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Immigration Legal Services by Fetchik Law Firm
America is a country of welcome and possibilities. Fetchik Law Firm will make your dream come true with professionalism, responsibility, respect, honesty and integrity.
practice areas
Family Based Immigration
Employment Based Immigration
Green Cards and Adjustment of Status
Visas and Change of Status
Consular Processing
Naturalization and Citizenship
Deportation Defense
Immigration Consequences of Criminal Convictions
Waivers
Asylum
VAWA
DACA
family based immigration
What Constitutes Family In A Family Based Immigrant Visa i.e. Family Based Green Card?
We can consider our aunts and uncles our family, and they are of course our family. But unfortunately, immigration laws have their own definition of family members. For example, a US Citizen cannot petition for their aunt, uncle, niece, or nephew, even though they are family members. These individuals can still come to the United States on green cards, but they would be derivative beneficiaries, which is another complicated immigration category. For US citizens, a family member is a spouse, a child under the age of 21 or son or daughter over the age of 21, married or unmarried, parents and brothers and sisters. For green card holders, only children under the age of 21, or over the age of 21 who are married or unmarried, and spouses are considered family members for whom they can file petitions for lawful permanent residency. These are the categories of family members that the immigration agency is able to give an immigration benefit to.
employment based immigration
Do I Have To Be Sponsored By An Employer For Employment Based Immigration?
In most cases, an individual does need to be sponsored by an employer for employment based immigration. If an individual does not have qualifications suitable for a national interest waiver or extraordinary abilities, then the individual needs an employer to sponsor them. However, if an individual possesses all of the qualifications suitable for a national interest waiver or extraordinary abilities or other self-petition categories, then they can self-petition. So, the short answer is that it is not always necessary to be sponsored by an employer. However, most of the time, even when an individual does not need to be sponsored by an employer, they still need a job offer from an employer.
naturalization and citizenship
Who Can Become A US Citizen
The first step before applying for citizenship is being a green card holder for either 5 years or 3 years (if you obtained your green card based on marriage to a US citizen). There are many other requirements before a green card holder can apply to become a US citizen but the first one is having a green card. The next question is: have you resided in the United States and how much time have you spent outside the United States. This matters because the eligibility for citizenship is that you have to have spent at least half of the time physically in the Unites States. Half of the time is calculated cumulatively and not consecutively, which means you can’t spend 2.5 years in the US and 2.5 years abroad. Doing that can also present many other serious problems to the green card itself. The following questions that we will ask you are whether you have filed your tax returns for the entire period of time of 5 or 3 years, if you have any debt to IRS, have you paid it or do you have a payment plan, if you have been arrested and/or convicted, and certain specifics related to male applicants only due to their obligation to register for selective service if they were in the US between the ages of 18 and 25. The reason we ask these questions is because besides meeting the basic requirements for citizenship, the main criteria for becoming a US citizen is “good moral character” which is an open and grey area to be defined. Anything can affect “good moral character”, for example: not registering for selective service, not filing or paying taxes, arrests and convictions, and such broad and hard to define activities as gambling or being a “habitual drunkard”. These are the main reasons you need to speak to an experienced immigration attorney before you apply to become a US citizen.The last step before you can become a US citizen is passing the English and civics tests. We are available to guide you through the requirements of both tests and ensure that you are ready on the day of your interview to pass both tests.
The first step before applying for citizenship is being a green card holder for either 5 years or 3 years (if you obtained your green card based on marriage to a US citizen). There are many other requirements before a green card holder can apply to become a US citizen but the first one is having a green card. The next question is: have you resided in the United States and how much time have you spent outside the United States. This matters because the eligibility for citizenship is that you have to have spent at least half of the time physically in the Unites States. Half of the time is calculated cumulatively and not consecutively, which means you can’t spend 2.5 years in the US and 2.5 years abroad. Doing that can also present many other serious problems to the green card itself. The following questions that we will ask you are whether you have filed your tax returns for the entire period of time of 5 or 3 years, if you have any debt to IRS, have you paid it or do you have a payment plan, if you have been arrested and/or convicted, and certain specifics related to male applicants only due to their obligation to register for selective service if they were in the US between the ages of 18 and 25. The reason we ask these questions is because besides meeting the basic requirements for citizenship, the main criteria for becoming a US citizen is “good moral character” which is an open and grey area to be defined. Anything can affect “good moral character”, for example: not registering for selective service, not filing or paying taxes, arrests and convictions, and such broad and hard to define activities as gambling or being a “habitual drunkard”. These are the main reasons you need to speak to an experienced immigration attorney before you apply to become a US citizen.The last step before you can become a US citizen is passing the English and civics tests. We are available to guide you through the requirements of both tests and ensure that you are ready on the day of your interview to pass both tests.
deportation defense
Who Is At Risk Of Deportation?
Anyone who has entered the country illegally or those who have entered the country legally with a visa and overstayed, are in danger of facing deportation. Even green card holders, mostly the ones who have criminal convictions, are in danger of being placed in removal proceedings. Only US citizens cannot be deported from the United States. Therefore, a green card does not protect you from being placed in deportation proceedings and a defense depends on your specific individual circumstances.The deportation process is a long and complicated one. If the government wishes to deport a person who has violated any US immigration laws, the person will go before an immigration judge for a process called removal proceedings. It is rare to face an immigration judge without a criminal conviction, however, that often happens and immigrants get placed in removal proceedings often times when their civil immigration case is denied. The immigration judge will then decide whether or not to order the person deported.
If the person has been detained due to a criminal conviction, depending on the type of crime and conviction, the person might remain detained in removal proceedings without bond until after the immigration judge decides if they should be deported or not.
Do I Need a Lawyer?
There are many clients who file cases on their own, and if they know how to prepare their case, then they certainly can. The reason it would be a good idea for clients to retain an immigration lawyer is because we deal with these cases on a daily basis, so there is nothing unknown to us. If a client decides to file a case on their own, everything will be completely new to them and making mistakes is inevitable.
There are certain types of cases that clients will most likely not be able to handle on their own. For example, if a client has a serious or even a minor criminal conviction, that conviction could seriously affect their application for a green card.
There are certain types of cases that clients will most likely not be able to handle on their own. For example, if a client has a serious or even a minor criminal conviction, that conviction could seriously affect their application for a green card.
Being A Foreigner In New York City
New York City is one of the most diverse cities in the United States and it benefits immensely from immigration. There is no one nation that is not represented in New York City. As anywhere in the United States, foreign citizens have several available avenues to visit, live, or work in New York as well as any other state in the United States. Whether they are coming to the United States temorarily for a visit or if they want to immigrate to the United States permanently, immigration procedures can be incredibly complicated and frustrating.
Fetchik Law Firm is dedicated to helping individuals and families as well as employers to resolve their unique immigration issue successfully and as quickly as possible so they can begin to enjoy the benefits of legal status.
Fetchik Law Firm is dedicated to helping individuals and families as well as employers to resolve their unique immigration issue successfully and as quickly as possible so they can begin to enjoy the benefits of legal status.
Why Should I hire You
Fetchik Law Firm is uniquely qualified to represent foreign citizens coming to the United States either temporarily or to make the United States their new home. I established Fetchik Law Firm because I believe I have a rare approach to the immigration process. Not every US immigration lawyer had personal experience with immigrating to the United States. I initially came to the United States to attend law school and my stay in the United States circled through various visas starting with a student visa – F1, OPT, work visa - H1B, green card until I became a US citizen. I know what the experience is like when you first arrive in the United States. I personally know what it is like to deal with various processing times which can be frustrating. That personal experience combined with my law degree make me the perfect lawyer to win your case.
My professional qualifications include working as a foreign service national for the U.S. Department of State at the American Embassy in Moldova for nine years before I became a Thomas Buergenthal Scholar at the George Washington University Law School in Washington D.C. which awarded me a full tuition merit-based scholarship. After graduation I was selected to be part of the prestigious one-year Foreign Attorney Program at the Washington DC office of White & Case. Since 2008 I have been working solely in the immigration field and I worked at various immigration firms in the Washington D.C. Metropolitan Area and New York City before I founded Fetchik Law Firm.
My professional qualifications include working as a foreign service national for the U.S. Department of State at the American Embassy in Moldova for nine years before I became a Thomas Buergenthal Scholar at the George Washington University Law School in Washington D.C. which awarded me a full tuition merit-based scholarship. After graduation I was selected to be part of the prestigious one-year Foreign Attorney Program at the Washington DC office of White & Case. Since 2008 I have been working solely in the immigration field and I worked at various immigration firms in the Washington D.C. Metropolitan Area and New York City before I founded Fetchik Law Firm.
Diana Fetchik, Immigration Attorney
Licensed to practice law in Virginia. Practice in New York is limited to federal courts and agencies
Results Driven immigration Law Firm
A strategic defense against a deportation case or a positive outcome to your family, employment, naturalization immigration case starts with an experienced attorney. Fetchik Law Firm provides personal attention right from the beginning for all clients. Our law firm focuses on family immigration, naturalization and citizenship, employment immigration, removal defense, VAWA cases and appeals in the New York City and its metropolitan area.
Disclaimer: The information on this website is for general information purposes only. Nothing on this site should be taken as legal advice for any individual case or situation.The viewing of this website does not constitute an attorney-client relationship.
- Contract us today at 646-494-9312 or email info@fetchiklaw.com
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646-494-9312
We are here to discuss the details of your immigration case. Our immigration attorney offers free case evaluations. Reach out to Fetchik Law Firm for immediate assistance. If a person violates US immigration laws, we will provide a US immigration lawyer for deportation defense or immigration for family, employment, naturalization, and citizenship; we are available to assist with all our immigration legal services.