly motions to reopen and motions to terminate if collateral relief is available.   On occasion, she will accept a cancellation of removal case if there are extreme equities ands secondary relief.

 

“It’s immoral to deport anyone given such horrendous conditions, and it’s getting worse, not better.”  Ira J. Kurzban

 

DEFERRED ACTIONFOR CHILDHOOD ARRIVALS-RENEWALS ONLY

 

Basic Requirements:

  • Came to the United States under age 16

  • Be under the age of 31 on June 15, 2012

  • Graduated from high school or higher, or be in process of attaining the G.E.D.

  • Be present in the United States on June 15, 2012 and during the five years prior to that date.

  • Consult with an attorney who specializes in immigration law if you have ever been convicted of any crime

  • MUST HAVE BEEN GRANTED DACA BEFORE SEPTEMBER 5, 2017 AND NEVER LET IT LAPSE FOR MORE THAN 12 MONTHS

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