• Hours & Info

    (562) 495-0554
    M-F: 8:00am - 6:00 p.m.
    Sat: 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
  • Past Blog Posts

  • https://api.whatsapp.com/send?phone=13104885414

New Bankruptcy Case: Attorneys who provide bankruptcy assistance to assisted persons are “debt relief agenc[ies]” under the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 because “bankruptcy assistance,” by definition, includes services commonly performed by attorneys such as “advice, counsel [or] document preparation.” A debt relief agency violates 11 U.S.C. Sec. 526(a)(4)–which prohibits “debt relief agenc[ies]” from “advis[ing] an assisted person…to incur more debt in contemplation of [filing for bankruptcy]”–only when the impetus of the advice to incur more debt is the expectation of filing for bankruptcy and obtaining the attendant relief, and statute does not broadly prohibit debt relief agencies from discussing covered subjects but merely proscribes affirmative advice to undertake a particular action; provision, narrowly construed, is not impermissibly vague. Requirements in 11 U.S.C. Sec. 528 that debt relief agencies disclose in their advertisements for certain services that the services are with respect to or may involve bankruptcy relief, and that they identify themselves as debt relief agencies, were not unconstitutional as applied to attorneys because requirements were reasonably related to government’s interest in preventing consumer deception where they were intended to combat the problem of inherently misleading commercial advertisements, entailed only an accurate statement of the advertiser’s legal status and the character of the assistance provided, and did not prevent debt relief agencies from conveying additional information through their advertisements.
Milavetz, Gallop & Milavetz, P.A. v. United States – filed March 8, 2010

New Immigration case against the foreign national:

Court of Appeals lacked jurisdiction to consider application for relief by petitioners challenging Board of Immigration Appeals’ decision affirming immigration judge’s decision pretermitting their applications for special rule cancellation of removal under Sec. 203 of the Nicaraguan and Central American Relief Act of 1997 because the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 expressly precluded review of BIA’s determination of eligibility for relief under NACARA. Petitioner was not deprived of a full and fair hearing and a reasonable opportunity to present evidence on her behalf, and thereby not denied due process, where immigration judge reviewed all the record evidence, heard counsel’s arguments and petitioner’s testimony, allowed cross-examination, and directly questioned petitioner over the course of four hearings before making the ineligibility determination.
Samayoa Lanuza v. Holder – filed March 5, 2010

New Immigration Case: Basically saying the USCIS has to follow the rules!

NINTH CIRCUIT COURT OF APPEAL

-Antitrust and Trade Regulation-
Telecommunications Act authorizes state public utilities commissions to order incumbent local exchange carriers to lease entrance facilities to competitive local exchange carriers at regulated rates for the purpose of interconnection. Plain language of 47 C.F.R. Sec. 51.319(e)(2)(ii)(B) limits a competitive local exchange carrier to a maximum of ten DS1 circuits along any route where DS1 circuits are available on an unbundled basis regardless of whether the competitive LEC is “impaired” as to DS3 lines.
Pacific Bell Telephone Company v. California Public Utilities Commission – filed March 4, 2010
Cite as 08-15568
Full text http://ping.fm/MfvZQ

-Environmental Law-
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator’s interpretation of plaintiff’s burden to “demonstrate” permit’s non-compliance with the Clean Air Act, as used in 42 U.S.C Sec. 7661d(b)(2), as requiring plaintiff to support his allegations that aggregation of pollutant-emitting sources with legal reasoning, evidence, and references was not arbitrary or capricious.
MacClarence v. United States Environmental Protection Agency – filed March 4, 2010
Cite as 07-72756
Full text http://ping.fm/UO6Ei

-Immigration Law-
Nothing in 8 C.F.R. Sec. 204.5(h)(3)(vi) requires an alien petitioning for an extraordinary visa to demonstrate research community’s reaction to his published articles before those articles can be considered as evidence, and nothing in 8 C.F.R. Sec. 204.5(h)(3)(iv) suggests that judging university dissertations is only persuasive evidence of acclaim if alien served as an external dissertation reviewer for a university with which he was not otherwise affiliated; although Administrative Appeals Office misapplied these two statutes and should have found that alien presented two types of evidence, such error was harmless since alien was required to show three types of evidence in order to be granted relief.
Kazarian v. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services

Save Years regarding Waiting around time with a National Interest Waiver

Question: I’ve a number of many years regarding experience doing the work in which I truly do and I’m incredibly good at it. However, I do not want to wait many years for a PERM visa number to be able to be available. Are generally there any different options for getting a green card employment based visa?

Answer: Actionally there is going to be another option for getting a green card employment based visa. It is called a National Interest Waiver. In these types of cases often called EB-2 cases, the employer offering the foreign national employment have to file the preference petition about Form I-140, except once the alien is without a doubt seeking an exemption coming from the job offer requirement, in which in turn case the the foreign national or perhaps any particular person on his or her behalf may file the petition. In order to possibly be exempt via the job offer requirement, the USCIS should determine that will an exemption would end up being in the national interest. Hence the name ‘national interest waiver’ being a way associated with getting a green card employment based visa. A labor certification or maybe PERM is without a doubt not required should the job offer requirement is waived. In 1998, the federal government designated its firstly precedent decision discussing the benchmarks governing national interest waiver requests. The case which in turn was decided NYSDOT did make it quite problematic in order to get a National Interest Waiver for getting a green card employment based visa approved. The decision established stricter criteria for obtaining national interest waivers than individuals applicable in the past. Getting a green card employment based visa meant for numerous having to be able to hang on several years for the visa number in order to get current. For many years, the government had declined in order to issue a comprehensive and controlling definition associated with national interest and instead had advised the Service Centers to treat petitions involving national interest waiver requests upon a case-by-case basis. This made it hard for attorneys in order to prepare the national interest waiver. It made it necessary to look at all options for getting a green card employment based visa. The Administrative Appeals Office (AAO) had issued several non-binding decisions following enactment associated with the national interest program of which elaborated on the applicable standard. The AAO took the position in which the entering alien’s admission must provide a benefit to the usa beyond a “prospective national benefit” which in turn all exceptional ability and advanced-degree aliens should establish prior to their admission. In the several years immediately after the enactment regarding the national interest waiver provision, the legacy INS had granted such waivers with some frequency relying in part upon these early AAO decisions. In more recent years, however, the Service Centers began applying a more exacting standard to be able to such requests requiring petitioners to be able to establish, for example, in which the alien possesses unique knowledge, abilities, or maybe experience in which set him as well as her apart via others in the field. The 1998 precedent decision continued this trend. Under the benchmarks, it is going to be very important in which the National Interest Waiver be prepared with an abundance of evidence and exacting arguments in order to try to get the case approved. If successful, several years regarding waiting time may end up being avoided.

Question: Exactly what have to be proved to acquire a National Interest Waiver so that some other options for getting a green card employment based visa need not end up being considered?

Answer: The AAO held which the three factors should be considered if evaluating a request to get a national interest waiver. Firstly, the petitioner must establish that the entering alien’s proposed job is going to be in an area of substantial intrinsic merit. The importance of the occupation or perhaps the field associated with endeavor should possibly be established being a threshold requirement. If a unique field regarding endeavor is going to be related to a very critical goal of the nation, this requirement will need to not possibly be challenging to be able to meet. If the is met one could not need to be able to see what additional options exist for getting a green card employment based visa. Eligibility for a national interest waiver is actually not proved, however, solely by a showing in which the foreign national’s field of endeavor has intrinsic merit. Waivers in general for a particular area for national interest waivers don’t exist. Each ought to possibly be approved seperately.

Second, the national interest waiver need to end up being shown that will the proposed benefit will probably end up being national in scope. If this type of could end up being shown, then getting theis type regarding green car employment based visa becomes much easier. The emphasis of this element is actually upon the existence of a national goal in which the alien’s proposed undertaking will promote. Merely serving a regional, local, as well as private interest is not sufficient. The correlation between the national goal plus the entering alien’s activity need not end up being direct, however. As an example, in the actual 1998 case, the alien’s occupation-the proper maintenance and operation associated with New York’s bridges and driveways connecting the state to the national transportation succeeded in meeting this element. While the entering alien’s job was limited in order to a special geographic area, the AAO noted in which New York’s bridges and highways connect the state in order to the national transportation system. The proper maintenance and operation associated with these bridges and driveways for this reason serve the interests associated with different regions of the country.

Finally, it ought to be proved which the “significant” benefit derived coming from this specific beneficiary’s participation in the “national interest” field regarding endeavor “considerably” outweighs the “inherent” national interest in guarding U.S. workers by means of the labor certification procedure. This would likely end up being the particular key in getting the national interest waiver for this type associated with green card employment based visa. This standard sets up a balancing associated with interests, with the national interest in the labor certification procedure weighing in upon one side being a powerful adverse factor in granting the national interest waiver.

Hence, to get the national interest waiver is without a doubt not easy. However, if you weigh putting together a good petition with a chance of succes verses waiting years for different forms of green card employment based visas, it is going to be a good alternative in order to try to get residency.

Recent Win: We just got approved a PERM application for First Line Housekeeping supervisor

Client was denied adjustment because of a count of perjury and grand theft. The Waiver of Excludability was reopened and approved and the motion for Adjustment was reopened so now client has opportunity to become a Lawful Permanent Resident

Click Below for Video on Green Card through Marriage.

http://ping.fm/8pBbF>Getting the Green Card through Marriage

Divorced greencard holder waiting for 3 or 5 years? – Immigration – Avvo.com http://ping.fm/KlXlB

How do we convert from an L1B Visa to live here permanently? – Immigration – Avvo.com http://ping.fm/AUsg0

What are the risks for a greencard holder who has recently become unemployed and has to file taxes as unemployed? – Immigration – Avvo.com http://ping.fm/c5wjh