Arizona Immigration Laws

By: Margaret Wong

I want to talk to you about the EB-11 or Extraordinary Abilities Visa. The EB-11 Visa is available to any immigrant who can demonstrate that they are at the top of the field of endeavor, and have extraordinary abilities in almost any profession or career. There are two ways to prove that you have extraordinary ability.

The first is to demonstrate that you have received a major internationally recognized award in the field such as the Nobel Prize. The second is to provide evidence that meet at least three out of ten criteria set forth by immigration regulations such as having judged the work of others in the field, authored scholarly publications, or produced an original contribution of major significance to the field.  An immigration officer will then conduct a Final Merits Determination where they consider the entire petition and determine whether or not you have achieved national or international acclaim, and that your achievements are recognized in the field.

There are many benefits to this type of immigration Visa classification. For example, EB-11s have the ability to self-petition. Meaning they do not need an employer to sponsor them. They can also bypass the burdensome labor certification process. If you think you might qualify as an individual with extraordinary ability, you should contact an experienced immigration attorney to help with this complex case. The passion of our staff can’t be beat. We share your joy and we share your tears. We understand that immigration practice is more about winning or losing cases. It’s about changing lives.

By: Marisela Marquez

601 Waiver

In the past, we had what we call a 601 waiver. Those are waivers for people that have overstayed in United States, for people that have done some little thing here and there. Those waivers require that the immigrant go back to their home country, apply there, wait for it to be done there before they can come back.

601A Waiver

In 2014, we had a different waiver, which is called the 601A. Very good waiver. It now allows for people to file for this pardon here in United States, get it approved before you go to Mexico or go to your home country. That way the families stay together before the immigrant goes for the visa in their home country. The problem with that waiver was that the hardship was only for people married to U.S. citizens. The new waiver has been– the executive action expanded that waiver such that it’s no longer just people married to United States citizens. People married to United States, family, residents can qualify. People that have children here can qualify. They can also their children to show hardship because this is a waiver that you can get when you can show that if you move back to your country that either your child, your spouse, or your parent will suffer.

Now this waiver that was only for spouses of U.S. citizens has been expanded to include the parents and the children. Again, it’s very welcome. It’s quite expansive. It allows people to kind of pay for the mistakes they’ve made, but have a second life, which is what this country’s all about.

By: Solomon Kanu

Asylum vs. Withholding

Asylum is for people that are running away from their country, coming into United States. And we have a lot of them all the time. Withholding is usually a situation where if the person does not qualify for asylum – and there are so many reasons why they may not qualify for asylum – then we give them withholding of removal, which in our matter was it.

Safety First

We will not send you back to your country until things improve or until we are sure that you will be safe if you went back to your country. We’ve done that many times. One of my favorite cases is for a young man from Guatemala who had been persecuted because of his religion. When he came back to United States, he was detained for months. Eventually we went to court, we were able to persuade the judge that people in his country stopping him from practicing his religion was enough reason for us to keep him here. Even though the government fought very vehemently to send him back, we were able to prevail and he’s still in United States now.

While he was detained, his wife had a baby. The wife, because of her own status, couldn’t even go to see him in jail. We fought very hard until he was released and he went home, reunited with the family. They are very happy now, they are doing very well.

Kanu & Associates

So we do asylum for people. If you are running away, if you are being persecuted because of your sexual orientation, because of your religion, because of your race, because of your political opinion, we are here to help you. We are here to make sure that those your fears, United States actually does understand those fears. I will give you the protection that you deserve.

By: Solomon Kanu

Hi, I’m Scott Bratton, I’m a partner at Margaret Wong & Associates. I’ve practiced immigration law for the past 13 years representing immigrants throughout the United States. I specialize in federal litigation, removal defense, and other complex issues involving immigration law. I’m the head of the Removal Defense and Litigation departments at Margaret Wong & Associates. I also teach immigration law at Cleveland State University.

I handle complicated immigration matters ranging from removal defense to federal litigation and adjustment of status and naturalization cases. Our firm represents immigrants throughout the United States in all aspects of other immigration cases. We passionately represent individuals in trying to help them obtain their dream of citizenship, non-immigrant status or lawful permanent resident status. If you have any questions, please contact me, and I’ll be happy to talk to you about your case.

By: Scott Bratton

By: Margaret Wong