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LAW OFFICE OF MANFRED H. WIEGANDT Specializing in IMMIGRATION LAW 268 MAIN STREET WAREHAM, MASSACHUSETTS 02571 TELEPHONE: (508) 295-7361; TOLL FREE: (877) 295-7361 FAX: (508) 295-4677 EMAIL: MAWIEGANDT@AOL.COM
Material presented on this website
of the Law Office of Manfred H. Wiegandt is intended for information purposes
only. It is not intended as professional advice and should not be construed
as such.
SERVICES [BACK]
The Law Office of Manfred H. Wiegandt is specialized
in the representation of individual and corporate clients in all immigration
and naturalization matters with the United States Citizenship & Immigration
Services (USCIS), the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) [Immigration
Courts], the Department of Labor (DOL) and the Department of State (DOS).
ATTORNEY PROFILE
[BACK] Some of the typical areas of representation include: - family relationship (for example spouses and children) - employment - visa lottery
Education and experience
Attorney Wiegandt received his Juris Doctor (J.D.)
cum laude in 1999 from Boston University School of Law and was admitted
to the Massachusetts bar in the same year. He also holds a master's degree
in International Relations, the "Master of Arts in Law and Diplomacy" (M.A.L.D.),
from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. Attorney
Wiegandt is also qualified to practice law in Germany, where he received his
law education at the University of Göttingen.
The same university also awarded him a doctorate in law (Dr. iur.).
Attorney Wiegandt worked in the German government as an officer in charge of the development of eastern Europe. Before starting the practice of law, he also was, among other things, a Visiting Fellow at the Human Rights Program of Harvard Law School and a consultant for Physicians for Human Rights in Boston. Being himself an immigrant to the United States, Attorney Wiegandt understands the problems immigrants are facing. He is committed to be accessible to his clients and provide a highly personal service. Foreign languages
Attorney Wiegandt speaks German, Spanish and French.
CONTACT & DIRECTIONS [BACK]
Appointments:
Please schedule an appointment with the Attorney. Although
it is helpful to know the basic facts of your case ahead of time, adequate
immigration consult cannot be given over the phone. Please bring to your appointment
all relevant documents you have in your possession, in particular your passport,
alien resident card, employment authorization card, letters from the USCIS
or the Immigration Court, copies of your applications, and personal documents,
such as birth and marriage certificates, diplomas, court papers, e.g. relating
to criminal or divorce proceedings, etc.
Directions:
The office (gray building) is located in the center of
Wareham across the parking lot of the fire station. Parking is available in
the back of the building.
Directions from New Bedford:
Take Interstate 195 East, Exit 21 (Wareham), take a right
at the ramp, take another right at the traffic light and follow the road,
which is already Main Street, into town. The fire station will be on your
left; the office across the street of the fire station's parking lot.
Directions from Cape Cod:
Coming over the Bourne Bridge, stay on the highway, take
Exit 1 (Wareham), take a right at the end of the ramp and another right at
the traffic light. Follow Route 6 (left at next fork) into the center of town
of Wareham. After the railroad crossing, you are on Main Street. The office
is the second house after the post-office (on your left).
Directions from Boston/Brockton:
Take Route 24 South, take exit 14A (495, Cape Cod), take
exit 1 (New Bedford/Wareham, 195), take the immediate next exit 21 (Wareham),
take a left at the ramp, take a right at the traffic light and follow the
road, which is already Main Street, into town. The fire station will be on
your left, office across the street of the fire station's parking lot.
Directions from Plymouth:
Take Route 44 West/58 South, Interstate 495 South, Exit
1 (Wareham, 195), take the immediate next exit 21 (Wareham), take a left at
the ramp [instead of taking 495, you may also take Route 28 South], take a
right at the traffic light and follow the road, which is already Main Street,
into town. The fire station will be on your left, the office across the street
of the fire station's parking lot.
IMMIGRATION LAW [BACK]
United States immigration and naturalization law is federal
law. It is mainly administered by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
As visa issuance is concerned, many competences lie with the Department
of State (DOS) and its consular offices abroad; the Department of Labor (DOL)
is given the responsibility to protect the U.S. labor market and mostly needs
to certify positions for which domestic workers are not available before a
foreign worker may he hired. The immigration courts, which are mainly in charge
of deciding on the deportation of aliens, are part of the Department of Justice
(DOJ). In order to obtain immigration benefits, such as naturalization, permanent
residence or work authorization, the alien has to pay considerable application
and processing fees to the respective agency. Immigration law consists of
statutory law, most of it codified in the Immigration and Nationality Act
(INA), regulations of the departments involved, case law, particularly that
of federal courts, the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA), the Board of Alien
Labor Certification Appeals (BALCA) and the Administrative Appeals Office
(AAO) of the USCIS. In addition, numerous internal letters, memoranda, guidelines,
advisory opinions and interpretations that guide the practice of the administration,
as well as rules of the immigration courts, need to be observed in order to
provide competent immigration law advice.
Permanent residence
U.S. immigration law substantially distinguishes between
immigrant and nonimmigrant "aliens," as all non-citizens are called. Aliens
who have been allowed to reside permanently in the United States are called
"Legal Permanent Residents." Their status is evidenced by an Alien Resident
Card, commonly known as the "green card". An application for permanent residence
can be based on a petition by a close family member who is a U.S. citizen
or a legal permanent resident, on a petition by an employer (in case of highly
qualified individuals sometimes also on a self-petition), or on a winning
ticket in the Department of State's annual diversity visa lottery.
Family-based immigration
Close family members who are U.S. citizens or legal permanent
residents can petition for an immigrant visa number for their alien relatives.
However, visa numbers are only directly available for immediate relatives,
i.e. spouses, unmarried children and parents of U.S. citizens. All other qualifying
relatives of U.S. citizens (married children, adult children, siblings) and
qualifying relatives of permanent residents (spouses and unmarried children)
face long waiting periods, and some categories are virtually unavailable for
aliens who live in oversubscribed countries like Mexico, the Philippines or
China.
Once a visa number becomes available, in case of immediate relatives of U.S. citizens immediately, the alien beneficiary of a visa petition can apply for an immigrant visa, if he or she is outside the U.S., or, if in the U.S., for adjustment of status, to eventually obtain a "green card." Family-based immigrants need to show that they will not be a public burden. Therefore, the petitioning relative needs to file a so-called "Affidavit of Support", demonstrating that he or she will be able to support the alien relative (and all other people he or she is required to support) at a level that is 125% above the poverty guidelines (according to the 2004 Poverty Guidelines). Currently, this means that the petitioner needs to have an annual income of $ 15,612 for only two people to support (him/herself and the alien), but, e.g., $ 23,562 if he or she has to support four people. If the petitioner does not have enough income, other sponsors may be added. All sponsors commit themselves legally to support the sponsored alien, and the government may demand reimbursement for support provided to the sponsored alien. The rules about the affidavit of support are quite elaborate and complicated, and often an in-depth review of the sponsor's financial situation becomes necessary. Special rules guide the admission of spouses. If the marriage is not yet two years old on the day of the admission to permanent residence, permanent residence is provided on a conditional basis. During the ninety days before the second anniversary of the admission to permanent residence, the spouses must file a joint petition to remove that condition. With the petition they have to submit documentation showing that their marriage was entered into in good faith. If they fail to comply or the USCIS determines that the marriage was not entered into in good faith, the alien is stripped of his or her status as permanent resident. Employment-based immigration
In order to obtain permanent residence based on a job
offer by an U.S. employer, it is in most cases necessary that the sponsoring
employer first files a so-called “Alien Labor Certification” application with
the Department of Labor (DOL). This application is meant to demonstrate that
no suitable U.S. workers are available for the position. Historically, such
applications faced relatively long processing times. However, the DOL is in
the process of implementing new regulations that are expected to streamline
the process and considerably shorten the processing times.
If the DOL certifies that there are no U.S. workers for the offered position, the employer can petition the USCIS for a visa number. One very important requirement for such a petition is that the employer can demonstrate to USCIS, mainly by his/her federal tax returns, that he/she is able to pay the prevailing wage for the position from the time the labor certification application was filed. While the processing time of labor certification applications will most likely be reduced in the future, it can be expected that lower-skilled workers (up to two years of experience) will face longer waiting periods after the position has been certified until a visa number becomes available to them. Once the visa number for a foreign worker becomes current, which can be determined by the monthly issued Visa Bulletin, published by the Department of State, the foreign worker can apply for an immigrant visa at the U.S. consulate in his home country, or, if he/she is in the United States and has all the time remained in legal status, for adjustment of status here in the U.S. Grounds of inadmissibility
All immigrants need to be admissible. USCIS and DOS will,
therefore, check whether enumerated grounds of inadmissibility apply. Most
common are criminal grounds, misrepresentation or fraud to obtain immigration
benefits, health-related grounds, and certain specified bars to admission.
One important bar to admission applies when an alien has left the U.S. after
staying in the country for a lengthy time without authorization and then leaves
the U.S., for example in the case of an overstay. If an alien has stayed in
the U.S. for more than 180 days without authorization, he or she is barred
from returning to the U.S. for 3 years; in case the unauthorized stay was
one year or more, the bar for readmission is ten years. There are a number
of waivers that can be granted if one or more grounds of inadmissibility apply.
However, mostly these waivers require that a close relative would endure special
hardship if the alien were not admitted. Those waiver requests require diligent
documentation of the hardship; the decision to grant them is discretionary.
Bars to adjustment of status
Not everybody who qualifies for permanent residence can
apply for the "green card" in the U.S. If a person has violated the terms
of his or her former admission (most commonly through overstaying or working
without authorization) or has been in the country without admission ("entered
without inspection") or has entered under the visa waiver program (mostly
aliens from Western Europe, Japan, Australia), he or she is barred from applying
for adjustment of status and has to return home to apply for an immigrant
visa with the U.S. consulate at home. If the respective alien has already
overstayed for more than 180 days, this return will trigger a bar and make
the person ineligible for an immigrant visa. Immediate relatives of U.S. citizens
are privileged. They can in most cases adjust status, unless they entered
without inspection. The only way for aliens to adjust status despite bars
to adjustment was Section 245(i) of the INA which allowed, under certain conditions,
to overcome the adjustment bar by paying a penalty fee of $ 1,000. However,
at the moment this section is not in force. A reinstatement of Section 245(i)
was debated in Congress before September 11, 2001, but does not seem on the
agenda at the moment.
Naturalization
If a person has resided for 5 years as a legally admitted
permanent resident in the U.S. (only 3 years in case of an alien living in marital union with
a U.S. citizen during that period) and has been physically present in the
country during at least half of that period, he or she may apply for citizenship.
The person must show good moral character, possess a basic ability to read,
write and speak English and have some knowledge of the history and government
of the United States. Some factors speak against the good moral character
of a person, especially certain criminal convictions. People with a criminal
record may not only be ineligible for citizenship, but may also be deportable.
Therefore, it is necessary to check the alien’s criminal record diligently
before filing a premature application for naturalization that could lead
to the applicant’s deportation. The same applies to aliens who have obtained their green
card through fraud or misrepresentation or despite being ineligible for permanent
residence.
INFORMACIÓN EN ESPAÑOL [BACK]
El abogado Wiegandt es un miembro de la Asociación de
Abogados Americanos de Inmigración (AILA) y como eso especializado en todos
los aspectos de derecho de inmigración y naturalización. Como miembro de AILA
el señor Wiegandt es dedicado de proveer a sus clientes servicios de inmigración
con competencia y sinceridad.
Unos de los mas frecuentes materias del trabajo del abogado Wiegandt son: - relación familiaria (por ejemplo matrimonio) - relación profesional - lotería de visados |
