CLIENT is 48 yrs old and operates a construction business. He also dabbles in fixer uppers to make money. His wife is an accountant and makes $5,000 a month. Business has not been good apparently. Their residence has equity of $200,000. He owes $150,000 of credit card debt which he used for business. Client has…
AT Wilner & O’Reilly, we have come across many heart-warming success stories that give strength to the need for Immigration Reform. Since 2012, there have been some extensive changes in US immigration laws. Many have benefitted, but more needs to be done. Lately, President Obama has toured the country proclaiming that he will exercise executive…
IF YOU paid someone to care for your child, spouse, or dependent, you may be able to claim the Child and Dependent Care Credit on your federal income tax return. Here are 10 tips on claiming a credit for child and dependent care expenses. • The expense for child and dependent care must be provided…
TERMINATIONS can be difficult situations, particularly where employees see the firing as unfair. Knowing one’s rights upon the end of an employment relationship may help employees weather this challenging time. The following provides some helpful guidelines: First: Make sure that the employment relationship has ended and there is no misunderstanding about this. Employment can end…
ALIENS who wish to visit the US temporarily for business may be issued B-1 business visitor visas. Under 22 CFR 41.31(b)(1), the term “business” refers to conventions, conferences, consultations and other legitimate activities of a commercial or professional nature but it does not include local employment or labor for hire. The problem with B-1 visas is…
A PROSPECTIVE client was consulting with me the other day about credit card debts that have been piling up. He looked shocked and confused as we sorted through all the credit card statements on my desk and added up how much he owed. $65,000! That’s how much the statements said he owed! How could this…
SAN FRANCISCO – With the Pacific at their shoes, people roam, dream and venture in San Francisco’s dazzling waterfront, winding streets and hills halfway through the skies. They scale the hilly streets at dawn to welcome the sunrise and wait for the cable bells to ring jubilantly. They see the city with a cable pole…
Meeting low-key law practitioner Arvin Gomez Amatorio for the first time would make one think twice if this guardian of the law is for real. Obviously, aside from being youthful-looking he’s sans the usual aggressiveness and brag-ish air common among the majority in his league. Dashingly donned in a pair of dark worsted linen suit…
LOS ANGELES – Nanxi Liu, Betty Porto and Toni Ko—three women from the technology, food and cosmetics industries, respectively—may not seem like they would have much in common. However, speaking at the “Women Business Pioneers Symposium” organized by the Asian Business Association on Wednesday, Sept. 10, these women’s stories presented several similarities. Liu, who migrated…
LOS ANGELES – The city’s Fashion District was not only hiding the best bargains for clothing and accessories, but also a money laundering scheme linked to international drug cartels. On Wednesday, Sept. 10, 1,000 officers from local police and federal agencies raided around 50 businesses and found cash hidden in shipping boxes and duffel bags….
About 98,000 families must verify lawful presence in US before Sept. 30 LOS ANGELES – About 98,000 families are being asked by Covered California to verify their lawful presence here in the United States, either as citizens, nationals, or individuals with eligible immigration status, in order for them to continue receiving health coverage under the…
At Wilner & O’Reilly, we have come across many heart-warming success stories that give strength to the need for Immigration Reform. Since 2012, there have been some extensive changes in US immigration laws. Many have benefitted, but more needs to be done. Lately, President Obama has toured the country proclaiming that he will exercise executive…
The Child Status Protection Act (CSPA) is back in the news. On June 6, 2014, a USCIS policy memorandum was released, expanding the definition for how a CSPA beneficiary could have “sought to acquire” immigration status. Potentially, the policy memorandum will benefit adult children who were at one time available for protection under CSPA, but…
ARTESIA – The City of Artesia is set to host its first ever “International Diversity Festival” on October 4, Saturday, on the city’s main thoroughfare, Pioneer Boulevard, between 183rd and 188th. According to Artesia City Mayor Tony Lima, the big event will be music, food and entertainment extravaganza. Along the stretch of Pioneer Blvd. that…
After promising more “executive action” by the end of September 2014, President Obama caved in to political pressure, and said he would delay taking any further “executive action” until after the November 2014 midterm elections. Latino and other immigrant groups are furious. They feel betrayed that their votes and support are being taken for granted….
About 98,000 families must verify lawful presence in US before Sept. 30 LOS ANGELES – About 98,000 families are being asked by Covered California to verify their lawful presence here in the United States, either as citizens, nationals, or individuals with eligible immigration status, in order for them to continue receiving health coverage under the…
SEXY actress Ara Mina is looking forward to being a mother and has set aside being a bride—for now. Pregnant with her first baby by Bulacan Mayor Patrick Meneses and is due to give birth before Christmas. During a press conference and viewing of the pilot episode of her new musical program Trenderas on TV5,…
Since medical marijuana was legalized in California in 1996 (the latest one, Maryland, in 2014), more deaths have been reported from the use of this substance. Early this month, a college student visiting Denver jumped to his death from a hotel balcony after ingesting marijuana infused cookies. In February this year, a report from Germany…
LOS ANGELES – More than 8 million immigrants living in the United States have green cards and are eligible for citizenship, yet only 8 percent of these become naturalized citizens. This is an issue that the New Americans Campaign, a nationwide collaborative working on innovative ways to help green card holders become citizens, aims to…
A RARE illness that starts off as the common cold and has already affected more than one thousand children in multiple states is becoming far more serious, doctors say. The not-yet identified disease could very likely become a nationwide threat to kids. Health officials suspect a rare respiratory virus, known as enterovirus 68, that is…
TODAY, there is a seemingly string of criminal incidents where policemen are involved as perpetrators instead of the ones solving them—a scenario you think you would only see in movies. It is an unpleasant picture to see officers you expect to uphold the law and apprehend criminals, as the same people the citizenry should be…
ELEVEN million undocumented immigrants, including many Filipinos, feel disheartened when the Obama Administration announced that the president would postpone using his executive power to stop deportation until after the 2014 midterm elections. The President explained that he did not want an issue as important and as consequential as immigration reform to be used by politicians…
Often times, we are too lazy to start with the first step; so we tend to give up on something we have been planning, dreaming even, to accomplish. However, as technology becomes more advanced, this laziness becomes, well, totally unjustified.Technology puts power on our fingertips. With just one click, we can begin to enjoy almost…
SAN FRANCISCO—Members of the Filipino-American community in the South of Market District in San Francisco have banded together to raise money to repatriate the remains of an undocumented Filipino immigrant who died of a heart attack in mid-August. Pio Candelaria was 54 years old at the time of his passing, and was described in a…
IN the legends I have read thIn the legends I have read that males wrote to explain life, it was said that the first human creature was a man called Adam. Eve arrived later, to give him pleasure and of course, trouble. But it wasn’t sin that was born when that careless woman Eve picked…
LOS ANGELES – A 65-year-old ex-USC professor pleaded guilty on Friday, September 5 to traveling to the Philippines and sexually assaulting several underage boys between ages 9 and 17. According to the prosecution, Walter Lee Williams had engaged in multiple webcam sex sessions with two Filipino boys, ages 13 and 14, in 2010. The next year…
LOS ANGELES – The Asian Pacific Islander Small Business Program (API SBP) kicked off its first event in preparation for the 15th Annual Asian Small Business Expo happening on Saturday, Sept. 20. The reception was held at Search to Involve Pilipino Americans (SIPA), one of the organizations involved in community partnership with API SBP. Small…
LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles City Councilmembers Mike Bonin (CD 11) Mitch O’Farrell (CD 13) introduced a resolution on Tuesday, Sept. 9, which calls on the Federal government to halt the ban on gay men giving blood at donation drives. The American Red Cross (ARC) and the Los Angeles LGBT Center expressed support for the…
LOS ANGELES – The Asian Pacific Islander Small Business Program (API SBP) kicked off its first event in preparation for the 15th Annual Asian Small Business Expo happening on Saturday, Sept. 20. The reception was held at Search to Involve Pilipino Americans (SIPA), one of the organizations involved in community partnership with API SBP. Small…
LOS ANGELES – A 65-year-old ex-USC professor pleaded guilty on Friday, September 5 to traveling to the Philippines and sexually assaulting several underage boys between ages 9 and 17. According to the prosecution, Walter Lee Williams had engaged in multiple webcam sex sessions with two Filipino boys, ages 13 and 14, in 2010. The next year…
