Ohio Immigration Laws

We have done a lot of cases through the years, because every year we do 4,000 to 6,000 new matters that includes all our consults, our cases around the country, around the world, and all the work permits we got, the deportation, the filings, the asylum, the green cards, the extraordinary.

There are quite a few cases that came back to my mind. One of that is U.S. sitting president, President Obama’s auntie’s case. She’s a woman in the 60s. I met her right before the election of the president, and because of the press– I mean, at that time we don’t know if he’ll win. We are very careful of not letting the public know that I’m working on this case. She’s really an awesome lady. Of course, my partner talked about my firm, or also working with the uncle’s case. Uncle and auntie are so different even though genetically they belong in the same family. Uncle’s a lot more reserved, a lot more– He’s very gentle. Auntie is very more feisty and making sure that things are done right. So it’s two different personalities, and I said through the years, to work with clients you have to work with them on their– because immigration work is very different from corporate or tax.

Because the vision of course is keep them in America, get them a work permit, and get them a green card.   But you also have to work with that person. It’s a very retail, as I said in the industry. It’s not a wholesale practice. It’s a very retail orientated which means that with her, with the public uproar, did we get special treatment? Absolutely no. In fact, it drove me nuts. It’s easier to work on a low profile case than a high profile, because I know all my lawyer, federal friends are watching me. I know the government is watching. I know the right wing, the left wings, they are all watching. In order to be a good lawyer or a great lawyer, you really have to work in the trenches for years, and years as Blackwell said in The Outliers that you have to give them at least 10,000 hours of core competence of hard work. And I’ve done it for 38 years, 36 years.

So but with auntie’s case we won which is– Auntie’s case, it’s difficult because of the pressure, because of the disability, and also because of the law. She didn’t come to America until the 90s. In Immigration work, generally, the older you came to America– I mean, the longer ago you came to America, the better the case is, because laws have since changed. So and I’m the type of lawyer to work it, because I’m not young enough to not know history, but I’m not that old that I forgot.

By: Margaret Wong

Hey, My name is Margaret Wong and I’m an immigration lawyer and I came to America in ’69. I was born and raised in Hong Kong. I went to an all girls, religious school since kindergarten. I came in ’69 with– right at the height of the Vietnam era with the kids in America against the Vietnam War, but never in my wildest dreams that I see what I’m doing now because in ’77 immigration work is not very hot. It’s very much like criminal work, very much like– it’s nothing compared to estate, tax, corporate where all lawyers want to work.

I turned out to be a great lawyer. That’s my passion. That’s my love.  But things really have changed. Years ago the same people don’t use the same lawyers like Middle East people they don’t like to go to Australian lawyer or Arabic lawyer because they their own people are not that people are not that powerful in America. But now things have changed. Because I speak fluent Chinese, we have a lot of Chinese clients coming to us because they just felt I’m one of them.

Also, because I speak the language of a foreign-born because I’m one. I came. I struggled. I was a chambermaid. I was a waitress. I was– you name it, I’ve done it. I cleaned toilets. I’ve done– I’m also the first one– normally the first one who comes into this office, turn on the light. I’m normally the last one to leave the office, turn off the light. It’s really a lot of fun.  Some highlights of this job. When we first started out– because in those day, there’s no 245-I. There’s no three or ten year bar. So people have no papers, they could still get the green card in America. But now they can’t. They have to go back to home country if they were not admitted or inspected or paroled.

To be a great lawyer you really have to know today’s world. You can’t always say, “yeah, but 30 years ago has happened.” Immigration law changes by the day, by the minute, by the hour. The Morton Memo who came out in November of year 2011, 2012. Now he retired and resigned. Homeland Security had mister– Miss Janet Napolitano also resigned. Now we’re working with a new head. These are things that we have to keep up, keep up, keep up.

By: Margaret Wong

We have nationality traits. Like the Russians, the Ukrainians, they’re very different from the Philipinos because of the high and the different fraud level. The level of fraud is different. Nigerians is very different from Sudan, very different from South Africans, and it’s very different from Kenyans, Afghanistans, Pakistans. So it’s all different.  Like the fall of the Shah in the 80s and 70s. A lot of Iranians come to America. So with that, we did a lot of cases. But then the Marriage Fraud Act came in in 1984, and in ’86, IRCA came in. So all these are new changes, 1990 IMMACT 90, three strikes you’re out, by President Clinton that affected. So we have a lot of new things going in the past 35 years.  I’m also lucky because of the history I’ve been doing. Because once I started out in this practice, we used to have no secretary and one desk, and that’s me.

So I would run to Immigration, run back, because there’s no Xerox machine there. So I would run back to the office, make some Xerox, and run back. But now, immigration is growing. In those days, it’s a very small department of DOJ. In the olden, olden days, it’s with the Labor Department, then with DOJ. Now it’s with DHS, which is Homeland Security.  So some of the interesting cases we have done? We did Tony Pena, Jose Mesa. We did a lot of great tennis players. We did a lot of high-profile. But my pride and joy is really working with the everyday cases.

Each country– in the olden days, it’s quota. It’s priority-based. Now it’s still quota and priority-based– actually, in the olden, olden days, it’s hemisphere: eastern hemisphere, western hemisphere. But in ’94, the Civil Rights Act came in. ’95, the Quota Act came in, both by President Johnson. So people like us– I came in 1969. Actually, Taiwan kids came in ’66, ’65, ’67. And then Hong Kong kids came. And then the PRC came en masse in the past three or four years, because Hillary Clinton, before she resigned or retired from the State Department, really make more tourists and students come from overseas to enjoy our education system, to enjoy our touring, because our country– one of the increasing trade from our country should be from tourism and from education – foreign students – because foreign students pay three-times the school tuition than the in-state pay. Because foreign students have a F1 level, and then the general admission, and then the in-state tuition, which is lower than the general admission in all public schools.

So in the past few years, you see a lot more different countries coming to America on F1s. But about in the ’60s and ’70s, because Nixon and Kissinger did not open up the Far East until ’72 visit, ’78 visit, so en masse, all the Chinese came after ’78. But the Koreans came a lot earlier, because of the Korean War – ’51-’53, the Korean War – so Korea and the Philippines of course. In the Second World War, Philippines is a strong ally of America. That’s why in order to be a great immigration lawyer, you really need to know the world. Read the newspapers. Know the history.

By: Margaret Wong

Hi, my name is Marisela Marquez. I’m an attorney with Margaret Wong & Associates. I have been practicing law for over six years. The last two have been with this firm. We are a full service immigration firm. I handle all types of immigration cases.

Most of my time is spent on removal or deportation cases. That means I represent clients who the U.S. government is actively trying to remove. For that purpose I travel all across the country and appear in all immigration courts. I also specialize in obtaining green cards for individuals with exceptional or extraordinary abilities. What makes our firm unique is that when you hire Margaret Wong & Associates to represent you, you acquire an army of eight experienced immigration attorneys and over (30) support staff that speak (15) different languages all dedicated and fighting on your behalf.

By: Marisela Marquez

The American History really controls the inflow, the immigrants of our people. But in the past 20 or 30 years, that’s where I lucked out because I came right at the height of the economic boom off of America. But now it’s difficult because now with the– because H1B law is only 65 number. In my days I was H1B. That’s unlimited numbers. The filing fee in my days is like $25. Now it’s just a filing fee of H1B is $1500. Anybody who hires more than 25 people, the $500 anti-fraud, $320 for the H1. If you have family and married, that’s another $300 including wife and kids. So if you have five kids and one husband, you still– it’s under the one filing fee of $340 so H1B.

So things have really changed. If you have Masters, if you have a net of $20,000– so by April first all these numbers that you stop. So both as an immigration lawyer and as clients, we are very in tuned to the timing of the year. The H2s are the Mexicans. On H2s they come to America by February, March, or April because that’s when all the seasonal work is coming, and they leave because Christmas is a big holiday in South America and Central America. So they normally go home at that time and come back.   Then a lot of foreign students now because they all economically more powerful than we were when I came.  When I came just a one-way airfare from the Far East is three, four thousand U.S. The exchange rate in those days is eight to one. Now it’s still eight to one. In China now six to one, 6.4 to 1. So in my days it cost like thousands of dollars to fly over on 90 day, 30 day boat ride. So we’d never go home. Even for New Years we’d pay– even though you’re willing to pay to stand in line in the dormitories to make a long distance call. One long distance call for one year. But we write letters. Of course in those days there’s no Google. The phone is still circular phone. It’s not a punch phone.

So I look back and I’m so glad of this program because it really makes me think how times have changed. But the work remains the same.   To be a great anything, Minister, lawyer, doctor, cook, dry cleaner, you really have to be the best of the best. If not you won’t survive in America. It’s not like 30, 40 years ago. All of us expected a job. The unemployment rate was about one or two percent. Now it’s like– they say 7%. I think it’s like 15% now unemployment. You’re not good you’re not going to get a job. If you get a job you won’t be happy. So why work when you’re not happy and you really are not accomplishing your dreams.

By: Margaret Wong

By: Margaret Wong

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

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

By: Margaret Wong