Posts

Don’t Seal/Expunge Noncitizen Criminal Records!

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In 2023 the Minnesota legislature enacted the Clean Slate Act. It involves expanding the types of past criminal convictions that can be sealed from public view, as well as automatically ceiling, others, primarily low level drug offenses. In many situations, past criminal records harm the ability of an otherwise law, abiding individual to gain employment, housing, insurance, or loans. The question of the Clean Slate Act is not whether expungement of criminal records is good. The question is whether a system of automatic expungements has been crafted to prevent unintended harm to those who actually benefit from access to their own criminal records. Who are some of these people? First, in almost every immigration application, noncitizens have an affirmative duty to disclose any arrest and provide certified records of any arrest, charge, conviction, probation, probation completion, and in many instances court transcripts—regardless of final disposition. This is the case even if a matter is
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How to Call a Lawyer

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Over the years I’ve been blessed to discover some effectives way to initiate the first call to a lawyer, and some not so effective ways. Initial contact with an attorney can move quickly and efficiently, or can take longer and lead to more confusion.  This post lists some of my own observations through 24 years of law practice to get the most out of your first call with an attorney. To clarify, it's not about WHAT to call a lawyer, as my imagination pales to many out there. It is about how to contact an attorney to make your first (or subsequent) call as productive--and inexpensive--as possible.  These are some helpful tips when contacting an attorney for the first time, or even when contacting your current attorney. Call from a Quiet Spot This is my biggest suggestion and most common problem. You are calling a lawyer because you have an important legal issue in your life that needs to be solved. If the attorney cannot hear you, or you cannot hear the lawyer, you risk losing import
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Visa Stuck at the Embassy

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I RECEIVED THE FOLLOWING QUESTION TODAY:   My husband and father's cases have been in Administrative processing for over 9 months now. The Embassy is just delaying the process! ANSWER:   In general, there’s not much a lawyer can legally do to "unstuck" an application at an Embassy. An attorney can submit a letter, but Embassies are so bureaucratic it is doubtful the letter will reach the right person. An attorney can, however, sue the Department of State in U.S. federal court to force a decision one way or another, but this will cost thousands of dollars and the decision may go against you. One realistic course of action should be to contact your own Congressperson to write a letter to shake loose a decision. You should know, however, that if the application was problematic is some way, sometimes no answer is a good answer. Meaning, at least the application is not yet denied. To help determine your chances, a consultation with an attorney may help. But it will be essentia
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Renounce Your U.S. Citizenship?

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Recently I posted a poll asking if people had heard of the video game Don’t Tax Me Bro. I asked, because the video game reminded me of a phone call I received regarding renunciation of one’s US citizenship. A US citizen, who I assumed from his Midwest accent had grown up in Minnesota, wanted an immigration lawyer to renounce his U.S. citizenship.  He explained that people in his church had been doing this because they were tired of paying taxes. “I’m a businessman, see, and pay a lot of taxes.”  So he wanted to hire an immigration lawyer to get that done. I have to admit this was a new one for me. In my previous life as a lawmaker, I encountered people all the time that didn’t want to pay taxes—AT ALL—regardless of the benefits they receive for living in America.  If someone would like a list of those benefits in a different post just holler.. Let’s just say, I’m of the belief that freedom isn’t free.  But it is one’s right to advocate for zero taxes if they wish, and we have a democra
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Lost in an Almost Translation

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  My translation service friends have been in my mind lately. Not sure why, maybe because a recent case required both an Arabic and French document translation.  From time to time I enjoy a chuckle from a funny interpreting experience some years ago. The matter involved an urgent need for spoken Gujarati, and no professional service was immediately available. I asked a local aide society if they could find someone who spoke Gujarati, and they heartily agreed.  When the interpreter arrived he spoke beautiful Gujarati with my client. Small problem: he couldn’t speak a word of English back to me!  Basic lesson: make sure your interpreter is fluent in BOTH languages! Lol!
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Resigned H1B Job

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I recently answered the following question. Q:   I was working on H1b for 3.5 years, but for some personal reasons I resigned last week from the job.   Now my Employer is really mad and they are saying that they will report it to USCIS. I came back to my home country and then resigned. Can they still report something bad/suspicious to the USCIS? A: You didn't do anything illegal, but by resigning from your job you lost your H1B status. If you truly departed the country, and THEN resigned, then there is nothing about that particular action your employer can complain about. Of course they can try. If there were other issues going on (like fraud) then certainly the employer can submit a report.  It does not mean their reports will be found valid, but they can cause a headache nonetheless. If there's not fraud for them to report, then at most they can submit a "withdrawal" of your visa to make a difficult to reenter (but you'd need to be rehired by that particulary em
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Removal of Conditions

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I recently answered the following question: Q: What are the requirements if I need to remove the condition on my two-year green card.  When do i need to apply exactly? A:  If you received your marriage green card within two years of marriage, your permanent residency is "conditional." This means you must prove your prove that your marital relationship still exists and is bona fide after two years. Obviously this is meant to prevent fraudulent marriages for immigration purposes. I  tell my clients this process it is basically like applying for your green card again in terms of what documents you need to provide. The form is I-751. The documents should come primarily from the two-year time period since green card approval. You are showing that you still have a bonafide marital relationship and that it was entered into in good faith. Provide joint bank statements, residential lease/mortgage/deed, joint tax filings, photographs, receipts from notable events, joint insurance, and
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