Attorney: Paul Szeto
Attorney: Paul Szeto
Principal Attorney Paul Szeto served as a Trial Attorney and Assistant District Counsel for the New York District of the former Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS, whose functions have since been transferred to DHS) from 1994 to 1999. As an INS attorney, Paul Szeto personally handled hundreds of immigration cases. In addition to handling immigration and nationality cases inside and outside of the courtroom, he also offered legal advice to immigration inspectors and adjudicators. Towards the end of his tenure, Paul was assigned to investigate naturalization fraud cases, prosecute employment violations, and handle the stipulated judicial removal cases with U.S. Attorney's Offices.
Paul has been in private practice since 2004 as an immigration attorney, focusing on employment-based and family-based cases. Over the years, Paul has sucessfully kept families together through various family petitions including marriage and fiance petitions. Paul has also helped countless foreigner workers obtain various employment and student visas (H-1B, L-1, O-1A, J-1, F-1, etc.), and permanent residence status (green card) through the PERM labor application process under the EB-1, EB-2, and EB-3 categories. Paul's favorite green card categories include: National Interest Waiver (NIW), EB-1A (Extraordinary Ability Alien), EB-1B (Outstanding Professor and Researcher), and EB-1C (Multinational Executives and Managers). Paul also assisted eligible clients with naturalization applications to become U.S. citizens and represented persecuted individuals in seeking asylum. Paul and his team also help clients respond to Requests for Evidence (RFE) and Notices of Intent to Deny/Revoke (NOID/NOIR); file Motions to Reopen/Reconsider and Appeals; apply for Change of status in the U.S.; and provide guidance regarding overseas Consulate visa processing matters (e.g., 221g issues).
Paul started his legal career by volunteering for legal clinics and clerking for an immigration law firm in the San Francisco Bay Area. Paul also served as a student extern for the Chief Administrative Justice of the California Court of Appeal. Paul graduated magna cum laude from San Francisco State University in 1989 and earned his Juris Doctor from UC Law San Francisco (formerly UC Hastings) in 1994.
Paul was granted the American Immigration Law Foundation's Edward L. Dubroff Memorial Award for outstanding writing in the field of Immigration and Nationality Law in 1994.
Paul was a Co-Chairman of the N.J. Middlesex County Bar Association's Immigration Law and Practice Committee, frequently speaking on various immigration issues.
Admissions, Associations and Experience
Bar Admissions: New Jersey State Bar, New York State Bar, California Bar (inactive), U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey
Associations: American Immigration Lawyers Association, New Jersey State Bar Association, New York State Bar Association, Middlesex County Bar Association, California Bar Association
Awards: American Immigration Law Foundation's Edward L. Dubroff Memorial Award for outstanding writing in the field of Immigration and Nationality Law in 1994.
- Other Legal Experiences / Pro Bono Activities
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- Immigration Law Mentor, Middlesex County Bar Association
- Co-Chairman, Immigration Law and Practice Committee, New Jersey Middlesex County Bar Association
- BBB Auto-Line Arbitrator
- Graduate of the National Institute for Trial Advocacy (NITA)
- Practiced before numerous Federal Immigration Courts and the Board of Immigration Appeals.
- Columnists and writer of immigration issues with articles published in www.ilw.com, the Filipino Times, and the Global Chinese News.
