Immigration law touches every dimension of a person's life — the ability to live with one's spouse and children, the ability to work and build a career, the ability to remain in the country one has made one's home. The Law Office of Adrienne D. Edward, P.C. represents individuals and families across the full range of immigration matters, from removal defense before the immigration courts to family-based petitions, employment-based applications, naturalization, and asylum. The firm's combined experience in criminal defense and immigration law is particularly valuable to noncitizens whose immigration status intersects with the criminal justice system — a population for whom the wrong disposition of even a minor criminal matter can produce permanent and devastating immigration consequences.
Removal Defense Before the Immigration Courts
When the Department of Homeland Security initiates removal proceedings by filing a Notice to Appear, the consequences for the noncitizen and for the family that depends on the noncitizen's presence in the United States can be devastating. The firm represents clients before the New York and Newark Immigration Courts and on appeal to the Board of Immigration Appeals, presenting every available form of relief — cancellation of removal for lawful permanent residents under section 240A(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, cancellation for non-permanent residents under section 240A(b), adjustment of status, asylum and withholding of removal, protection under the Convention Against Torture, and the discretionary forms of relief that may apply in a given case. Every removal case begins with a careful analysis of the charges, the underlying facts, and the client's complete immigration and criminal history, so that the available defenses and forms of relief can be identified and pursued.
Family-Based Petitions and Adjustment of Status
Immigration through family relationships remains a primary lawful pathway for noncitizens to obtain status in the United States. The firm prepares and files immediate-relative petitions for spouses, parents, and minor children of United States citizens; family preference petitions for adult children, siblings, and the relatives of lawful permanent residents; fiancé(e) visa applications under the K-1 category; and the consular processing or adjustment of status applications that follow approval of the underlying petition. Where the marriage is recent, the firm prepares the I-751 petition to remove conditions on residence with the documentary evidence of a bona fide marital relationship that the adjudicating officer requires. Where prior marriages, prior immigration violations, or prior criminal history complicate the adjustment, the firm addresses those issues in the filing rather than leaving them for the officer to discover.
Naturalization and the Path to Citizenship
The path from lawful permanent residence to United States citizenship requires careful attention to the statutory requirements: continuous residence and physical presence, good moral character during the relevant period, attachment to the principles of the Constitution, and the demonstration of English language ability and civics knowledge at the naturalization interview. The firm guides clients through every stage of the process — the preparation of the N-400 application, the assembly of the supporting documentation, preparation for the interview and the civics examination, and the administration of the oath of allegiance at the naturalization ceremony. Where the client has criminal history, prior immigration issues, prolonged absences from the United States, or selective service questions, the firm addresses those issues in advance rather than allowing them to emerge for the first time in the interview.
Crimmigration: Where Criminal and Immigration Law Meet
The intersection of criminal law and immigration law is among the most consequential areas of contemporary practice. A single criminal disposition — even one that carries no jail sentence — can render a noncitizen deportable, inadmissible, ineligible for cancellation of removal, ineligible for adjustment of status, or ineligible for naturalization. Aggravated felonies as defined in section 101(a)(43) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, crimes involving moral turpitude, controlled substance offenses, firearms offenses, and crimes of domestic violence each carry distinct and severe immigration consequences that depend on the precise statute of conviction, the elements of the offense, the length of the sentence imposed, and the date of the conduct. The firm's combined criminal and immigration experience allows it to advise clients and their criminal counsel on dispositions that protect liberty without sacrificing immigration status.
Employment-Based and Investor Immigration
The firm advises individuals and small businesses on the employment-based immigration categories most commonly used by professionals, skilled workers, and investors — H-1B specialty occupation visas, L-1 intracompany transferee visas, O-1 visas for individuals of extraordinary ability, E-2 treaty investor visas, and the EB-1, EB-2, and EB-3 employment-based immigrant visa categories that lead to lawful permanent residence. PERM labor certification, I-140 immigrant petitions, and the adjustment of status or consular processing that follows approval are each handled with attention to the specific facts of the position and the qualifications of the beneficiary. The firm also advises on portability under section 204(j) of the Act for employment-based applicants whose adjustment applications have been pending for the required period.
Asylum and Humanitarian Protection
For noncitizens who have suffered persecution in their countries of origin or who fear persecution if returned, the firm prepares affirmative asylum applications before the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services and defensive applications before the immigration courts. Asylum requires proof of past persecution or a well-founded fear of future persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group, and the development of that proof — through the client's own testimony, country conditions documentation, expert reports, and corroborating evidence — is the work of months. The firm also represents clients in applications for withholding of removal, protection under the Convention Against Torture, Special Immigrant Juvenile Status, U visas for victims of qualifying crimes, T visas for victims of human trafficking, and Violence Against Women Act self-petitions for the spouses and children of abusive citizens and lawful permanent residents.
Appeals and Federal Court Review
Where an immigration judge or USCIS officer issues an adverse decision, the firm represents clients on appeal to the Board of Immigration Appeals and, where appropriate, on petition for review to the United States Courts of Appeals for the Second and Third Circuits. Motions to reopen and motions to reconsider before the immigration courts and the Board, habeas corpus petitions challenging detention by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and mandamus actions to compel adjudication of unreasonably delayed applications are also part of the firm's practice. Immigration appellate work requires command of the Immigration and Nationality Act, the federal regulations, the precedent decisions of the Board, and the controlling case law of the relevant circuit, and the firm brings to it the same preparation it brings to every other phase of an immigration matter.
