Isabel Rybalnik, Esq. Fletcher Tilton, PC in Framingham, MA | Immigration Law

Isabel Rybalnik, Esq.
Fletcher Tilton, PC.
Counselors at LawIntegrity. Leadership. Excellence. Since 1822.

Attorney Isabel Rybalnik serves clients in the MetroWest area (Ashland, Framingham, Holliston, Hopkinton, Natick, Sherborn, Southborough, Sudbury, Wayland and beyond), Attorney Rybalnik meets with clients by appointment in the firm’s Worcester, Massachusetts office. Moreover, Attorney Rybalnik represents clients throughout the United States and abroad, as her practice is limited to immigration law. Below are further details about the type of work Attorney Rybalnik handles and a summary of U.S. immigration laws that you may find helpful.

Sponsoring a Spouse or Fiancée
Attorney Rybalnik assists U.S. citizens and green card holders who wish to sponsor a family member to immigrate to the United States. U.S. immigration laws permit a U.S. citizen to sponsor his or her spouse, child, parent or sibling for a green card. Spouses, parents and unmarried children under age 21 of U.S. citizens are considered “immediate relatives”, which allows them to obtain green cards in approximately one year or less. Any unauthorized periods of stay in the U.S. and unauthorized employment in the U.S. are typically forgiven for immediate relatives.

Visiting the U.S.
For individuals who wish to invite a friend or relative to the United States for a short time, Attorney Rybalnik can assist with obtaining a B-1/B-2 non-immigrant visa for tourism or certain business activities. This visa allows the visitor to remain in the U.S. for up to 1 year (usually in 6 month increments) for purposes of visiting friends, relatives or certain business activities that do not constitute productive employment. The visa applicant must demonstrate that he or she has sufficient socio-economic ties to their home country. It often helps when a friend or relative in the U.S. can provide an I-134 affidavit of support and an invitation letter to the visitor to ensure visa approval.
The B-1/B-2 visa is an option even for individuals from most European countries who do not typically need visas. The Visa Waiver Program (VWP) allows entry to the U.S. for a period of up to 90 days without a visa. However, person who enter on the VWP cannot change their status within the U.S. to another non-immigrant status (such as a work visa), and must depart the U.S. They also may not extend their tourist stay within the U.S. Those wishing to remain for longer than 90 days must apply for a B-1/B-2 visa, which would allow them to remain in the U.S. for 6 months, with a 6 month extension available.

J-1 Visas and Waivers
Attorney Rybalnik assists individuals in obtaining J-1 visas for various types of positions, including internship and training programs. Attorney Rybalnik also helps foreign medical graduates and others subject to the 2 year residency requirement in obtaining J-1 visa waivers that enable them to change status and remain in the U.S.. These waivers are typically through the Massachusetts Department of Health (Conrad 30 program), the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services or based on no-objection letters or hardship.

Green Cards Through Employment
Attorney Rybalnik assists businesses and their employees in green card sponsorship through employment. Employment-based green card sponsorship is divided into “preference” categories.
Individuals who are outstanding professors or researchers, aliens of extraordinary ability or multinational managers are in the EB-1, first preference category. The category does not have waiting lines for a priority date to become current, and usually results in a green card within approximately one year or less, regardless of the individual’s country of nationality. It is exempt from the PERM filing (see below), and is typically started by filing the I-140 immigrant petition for alien worker and the worker’s I-485 application for adjustment of status, which can be filed concurrently.

Diversity Visa Lottery
Nationals of countries from which there is a low amount of immigration to the U.S. are eligible to apply for an immigrant visa (green card) by submitting an application through the U.S. Department of State website. The application is free and requires that the applicant submit a scanned photograph and complete a basic entry questionnaire. Each year, 55,000 visas are granted through this process by random selection from the applications submitted within the submission period, which typically runs for about one month in the fall of each year (applicants who were selected are notified in the following summer).

Deportation
Has your relative been detained by Immigration Customs and Enforcement (“ICE”)? Attorney Rybalnik appears at the immigration court in presenting asylum applications, applications for cancellation of removal and other deportation relief.
Cancellation of removal is a type of green card application that can be made only when the individual is already in removal (deportation) proceedings. It is available even to persons who entered the U.S. “EWI” (without inspection). The applicant must demonstrate physical presence in the U.S. for at least 10 years, good moral character and the fact that his/her deportation would cause “exceptional and extremely unusual” hardship to a spouse, parent or child who is a U.S. citizen or green card holder.

Visa Overstays, Illegal Entry to U.S.
Persons who entered on a valid non-immigrant visa with a valid passport but who have overstayed their stay or violated their status are ineligible to extend or change their status within the U.S., although a change of status to a green card holder as an “immediate relative” is usually still permissible. After these individuals (even “immediate relatives”) depart the U.S., they face a 3 year bar to lawful re-entry to the U.S. (if unlawful presence is between 180 to 365 days), or a 10 year bar (if unlawful presence exceeded 365 days). Persons who re-enter after a prior order of deportation face an even harsher bar to re-entry. If a person has been deemed to have misrepresented a material fact to obtain or try to obtain an immigration benefit, he or she faces a permanent bar to admissibility.

Services for Green Card Holders
In addition to assisting green card holders file petitions to sponsor family members, Attorney Rybalnik assists green card holders in filing applications to renew their green cards. Attorney Rybalnik is also often contacted by green card holders who need re-entry permits in order to retain their green card status due to prolonged absences overseas. Absences of 1 year or longer may result in the green card status being deemed abandoned. A re-entry permit often helps in retain the status. Frequent absences overseas can also result in loss of green card status. Attorney Rybalnik can advise you how to minimize the risk of losing your green card status and what types of documents can be presented upon re-entry to the U.S. to document the fact that lawful permanent residency was not abandoned.

Citizenship Applications
Attorney Rybalnik also assists green card holders in applying for naturalization. To become a U.S. citizen, a green card holder must generally demonstrate that he or she has been a person of good moral character for the 5 years preceding the application, has spent at least 2.5 years total in the U.S. and has not had absences of 6 months or longer. The residency and moral character requirements are different for persons who obtained their status based on marriage to a U.S. citizen or those applicants who are in the military.