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Many people call or come to my office with immigration problems or questions which have been addressed in one of my past columns. The topics of my columns usually come from questions I have been asked by clients or other immigration practitioners. The primary reason I write articles on these subjects is to help immigrants increase their knowledge regarding their rights under United States Immigration Laws, so they have a basic idea of their problems before consulting an attorney. I believe that this helps people avoid bad advice from "consultants" and I have also discovered that it helps me in my consultations when clients come to me already having some knowledge about the area of immigration law pertaining to their particular problem.
For the sixteen years that I have served the Philippine community I have never charged a consultation fee, and I have no intention of changing that policy. After spending all these years serving the immigration needs of Filipinos, I feel I owe a debt of gratitude to the Philippine community. It disturbs me whenever a prospective client comes to my office with what used to be a relatively simple and easily solvable immigration problem, but what is now a disaster merely because they did not come and talk to me sooner. Perhaps I feel this way because my wife is Filipina and I know how devastated I would feel if she were forced to return to the Philippines. However, whether it is because of my many years of service to the Philippine community or because of my close family ties, I consider the columns I write part of my obligation to educate the Philippine community regarding their rights and obligations as immigrants and to identify potential immigration problems before they become disastrous.
Unlike some practitioners whose true interest lie in corraling clients into their offices, my articles are not designed to instill fear and panic in people. My articles explore and discuss the real issues affecting the Filipino community and are not filled with meaningless emotional appeals that leave the reader understanding less about their immigration problems than before they read the article. I offer hard-hitting commentary on the state of the law, and insightful general advice to the persons I care about most: my readers.
All of my articles are available to anyone who requests them. If you would like one or more of these articles, please do not hesitate to call or write my office. My staff will be happy to send you copies of any articles which interest you absolutely free of charge. . If you have any immigration questions that I have not yet answered in one of my columns, just write your question down and send it to me, and I will try to answer it in a future column.
Two North Lake Avenue, Suite 1010, Pasadena, California 91101,
Tel. (626) 795-6777
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