Los Angeles Family & Marriage Immigration Lawyer

Heather L. Poole, PC, Professional Law Corporation

225 South Lake Avenue
Suite 300
Pasadena, California 91101
USA

(626) 358-4550 or (877) 486-2678

www.humanrightsattorney.com

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Heather L. Poole, Los Angeles area immigration lawyer, exclusively focused on family-based immigration with emphasis on 3 & 10 year bar waivers for unlawful presence, conditional green card waivers, abused immigrants, complicated marriage & family green card cases, and citizenship issues. Heather is a nationally published author and trainer of other immigration attorneys for the American Immigration Lawyers Association (www.aila.org) and teaches Immigration Law at Fullerton College in Orange County, California.

Our firm was founded on the core beliefs that we must stand up for what is right in the face of opposition, reach out to others in their hour of need, and work passionately at making a difference in our clients' lives and in the world community.

We travel to you! As all immigration law is federal law, Attorney Heather represents clients all over the U.S. and the world. Attorney Heather is one of few nationwide immigration attorneys who actually travels nationwide to be by her clients' side at the green card interview, immigration court appearance, and naturalization interviews.

Attorney Heather has a very high (98% overall success rate) on all immigration cases.*
* Keep in mind that success rates do not indicate or guarantee a favorable outcome in a future case. It is illegal and unethical for any attorney to guarantee an outcome. Always consult a competent immigration attorney about your case to determine your options and chances.

Year this Office was Established: 2001

Languages: English, Spanish

Practice Areas

Work Permit

Additional Practice Areas: Unlawful Presence and Illegal Entries; Misrepresentation Waivers; Criminal Waivers; Political Asylum; Deportation Defense.

Practice Areas Description

Immigration Law exclusively devoted to helping couples and individuals with complicated family-based immigration petitions and US citizenship, including:

• 3 & 10 Year Bar Waivers for unlawful presence and illegal entries;
• Misrepresentation Waivers;
• Fiance Visas;
• Conditional Green Cards Joint Filings and Waivers;
• Green Cards for Spouses;
• Green Cards for Parents;
• Green Cards for Brothers & Sisters;
• Green Cards for Children;
• Criminal Waivers;
• Citizenship & Naturalization;
• Green Cards for Abused Immigrants;
• Political Asylum;
• Deportation Defense;
• Visas for Victims of Crime.

- Abused Immigrants

Understanding immigration law and its complicated implications can be a daunting, worrisome experience for anyone trying to legally enter the U.S. or stay within legal status. Add domestic violence to the picture and many immigrants simply feel helpless to escape the abusive situation and take back control of their own lives. You know, as do we, that your spouse or intimate partner maintains his/her control over you and your relationship by fear, specifically your fear of losing your immigration status if s/he were to call INS (CIS) or drop his/her sponsorship of your green card petition because you disobey or anger him/her. But all hope need not be lost. We're here to help.

- Conditional Green Cards

If you have been married less than two years when your noncitizen spouse is granted lawful permanent resident status, your spouse will receive permanent resident status on a conditional basis. What this means is that the noncitizen spouse's green card will only be valid for 2 years, not 10 years. To convert the conditional (2 year) green card into a 10 year green card, the U.S. citizen or legal permanent resident sponsoring spouse and the conditional green card-holding spouse must together to petition to have the condition removed, or else the green card will expire and lawful permanent residency status terminated. This petition must be filed within the 3 month period before the green card expires.

- Citizenship

Whether a person may obtain U.S. citizenship depends on many variables, including the person's moral character (arrests, whether taxes have been paid, other discretionary factors), how s/he obtained their permanent residency, any actions taken that have made the person deportable or indicate an abandonment of permanent residency, and their familial relationship to other U.S. citizens. Heather has a 100% approval rate on U.S. citizenship cases.

- Visas and Green Cards

• B-1/ B-2 visitor's visas

The visitor's visa is required for all visa applicants wishing to travel to the US on a business or pleasure, unless they are from a country with visa waiver status. Typical visitor visas are granted for a 6 month period, extendable to 1 year per visit. Applicants for visitor visas must show that they qualify under provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act.

• L - the international employee visa

L-1 nonimmigrant status is an employer specific, employment-authorized nonimmigrant status available to a foreign national employed abroad who seeks admission into the United States to work for a qualifying affiliate U.S. employer in either managerial/executive capacity (L-1A) or specialized knowledge capacity (L-1B).

• H1B - the professional's visa

The most common dual-intent visa is an H visa. The H visa is available if you have a U.S. bachelor's degree or its equivalent and the job you are performing requires a bachelor's degree in order to do it. An individual can stay in the U.S. for a maximum of six years in this category. As with the L visa, an individual must leave the U.S. for one year before he or she can be readmitted in H visa status. Both the H and the L visa count time in the other category against the time cap.

• H-3 - Training visa

H-3 visas are for trainees in any field of endeavor, except for physicians who come to the USA to receive graduate medical education or training. The petitioner is the employer; the foreign visitor is the beneficiary/trainee. The employer must show: (1) the proposed training is not available in the beneficiary's own country; (2) the beneficiary will not be placed in a position which is in the normal operation of the business and in which citizens and resident workers are regularly employed; (3) the beneficiary will not engage in productive employment unless such employment is incidental and necessary to the training; (4) and the training will benefit the beneficiary's career outside the U.S.

• O-1 - extraordinary ability visa

This is a temporary visa for aliens of extraordinary ability in the arts, sciences, or business.

• E - the investor's or treaty trader visa

The Immigration and Nationality Act provides nonimmigrant visa status for a national of a country with which the United States maintains a commerce treaty and who is coming to the United States to carry on substantial trade, including trade in services or technology, principally between the United States and the treaty country, or to develop and direct the operations of an enterprise in which the national has invested, or is in the process of investing a substantial amount of capital.

• F-1 - the student visa

With the exception of Canadian citizens, for whom the requirement of a visa is waived, all F-1 students must first obtain a visa before applying for entry to the U.S. An individual cannot apply for the F-1 visa without an I-20 form obtained by their school and presented to the consulate. The F-1 visa also requires that the student demonstrate that s/he has the ability to finance this first academic year with immediately available assets. This is done through submitting evidence of bank accounts, letters from the school (in the case of a scholarship or grant), or documents from sponsors

• I - Media/Journalism visas

The I visa is for representatives of the foreign press, film, radio or other foreign informational media, entering the U.S. on behalf of a foreign employer to continue correspondence and vocation. I visa holders may remain in the U.S. as long as they are assigned to work here by their foreign office and there is no requirement that the visa holder maintain a residence abroad.

• J-1 & Q - exchange visitor visas

The "J" visa is for educational and cultural exchange programs designated by the Department of State, Bureau of Consular Affairs, and the "Q" visa is for international cultural exchange programs designated by U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services (CIS, formerly known as INS).

• K-1 - fiance visa

If your fiancé(e) is not a citizen of the United States and you plan to get married in the United States, then you must file a petition with INS on behalf of your fiancé(e).

• K-3 - waiting visa

To reduce the separations immediate family members of U.S. citizens may experience while waiting abroad for an immigrant visa, U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services implemented a new K nonimmigrant visa provision. The rule expands the K visa status, currently available to fiancé(e)s of U.S. citizens, to include the spouse of a U.S. citizen, who is waiting abroad for an immigrant visa, and the spouse's children. This will allow them to enter the United States as nonimmigrants, re-unite with their family here, and then apply for immigrant status while in the country.

• TN - visas for citizens of Mexico and Canada

Each application for TN professional status requires:
1. A statement (in the form of a letter or contract) of the professional-level activity listed in Appendix 1603.D.1, of the North American Free Trade Agreement in which the applicant will be engaging and a full description of the nature of the job duties the applicant will be performing, the anticipated length of stay, and the arrangements for remuneration;
2. Evidence that the applicant meets the educational qualifications or alternative credentials for the activity listed in the statute and evidence that all licensure requirements, where required by state or local law, have been satisfied.

• R - Religious worker visas

This category is for ministers or persons working in a professional capacity in a religious occupation or vocation, for a religious organization with a background in the religious denomination for which s/he is to be employed under the R visa. This visa is good for 3 years and may be extended up to 5 years.

• S - snitch visa (for police informants)

The S visa, sometimes referred to as the "Snitch Visa," includes two categories - the S-1 and the S-2. S-1 is for a person who has important information on a criminal organization and whose presence is needed by the law enforcement authorities investigating or prosecuting the matter. An example of a criminal organization would be a drug trafficking cartel. The S-2 is for a person supplying key and reliable information to law enforcement regarding a terrorist organization, and in doing so, is placing him or herself in danger.

• U - crime victim visa

The U visa was created by the new Trafficking Act which amended 1994's Violence Against Women Act's immigration provisions. To qualify for a U visa, the applicant:
. must have been victimized by certain criminal activity that took place in the U.S. or violated U.S. law;
. as a result of this criminal activity, the applicant suffered substantial physical or mental abuse;
. the applicant possesses information concerning the criminal activity; and
. the applicant has a certificate or other affirmation by a designated official that she has been helpful, is being helpful, or is likely to be helpful to an investigation or prosecution of the criminal activity.

• T - trafficking victim visa

The T visa was created by the 2001 Trafficking act and is specifically designed for victims of severe trafficking who are present in the US due to such severe trafficking and who have complied with any reasonable request in an ongoing or potential investigation or prosecution of a trafficking smuggler. The victim must also show that s/he will suffer extreme hardship if removed from the U.S. The requirements are more strict than those of the U visa.

• V - Visa for Spouse of LPR waiting abroad

The new V1 and V2 nonimmigrant visas allow certain spouses of lawful permanent residents and the children of those spouses to travel to and from the US and to reside in the US while they wait for the final processing of their immigrant visa. The V visas for adults are valid for multiple entries for ten years. Holders of the V visa are eligible to apply for employment authorization so they can work lawfully in the U.S. while awaiting their immigrant visa approval.

- Misrepresentation

When you are applying for permanent residency (green card) or an immigration benefit of any kind, intentionally concealing the truth from or knowingly lying to an immigration or a consulate officer could result in a misrepresentation finding. If CIS or the Department of State consulate officer believes you committed misrepresentation, this is a life-time bar to receiving any immigration benefit (regardless of whether you otherwise qualify for permanent residency or a visa). The only way around a misrepresentation finding is filing a waiver with CIS.

- Illegal Entries & Unlawful Presence

The 3 and 10 year bars to re-entry

The 1996 Illegal Immigration Reform and Responsibility Act (IIRAIRA) created three year, ten year, and permanent bars on admission to the U.S. for a variety of immigration status violations. These bars apply widely and affect immigrants who have family in the U.S., have worked and paid taxes in the U.S., and in many cases are otherwise eligible for permanent resident status.

The three year bar to re-entry into the U.S.: The three year bar applies to individuals who have been unlawfully present in the United States for a continuous period of more than 180 days, but less than one year, and who voluntarily depart the U.S.

The ten year bar to re-entry into the U.S.: The ten year bar applies to individuals unlawfully present in the U.S. for an aggregate period of one year or more who depart voluntarily. Unlawful presence begins to accrue when the period of authorized stay expires or after an entry to the U.S. without inspection.