Please don't friend me (on Facebook)

If you are interested in using social media to connect with me, please use my LinkedIn.com account. While I do maintain a Facebook account, it's only for personal use. Ethical concerns make trying to manage social media relationships tricky. What folks don't realize is that friending an attorney on Facebook could open up ethical issues where confidential information could be transmitted simply by being listed on an attorney's friends roster. I find it a little bit easier to limit my professional relationships to LinkedIn. Still, it's not perfect.

Web 2.0 and the new social media applications are a wonderful way to connect. What's challenging is making sure attorney/client or attorney/prospective client interactions are compliant with state ethical rules.

Planning a trip to China to visit Chinese fiancee

Just cranked out a quick email to a prospective client. He's been in touch with a gal in China and things are going well. He wanted to know what the supporting docs are that need to be gathered, and I was happy to provide him with some info about the K-1 fiancee visa as well as the supporting docs. Always appreciate when folks are proactive and thinking ahead. It saves them time and expense.

If you have questions about your specific situation, call me at 626-771-1078 or email me.

U.S. embassy in Bangkok, Thailand closed temporarily

Got word that the U.S. embassy in Bangkok, Thailand has been closed temporarily due to flooding. Office is expected to be closed for a few days. Hopefully this won't impact the fiancee visa and spousal visa scheduling too much.

USCIS holds stakeholder meeting re Ethiopian adoptions

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) would like to invite you to attend a stakeholder call to discuss USCIS processing of Ethiopian adoption cases which the U.S. Embassy in Addis Ababa is referring to USCIS as "not clearly approvable" on Friday, October 28, 2011 @ 10:30 am (EDT).

Recently, the U.S. Embassy in Addis Abbaba, Ethiopia, has identified a number of adoption petitions (Form I-600, Petition to Classify Orphan as Immediate Relative) that it has determined are not clearly approvable (NCA), and thus, must be referred to USCIS for adjudication. USCIS would like to explain what “not clearly approvable” means and how the processing of such cases will unfold once the cases are referred to USCIS. 

I feel bad for those parents who are looking forward to being united with their kids but cannot because of potential problems surrounding their I-600 paperwork. Hopefully this will get resolved with as little heartache as possible.

4 attorneys disciplined

Just read that 4 immigration attorneys were disciplined. I didn't know them. The Executive Office for Immigration Review announced the disciplining of four immigration attorneys this morning. Not quite sure what the grounds were for the discipline. However, the disciplinary action included suspension of up to 5 years before the immigration tribunals.  Glad to see that the EOIR is monitoring attorneys who are breaching rules of professional conduct. And hopfully these measures will instill in the public a bit more trust in the legal profession.