Practice Areas

Investment-Based Immigration

The EB-5 Investor Program, administered by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, was established by Congress in 1990 to stimulate the U.S. Economy through the creating of jobs and capital investments by foreign investors.

Family-Based Immigration

Family-Based Immigration is the process of obtaining a Visa to enter the United States in order to become a legal permanent resident through the use of your family members who are already in the United States. This includes parents, spouses, children (natural or adopted), brothers or sisters.

Employment-Based Immigration

Employment-based Immigration entails using an employment opportunity to enter and stay in the United States legally. Every year, approximately 140,000 employment-based immigrant visas are available to qualified applicants. US Immigration law also allows the spouses and children of the applicants to accompany the employment-based immigrants.

Special Immigrant Abused Spouse, Child, or Parent Under VAWA

The Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) contains special rules for cancellation of removal for non-lawful permanent resident (LPR) spouses or children of U.S. citizens (USCs) or LPRs who were subject to battery or extreme cruelty by his/her USC or LPR spouse or parent. Similar to the cancellation of removal rules for most non-LPRs that are found in INA § 240A(b)(1), an applicant may request special rule cancellation found in INA § 240A(b)(2) only before an immigration judge when in removal proceedings. If granted cancellation under VAWA, the beneficiary’s status will be adjusted to that of LPR. Moreover, the eligibility requirements for special rule cancellation for battered spouses and children are more lenient than for regular cancellation.

Non-Immigrant Visas

There are many types of non-immigrant visas for temporary visitors to travel to the U.S. when you are not a U.S. citizen or U.S. lawful permanent resident. The purpose of your intended travel and certain other facts will determine what type of visa is required under U.S. immigration law.

Political Asylum

An asylee is a person that has already made it to the U.S. border or the interior (by lawful or unlawful entry) and is seeking protection because they have suffered persecution or fear that they will suffer persecution due to race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group or political opinion. If s/heare eligible for asylum s/hemay be permitted to remain in the United States. To apply for asylum, an individual should file Form I-589, Application for Asylum and for Withholding of Removal, within one year of his or her arrival in the United States, or within one year of a change in circumstances that now justifies a fear of persecution on one of the five statuory grounds enunciated above. There is no fee to apply for asylum, and an applicant may include his or her spouse and children who are in the United States on his or her application at the time s/he files, or at any time until a final decision is made on the application. To include one’s child on an application, the child must be under 21 and unmarried.

US Citizenship

Issues of citizenship seem simple, but can be surprisingly complex. If you meet certain requirements, you may be eligible for U.S. citizenship at birth or later in your life. Cella & Associates has helped many people become U.S. Citizens and as well as with other issues of U.S. Citizenship, naturalization, and dual citizenship.

Consular Matters

Cella & Associates is also actively involved in matters relating to children and families as they cross international borders. The Office of Children’s Issues, a division within Overseas Citizens Services, creates, develops and coordinates policies and programs on international child abductions and international adoptions.

International Child Abduction

The Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction (Hague Abduction Convention) is the primary civil law mechanism for parents seeking the return of their children from other treaty partner countries. Countries that are party to the Convention have agreed that a child who was habitually resident in one Convention country, and who has been removed to or retained in another Convention country in violation of the left-behind parent’s custodial rights, shall be returned. Once the child has been returned, any custody dispute can then be resolved in the courts of that jurisdiction. The Convention does not address who should have custody of the child; it addresses where the custody case should be heard.

Work Visas

The E-2 (E2) Treaty Investors visa is a nonimmigrant visa for certain nationals of countries with which the United States maintains a treaty of commerce and navigation. The E2 visa is available for investors and for employees of E2 treaty investors or companies that, by virtue of their ownership and operations in the United States, can qualify as E2 petitioners. This article will provide a brief overview of the E2 visa category.