"> VISAS / IMMIGRATION - Gonzalez & Associates Law Firm

VISAS / IMMIGRATION

Our law firm can assist foreign nationals in the acquisition or renewal of all kinds of visas before the Philippine Bureau of Immigration and Deportation. The immigration services offered are the following:

Acquisition of visas for foreign new hires in the Philippines

A foreign national who desires to work in the Philippines must secure a 9g or work visa from the Bureau of Immigration. Before the process for securing the visa may be commenced, an Alien Employment Permit (AEP) must first be procured, which is a document issued by the Department of Labor and Employment authorizing a foreign national to work in the Philippines.

Our office will help the employers of said foreign nationals to apply for 9g visas and AEP. In addition, we will assist employers to extend or renew working visas for their existing employees or apply for a change of status to a new visa category.

Visa extension for tourist visitors and changing the status of admission

We assist Tourist visitors in extending their stay in the Philippines. Should they wish to change their admission, we also assist in changing the status of their Tourist visa to a different visa such as employment visa, Special Investors Resident Visa, Retirement visa and immigrant visa by reason of marriage to a Filipino.

Obtaining special visas for former Filipino Citizens and reacquisition of Filipino Citizenship

Former Filipino citizens enjoy a privilege under the Balikbayan Program of the Department of Tourism which entitles them to stay in the Philippines for a period of one year without the required monthly extension. Our firm will assist former Filipino citizens to apply under the said program and secure a Balikbayan visa or be recognized as a Filipino.

Our firm is also taking an active role in assisting former Filipino Citizens reacquire their Filipino Citizenship after the passage of Republic Act 9225 or the Citizenship Retention and Reacquisition Act of 2003 (Dual Citizenship).

Immigration Litigation

We render legal assistance to foreign nationals who are arrested by the operatives of the Bureau of Immigration.

Our services include but not limited to the filing a Petition for Bail and Voluntary Deportation or Habeas Corpus. Our concern is for the immediate release of the detainee in the most convenient and expeditious manner.

Lifting of the person's name in the Bureau's Blacklist

A person can be blacklisted by the Bureau of Immigration for reasons such as, that: he/she is an undesirable alien; likely to become a public charge; overstaying alien; and other violations of the Philippine Immigration Law. If your name is included in the blacklist, you cannot anymore enter or leave the country. You will be arrested by immigration agents if you attempt to do so. If this unfortunate event does happen, your only remedy is to file a Petition before the Bureau of Immigration that your name be removed from the blacklist.

Our Firm assists foreign nationals whose names were included in the Immigration Black List and those persons who were barred from re-entering the Philippines. We will take advantage of the legal process by filing a Petition to Lift the Order of Black List in order to remedy this situation. Through this legal process, our Firm has already caused the removal of some names of foreign nationals in the bureau’s blacklist. Our Firm has a proven track record on this aspect of immigration litigation and reference of alien nationals who were successfully represented by our Firm can be provided upon request.