SA panahon ngayon ng pandemic at dahil sa madaming lockdown order sa buong mundo, marami ang nagtatrabaho mula sa bahay o WFH. Marami rin ang bumabaling sa social media upang magbahagi ng impormasyon, balita at kanilang mga damdamin. Dapat malaman ng U.S. visa applicants na sila ay kailangang mag-submit ng impormasyon tungkol sa social media…
SEVERAL options exist for a U.S. citizen to bring his/her foreign-national fiancé(e) to the United States. One popular option is to marry the fiancé(e) in the country in which he/she resides, and file an I-130 immigrant petition, with the fiancé(e) to undergo consular processing for an immigrant visa when the I-130 petition is approved. However,…
A POSTNUPTIAL agreement is a contract between you and your spouse entered into after you get married resolving issues in your marriage. It is similar to a prenuptial agreement except it occurs after your marriage. For couples that get married without a prenuptial agreement, it is not too late to have an agreement dealing with…
THE Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) recently held that a person caught applying for a K-1 fiancée visa in a “fixed relationship” (meaning having no intention to have a life together), is subject to the same lifetime ban as a person caught in a fixed marriage. Therefore, whether you are applying for a green card…
THERE seems to be a misconception in the general public that you can only obtain a divorce in California if your spouse will sign the divorce papers. I get this question a lot from our family law clients. The fact is that California is a no fault state and you do not need your spouse’s…
ANG isang dayuhan na may false claim sa U.S. citizenship ay maaaring maging inadmissible sa U.S. Ang mga sumusunod ang elements ng false claim sa U.S.citizenship: (1) ang dayuhan ay nagsabi na siya ay U.S. citizen; (2) ang kanyang pagsabi na siya ay U.S. citizen ay hindi totoo; (3) alam ng dayuhan na siya ay…
THE seems to be a misconception in the general public that you can only obtain a divorce in California if your spouse will sign the divorce papers. I get this question a lot from our family law clients. The fact is that California is a no fault state and you do not need your spouse’s…
IN United States vs. Windsor, 570 U.S. 744 (2013) (Docket No. 12-307), the Supreme Court held that Federal restrictions of the terms “marriage” and “spouse” to marriages between a man and a woman were unconstitutional. The Court invalidated Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which did not allow Federal Government recognition of same-sex…
OVER the 4th of July holiday, Pres. Trump praised the Declaration of Independence as a “beacon of liberty, prosperity, and opportunity for all: “The principles grounded in the Declaration of Independence continue to guide our Nation forward and maintain its standing as a beacon of liberty, prosperity, and opportunity for all.” However, Pres. Trump’s recent…
EVEN in the time of the COVID-19 pandemic, life goes on, and there are many people who have concerns about the latest immigration policies and how they affect their case. Leading U.S. immigration attorney, Michael J. Gurfinkel, will be hosting a special edition of Citizen Pinoy where he will answer questions from the public. Readers are…
NOONG Hunyo 22, 2020, si President Trump ay naglabas ng Proclamation na nagsususpinde ng pagpasok ng mga dayuhang maaaring magdulot ng panganib sa U.S. labor market pagkatapos ng epekto ng COVID-19 pandemic. Ang Proclamation ay epektibo mula Hunyo 24, 2020 hanggang Disyembre 31, 2020. Ang mga lawful permanent resident o green card holders na nasa…
“To recover for past lost earnings, a person must prove the amount of income or earnings that he/she has lost to date.” DEAR Attorney Tan, I was driving home and was at a complete stop when another driver rear-ended my car. I was not feeling well after the accident, as my back seemed very tight…
GENERALLY, in California, property acquired by a spouse prior to marriage is considered separate property under family code section 770 while those acquired after marriage are considered community assets under family code section 760. How do you characterize real property purchased prior to marriage but with the mortgage principal paid down using community income or…
DEAR Atty. Gurfinkel: My sister petitioned me in 2001 in the F-4 category, (brother/sister of a U.S. citizen) when my child was still a baby. Recently, the priority date became current. We paid all the fees and submitted all the forms on behalf of my family, including my child, who is now over 21. At the…
Custody and visitation orders are not affected by stay at home orders or other order restricting movement issued by a governmental entity that arises from the COVID-19 pandemic. THE COVID-19 Pandemic has changed our lives almost overnight. Not only has it changed our lives in terms of our daily routine, jobs, lifestyle, but also our…
ANG isang dayuhan na ineligible sa pagkuha ng green card sa loob ng U.S. dahil sa unlawful presence ay maaaring mag-apply ng I-601A Provisional Unlawful Presence Waiver bago siya umalis ng US para sa consular immigrant visa interview. Upang maging eligible para sa provisional unlawful presence waiver, ang mga sumusunod ang kinakailangan: (1) ang dayuhan…
WE have all heard the popular saying, “Timing is everything.” Unfortunately, this saying often adversely applies to those persons who have found an avenue from which to obtain a green card, only to be prevented from doing so because he/she has a prior removal or deportation order. A typical scenario involves a person who entered…
THE COVID-19 Pandemic has changed our lives almost overnight. Not only has it changed our lives in terms of our daily routine, jobs, lifestyle, but also our relationship with our family members under the Stay at Home orders in place in major cities such as Los Angeles, Divorce caused by Financial and Emotional Stress China…
ON June 22, 2020, President Trump issued another Executive Order (EO) or Proclamation, extending his April 22, 2020 proclamation to December 31, 2020, and expanding its scope to also include H-1B, H-2B, J-1, and L-1 non-immigrants and their derivative spouses and children from entering the U.S., as they may compete for jobs with unemployed Americans…
Ang green card o permanent resident card ang patunay na ang isang indibidwal ay may lawful permanent resident (LPR) status sa U.S. Subalit ang LPR status ay hindi talagang permanente sapagkat maaaring magkaroon ng determinasyon na tinalikuran ng green card holder ang kanyang LPR status. Ang pag-abandona ay maaaring maging isyu kapag ang LPR ay…
On June 18, 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its DACA decision, but it did not actually uphold DACA. Instead, it based its decision on procedural technicalities, that the government did not properly terminate or rescind it. The DACA decision is more like a temporary reprieve, rather than a victory. Pres. Trump has vowed to…
Each month, the Visa Office of the State Department publishes, in the Visa Bulletin, the priority dates for that particular month, for the various family and employment-based categories. A priority date is a person’s “place in line” for a visa, meaning immigrant visas (or green cards) would be available for persons whose priority date is…
ANG mga lawful permanent resident (LPR) o green card holders na nasa ibang bansa at hindi makapag-biyahe pabalik ng U.S. dahil sa COVID-19 pandemic ay kailangang maging handang magpakita ng mga dokumento sa Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) Officers tungkol sa kanilang ties sa U.S. Kailangan din silang magpakita ng ebidensiya na wala silang intensyong…
THE Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor has always been a symbol of immigration and of welcoming immigrants to the U.S. The USCIS has used the Statue of Liberty as its own symbol. Approval notices have an orange colored picture of the Statue of Liberty torch in the background, and the “help” search tool…
SA panahon ngayon ng pandemic at dahil sa madaming lockdown order sa buong mundo, marami ang nagtatrabaho mula sa bahay. Marami rin ang bumabaling sa social media upang magbahagi ng impormasyon, balita at kanilang mga sentimiento. Dapat malaman ng U.S. visa applicants na sila ay kailangang mag-submit ng impormasyon tungkol sa mga social media account…
Dear Attorney Tan, I was driving home and was at a complete stop when another driver rear ended my car. I was not feeling well after the accident, as my back seemed very tight and stiff. I took some days off from work. After a week, I contacted the other driver’s insurance to report the…
A postnuptial agreement is a contract between you and your spouse entered into after you get married resolving issues in your marriage. It is similar to a prenuptial agreement except it occurs after your marriage. For couples that get married without a prenuptial agreement, it is not too late to have an agreement dealing with…
IN November 2014, Pres. Obama announced a program, Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA), which would have allowed parents of U.S. citizens (or lawful permanent residents) to remain in the U.S. and obtain work authorization without fear of deportation. Their child could have been of any age or marital status….
ANG isang karaniwang paraan ng pagkuha ng green card ng dayuhang nasa loob ng U.S. ay sa pamamagitan ng family petition ng kanyang asawang U.S. citizen (USC). Dahil ang asawa ng USC ay tinuturing na immediate relative, ang dayuhan ay binibigyan ng pinakamataas na priyordidad sa ilalim ng Immigration Law –maaaring makakuha siya ng kanyang…
DEAR Attorney Tan, My U.S. Citizen mother filed an I-130 immigrant petition on my behalf, which has a priority date in February 2000 and which has been approved. She filed the I-130 petition after I came to the US in 1999 as a tourist from the Philippines. Since my arrival, I have lived in the…
