Our offices have represented clients with final orders of removal who seek additional time to remain in the U.S. prior to departure. We have worked with ICE offices throughout the U.S. in filing requests for additional time, accompanying clients to meet with an ICE officer, and seeking formal stays of removal and, if necessary, travel arrangement for detained individuals seeking to expedite their departure from the U.S. Call our offices to discuss what options you may still have or if there are material changed circumstances in your case as you may qualify for other forms of relief.
You may be able to reopen your old deportation case if you were denied asylum or some other form of relief is now available to you. We have successfully reopened old deportation cases and worked with ICE / OPLA attorneys in securing “second chances” for our clients, including filing for TPS or permanent residency.
If you are detained by ICE, you may be eligible for a bond or release from ICE custody. If a judge grants bond, you will be responsible for posting the entire amount. The removal process begins with the issuance of a Notice to Appear, or NTA, placing you in removal proceedings. It is the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) formal charging document that alleges the factual and legal grounds for why you are removable or inadmissible from the United States.
We can prepare a bond motion for release If you are detained by ICE, and if a judge grants bond, you will be responsible for posting the entire amount. Only a U.S .Citizen or lawful permanent resident can post a bond on your behalf, but there are situations where our law firm can also post a bond for you if you provide the full amount via cashier’s check or money order.
We can represent you before any immigration court nationwide. We regularly represent individuals before the Chicago, Cleveland and Detroit Immigration Courts having filed thousands of appearances before them. Representation covers detained and non-detained individuals, and you may be eligible for a bond while your removal proceedings are pending. Not all individuals are eligible for a bond and there are certain legal and factual situations where you will be deemed “mandatory custody”.
When our experienced attorneys conduct an initial assessment of your case, we can make that determination for you.
Prosecutorial Discretion (PD) may be available to your loved one even if DHS issues a NTA. There are a variety of factors that come into play during this situation and our experience requesting PD with ICE and/or OPLA attorneys allows us to present you with this option.
Under the immigration laws, even lawful permanent residents or LPRs can be issued a NTA for certain criminal offenses. Throughout our years of service, we have represented numerous LPRs fighting deportation, arguing that their criminal offense is not a ground of removability or preparing applications of relief, including waivers, readjustment, cancellation of removal, or termination.
We regularly work with federal and state criminal defense attorneys in assessing the immigration implications a potential plea agreement or guilty finding will have on a LPR. We are a trusted referral source for many criminal defense attorneys throughout Illinois and Indiana, and have worked with clients who have pending cases in courts throughout the U.S. Many state criminal offenses have a corresponding federal ground, and we can determine if the criminal offense meets that ground to form a basis of removability.
Cancellation of removal for certain non-lawful permanent residents is available if you have been in the United States for at least 10 years before the issuance of your NTA and you are now in removal proceedings. You must also show that you have a qualifying U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident family member who would suffer extreme and unusual hardship should you be deported.
This form of relief will not only allow you to remain in the U.S. but also to obtain lawful permanent residency at a future date when visas are available.
Having filed many of these applications for our clients during the past, we can often provide a strong assessment for eligibility at the onset. We can also help you obtain a work authorization card, or EAD, while your application is pending with the courts. We take into account a variety of factors in presenting this application before the immigration court. If approved, you will gain lawful permanent residency once a visa is available.
Even if you don’t qualify for asylum because your application is untimely or certain criminal offenses prevent you from seeking asylum, you may be eligible for withholding of removal or protection under the U.N. Convention Against Torture or CAT relief. For example, we successfully obtained CAT relief for an individual fearing return to Pakistan due to his sexuality despite his criminal conviction for an aggravated felony.
Generally, you must apply for asylum within one year of your date of entry to the United States. You must show that you have experienced persecution in the past or have a fear of future persecution if returned, and that fear must be based on one of the protected grounds required to apply for asylum.
A grant of asylum will allow you to apply for lawful permanent residency in the future and you may then also petition for your family members residing overseas to enter the U.S. as refugees. We have successfully obtained asylum for clients throughout the world including Central America, Mexico, Pakistan, Mali, Palestine, Moldova, Ukraine, Ghana and many other countries.
We especially have helped women who have undergone female genital mutilation/cutting or FGM/FGC cases obtain asylum and have provided free seminars on this topic.
We regularly file appeals to the Board of Immigration Appeals, or BIA, of an Immigration Court’s decision. We can also help you if we did not represent you before the Immigration Court and you would like us to take your case to the BIA or get a second opinion. Remember, if an immigration judge denied your case, it often means you have a deportation order and unless you appeal it, it will be a final removal order.
We regularly file Petitions for Review to Circuit Courts of Appeals in Seventh Circuit and other Circuit Courts. Read about some of our victories here.
Sometimes it is very common for USCIS to deny an application for a green card or a visa petition filed by a family member or employer alleging incomplete evidence was presented or there was fraud in the petition filing. We can help you overcome that denial or present new evidence to the administrative agencies by filing a Motion to Reopen and Reconsider to USCIS. Strict deadlines, often 30 days, apply so it is important you contact an experienced attorney immediately to discuss your options. In other cases, USCIS issues a notice of intent to deny (NOID) or denial of a visa petition by a family member (I-130 visa petition) or employer (I-140 visa petition), and we can assist in appealing it to the Administrative Appeals Office (AAO) or BIA.
Our experienced attorneys have been able to get USCIS to rescind a prior denial or properly respond to a request for evidence (RFE) to obtain approval of the visa petition. A RFE is an opportunity to present new evidence or make a legal argument in order to avoid a denial. Strict deadlines apply so it is important to contact an attorney as soon as you receive it to discuss your options.
A denied application for citizenship or N-400 application can be “appealed” via a Petition for Naturalization review to a federal district court. We have successfully handled these types of cases and will look at all options for you including settling the matter with the U.S. Government or taking the case to trial. In addition, we have handled cases where the U.S. Government, through the U.S. Attorney’s office, has filed a petition to denaturalize, or take away, the U.S. citizenship status of an individual, typically a civil action.
These types of cases require an experienced attorney who has knowledge of the federal court process and often times it is important to bring in outside counsel to make sure there could be no potential criminal liability. Our vast network of contacts will ensure that you are always properly represented at all levels of your case and if the need arises to bring in an experienced federal criminal attorney, we will do so.
A visa petition is usually the first step in the process to become a lawful permanent resident. The U.S. Immigration laws use a preference-based classification for both employment and family-based visa categories. Depending on who your sponsor is, you may be immediately eligible to adjust your status to lawful permanent resident if you are in the U.S. with lawful status or entered on a valid visa. Visas in preference category are eligible to file at a later date depending on the visa bulletin processing time which is updated every month and is available here.
We’ve handled numerous cases in U.S. Embassies and Consulates worldwide in securing an immigrant visa to enter the U.S. This process is entitled “consular processing” and involves submitting numerous paperwork and applications through the National Visa Center (NVC) in accordance with State Department requirements. Our clients then attend an interview overseas. We regularly communicate with overseas posts in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico; Islamabad, Pakistan; Montreal, Canada; Warsaw, Poland; Mumbai, India, Bamako, Mali, and many more.
A visa petition is usually the first step in the process to become a lawful permanent resident. The U.S. Immigration laws use a preference-based classification for both employment and family-based visa categories. Depending on who your sponsor is, you may be immediately eligible to adjust your status to lawful permanent resident if you are in the U.S. with lawful status or entered on a valid visa. Visas in preference category are eligible to file at a later date depending on the visa bulletin processing time which is updated every month and is available here.
Our offices file all types of family-based immigrant visas including SIJS petitions. We also handle a select few types of employment-based petitions so contact us at 312.726.9800 to see if we can help you.
Even if you entered the U.S. illegally, you may still be eligible to obtain lawful permanent residency if your visa petition is grandfathered under an old “amnesty” provision or if you have a family member in the military.
Our offices have assisted hundreds of individuals obtain permanent residency in the United States through military parole in place.
You may require a waiver for certain criminal offenses before USCIS approves your application for permanent residency. A variety of factors come into play and you must have a “qualifying relative” to file for the waiver. That person must be a U.S. Citizen of Lawful Permanent Residence and your spouse, parent or child.
We have filed all types of waivers and can provide you an assessment and guide you through the process.
You may be eligible for a waiver for certain fraud or misrepresentation, and for other instances before USCIS approves your application for permanent residency.
We handle all types of waiver applications including applications for a provisional waiver which allows you to remain in the U.S. and obtain a pre-approval of your unlawful presence in the U.S. prior to departure. Under this type of waiver, there is typically very little wait time to returning to the U.S. and we will make sure that if you are required to depart and obtain a waiver, you spend as little time overseas as possible. We have handled hundreds of these types of cases with a high success rate and with clients often having to spend less than 1-2 weeks overseas before being granted an immigrant visa to return to the U.S.
Call us today at 312.726.9800 to see if you qualify for a provisional waiver and we will walk you through the process. It is important to note that provisional waivers are administrative tools enacted during the Obama Presidency so they may no longer be available in the future and for many folks, regardless of how long you have been in the U.S. or your familial ties, this is the only way to “become legal”.
USCIS allows nonimmigrants who are victims of certain qualifying crimes such as blackmail, extortion, felonious assault, kidnapping, murder, prostitution, rape, or trafficking, to apply for a visa regardless of their status in the U.S. Not all crimes allow an applicant to apply. An applicant must demonstrate they have suffered and continue to suffer mental or physical abuse, provide certification by a law enforcement agency and be evaluated by a Licensed Clinical Social Worker or Mental Health Professional. The approval can take several years for USCIS to evaluate the claim; however, if approved, is a pathway to lawful permanent resident or “green card” status.
Our offices have assisted many clients via U Visa applications.
USCIS has pathways available for those who have been victims of domestic abuse by partners and spouses. It is important that if you are a victim of domestic violence to call your local police as the law allows victims of domestic abuse to file applications with USCIS so non-immigrants are not afraid to come out of the shadow for fear of removal or deportation.
VAWA cases are open to men and women. Filing a VAWA petition with USCIS eases a great deal of anxiety with non-immigrants and supercedes any threats by a partner to “have someone deported” or “call ICE/immigration”.
312.726.9800
200 West Monroe St. Suite 1625, Chicago, IL 60606
312 South Main St. Suite 2, Goshen, IN 46527
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