Massachusetts Immigration Lawyer Blog

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.

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 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.

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.

Boston Deportation Defense Lawyer

The big news today is that my Boston immigration lawyer video is now up and live on Youtube and can be found here.  This video couldn't have happened without the help of lots of talented people. But I owe an especially deep debt of gratitude to my former immigration clients--Hakim, Nerlande, Ade, Paxton and Silvia and Nurahmed.  Your kind words humble me and remind me why I love being an immigration attorney.

Please let me know what you think of my video.  And if you want to gain U.S. citizenship, need help with an immigration waiver, representation in deportation hearings in Immigration Court or advice on your immigration options, call me at 617-722-0005.

Boston Deportation Lawyer

Immigration and deportation defense lawyers now have a way to find the location of persons detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement by using ICE's new online detention locator system.  If this online tool actually works as intended, this is an extremely useful development, which is long overdue. 

Until now, the location of a ICE immigration detainee was a mystery to everyone--even immigration lawyers.  After being arrested and detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement or ICE Office of Detention and Removal, the detained immigrant would be placed into a jail, the location of which remained unknown.  Tracking down a detained immigrant involved guesswork and intuition.  The only way I knew to find someone detained by ICE was simply by calling around to the records departments for South Bay (Suffolk County House of Correction), Bristol, Plymouth and the other immigration detention facilities in the Boston area.  So let's hope and pray that this online system works as planned.

Meanwhile, if you have a friend or family member who has been arrested by Immigration, please contact me.  I'd been happy to help you win their release on an immigration bond and to come up with a strategy to help them solve their immigration problem.

Boston Immigration Lawyer News

Immigration Judge Francis L. Cramer has announced his retirement from Boston Immigration Court.  As an immigration lawyer who appeared frequently before Immigration Judge Cramer, I can say that he will be sorely missed.  He had a reputation for deciding deportation cases fairly and impartially.  And he always treated the immigration lawyers and parties with great respect, at times, a lighthearted humor.  His departure leaves a vacancy in the Boston Immigration Court bench that will be hard to fill.

As an immigration lawyer in Boston, this case must be one of my most unusual. I appeared on Boston's Channel 5 news in connection with a bizarre incident that happened to one of my former clients. Click on this link here to read the story and watch the video.

Sure the story is strange.  But my former immigration client--who I helped get U.S. citizenship--did the right thing.  He remained calm.  And he called 9-11.  Fortunately, surveillance cameras captured everything.

All in all, I was happy to step in and help my former immigration client.

"Can I apply for green card? Yes or no?"
"I just have a quick question"
"My immigration case is easy. What should I do?"

When potential immigration clients call me and ask me these sorts of questions, they want to hear my snap advice on their immigration cases. My usual answer is "it depends." And for potential immigration clients, "it depends" can be frustrating and disappointing response.

Why is it that my off-the-cuff answer to your immigration questions is "it depends"? Is this just my way of luring you into taking the time and incurring the needless expense of coming into my Boston immigration office for a full consultation. Of course not!

The truth is that immigration law is extremely complicated. And the immigration laws are constantly changing. When I say "it depends" what I mean is that your particular immigration options depend on the specific facts of your case. My job is to figuring out how the fact pattern of your case fits into the framework of U.S. immigration laws.

Let me give you an example. If someone were to say, "Hey Josh, I have just have a quick question. Can I you apply for a green card if you enter the United States without inspection?" The answer, in general, would be no. That is because under Section 245 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, you can't file an I-485 to apply for adjustment of status in the United States unless you can prove entry with inspection and admission.

But that quick, simple answer is misleading and inaccurate because the following 3 exceptions exist:

1. Beneficiaries of 245(i)-eligible visa petitions, i.e., I-130 or I-140 applications filed on or before April 30, 2001, may be able to file for adjustment of status even if they have no proof of how they entered the U.S.




2. Those who are applying for immigration benefits under the Violence Against Women Act or VAWA may file for adjustment of status even if they entered the U.S. without inspection.




3. If you were granted asylum, CAT (Convention Against Torture) or withholding of removal, you may be able to file an I-485 even if you initially came into the U.S. without inspection. In part, this is because asylum and asylum-related applicants apply for adjustment of status under Section 209--not Section 245--of the Immigration and Nationality Act.

Would one of these specific exception apply in your immigration case and allow you to apply for a green card even if you entered the U.S. without inspection? The answer is--you guessed it--it depends! My advice would depend on a whole series of follow-up questions. I'd also want to review your passport, USCIS receipt notices and other documentation. And I wouldn't be doing my job if I were to give you legal advice about your immigration situation without asking you if you have ever been arrested or been to court for a criminal case, whether you ever overstayed a visa, given false or misleading information to USCIS, etc.

The bottom line is that if you need immigration advice, there is no such thing as a simple question or a simple immigration case. And the only way I can give you any more advice than "it depends" is if you come see me in person in my Boston office and allow me to methodically analyze your case.

If you need advice or immigration help or representation in Immigration Court in Boston or before USCIS, call me at 617-722-0005 today.

The Immigration Court in Boston, Massachusetts will be closed August 3 - 7, 2009 while the Immigration Judges attend a conference. While the Court is closed, no hearings will be conducted, except emergency bonds, which will be heard telephonically by Immigration Judges who are not Boston Immigration Judges. The Immigration Court is in the process of rescheduling all hearings scheduled for that week.

Although the Immigration Court will be closed, I'll be hard at work. If you need the help of an immigration lawyer, call me at (617) 722-0005 and come see me in my Boston immigration law office.