FOR most people, being served with divorce papers by your spouse is probably one of the biggest surprises in your life. The spouse in the receiving end of the divorce sometimes are not offered any explanation for the divorce petition by their spouse. You may start getting upset about how this can happen to you…
ON April 3, 2018, the USCIS announced that it will start destroying green cards and work authorizations that are returned to it as “undeliverable.” If the document is returned, the person has only 60 days to contact USCIS and update their address. Many times, people file for immigration benefits, such as green cards, work authorizations,…
YOU own a successful business, as a sole proprietor, prior to marriage. You later meet the love of your life and decide to marry her. Years into the marriage, you decide to incorporate the business. A common question when the couple later divorces becomes 1) did your separate property business become community property by virtue…
DEAR Attorney Tan,I WOULD like to know if there is any way for my family and I to stay in the US if I invest in a US business. While I do have some money to invest, I do not have the $500k-$1m that I read was necessary to get a green card through investment. …
COUPLES get divorced for various reasons. California is a no fault state. The reasons why a couple is getting divorced are often irrelevant to the issues of the family law case. Divorce is often a difficult and negative experience for most families. However, getting divorce may have some unintended benefits in the immigration law arena. …
SINCE becoming president, Donald Trump has made several significant changes to make it easier for the government to deport more people. In fact, when he originally announced he was running for president, he stated that there were over 11,000,000 people in the U.S. illegally, and he wanted to deport them all. Among the changes he…
A STEPPARENT may file an immigrant petition for a stepchild even without the stepparent having to legally adopt the stepchild. However, before a stepparent may be able to file an immigrant petition for a stepchild, the stepparent–stepchild elationship should have been created before a stepchild turns 18 years old. This means that the stepparent and the…
SEVERAL options exist for a US 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,…
California law on the nature of spouses’ rights and obligations with respect to management and control of community property has evolved over the last thirty years from less stringent “good faith” standards to heightened “confidential duty” and “fiduciary duty’ standards. Under current law, the duties owed between spouses in transactions between themselves are the same…
Dear Attorney Gurfinkel: My aunt owns a care home, and wants to petition me as a caregiver. However, I was told that employers cannot petition relatives for green cards through labor certification or PERM. Is that true? Or is it possible for relatives to petition other relatives for employment-based green card? Very truly yours, MJ…
A GREEN card holder can travel outside the US and return with some limitations. If a green card holder is outside the US for an extended period of time, he may be considered to have abandoned his permanent resident status. Brief travel (such as for a vacation) normally will not affect permanent resident status. However,…
”This becomes a problem if you are the spouse that has the substantially higher income or the one who accumulates the majority of the assets during the marriage.” IN the absence of a premarital agreement, the general community property presumption under California family code section 760 controls which provides “ ….all property, real or personal, wherever situated, acquired…
AS part of its “enforcement priorities,” Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced the recent arrest of over two dozen people with DUI convictions in connection with “Operation Secure Streets.” According to ICE’s press release, 24 of the people apprehended “have been convicted of violations concerning the operation of a motor vehicle while under the influence…
ON April 10, 2017, the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) released a “Know Your Rights Handouts” available in English, Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, and Portuguese to inform the public about the rights of undocumented immigrants who may come into contact with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) during home visits, workplace raids and public stops. …
FOR most people, being served with divorce papers by your spouse is probably one of the biggest surprises in your life. The spouse in the receiving end of the divorce sometimes are not offered any explanation for the divorce petition by their spouse. You may start getting upset about how this can happen to you…
Under Howell v. Hamilton Meats & Provisions (2011) 52 C.4th 541, the California Supreme Court ruled that persons who are injured and who are pursuing a personal injury claim cannot recover the full amount of medical bills incurred if an insurer paid a smaller, negotiated amount to the medical provider. The Court’s ruling further limited…
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…
IT’S Valentine’s Day and Malena woke up to a bouquet of bright red roses and a box of chocolates by her bedside. There was a handwritten note from her husband, George, that said “I love you.” This made Malena smile. It’s times like these that she forgets her husband’s temper when he’s tired from work…
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…
As part of its “enforcement priorities,” Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced the recent arrest of over two dozen people with DUI convictions in connection with “Operation Secure Streets.” According to ICE’s press release, 24 of the people apprehended “have been convicted of violations concerning the operation of a motor vehicle while under the influence…
DEAR Attorney Tan, I have an approved I-140 immigrant petition which was filed by Company A on my behalf. Company A would like to employ me as a bookkeeper. Based on that approved I-140 petition, I filed an application for green card (I-485 adjustment of status) in August 2014. Since that time, my green…
A Filipino and his U.S. citizen wife came to my office recently for a consultation. They drove several hours to see me in person. He came to my office crying, and begging me to accept his case. But I advised him to wait until there would be further changes in law. He is not eligible…
ICE Raids in the Bay Area. Calls for Congress to act on DREAMers rights. The Supreme Court declines to take on DACA. These are just a few headlines of late, as lives are put on hold and families wonder: “what will tomorrow look like for us?” We do not hold all the answers to the…
MARRIAGE for many persons is the culmination of one’s life. Getting married signifies the beginning of a new phase in life, both socially and economically. For those persons who lack permanent residency in the United States and have married a United States citizen, marriage also presents an opportunity to obtain permanent residency. However, although the…
PRES. Trump is fiercely opposed to family “chain migration” and wants to limit family petitions to spouses and minor children of green card holders or U.S. citizens. He wants to eliminate petitions for parents (IR), married (F-3) and adult single children (F-1), and siblings (F-4) of U.S. citizens, and adult unmarried children of green card…
PRESIDENT Donald Trump is fiercely opposed to family “chain migration” and wants to limit family petitions to spouses and minor children of green card holders or U.S. citizens. He wants to eliminate petitions for parents (IR), married (F-3) and adult single children (F-1), and siblings (F-4) of U.S. citizens, and adult unmarried children of green…
I JUST moved to California last month, and I’d like to file for divorce. Can I file now? To file for divorce in the State of California, the person filing (called the “Petitioner”) must first meet the jurisdictional requirements: (i) residence in the state of California from the past 6 months; and (ii) residence in…
ON June 26, 2013, the US Supreme Court struck down section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) as unconstitutional in the landmark case US. V. Windsor. The BIA shortly thereafter issued a decision in Matter of Zeleniak holding that DOMA is no longer an impediment in recognizing same-sex couples under the immigration and…
DEAR Attorney Gurfinkel: I was petitioned in November 2006 as a single adult child of my immigrant (green card) parent, in the F-2B category. I waited many years, and in November 2017, the embassy scheduled my interview for January 2018. I went ahead and had my medicals, paid all the fees, and submitted all the…
“ Moreover, USCIS will not accept or approve applications for Advance Parole request from DACA recipients” DEFERRED Action (DACA) renewals. Due to a Federal Court order, the U.S. Immigration and Citizenship Services (USCIS) has resumed accepting requests to renew a grant of deferred action under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. Until further…
