Immigration Services
The Sulfab Law Office
Immigration Services
We successfully help reunite families, help investors, assist asylum applicants, and protect and defend
those who are in deportation proceedings. If you would like more information or would like to set up an
appointment, call (415) 360-5266.
Family-based Petitions and Visas
A U.S. citizen or lawful permanent (LPR) resident may petition for certain family members to receive
either a Green Card, a fiancé visa or a K-3/K-4 visa based on their relationship. Individuals who are
not present in the U.S. or who are not eligible to adjust their status will have to apply for an immigrant
visa through the U.S. embassy or consulate in their home country.
The following individuals can be beneficiaries of an immigrant visa petition:
• Immediate relatives of a U.S. citizen: this includes spouses, unmarried children under the age of 21, and
parents (as long as the petitioning son or daughter is over the age of 21);
• Other relatives of a U.S. citizen: this includes unmarried sons or daughters over the age of 21, married
children of any age, and siblings of U.S. citizen petitioners over the age of 21;
• Relatives of an LPR: this includes spouses and unmarried children of a petitioning Green Card holder.
Citizenship and naturalization
If individual meets certain requirements, he/she may become a U.S. citizen either at birth or after birth.
• A citizen at birth:
Born in the United States or certain territories or outlying possessions of the United States, and
subject to the jurisdiction of the United States; OR had a parent or parents who were citizens at the time of
birth.
• Naturalization:
Individual who has been a permanent resident for at least 5 years and meet all other eligibility requirements,
has been a permanent resident for 3 years or more and meet all eligibility requirements to file as a spouse of
a U.S. citizen.
A child may qualify for naturalization if one parent is U.S. citizen, the child was born outside the U.S., the
child is currently residing outside the U.S., and all other eligibility requirements are met.
Employment-based Petitions and Investor Visas
• Employment-based petitions and visas:
Every fiscal year (October 1 st – September 30 th ), approximately 140,000 employment-based immigrant visas
are made available to qualified applicants under the provisions of U.S. immigration law. Employment based
immigrant visas are divided into five preference categories. Certain spouses and children may accompany or
follow-to-join employment-based immigrants.
The H1B visa classification permits a foreign national to work in the United States for a temporary period. It
is available for offers of employment that are in a specialty occupation. A person may hold H1B status for a
maximum of six years, and it may be issued in increments of up to three years by the USCIS. An employee
may receive extensions of H1B status beyond six years in certain circumstances.
• Investor Visas:
Investor visa category includes treaty traders and investors who come to the United States under a treaty of
commerce and navigation between the United States and the country of which the treaty trader or investor is
a citizen or national.
• Treaty traders (E-1) carry on substantial trade in goods, including but not limited to services and
technology, principally between the United States and the foreign country of which they are citizens
or nationals.
• Treaty investors (E-2) direct the operations of an enterprise in which they have invested, or are
actively investing, a substantial amount of money.
See U.S. Department of State’s Treaty Countries for a current list of countries with which the United States
maintains a treaty of commerce and navigation.
Removal Defenses
• Asylum, Withholding of Removal, and protection under the Convention Against Torture
(“CAT”):
If you fear returning to your home country because you or a family member were
harmed in the past, or you are afraid of the dangerous conditions in your country, you may
qualify for relief from removal or deportation based on asylum or a related application.
• Cancellation of Removal for Permanent Residents, i.e. Green Card Holders: If you have
lawful permanent residency status in the U.S. and are placed in removal proceedings, you may
be eligible to avoid deportation and retain your permanent residency if you meet the following
conditions. 1) you have held lawful permanent residency status for at least 5 years at the time of filing
the application; 2) you have lived in the U.S. for at least 7 years since being admitted in any legal
status; and 3) you have not been convicted of a serious crime.
• Cancellation of Removal for Non-Permanent Residents and Undocumented Individuals:
If you do not possess permanent residency status or any legal status in the U.S. and are
placed in removal proceedings, you may be eligible to avoid deportation and obtain lawful permanent residency status if you meet following conditions 1) you have lived in the U.S. for at least 10 years at the time that you were placed in removal proceedings; 2) your qualifying relative (U.S.citizen or lawful permanent resident spouse, child, or parent) would suffer exceptional and extremely unusual hardship if you were deported; and 3) you are a person of good moral character and have not been convicted of a serious crime.
VAWA and U Visas
• VAWA
VAWA allows an abused spouse or child of a U.S. Citizen or Lawful Permanent Resident or an abused
parent of a U.S. Citizen to self-petition for lawful status in the United States, receive employment
authorization, and access public benefits. VAWA provides domestic violence survivors with the means that
are essential to escaping violence and establishing safe, independent lives.
• U Visa
Immigrant victims of certain crimes who have been helpful in a criminal investigation or prosecution may
qualify for a visa that can lead to a green card.
Waivers of Inadmissibility
A waiver means that individuals asks the U.S. government to overlook or forgive the ground of
inadmissibility and grant the green card or lawful permanent residence or some other benefit despite it.
• Waiver of Unlawful Presence in the U.S.
Waiver allows people immigrating as relatives of U.S. citizens and permanent residents, or immigrant visa
applicants in other categories, to apply for a waiver of the three- and ten-year bars for unlawful presence
before leaving the U.S.; instead of after leaving the U.S. to attend their consular interview.
An applicant who has, after the age of 18, accrued unlawful presence in the U.S. of 180 days or more, is
barred from returning to the U.S. for three years; while applicants who have accrued unlawful presence of
one year or more and then left the U.S. are barred from returning for ten years. An applicant who was
denied immigrant visa may be eligible to request for a waiver if he/she has a U.S. citizen or lawful
permanent resident spouse, fiancé, or parent who will experience “extreme” hardship if immigrant applicant
denied admission.
• Waivers of Certain Criminal Grounds of Inadmissibility
Green card applicants can, however, be found inadmissible for a variety of other reasons, such as
commission of crimes, fraud, or immigration violations; health problems; likelihood of becoming
public charges and so on.
Appeals and Immigration-related Mandamus
• Appeals
If your case is denied by the Immigration Court or the United States Citizenship & Immigration Services
(“USCIS”), you have the right to appeal the decision to a higher-level office or court within 30 days from the
date of the decision. The appeals office or court has the power to review the original decision in your case
and can ultimately reverse the decision or return your case to the lower agency or court for a new
adjudication if the original decision contained factual or legal errors.
• Writ of Mandamus
Is your immigration delayed? A writ of mandamus is a court order issued by a judge at a petitioner’s request
compelling someone to execute a duty that they are legally obligated to complete. Writs of mandamus can
be made without completing the judicial process or before a case has concluded.