By: Dennis E. Chua, Esq. A marriage celebrated outside the United States is valid and will be recognized here in the United States if that foreign marriage was valid in the country where it was celebrated. Often, we see cases where clients still fail to have their previously contracted marriage in a foreign country dissolved...Read More
By: Jean S. Tinsay, Esq. Sisa came to the United States in 1985 based on the immigrant petition filed by her only son Crispin. Except for one month every summer when she would return to the Philippines to visit her only sister, she devoted her time caring for Crispin’s growing family.. She was cook, nanny,...Read More
By: Aurora Vega-Buzon, Esq. Rene, a permanent resident since 2002 is in removal (deportation) proceedings. He arrived in the U.S. on March 7, 2002 on an approved petition filed by his permanent resident mother in 1990 for a single adult child. At 28, he and his girlfriend Gina lived together and had 3 children all born...Read More
By: Cesar G. Cutaran, Esq. Even in childhood back in the Philippines, Zenaida already displayed an uncanny business acumen. She would use her glib and charisma to buy at a discount whatever items are popular at the time and resell them at a handsome profit. Eventually, she graduated with a degree in Banking and Finance...Read More
By: Lilli Baculi, Esq. Generally, foreign nationals who are issued non-immigrant visas enter the United States for a temporary period of time and are restricted to the activity consistent with their visas – for example, a person holding a tourist visa is not allowed to work or permanently reside in the United States. Non-immigrants must represent that their stay in...Read More
By: Jean S. Tinsay, Esq. Sylvia came to America carrying her hopes and dreams for a better life. Sadly, those dreams quickly turned into a nightmare. While working as a volunteer back in the Philippines she met Gordo who was the nephew of one of her patients at the hospital. Gordo was a U.S. citizen...Read More
By: Aurora Vega-Buzon, Esq. Rey, a 58 y/o civilian engineer with the federal government and also a US Navy retiree decides to opt for an early (2nd) retirement and go home to the Philippines. After all, he has been divorced for 2 years from his wife (after 32 years of marriage) and his 2 children are both...Read More
By: Cesar G. Cutaran, Esq. The U.S. Congress amended the Immigration and Nationality Act in 1990 to create a special immigrant status for religious ministers granting said individuals lawful permanent residence (“green card”) and eligibility to apply for naturalization. Petition is made on Form I-360 and must be approved by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). On approval,...Read More
The United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has already announced its renewal procedures for individuals granted Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) for the periods of June 15, 2012 – August 15, 2012. However, individuals who were granted Deferred Action by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), will have to wait for further instructions. USCIS...Read More
By: Dennis E. Chua, Esq. One advantage in filing a fiancé visa petition is that the fiancé beneficiary will be able to enter the United States faster compared to a spousal immigrant petition to be filed for the fiancé. Once the fiancé beneficiary enters the United States, he or she must marry the US citizen petitioner...Read More
Ernie, a U.S. citizen is engaged to Liwayway, a widow he met while he was on vacation in the Philippines. Liwayway has a 19 year old daughter, Daria. She told Ernie that she could not bear to be separated from her only daughter and would be devastated if she would be left behind. Ernie would...Read More
On June 26, 2013, the Supreme Court, in the landmark case of United Stated v. Windsor, struck down Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) which defined “marriage as only a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife, and the word “spouse’ as referring only to a person of the...Read More
Under current immigration laws, there is a bar to admissibility to the United States for foreign nationals who are “unlawfully present” in the United States. An unlawfully present foreign national is a person who was inspected at the border and admitted into the United States but who remained in the United States beyond the date...Read More
We are often asked the following question – would it be faster to bring my girlfriend or boyfriend here into the United States if I file a fiancé petition or should I just file for an immigrant spouse petition? Filing a fiancé petition will bring your loved one here into the United States faster than...Read More
By: Jean S. Tinsay, Esq. Almost everyone who is in the United States chasing their American dream aspires to become a naturalized U.S. citizen. With citizenship comes certain benefits, one of which is that you no longer need to fear that you may be subject to deportation. Thus, as soon as one is eligible and...Read More
The spouse of a US citizen will be granted permanent resident status after the US citizen files a petition for the spouse. If the spouses have not yet been married for at least two years at the time the petition was filed, the spouse shall be only granted conditional resident status by the USCIS. The...Read More
