Immigration Questions
Whether you have immigration questions, or it is your loved one, facing the process can be difficult and frustrating. Our Lawyer, Lynn Garfinkel, provides guidance that will put your mind at ease. If you have questions or concerns about your forms, not sure what evidence to gather, or want a second opinion, our attorney can help. Through consultations, we are helping people that are helping themselves.
Immigration Topics
The firm provides consultation services for the following:
Family Immigration: Marriage-Based Immigration -
- Spouse of a U.S. Citizen (IR1, CR1);
- Spouse of a U.S. Citizen awaiting approval of an I-130 immigrant petition (K-3);
- Fiancé(e) to marry U.S. Citizen & live in U.S. (K-1);
- Family: Other Family Members - including the following categories -
- Of U.S. Citizens -
- Unmarried sons and daughters over 21 (F1);
- Married sons and daughters over the age of 21; (F3) and
- Siblings - brothers and sisters (F4)
- Of Lawful Permanent Residents -
- Spouses and children under 21 (F2A); and
- Unmarried sons and daughters (F2B)
- Of U.S. Citizens -
- Temporary Visas (called nonimmigrant petitions) - Including:
- Employment (work based): Speciality occupations (H1B);
- Employment (work based): Intracompany transferees (L1);
- Student and Cultural Exchange (F-1) and (J-1);
- Visitor Visas - temporary visitors for business or pleasure; and more
- Permanent Employment (work based) Visas - Including -
- First Priority, including Priority Workers (E1) such as Extraordinary Ability, Outstanding professors and researchers, and Multinational Managers and Executives;
- Second Priority, Professionals with Advanced Degrees and Persons of Exceptional Ability (E2) with labor certification or National Interest Waiver;
- Third Priority, including the following categories -
- Skilled workers are persons whose jobs require a minimum of 2 years training or work experience that are not temporary or seasonal;
- Professionals are members of the professions whose jobs require at least a baccalaureate degree from a U.S. university or college or its foreign equivalent degree;
- Unskilled workers (Other workers) are persons capable of filling positions that require less than two years training or experience that are not temporary or seasonal; and
- Fourth Priority, Special Immigrant Visas for International Organizations such as the World Bank and IMF, Juveniles, and Religious Workers.
- Humanitarian Protections -
- Asylum, Withholding, and CAT, including affirmative and defensive asylum cases, Protection Under the Convention Against Torture ("CAT"), and Withholding of Removal based on fear of harm due to your membership in the following groups:
- Race
- Religion
- Political opinion
- Nationality
- Social Group
- Temporary Protected Status - affirmatively, in immigration court, and DACA; and
- Violence Against Women immigration benefits - either as a petition with USCIS or as cancellation of removal in removal proceedings (immigration court)
- Asylum, Withholding, and CAT, including affirmative and defensive asylum cases, Protection Under the Convention Against Torture ("CAT"), and Withholding of Removal based on fear of harm due to your membership in the following groups:
- Waivers of inadmissibility - including but not limited to:
- Criminal Related grounds;
- Misrepresentation or Fraud;
- Provisional (unlawful presence);
- Removal/deportation,
- Family Unity, National Interest, and more
At Garfinkel Immigration Law, we have experience in not just these areas, but a comprehensive range of immigration law cases. We use these experiences, as well as the skills we have honed over the years, to provide exert advice by the hour. We provide the answers you need to the questions you have.
Lynn Garfinkel, Immigration Consultant
Ms. Garfinkel completed her undergraduate studies at Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon. After studying abroad in France and South Korea, she self-designed her undergraduate degree in international development. After working for two years at national organizations advocating for low income families, Ms. Garfinkel went on to earn her Juris Doctor (JD) degree from Northeastern University School of Law in Massachusetts.
During law school, Ms. Garfinkel was a teaching assistant and participated in a prisoner's rights and death penalty Certiorari clinics. As part of her school’s work program, she interned at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, the Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division and the Office of the Federal Public Defender for DC.
Lynn Garfinkel provides consultation services for clients seeking lawful permanent residence (green cards), temporary visas, and employment-based petitions and visas, including people with extraordinary abilities (EB-1), professors (EB-1), researchers (EB-1), managers (EB-1), intracompany transferees (L-1), specialty occupations (H-1B), and more. Ms. Garfinkel has experience with a wide variety of family visas, spousal petitions, fiancé petitions, waivers of inadmissibility, requests to reapply after removal, deportation defense, naturalization, asylum, and benefits for survivors of abuse, special juvenile immigrant visas, and more.
Finally, Ms. Garfinkel is currently a member in good standing of the Maryland Bar and the District of Columbia bars. She previously served as Chair of the Asylum Office Liaison Committee for the AILA for three years, Vice Chair for the AILA Washington Immigration Court Liaison Committee. Finally, Ms. Garfinkel engaged in volunteer human rights advocacy work for Amnesty International's Mid-Atlantic Regional Office. For five years, she served as the Representative to the Special Initiatives Grant Committee. Ms. Garfinkel, who is from an immigrant family, is dedicated to helping foreign nationals by providing answers on specific questions.