USA Family Immigration law, in this office, includes parents,  grandparents, children, including  when students, and fiance’s (See article entitled “Immigration Marriage Fraud” to avoid common problems), as well as adult professionals in the family, and their lives in their professional practices and businesses.

    As Mr. Stoller does not have background in criminal representation, the office brings in those with relevant criminal representation experience when a prospective client has such issues.

    USA business immigration law, on the other hand, focuses on business and professional adults as their family lives are involved in businesses and  professional practices.

    So, we represent:

- parents and grandparents seeking to keep family together by bringing the entire family to the ‘States, as well as young families moving to the USA for a job and seeking to bring with small children with them,

- university students, exchange students and trainees looking to experience how America works and Americans live,

- adult professionals seeking USA employment as well as working within professional practices seeking entry through USA immigration to do business here,

- military personnel and professionals seeking citizenship and/or wanting to bring fiance’s here,

- family members in their businesses and professional practices and the key employees in those businesses and professional practices and their families,

- and businesses and professional practices as corporate entities seeking to do business in the USA after they get that USA business immigration visa.

I grew up in a very close-knit family of second-generation USA immigrants – farmers and small business owners.  Now, I want to make the system work for other immigrants.

I have organized this website as follows:

- USA Family Immigration Law:  covers the overall structure of US family immigration law as it focuses on families and members of families, including small children, fiance’s, students and adult professionals within the family.

- USA immigration law as it focuses on Adult Professionals when:

(a) they work with prospective USA employers; and when

(b) they work as (i) members of commercial businesses and/or (b) what we call their professional  “practice” in:  medicine, engineering, architecture, software, and so on to secure work for their own businesses.

We try to help with the following questions in our “Legal Guides:”

(1) how do I get USA immigration law entry for employment in my profession: medical, engineering, software, etc. ?

(2) is it better to seek a USA immigration law visa to do with business with a USA company as (a) a professional practice company or (b) commercial consultant rather than (c) to seek a job as an individual ?

(3) how difficult, time-consuming and expensive is it to form a US company ?  We can answer that here. It’s a week or two and typically less than $300 in government fees and less than $1,000 in legal fees.

(4) if it is easier for a client to seek a non-immigrant visa than to seek a job and (immigrant) visa as an individual, then how do you get a USA business immigration visa to do business in the USA ?  This is the sort of question we discuss in “Legal Guides.”

NOTE: USA immigration law is a reflection of US Americans’ ways of doing business.  So, if something I say just doesn’t make sense to you, call me (6 am – 9 pm USA Mountain time) or email www. jim@stollerlawoffices.com.

It’s easy for you to misunderstand and it’s easy for me to talk right past you – yet neither of us might realize it.

This is a major reason I have a whole section entitle “Legal Guides.”  It’s not legal advice, it’s an explanation of how USA immigration law reflects Americas’ ways of doing business – and immigration.

-  Military Personnel within Families:

US Family Immigration often includes military personnel within USA family immigration law, for example, where a member of the USA armed forces has fallen in love with and wants to marry and bring to the USA a citizen of another country under USA immigration law.

- Immigration Marriage Fraud.

We are especially concerned about “fraudulent marriage” or “marriage fraud” within USA family immigration law.  Because (a) marriage fraud is so common it is estimated at 50%+ and (b) the slightest suggestion of marriage fraud generates such a serious response from US immigration authorities

.

- “Legal Guides” for USA Businesses & Professional Practices.

These are the basics of my 30+ years in business, general business and immigration law experience covering businesses and professional practices, within USA business immigration law.  Family members often own businesses and their key employees and these questions get mixed up with family immigration issues and discussions, including:

(1) members of the public concerned about aspects of USA family immigration and USA business immigration;

(2) non-business USA immigration lawyers;

(3) general business lawyers, accountants/Certified Public Accountants (“CPAs”) and IRS-enrolled (authorized) agents;

(4) company human resources and employee benefits professionals; and

(5) professionals in the general financial area.

Blog – This is an area under construction.

A blog is by now pretty much the same – at least in my opinion – as a wiki, a forum, or another Web-based opinion-gathering and development device.  At the outset of each section of the Blog, for continuity purposes, we repeat the relevant “Legal Guides” for USA business immigration as a means of orienting the reader as well as providing a starting point of conversation and analysis.

From the Legal Guide in that area of the Blog, we enter into more depth and more breadth than we think might typically be practical for the those members of the public and those professionals we list above – until they are really concerned about a specific issue. Then we also invite comments on the Blog.

NOTE:  All illustrations, pictures, miniature figures, DVDs, cartoons or other graphics or aphorisms are solely my responsibility as an extension of my not always first-class sense of aesthetics and/or humor.  Finally, this website is a work in progress; if you return and some items are not exactly as you remember them – you are probably correct in your memory.  We’ve changed, added or subtracted.

Warning:

Post-9/11, USA “immigrants” (those seeking citizenship) – may – face more scrutiny than “non-immigrants” (seeking just USA business visas).  Because – post-9/11 – our immigration agencies have both (a) USA immigration and (b) anti-terrorism responsibilities (typically involving individuals) – can – take precedence over immigration.

We think some “rules of the road” can tell you how things are done – and not done.

In the past, the administration of both USA family immigration and USA business immigration law was different.  After all, America had weathered numerous waves of immigrants and was OK.  In the past, however, no one was trying to destroy us.

Beginning with the Irish after the Potato Famine in the early 1800s, USA immigrants have been resisted then absorbed by the millions e.g., the Irish into the Union Army in the mid-1860s. And America has experienced and absorbed USA immigrations after virtually every war in our history:  WW I, WW II, Korea, Vietnam and now the wars in the Middle East.

The influx of Mexicans, ironically, is one of the few USA immigrations NOT following a war.

The US immigration law agencies are:

– Dept. of State and its foreign Consulates:  they take in USA immigration filings from outside the US, largely but not entirely, by foreign nationals in their home countries;

– Dept. of Justice: it houses the USA Immigration Courts and the Bureau of Immigration Appeals where we immigration lawyers appeal USA Immigration Court decisions that go against you, our clients;

– Dept. of Labor: it protects the US work force by carefully screening foreigners that want USA jobs that an American might be able to do. This screening has been tightened during the 2007-2011 recession and can be very time-consuming and expensive – and often ultimately give an unsatisfactory result.

Our basic materials to prep’ a client for the Dept. of Labor process (called “PERM”) can run to 40 pages.;

– Dept. of Homeland Security:  (i) through its Citizenship & Immigration Service (“CIS”), DHS has its own Regional Centers scattered around the USA to take in filings from within the US and (ii) it has its own enforcement agencies:  Customs & Border Patrol (“CBP”) and Immigration & Customs Enforcement (“ICE”).

How to get along with your USA immigration officer.

Here are some informal – but critical – “rules of the road.”  Your reaction may be “Oh, com ‘on, Jim, everyone knows that ! ” Maybe so – if – you take the time to think about it.”

But we’ve all discovered – from time to time – that we weren’t thinking.  Too late we found we “didn’t know what we didn’t know”. Even when those rules were obvious to the other guy.  Believe me, it happens every day in USA immigration law.

1. First, September, 11 2001 changed everything

9/11 changed America’s view – especially the view of the USA immigration law and security forces – toward the rest of the world.  Now USA immigration officers are tasked with both USA immigration law enforcement and anti-terrorism.  These officers take their responsibility very seriously – as they should.

2. So, listen carefully and take your USA immigration officer – and attorney – seriously.  By the way, there’s not much “common sense” here; there are rules – then there are more rules.

And DON’T rely on friends/family, your neighborhood expert – or saving money by relying on a USA immigration officer for a legal opinion – that’s not their job AND it’s your responsibility, not theirs.

In early 2011 we had a client who had worked for two years on (as her own “attorney” without a law degree) adopting her blood nephew – including following the (free) advice of an immigration official.  She did all this BEFORE consulting a real lawyer. And then we were her 3rd lawyer – while she was still talking to her 4th.  She ended up losing any legal right to bring the child through USA immigration.  While immigration is not “common sense,” it helps to use common sense.

3. Details are not important – they are critical !

Together, we help your USA immigration officer to help you. “Go with the flow” set by your officer and your attorney. DON’T try try to slip by on your own.

4. If you try to outsmart your officer, you may also outsmart your USA immigration attorney – so we are unable to help you.

USA Immigration officers – like the rest of us – have lots of experience in their profession. Most of what you could come up with, they see every day.  If go your own way, your USA immigration officer may become unsure he/she can trust you and may conclude that you have a hidden agenda i.e., you have “dual intent.”

That’s a nice way of saying YOU – not your attorney because we and the immigration officers typically know each other – are trying to deceive them. At that point your application to get through USA immigration is in serious trouble, if not dead in the water.

5. There is usually a legal way to achieve what you want (often even when two legal approaches we suggest seem to conflict with each other), so tell us completely what you want to do. Do not try it on your own by telling us only what you choose to tell us.

USA immigration lawyers help each other.  What we need from you – is truth and a quick, thorough response.  It’s frustrating for a lawyer when a client prevents the immigration lawyer from helping them.

6. US immigration law is “federal” so it’s the same across the entire country – if you’re honest and let us help you, we have some 10,000 other USA immigration lawyers we can go to with your problem.

If you don’t tell us the truth, you cut us and yourself off from the experience and expertise of some 10,000 other USA immigration lawyers. You reduce our effectiveness on your case.

7. Your USA immigration attorney can often – legally – file what (might) seem like conflicting petitions for you at the same time.  So there may be a legal way to get what you want – just tell your USA immigration attorney, so he/she try can to work it out.

The key is that there are so many different aspects to USA immigration law for so many different situations – and as I said above, so often a reflection of how we Americans look at business -  chances are that your situation is similar to what someone else’s attorney has already seen – thousands of miles away across the country.

8. USA immigration law takes lots of time and is expensive – think in terms of months, even years, and thousands of dollars. Your file will become inches thick !