Posted on April 17, 2019 in Immigration

Sometimes, someone who has been waiting for a visa or another immigration status will want or need to travel abroad, but they may not have a passport or other valid status that will let them back in the United States upon return. Alternatively, sometimes someone in your family may need to be let into the U.S. quickly, especially in cases such as family emergencies. In both of these situations, the remedy is called parole - the latter is humanitarian parole, while the former is called advance parole. Both can be difficult - but not impossible - to get.

Advance Parole

Advance Parole (AP) is exclusively for those who are not in legal immigration status - for example, those who have been granted asylum or refugee status, those who are in the middle of adjusting status, and those who have been granted Temporary Protected Status (TPS). In some cases, it may be able to be granted for those who still have an asylum claim pending before the courts. AP allows someone who belongs to any of these groups, or a few select others, to be able to travel abroad and return to the country to continue waiting for their official immigration status to vest.

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 Posted on April 15, 2019 in Personal Injury

It is that time of year again -- spring has arrived. March and April can be odd months because it can be winter one day, snowing 6 inches overnight, and then the next day it will be 50 degrees and sunny. While this kind of weather is a nice preview of what is to come during the summer months, it can make for dangerous driving conditions. Months of winter snow cause potholes to form and the constant melting of ice during the day and freezing temperatures overnight make for slippery roads. Here are a few tips to help you keep yourself and your family safe while on the roads:

Watch Out for Potholes

Roads take a beating throughout the winter. With snow, ice, salt and then water, it is no wonder that roads are riddled with potholes come spring. During this time of year, construction crews probably have not gotten a chance to fix these potholes yet, which means you need to be very aware of them. Not only can driving over one cause damage to your vehicle, swerving to miss a pothole can cause accidents with other drivers.

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 Posted on April 10, 2019 in Immigration

When removal proceedings are instituted against you, you will receive what is called a Notice to Appear (NTA) in the mail. An NTA essentially informs you officially that you have been placed in immigration removal proceedings, and that you must appear in front of an immigration judge at a date in the future to plead your case. This can be a worrisome situation, especially if you do not understand the nature of the proceedings or if there are other confusing details.

NTA Grants Time to Prepare

One important thing you should be aware of is that by law, you are entitled to at least ten days between your receipt of the NTA and your master calendar hearing, which is the hearing at which you go before the immigration judge and articulate whether or not you intend to fight removal. (Given the immigration court backlog as of this writing, your master calendar hearing may be very much delayed beyond 10 days.) In the time between receipt of the NTA and your master calendar, it is a good idea to verify that all the information on the NTA is correct, and to take steps to fix it if there is an error.

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 Posted on April 10, 2019 in Family Law

When one spouse has a significantly higher income than the other, the transition from married to single life can be particularly hard on the lower-earning spouse after divorce. This is especially true when the latter spouse has taken on most of the home and family duties in order to support the other’s career advancement.

To ease the transition, the higher-earning spouse often makes monthly maintenance payments to the other for a year or more after the divorce. However, there are many misconceptions about Illinois laws on spousal maintenance, also known as alimony. Both spouses should go into a divorce understanding what they can realistically expect when negotiating a maintenance agreement.

Q: What if I Do Not Think I Need Maintenance at the Time of the Divorce, But Change My Mind Afterward?

A: If you waive your right to maintenance in your final divorce settlement, you cannot go back to court later and try to obtain maintenance (750 ILCS 5/457e). Therefore, one important step in the divorce process is to work out a budget and determine how much money you will need to support yourself after the divorce.

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 Posted on April 08, 2019 in Personal Injury

Suffering an injury while on the property of another can be a frustrating experience. Initially, it is important to tend to the injury medically. However, medical treatment necessarily involves cost, and, especially if the injury can be attributable to a dangerous condition, but these costs may be reimbursable from the property owner under the doctrine of premises liability. Retaining the services of an experienced premises liability attorney is essential to ensure that reimbursement is obtained.

One complication that can affect the outcome of an injury case is if the injury occurs on public property, such as in a park, at city hall, or on a sidewalk. In Illinois, certain laws in these circumstances which affect how a lawsuit may be brought against a governmental entity. Recently, a woman who tripped on a sidewalk in Naperville re-filed her lawsuit against the city, claiming that she tripped on the sidewalk in front of the Will County Courthouse in Naperville.

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 Posted on April 04, 2019 in Family Law

A divorce settlement may require a higher-earning spouse to pay monthly spousal maintenance, also known as alimony or spousal support, to a lower-earning or stay-at-home spouse. The divorce decree will specify the amount of the monthly payment and the duration of payments. If the decree specifies “indefinite” payments, you might assume the payments are guaranteed to continue until the recipient dies or remarries.

However, the use of the term “indefinite” does not guarantee the recipient payment of maintenance for life. It is important for both spouses to understand when and how an award of maintenance could be modified in the future. If a spouse expects to depend on a fixed amount of income for the rest of their life, extra care must be taken in drafting the marital settlement agreement.

Maintenance Payments of Indefinite Duration Can Be Modified

The Illinois appellate courts have ruled that both the duration and amount of spousal maintenance can be modified upon a showing of a substantial change in circumstances, meaning that either the recipient’s needs have significantly decreased or that the payor is no longer able to pay. You also have the right to appeal court decisions regarding maintenance.

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 Posted on April 03, 2019 in Immigration

Buried in the headlines during the December 2018-January 2019 government shutdown was the expiration of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), which is a federal law helping to fund domestic violence shelters, regulate civil and criminal penalties against abusers, and establish community resources for abuse victims. However, what is often lost in the shuffle is that VAWA also grants a potential avenue for immigrants who have been victims of abuse to acquire lawful permanent residence in the United States. As of this writing, VAWA has been extended through February 15, 2019, but if it expires again, it could leave applicants fleeing abuse in the proverbial lurch as funding for legal assistance dries up.

Domestic Violence Is an Immigration Issue

The average person may not connect the dots as to how domestic violence and immigration have anything to do with each other, but in reality, the two are closely intertwined, especially for spouses. It is not uncommon for a foreign national to meet and marry a U.S. citizen, only to have that U.S. citizen abuse or mistreat them, up to and including refusing to help them obtain legal status in the country. Many immigrant spouses, especially women, feel that they have no choice but to remain in abusive marriages, especially if they have U.S. citizen children - often, they are told that if they try to leave, they will be deported and never see their children again.

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 Posted on March 28, 2019 in Family Law

After a divorce, a child’s connection to their grandparents and other close relatives can provide a much-needed sense of stability. But what if one parent does not care for their in-laws and does not support the children having visitation time with those grandparents? What rights does a now-divorced step-parent or half-sibling have to spend time with a child that they lived with for years? Illinois law (750 ILCS 5/602.9) provides a mechanism for grandparents, great-grandparents, step-parents, and siblings--including half-siblings and step-siblings--to assert their right to visit and electronically communicate with a minor child who is at least one year old.

Conditions Necessary to Petition for Grandparent Visitation

Four conditions must exist in order for the aforementioned relatives to petition the court for visitation and electronic communication with the child:

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 Posted on March 27, 2019 in Immigration

When someone comes to the United States and states intent to seek asylum, they must prove that they have what immigration law refers to as ‘credible fear.’ If someone is able to show that they have a fear of returning to their home country, and that fear is legitimate or credible, they will be permitted to remain in the U.S. and apply for asylum. However, there are many misconceptions about what actually goes on at a credible fear interview. If you are in a position where you will face a credible fear interview, it is a good idea to understand what exactly will occur.

Screening at a Port of Entry

Credible fear, as defined in U.S. immigration law, is when a “significant possibility” exists that you can establish (in an asylum hearing, before an immigration judge) that you have been persecuted or have a well-founded fear of persecution “on account of your race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion” if returned to your country. In other words, you will pass a credible fear screening if you can demonstrate a tangible and genuine fear that you would be subject to physical, mental or emotional mistreatment upon return home as a result of any of the characteristics specified in the law.

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 Posted on March 25, 2019 in Personal Injury

From Lollapalooza and South-By-Southwest to Madison Square Garden and Carnegie Hall, the United States is filled with venues used for hosting musical and other performing arts events. Throughout the year, people flock to these venues to catch the latest and greatest top performers. Having a large gathering of persons in a venue can, unfortunately, lead to injury for some, including some that are severe or even deadly. If this occurs, retaining the services of an experienced premises liability attorney can be crucial to receiving compensation for costs relating to one’s injuries.

Unfortunately, due to the law at the time, a Springfield man was able to only recover the legal maximum of $100,000 (a year later the law was amended to allow a recovery of up to $2 million) as a result of injuries he suffered from a 25 foot fall at the Sangamon Auditorium on the campus of the University of Illinois at Springfield, which occurred as the man was actually trying to save another concertgoer who suffered fatal injuries.

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