Maryland Immigration Lawyer

Schifanelli & Associates, LLC

705 Melvin Ave., Ste. 100 Annapolis, Maryland 21401 USA

 (888) 719-7892 or (866) 451-2176

www.marcschifanelli.com
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Law Firm Overview

Schifanelli & Associates, LLC, from their offices in Maryland, provide legal services to individuals who need help attaining their immigration goals and objectives. Whether they have resided in the U.S. for a long time as workers or permanent residents, or have only recently arrived, immigrants are often overwhelmed by the complex procedures, in which they must comply in order to acheive or maintain their immigration status. This often results in anxiety regarding their situation.

Our firm helps relieve that anxiety, by ensuring our clients' USCIS filngs are appropriate, complete, deadlines are met, and all applicable legal requirements are satisfied. For those in deportation, we make sure that all laws that favor their defense are taken into consideration by the Immigration Courts and Immigration Judges.

Located close to Washington, D.C., our Annapolis, Maryland-based immigration law firm counsels clients in Spanish, German, French and Serbo-Croatian, and other nationals through interpretors. We are committed to high-quality support for people from all languages and cultures. Our attorneys appreciate other perspectives on the world and recognize the richness that new immigrants bring to the United States. As a former U.S. Army Special Forces officer, Annapolis, Maryland immigration attorney Marc Schifanelli has lived and worked extensively overseas, and appreciates the various reasons why people choose to work in, immigrate to, or seek shelter and asylum in the United States.

Practice Areas

Additional Practice Areas: Family Based Visa, K1 Fiance Visa, K3 Spousal Petitions; Asylum; Removal or Deportation Defense; Employment Based Immigration; Waiver of In admissibility.

Practice Areas Description

- Immigration

At Schifanelli & Associates, LLC, we seek to assist our clients in the immigration tradition of our nation. We help immigrants - those here in the U.S. or those overseas - by providing them the best opportunity possible to achieve their immigration goals. Why hire an immigration lawyer? Whether you are seeking lawful permanent resident status, asylum or refugee status, or just desire a change in your non-immigration status, the process can be complicated. In most instances you have just one opportunity to get it right. You need to bring all of the immigration laws that bear on your case into consideration. As qualified immigration attorneys, we can guide you through the process and prepare your petition for the greatest chance of success.

- Naturalization

Our law firm counsels immigration and naturalization clients with integrity, dedication, and competence, principles instilled in firm founder Marc Schifanelli through his 22-year Army career, which broadened his international perspective and influenced him to become an immigration and naturalization attorney. At our firm, we remain in close contact with you through your immigration case, and spend whatever time is necessary to understand your needs well enough to advocate effectively on your behalf. Attorney Schifanelli speaks Spanish, French, German, and Serbo-Croatian, and we can obtain other translation services, if necessary. We handle all necessary immigration or naturalization filings for you in a timely manner.

- Family Based Visa

Marriage is an exciting time for couples, but immigration issues when a U.S. citizen marries a non citizen can create added stress. At Schifanelli & Associates, LLC, we are happy to support couples through matters of family-based immigration, taking that stress on ourselves so that they can relax and focus on their future together. We assist in all aspects of getting your spouse conditional permanent resident status. With offices in Annapolis, Maryland, we guide you through the immigration process, helping you get positive results, often avoiding delay or unnecessary denial. Whether you get married to your spouse here in the United States, or you were married abroad, we will provide advice regarding work authorization, affidavits of support and, if in the United States, we can even attend the immigration interview (the "I-130 interview") with you. In the future, we can assist the conditional permanent resident to apply for unconditional status, even if certain requirements are lacking.

- Green Card Matters

Status as a Lawful Permanent Resident of the United States may not be as secure as it seems. If your permanent resident status was acquired by marriage to your U.S. citizen husband or wife, you may still have a filing requirement in order to keep from losing it. If you have left the U.S. for a considerable period, the Immigration authorities may determine that you have abandoned your intent to remain a Lawful Permanent Resident upon your return to the United States. All of these actions can have severe consequences. At Schifanelli & Associates, LLC, our skilled attorneys and staff assist visa holders and immigrants to the U.S. in resolving challenging problems such as loss of permanent resident status. We hope that you have arrived at this website before traveling abroad, or before signing a statement waiving your right to an immigration hearing — and before you have been told that you have lost your permanent resident status. We welcome the opportunity to advise you on the best ways.

- Asylum

Each year, thousands of people come to the United States seeking asylum from ethnic, political, racial or religious persecution. At Schifanelli & Associates, LLC, in Maryland, we take pride in helping refugees and asylum seekers present their cases to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS). With compassion and attention to detail, we assist immigrants filing either affirmative asylum petitions with the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) Asylum Offices, or defensive asylum applications (on behalf of those persons who are in removal and deportation proceedings in the Immigration Courts). Asylum is not automatic, and the burden is on the prospective asylee - the person filing the asylum application - to prove that he or she is meets the criteria for asylum. To be successful, the pending asylee must be able to demonstrate past persecution or a well founded fear of persecution should they be returned to their home country or the country where they last resided. Also, they must meet the preliminary requirements under United States asylum law.

- Employment Based Immigration

.S. and multi-national employers and foreign employees alike often seek the assistance of an Annapolis employment-based immigration attorney at Schifanelli & Associates, LLC. Our clients seek our help to obtain work-related visas and other necessary documents, including the following: H-1B employment visas for skilled foreigners in "specialty occupations" requiring specialized knowledge and education: economists, engineers, mathematicians and computer scientists, for example.; H-2B employment visas for temporary or seasonal non agricultural jobs for skilled or unskilled workers.; L-1 visas for inter-company transferees from other countries coming to work in U.S. branch offices temporarily.; PERM labor certifications to allow foreign employees to work in the U.S. on a permanent basis. The PERM labor certification is the first step toward permanent residency for workers with special skills that cannot be fulfilled through the ordinary U.S. labor market.; and E-1 and E-2 visas for treaty traders and treaty investors, including supervisors and executives.

- Removal and Deportation Defense

Being in removal proceedings in front of an Immigration Judge, often called deportation proceedings can be an intimidating proposition for immigrants and their families. Each day, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement ("ICE") initiates deportation and removal proceedings against hundreds of non-citizens, including Permanent Residents. Some are arrested while crossing the border into the United States. Others have Immigration "detainers" placed on them after they are arrested by state or local law enforcement - often for traffic violations like driving without a license - and are discovered to have no immigration status. Lawful Permanent Residents often face deportation and removal proceedings after they are convicted of certain misdemeanors or felony crimes, including crimes involving moral turpitude and/or aggravated felonies. Once in removal proceedings, an immigrant "respondent" needs the assistance of a skilled immigration lawyer and litigator. Our Maryland immigration law attorneys fight hard for intending immigrants and permanent residents to help them get the best possible outcome of removal and deportation proceedings.

- Waivers of Inadmissibility

A person may be denied admission to the United States, or have their permanent resident application denied if they are already in the United States, based on the various "grounds of inadmissibility" listed in section 212 of the Immigration and Nationality Act ("INA"). Your visa can be denied at the consulate or at the border. Or, if you are already in the United States and applying for immigration benefit, your petition may be denied if USCIS determines that you are inadmissible. Grounds of inadmissibility can be for health related reasons (having certain communicable diseases), having convictions for certain criminal charges, for having made false representations on past immigration petitions (including a false claim to citizenship), or other factors. These grounds apply even if you are the spouse of a U.S. citizen.

Attorneys

Mr. Marc D. Schifanelli Attorney Extradition, Immigration, Naturalization and Citizenship

More Information on Schifanelli & Associates, LLC

Annapolis, Maryland Immigration Attorneys
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Annapolis, Maryland Employment Based Immigration Law Firm
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Annapolis, Maryland Family Based Visa Lawyers
Green Card Law Firm in Annapolis, MD
Annapolis, Maryland Citizenship Attorneys
Waivers of Inadmissibility Lawyers in Annapolis, MD
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