Massachusetts Immigration Lawyer Blog

Boston Immigration Court News

This week, I had a detained deportation trial in Boston Immigration Court. My client, a permanent resident who had lived in the United States for over twenty years, was facing deportation to Pakistan, a country where he knew no one and didn't speak the language. He entered Boston Immigration Court in chains and an orange jumpsuit and walked out of court knowing that he would soon be a free man and a could continue his life in the U.S. with this green card.

Allow me to explain how I won the case:

The Department of Homeland Security had arrested my client and detained him at the Plymouth County House of Correction in Plymouth, Massachusetts. Interestingly, my client was arrested in Connecticut but because Hartford Immigration Court has not detained docket, he was transferred to a facility in Massachusetts so that his deportation trial could be placed on the docket of Boston Immigration Court. In Boston, Immigration Judge Steven Day exclusively handles the detained docket for all deportation cases in all of New England (Connecticut, Rhode Island, Vermont, Connecticut, Massachusetts and New Hampshire).

My client was facing the prospect of being deported because of a criminal case that had concluded many years before. Initially, Immigration and Customs Enforcement charged my client with having a criminal conviction that was classified as "aggravated felony." But, after I reviewed the record of conviction (especially the plea colloquy), I realized that, in fact, he had pled guilty to a divisible statue. This means that he was convicted of a statute that included several different offense, some of the included offenses were aggravated felonies, while others were not.

Based on this research, I successfully challenged Immigration and Custom's Enforcements' allegation that my client had an aggravated felony conviction. This was a crucial victory because even though my client was still deportable, by eliminating the aggravated felony conviction, my client became eligible for relief in the form of cancellation of removal for certain lawful permanent residents.

Cancellation of removal is essentially a way of asking the Immigration Judge for a second chance. The standard is a balancing of the equities where the Immigration Judge weighs a range of factors including the severity of the applicant's criminal offense, the recency of the criminal record, the hardship imposed by a possible deportation, as well as any other positive or negative equities.

In support of my client's application for cancellation of removal, I prepared a detailed affidavit of his proposed testimony in Immigration Court. This gave my client an opportunity to tell his life story. Most importantly, he explained why he was unlikely to have problems with the law in the future. And, at the end of the deportation hearing, Boston Immigration Judge Steven Day granted the application for cancellation of removal, a hard won victory for my client.

If you or someone you know is facing deportation and needs and aggressive and effective attorney for representation in Boston Immigration Court, please call me. I'd be happy to review your case and help out outline a winning deportation defense strategy.

Boston Green Card Lawyer News

If you live in Massachusetts and are seeking a green card based on marriage, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has a new way of conducting adjustment of status interviews.

At issue is whether the marriage is based on a relationship that the couple entered into for genuine, bona fide reasons. Traditionally, an immigration officer would conduct the marriage-based green card interview by sitting down together with the husband and wife together at the same time. The officer would question the couple and try to figure out whether the relationship was genuine or fraudulent.

Now, the new procedure is to interview the husband and wife separately starting with the visa petitioner (U.S. citizen). The immigration officer asks both the husband and the wife the same question in separate interviews. There are no wrong answers--only same or different. The separate interviews are now standard procedure at USCIS Boston and Lawrence District Offices for all marriage-based green card adjustment of status cases.

As an immigration lawyer, my experience with the separate marriage-based green card interviews has been fairly positive. The questions seem reasonable, fair and designed to weed out marriage fraud and to make sure that the couple really know each other well, as any genuinely couple would.

I can offer you three general pieces of advice: first, make sure that you and your spouse know each other well. Don't hide important but potentially embarrassing personal information such as a divorce or a criminal history from your spouse. To get your green card, your husband or wife will need to know everything there is to know about you. The immigration process is not the time for secrets.

Second, if an immigration officer asks you a question, don't respond with a guess. If you don't know the answer, just say that you don't know! If you guess and your answer doesn't line up with your spouse's answer, the officer could conclude that your marriage is not based on a genuine relationship. If so, your immigration case could be referred to USCIS fraud unit and, eventually, be denied.

Third, hire an good immigration lawyer! I work with clients who are seeking a green card through marriage to prepare thoroughly or the adjustment of status interviews. I've handled countless cases and can help you fix problems before the immigration interview.

For more information about the marriage based green card process, please call my Boston immigration law office at 617-722-0005. I'd be happy to help.

Boston Immigration Court News

Boston Immigration Court has announced the appointment of a new Immigration Judge. Steven Day, a retired Marine and former appellate attorney with the Office of Immigration Litigation, will be filling the vacancy created when Immigration Judge Francis Cramer retired. As with custom, Immigration Judge Steven Day will complete in-house training program at for immigration judges and then serve temporarily at Immigration Court in Newark, New Jersey. Immigration Judge Steven Day is expected to begin hearing deportation cases in Boston starting in April.

In another big personnel change, Immigration Judge Eliza Klein will be leaving Boston Immigration Court and has accepted a transfer to the Chicago Immigration Court. This is a transfer she had requested. She will arrive in that Immigration Court during July. So, with Judge Klein's departure, it remains to be seen who will fill this vacancy on the bench in Boston Immigration Court.

It's official for immigration lawyers in Boston:  the Boston Globe is reporting that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will be moving from the JFK Federal Building to South Boston. More precisely, the immigration office will be at 5 Channel Center, a building in the Fort Point Channel area of South Boston that used to be artist studios. The move will take place in 2012.

I consider myself to be an effective immigration lawyer. Want a green card? I can show you the options and assess your chances. Have some complicated legal issues but still interested in applying for naturalization to be a U.S. citizen? Or do you need an attorney to represent you in Immigration Court? I can help.

But, as I'm an immigration lawyer in Boston, sometimes I get downright stumped. Here are some frequently asked questions that I have no idea how to answer:

My grandparents/great grandparents/great great grandparents were born in Italy/Ireland. How do I, as a U.S. citizen, obtain Irish/Italian citizenship? The answer is . . . I don't know! I'm a U.S. immigration lawyer but don't know about the laws of foreign countries.

Where can I find a lawyer who can advise me about how U.S. citizens can obtain Irish/Italian citizenship? Again, I don't know the answer. But to find legal advice on issues of Italian or Irish law, I'd look for a lawyer based in Dublin, Milan, etc.

Would it be possible for me to leave the U.S., enter Canada and apply for immigration status there? I love Canada--everyone does. I just don't know anything about Canadian law. For advice on Canadian immigration law, look for a lawyer in Toronto, Montreal, etc.

At the airport, I was refused entry into the U.K. This was unfair. Can you help me do something about it? Again, as a U.S. lawyer, I can't advise you on issues of U.K. law.

The common thread, of course, as that I can only answers questions about U.S. immigration law. Few, if any, lawyers based in the U.S. are licensed to practice in and experts on immigration laws in foreign countries.

So I welcome your questions on topics within my area of expertise--green card, work permits, citizenship and Immigration Court. Just make sure your questions relate to U.S. immigration law.

Green Card Lawyer Boston

At a meeting in my immigration law office in Boston, a potential client recently asked me this question:

I'm interested in hiring an immigration lawyer to prepare my green card case. But is it risky to use an immigration lawyer? I'm concerned that if USCIS sees that I have an immigration lawyer, the immigration officer might get suspicious. By using an immigration lawyer, perhaps the officer will presume that my case has some problem or issue.

The notion that an immigration officer will suspect that your case has some problem simply because you have hired an immigration lawyer is utter nonsense--a complete myth. Everyone has the legal right to be represented by an immigration lawyer of their own choosing. In my experience, using an immigration lawyer never generates suspicion that your case has a problem.

Anyone can fill in your name and address on an immigration form. But only an experienced, effective immigration attorney can spot issues before they crop up. If you decide to prepare your immigration case on your own, without an immigration lawyer, you do so at your own peril. You may think that you don't need an immigration lawyer because you assume that your case is easy. But without an immigration lawyer, you can't be sure that you've seen all the relevant issues. You might need a complicated immigration waiver and not even know it!

So, you now know that if you need help with an immigration issue, you can feel free to hire me or consult with me without fear of reprisal!

Boston Deportation Lawyer

Immigration lawyers in Boston like me might be in the office but snow is closing Immigration. Specifically, USCIS Boston District Offices and the USCIS Offices in Lawrence, Massachusetts, Bedford, New Hampshire and Johnston (Providence), Rhode Island and Portland, Maine have canceled interviews and InfoPass appointments for tomorrow (February 2, 2011) due to snow and bad weather

Boston Immigration Court will close at 4:00 PM today, February 1, 2011 and will also close on Wednesday, February 2, 2011 for the entire day. Please don't call the Immigration Court in Boston immediately to check on your rescheduled hearing. Give the clerks time to work with their Immigration Judges in Boston to reschedule your immigration case before you call for a new court date. Boston Immigration Court will re-open on February 3, 2011 at 8:00 AM.

Stay tuned for any updates on immigration closings . . . and, of course, stay warm and safe.

Boston Deportation Defense Lawyer News

Immigration lawyers in Boston have received notice that, because of anticipated snow emergency, Boston Immigration Court will delay opening the court until 10:00AM on January 27, 2011. Anyone who has a hearing in Immigration Court should report at that time to determine the status of their immigration case.

If the snow worsens and Boston Immigration Court decides to close, I'll be sure to update this blog. Meanwhile, you can call the Boston Immigration Court weather line at 617-565-3080, x299.

Boston Green Card Lawyer

As an attorney who routines files green card, citizenship and other immigration cases with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS), I love INFOPASS. INFOPASS offers the best way to communicate with USCIS. Don't waste your time with USCIS National Customer Service Center 800# (800-375-5283). And USCIS's online case status system tends to be inaccurate. But INFOPASS works well.

USCIS Boston District Office, in a policy change, will now only meet with those who have scheduled an INFOPASS appointment online through the website of USCIS. The Boston immigration office will longer take walk-ins, except for emergencies. What constitutes an emergency? A supervisory will make that call in on a case-by-case basis.

Here are a few other points about USCIS INFOPASS:

• INFOPASS is not substitute for an effective immigration lawyer. The immigration officers in Boston have the best of intentions and are well-trained. But INFOPASS isn't designed for those seeking legal advice.

• Don't go to INFOPASS if you think that you might be out of status. If you have overstayed your visa or failed to maintain your student status, then you could be arrested or placed in removal or deportation proceedings if immigration officers discover your violations.

• I find INFOPASS most useful for checking the status of a pending immigration case or for solving other problems with USCIS.

If you need help with an immigration case, please call me in my Boston immigration law office at 617-722-0005.

Boston Deportation Defense Lawyer News

Boston Immigration Court, USCIS Boston District Office and other immigration agencies in and around Massachusetts, which are listed below, have announced closures tomorrow, January 12, 2011. Any scheduled appointments/appearances are canceled. Also, USCIS immigration office closures include the ASC fingerprint appointments as well.

• Boston Immigration Court /EOIR Boston;
• USCIS Boston District Office;
• USCIS Lawrence, Massachusetts;
• USCIS Manchester, New Hampshire;
• USCIS Providence, Rhode Island; and
• USCIS Portland, Maine.

Also, the JFK Library Naturalization / Citizenship Ceremony at 12 noon tomorrow is canceled and will be rescheduled. If you need immigration help, or have questions about an immigration issue, please call me in my Boston office at 617-722-0005.

The Immigration Court in Boston will be closed on Monday (December 27, 2010) due to the snow emergency in Boston. Also, my immigration law office in Boston will be closed on Monday and Tuesday.

I'll send over more information on closings as soon as I receive them.  Meanwhile, stay warm and stay off the roads.

As a Boston-based immigration lawyer specializing in deportation defense, I'm well aware of the Boston Globe reported today here. The docket in Boston Immigration Court is overwhelmed with deportation cases.

So, based on this article, if you are in deportation proceedings, how long can you expect to wait before Boston Immigration Court processes your immigration case?  The answer depends on a number of factors.  People with no relief from removal or deportation tend to have their cases processed more quickly.  The long delays mostly impact people who have application for relief such as cancellation of removal, adjustment of status, or asylum.

To give you an example how these delays play out, in December of 2009, I appeared before an Immigration Court in Boston for a master calendar hearing. I turned in pleadings indicating that I was seeking relief from deportation in the form of cancellation of removal with an I-601 waiver for misrepresentation.  An Immigration Judge would likely need  three and a half hours for to conduct a full merits hearing.  The Immigration Judge scheduled another master calendar hearing in December of 2010, where I'm expected to appear and turn in my application for relief.  The Immigration Judge will then schedule an individual hearing, which is a trial date.  I expect that this hearing will be in mid-2012.

So for my client, the entire process of seeking relief from deportation in Boston Immigration Court will take more than 3 years.  This delay is more than a minor inconvenience. During this time, he is unable to travel outside the United States to see his ailing mother.

One ray of hope is that a new Immigration Judge will replace Boston Immigration Judge Cramer, who retired last summer.

Green Card Lawyer Boston, Massachusetts

If I had a dollar for every time a client has told me that their friend got their green card is four weeks, I'd have been able to retire long ago. But the reality is that, right now, if everything goes perfectly, when someone living in the Boston, Massachusetts area seeks a green card through adjustment of status (I-485) based on a concurrently-filed visa petition (I-130) filed by through U.S. citizen spouse, the entire process takes about 5 months, give or take a month or so.

Contrary to my normal experience, yesterday, I witnessed a miracle. My client got a green card in just 27 days. That's right--27 days!  So how was he able to blast through the entire immigration process in such a short period of time?

Here's the background on this happened. My client was a research scientist at a famous university in Boston, Massachusetts. In late-October, he was selected to receive a prestigious award, which carried with it $1 million in research funding. But there was one small problem. To qualify for the award, he needed to become either a permanent resident or a U.S. citizen by the first week of December. I told him that it was unlikely that he would be able to get his green card in such a short time frame. But since he intended to apply for a green card anyway, I saw no harm in trying.

Under time pressure, my office prepared all the immigration forms in a single day. Don't ask me how but the client managed to walk away with a completed medical exam in one day. Next, we filed his green card case with USCIS and got immigration receipt notices back in one week.

Then, I enlisted the help of Ines Goncalves-Drolet, a miracle worker who handles constituent services for Congressman Barney Frank. At the request of Ines and Congressman Frank, USCIS Boston District Office agreed to request the file and expedite my client's I-485. USCIS National Benefits Center sent his green card file to USCIS Boston District Office via overnight courier and an adjustment of status interview was scheduled within a few days time.

For helping my client expedite his green card, I owe a deep debt of gratitude to Congressman Barney Frank, Ines Goncalves-Drolet as well as USCIS Field Director Karen-Anne Haydon, District Director Denis Riordan and the officers and staff at USCIS Boston District Office. Without crucial help from these people and others, my client would likely still be waiting for his green card and one million dollars in research funding might have been lost.

If you want to get your green card approved in an expedited fashion, it's easy!  All you need is an immigration case with impeccable merits, a compelling national interest, the sympathetic ear of a congressional representative, the favorable discretion of your local USCIS field office director . . .  and a good measure of luck.

If you need help with your green card, citizenship or other immigration case, call my Boston immigration law office at 617-722-0005. I'd be happy to help you.

Boston Deportation Defense Lawyer

As an immigration lawyer in Boston, I'm often asked if I know the phone number for Immigration in Boston, Massachusetts? If you have a pending green card application or citizenship cases and you live in the Boston, Massachusetts-area, surely U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has a local phone number that you could call to inquire as to the status of your immigration case, right?

But the answer is that no such number exists. USCIS has an 800 national number National Customer Service Center (NCSC) 1-800-375-5283. But I discourage my clients from calling this number because I've never been able to use it to resolve any problems or gain any useful information.

The best way to communicate with USCIS Boston District Office about a pending green card or citizenship application may be to make an INFOPASS appointment. Go in person to this appointment and you can ask questions about your immigration case. The officers and staff at USCIS Boston District Office can be miracle workers.

Not everyone should go in person to USCIS Boston District Office. If you are undocumented, out of status, or if you have a final order of deportation or removal, or if you have certain criminal convictions, then you are potentially deportable and could be subject to arrest by immigration authorities. So you should consult with an immigration lawyer before deciding to go in person to USCIS Boston immigration office.

Aside from USCIS INFOPASS, if you have a deportation case in Boston Immigration Court, you can call them at 617-565-3080. Or if you have a question about someone who has been arrested and detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement or ICE in Burlington, Massachusetts, you can call ICE's  office at (781) 359-7500.

To summarize, USCIS Boston District Office has no phone number that the public can use to follow up on their immigration case. Instead, consider making an INFOPASS appointment. For deportation cases, call Boston Immigration Court or ICE in Burlington, MA.

If you need more help with your immigration case or for advice or guidance, please call or email me to set up a time to meet to discuss your situation.

Deportation Defense Boston Massachusetts

I will be hosting an upcoming brown bag lunch for immigration attorneys who are members of the New England Chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA). The topic will be deportation defense and Immigration Court practice. Before hosting this brown bag lunch, AILA lawyers will take a tour of Boston's Immigration Court with EOIR Court Administrator Robert Halpin. At the lunch, bring your questions about cases in Immigration Court.

I'll also be offering general tips on motions to reopen and advice on how to make sure that your cases conform with the new Immigration Court Practice Manual. Other topics will include cancellation of removal and I-601 immigration waivers.

If you have questions about deportation defense or how to handle a case in Boston Immigration Court, feel free to call me.