Immigration Services
Families are the compass that guides us. They are the inspiration to reach great heights, and our comfort when we occasionally falter. – Brad Henry
In collaboration with attorney Susan Meisel Levin, Diana provides an array of immigration services. We believe in getting things right the first time. Whether you need adoption immigration services, want to reunify your family, or apply for employment visas for foreign workers, we can help. Let our experience, care, and thoroughness work for you.
Family Unification and Adjustment of Status
Whether your immediate relatives are abroad or already here in the United States, we can help you determine if they might be eligible for immigration benefits.
Planning on getting married? Did you know that whether you marry your spouse before or after he or she applies for a visa could effect his or her eligibility for immigration benefits? Don't make the wrong choice!
We are familiar with N-600 and N-600K applications for Certificates of Citizenship, N-400 naturalization petitions, I-130 immediate relative petitions, I-485 adjustment of status petitions, marriage green cards, and I-129F petitions and fiance/K-1 visas.
Adoption Immigration Services
Usually, families will need to work with a licensed adoption agency to adopt a non-US citizen child and bring her home. However, under certain circumstances, a child adopted in a foreign country may qualify for immigration benefits after two years in your legal and physical custody. These are complex filings, requiring extensive proof that the family has met the legal requirements. If the child is from a country signatory to the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption, additional rules apply. We have the expertise to analyze your situation and meet the complex requirements of relative petitions for adopted children.
In certain situations, it is possible a for a non-citizen child who is present in the United States to eventually become a citizen following adoption by a U.S. citizen in a state court.
A domestic adoption may be a pathway toward citizenship for a child who entered the United States for reasons other than adoption and who cannot or should not return home. Families must proceed with caution in these circumstances because if such an adoption is attempted without a full understanding of the immigration implications, it can result in a bar to future citizenship.
Let our experience work for you. If you reside in Florida or South Dakota, we can assist first with a domestic adoption, and later with a filing to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) for citizenship. If you reside in another state, we can work with your local attorney or agency to be certain that your domestic adoption will further your goal of eventual citizenship for your child.
Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (“SIJS”) is a legal pathway for abused, abandoned, or neglected undocumented children present in the United States to become a Lawful Permanent Resident (LPR). A state juvenile court must first declare the child dependent under state law, after determining that reunification with one or both parents is not a viable option and that it is not in the child’s best interest to return her to her home country. Families can then file a special immigration petition with the court order and other documents for the child to apply for lawful permanent residency.
Usually when a family wants to adopt a child from a country that is a signatory to the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption, the family must use an accredited adoption service provider (ASP) and follow the traditional Hague adoption process. However, if the child is already in the United States and it is not possible/practical to follow the usual Hague adoption process, it may be possible to adopt him domestically.
For a domestic adoption of a child from a Hague country, adoptive parents must follow a specific protocol with the Central Authority of the child’s country of origin. If the protocol is followed to a T, your child may be eligible for citizenship even if the government of his country of origin never responds. If the protocol is not followed exactly, your child’s domestic adoption might preclude U.S. citizenship. We are knowledgeable and experienced in assisting families with this process to ensure that their domestically adopted non-U.S. citizen children may become eligible for citizenship..