Practice Areas

Immigration laws and procedures are complex and ever-changing. It is best to select an attorney who has experience in the area that you or your loved one need help in. After you think you have found the attorney that fits your needs make sure that he or she has the experience needed to provide you with an immigration solution. Our Houston immigration lawyers have handled numerous removal defense cases requiring expertise in asylum, cancellation of removal, and adjustment of status cases. We have also handled family-based immigration cases where children have petitioned for their parents, spousal petitions, and sibling petitions. We also handle immigration waivers for unlawful presence. We invite you to look below and read about some of the areas of law that we handle.

Some of the areas we have had great success in are detention cases such as asylum, cancellation of removal for lawful permanent residents, cancellation of removal for non-lawful permanent residents, cancellation of removal for lawful permanent residents, and immigration bonds. We have also achieved tremendous success in unlawful presence waivers and adjustment of status of cases. Our team will deliver personalized service and tailor your case to your needs. We have the experience and energy necessary to provide you with an immigration solution.

The immigration attorneys in our Houston office handle almost any immigration matter. Some of the most popular areas we handle are highlighted below. For other areas we handle please scroll to the bottom of the page and click on the appropriate link for more information.

Asylum

Asylum can be based on a well-founded fear based on race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group. The social group must be an unchangeable characteristic of the applicant such as gender or sexual orientation. The Supreme Court of the United States says that there must be a 10% chance that you will be persecuted if you are forced to return to your country. Other applications such as withholding of removal and protection under the Convention Against Torture have higher standards. The person that is persecuting you must be a group within the country that the government cannot or will not control or the government themselves. Generally, you must apply for asylum within 1-year of arriving in the United States. However, we have won numerous cases where we have convinced the immigration judge that the applicant qualifies for an exception to the 1-year filing deadline. Our best advice to clients applying for asylum in the United States is to find an experienced attorney to handle their case. Our office has handled numerous asylum cases and are proud to say that we offer exceptional legal services in this area. Our Houston immigration lawyers understand what it takes to win these cases and take the time to help you weave through this complicated area of the law.

Cancellation of Removal for Non-Lawful Permanent Residents

The applicant must be continually and physically present in the United States for the previous 10 years. Continuous presence means that the applicant could not have been outside of the United States for an aggregate period of more than 180 days. The applicant also could not have traveled outside of the United States for 90 or more consecutive days.

The applicant must also prove that he or she is a person of good moral character. This basically means that you cannot be convicted of major crimes in the United States. These crimes are usually felonies. Avoiding a criminal record is important because the crimes could make you ineligible for cancellation of removal.

The applicant must prove that if he or she is removed from the United States, the deportation would cause exceptional and extremely unusual hardship to their United States citizen or lawful permanent resident child, parent, or spouse. This is an area that immigration attorneys often struggle to prove to the immigration judge. Our office understands how to handle these cases in a manner that will provide you with an immigration solution.

Cancellation of Removal for Lawful Permanent Residents

The immigration attorneys in our Houston office have handled numerous cancellation of removal cases for lawful permanent residents. We have had numerous cases in which lawful permanent residents find themselves in removal proceedings after being detained by immigration officers for crimes they have previously committed. Many lawful permanent residents do not understand that there are immigration consequences to crimes you may have committed previously in your life, regardless of whether you were offered probation, deferred adjudication, entered a guilty plea for a lesser sentence, or completed your punishment. We have released many lawful permanent residents from detention centers and immigration custody by fighting a cancellation of removal for lawful permanent resident cases for them. In these cases our office works hard to prove that the individual was a lawful permanent resident for not less than 5 years, has resided in the United States for no less than 7 years in any immigration status, and has not been convicted of an aggravated felony. There are numerous other legalities that affect a client’s eligibility for this form of immigration relief so it is absolutely critical to not proceed with these types of cases without the representation of an experienced and knowledgeable immigration attorney. Houston immigration lawyer Armand Jawanmardi has handled numerous cases such as these and has won them in immigration court.

Immigration Bonds

One of the areas of immigration law that our office specializes in are immigration bonds. A detained individual that finds themselves in the custody of the United States government and is in an immigration detention center can often request an immigration bond to be released. These bonds can range from $1,500 to tens of thousands of dollars. Our office has the experience necessary to negotiate your case with the Department of Homeland Security attorney, and, if need be, fight your immigration bond in front of the immigration judge in court. We do not settle for any bond amount, we fight to obtain a bond amount that your family and the client can afford to pay. We do everything possible to present an application in front of the government and immigration court that can be approved for a low bond. Afterwards, we assist families by showing them how to pay the immigration bond and what procedures they will undergo in order to be reunited with their loved one. We have secured bonds for individuals detained in Texas from the following cities: Houston, Conroe, Livingston, Laredo, Rio Grande, Taylor, Los Fresnos, Pearsall, Karnes City, and El Paso. We have also handled cases for detainees in Louisiana. The following are just some of the detention centers we have released individuals from:

Houston Contract Detention Facility (otherwise known as the Houston Processing Center), Joe Corley Detention Center, IAH Secure Adult Detention Facility, South Texas Detention Facility, Rio Grande Detention Center, Laredo Detention Center, T. Don Hutto Residential Center, Karnes County Residential Center, Port Isabel Detention Facility, and El Paso Processing Center.

Adjustment of Status

In many cases, individuals already in the United States can avoid having to go back to their home country in order to obtain a permanent status in the United States. The process they will undergo is called adjustment of status. The journey to achieve lawful permanent residence through this route is often times complicated and long. Our office will first determine your eligibility to successfully obtain a green card through the petition that will be filed on your behalf by an employer or family member. We will check on whether a visa is available based on your category and priority date. We help guide you through all of the supporting documents you will need to win your case and prepare your applications.

Waivers

Houston immigration lawyer Armand Jawanmardi has successfully handled various waivers for clients. A popular waiver is the I-601A waiver for unlawful presence. Individuals who have accrued unlawful presence after the age of 18 will most likely need this waiver in order to adjust their status in the United States. After the age of 18 individuals accrue unlawful presence in the United States if they have been here 180 days or more. The individual will be barred from returning to the United States for 3 years. Individuals who have accrued unlawful presence of one year or more and then left the United States are prohibited from returning for 10 years. The good news is that this is a stateside waiver. This means you will be able to apply for this waiver from within the United States if you meet the requirements. One of the main requirements for eligibility is that you must be the immediate relative of a United States citizen or lawful permanent resident. This means you must be the immediate relative of a spouse, parent, or unmarried child under the age of 21 who has citizenship or residency in the United States.