Why I fight the good fight?
As far back as I can remember, I have thought of myself as the white-hatted sheriff (a la John Wayne) who is fighting the bad guys. The first major whipping I received in life was when I was in first grade and took it upon myself to defend another first grader who was being teased and bullied. Rather than learning to keep to myself after that fiasco, I seemingly continued to feel obliged to help the weak, the downtrodden, and the oppressed because when I look back, that act of assistance in first grade, was the first of many.
I did not choose immigration law, it chose me. Years after I had already started practicing law, I looked back and realized that, by happenstance, and by assistance in finding my first job in immigration by my mother ( another story altogether ) I had fallen into something that suited my character like no other career could. I have always valued helping the weak versus the strong, the David versus Goliath.
I came to this country as an immigrant in 1979, in the aftermath of the Iranian Revolution. My “class” of people had no place in the new post-revolution Iran, and I was in desperate need of finding a new “home”. America, for me, was this home, but it took me more than a decade to finally become legal in this country, and I feel like I could finally exhale. Those were hard and uncertain.
I handle Immigration cases involving asylum, deportation defense, immigration waivers, marriage & fiancé green cards/visas, work & investment green cards, temporary work visas, parole-in-place, and more. Call today for a free consultation!
- San Fernando Valley College of Law
- Law Degree
- University of La Verne College of Law
- Senior Attorney
- Shawn S. Sedaghat, A Legal Corporation
- - Current
- A senior attorney at the Sedaghat Law Firm, handling all aspects of immigration law, including deportations and removal court defense, asylum and refugee representation, family petitions such as fiance and marriage cases, business and employment-related cases such as H-1b, E-2, L-1, Labor Certification / Perm case, NIW, EB-1 and investment EB-5. Represented clients and appeared before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on numerous occasions.
- Post 9/11 Discrimination: Swept Under The Rug, UCLA, UCLA
- The Implementation of New Immigration Rules and The Iran Sanction Program, Andisheh TV Conference
- Pars TV Meeting with Experts, Pars TV
- The Trump Travel Ban and how it will be implemented, National Iranian TV
- California State Bar License
- Admitted to the State Bar of California
- Top 100 Lawyers
- American Society of Legal Advocates
- Top 10 Percent
- Lawyers of Distinction
- Peer Review Rated
- Martindale Hubbell
- California State Bar  # 188763
- Member
- - Current
- California
- State Bar of California
- ID Number: 188763
- Free Consultation
- Credit Cards Accepted
- Immigration Law
- Asylum, Citizenship, Deportation Defense, Family Visas, Green Cards, Immigration Appeals, Investment Visas, Marriage & Fiancé(e) Visas, Student Visas, Visitor Visas, Work Visas
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- Q. With a pending asylum case can I apply for eb2niw or H1B?
- A: I am sure you don't just need to know if you can "file", but whether you would be eligible to change your status should your filing be approved. You can file anything with USCIS but whether your filing will get you the result you want is what should matter to you.
There is currently is a precedent decision that can conceivably be the basis of an argument that your filing of an asylum application should entitle you to a change of status. However, This is a legal argument and not something that all USCIS officers accept.
Generally speaking, you have to have a "status" to be able to change it to another status. An asylum filing does not give you "status," ... Read More
- Q. I-485 Submission and not receiving Receipt Number
- A: The delay you describe is not unusual in my personal experience. However, at some point, you will have to follow up and contact USCIS to trace your filing. It is always advisable to keep a complete copy of your filing since in rare occasions, your package may be lost and you would have to re-create the filing. It is also always advisable to send in any documents using registered or certified mail so you have proof of delivery ( as was the case here ) because USCIS will ask for this proof if a package is to be re-created.