The Law Offices of Tiffany U. Vivo

Indianapolis Immigration Lawyer Tiffany U. Vivo

Immigration & Naturalization Law-     Personal Attention to Your Immigration Needs.

 
When you are relying on your attorney to help you resolve your immigration needs in an efficient and cost-effective way, the attorneys and support staff at the Vivo Law Office are ready to help. Our team of experienced immigration lawyers, paralegals and client service professionals handle a complete range of immigration services. Our clients include individuals, families and business owners, including residents of cities throughout Indiana, Illinois and Ohio, and from the United States, Asia, Mexico, Latin America, Europe and Africa.  We understand what our immigration clients experience as they battle through the emotional, logistical and financial hardships and complexities of the immigration process.  Two of our attorneys immigrated to the United States as children, and have helped other family members immigrate to the United States.  We have helped fiances, husbands, wives, and children reunite with family and loved ones.  Our attorneys speak fluent Spanish and Tagalog.  Those experiences help us help our clients in their immigration needs. 

 Family Law-   We understand.  We care.  We advocate.

Divorces, child custody battles, child support disputes and other such family law matters are some of the most stressful and difficult events in our clients’ lives.  Handling family law cases requires attorneys who are compassionate, personable, and patient.  The attorneys and staff at the Vivo Law Offices deal with family issues on a daily basis.  We pride ourselves in providing the attention, energy, and professionalism you need, especially in tough times when you need those strengths the most.

It is important to find the right attorney to handle your immigration case.  There are plenty of stories about unscrupulous individuals who prey on immigrants, and the legal profession is not immune from those problems.  Some people who prey on immigrants are not lawyers but give the false impression that they are attorneys.  They are “notarios” or individuals who speak a foreign language and who may have some basic knowledge of the immigration law system.  These non-lawyers often (but not always) charge less than an immigration attorney charges in fees.  The problem is that non-lawyers often mishandle an immigration case, may take a fee but do no work at all, may disappear and be impossible to locate, or may damage an immigrant’s case and cause a deportation or loss of legal status.

There are also some attorneys who behave unscrupulously and who may encourage an immigrant to be dishonest in an immigration application.  Some lawyers will go so far as to have their clients lie to immigration officials.  Deceptive and illegal tactics do not help the immigrant, as the truth eventually is discovered by immigration officials.  In the end, deceptive and illegal tactics usually cause an immigrant to become permanently barred from obtaining legal status.

Finally, consider the group of attorneys who simply do not have the expertise to handle an immigration case.  Immigration law can be complex.  Good immigration attorneys devote a great deal of time and effort to stay current with changes in immigration law and to understand immigration rules well enough to assist immigrants effectively.

As an Indianapolis immigration attorney, I encourage immigrants to consider these basic things before hiring someone to help with an immigration law matter:

• Is my case important enough to hire a competent attorney?  Am I serious about correcting or changing my immigration status?  If so, be prepared to hire a good immigration attorney.
• Am I talking to a “notario” or a true licensed lawyer?  You can check with your state court administrator to see if your lawyer is licensed in your state.  In Indiana, you can check the Indiana Supreme Court Roll of Attorneys.
• A “notario” cannot speed up the processing of your case.  Nor can a lawyer.  Don’t fall for promises that cannot be kept.  An experienced immigration attorney can minimize the risk that you will be issued a Request for Evidence (RFF) or that you will have your paperwork rejected, or otherwise delayed.  Hiring the right immigration lawyer is the best way to avoid problems with your case.
• If you have any criminal history or a history of violations of immigration law, you need an attorney experienced with immigration law.  A good attorney will always ask you for information about your criminal record and prior dealings with immigration officials, as these matters can greatly impact your case.
• Ask the attorney how much of her law practice and time is spent on immigration matters.  Determine how many cases like yours the attorney has handled.  Ask friends, family and others in the community for referrals to good attorneys they have used.  Ask others you trust about the attorney you plan to interview, visit or hire.  Reputations spread quickly, so you will know whether an attorney will treat you fairly and do a good job by asking others.
• Hire an attorney who is an active member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA).  The AILA is a professional trade association dedicated to fostering professionalism among immigration law attorneys.

Tiffany U. Vivo is an Indianapolis immigration lawyer.  She also practices family law.  Ms. Vivo appears before the Immigration Court (EOIR), the United States Citizenship & Immigration Service (USCIS), the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) and state and federal courts in Indiana and Illinois.  She is a member of the Indiana State Bar, the Indianapolis Bar Association, and the national and local chapters of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA).

Although immigration reform was a common theme in speeches made by Candidate Obama, immigration was barely mentioned by President Obama in his State of the Union (“SOTU”) speech to Congress last week.  On immigration, the President said this:
 

We’re going to crack down on violations of equal pay laws — so that women get equal pay for an equal day’s work. And we should continue the work of fixing our broken immigration system — to secure our borders and enforce our laws and ensure that everyone who plays by the rules can contribute to our economy and enrich our nation.

In the end, it’s our ideals, our values that built America — values that allowed us to forge a nation made up of immigrants from every corner of the globe, values that drive our citizens still. Every day, Americans meet their responsibilities to their families and their employers. Time and again, they lend a hand to their neighbors and give back to their country. They take pride in their labor and are generous in spirit. These aren’t Republican values or Democratic values that they’re living by, business values or labor values. They’re American values.

Many immigration advocates were disappointed in the lack of details in the President’s SOTU address.  Clearly, the financial crisis, the war in Iraq and Afghanistan and the Health Care debate have dominated President Obama’s agenda, even though Candidate Obama stressed the importance of immigration reform as a critical issue facing the country.  After the Republican win in Massachusetts, which enables Republicans to block the 60-vote super-majority the Democrats had previously enjoyed in the Senate, the President is changing his legislative priorities.  It now appears that the President intends to devote his attention to job creation and expanding government programs in transportation and energy consumption.  That will push immigration reform lower on the list of priorities and will likely delay immigration reform for another year or longer.