Things not to do when selecting immigration attorney

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Thousands of individuals will obtain a greatly-desired permission or visa to stay and work in the USA, but millions more will not. In most of the cases, the difference between a -acceptance- and a -deny- lies not in the facts of your application, but in how expertly and smartly you work throughout the entire immigration process. They secret to win entry to the USA is, find an immigration law expert who very well how to do it.

No matter whether you are hiring a deportation layer, employment lawyer or business immigration attorney, the question that is how to find the best for your case from the crowd of immigration lawyers who are promising to provide their best services? There is no exact formula to address this question. But, avoiding some common mistakes (that we will discuss in the next section of this document), you can find the best legal representative for your case.

Don’t choose a legal representative who doesn’t have enough experience to work in law field: The most important thing to consider when selecting immigration attorney for your case is his/ her experience of working in immigration stream. If you want your case to be represented in best way, your potential attorney must have appropriate skills and knowledge which can only be attained through real world experience. -In-depth- learning of the complicated immigration ropes takes at least five years of work in this field. So, hire a lawyer who has more than five years of experience of flying his/her services in immigration stream.

Don’t choose a lawyer who does not have specialization in immigration law: United States Citizenship and Immigration Services usually make changes in the existing rules or also announce new rules to be followed to obtain visa. Attorneys who along with immigration law also practice in other streams of law may be deprived of current knowledge of immigration law. You need a lawyer who is informed with these changes in the immigration rules and other related things so that your visa request is not rejected just because of your attorneys’ lack of knowledge.

Don’t make selection of your lawyer depending upon the size of his/her fees: Low or high charges by a lawyer is not enough to get the clue of the ability of your potential legal expert. Because, sometime a lawyer with less experience offer low charges and present you the expected results. Also, some charges starts with low but become higher if your legal representative increase the total charges by adding extra charges as the case advances.

Finally, one can make an informed choice of immigration lawyers in NY, by learning and keeping in mind various kinds of mistakes that a person usually made during selection of a legal expert.

Different Types of Criminal Justice Lawyers

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Lawyers represent their clients by passing the bar examination in their states where they want to practice law. A license allows a lawyer for handling different cases. However many lawyers have specialized in specific areas of law. Selecting an expert criminal lawyer is essential for solving your case competently. These days the courts provide an attorney for criminal defendants who are not able to afford one. Criminal defendants who are able to afford an attorney usually appoint private counsel and pay a fee for the service of the lawyers. A good number of criminal attorneys exist on the prosecution side. Let’s have a look at the different types of criminal justice lawyers:

Public Defenders

The service of a public defender differs from one jurisdiction to another. In most places, the state employs the lawyers. These lawyers receive a salary and have to deal with a good number of cases. Moreover, the federal government has a public defender service for the suspects accused of federal crimes who cannot afford to hire a lawyer.

Private Lawyers

Many lawyers in private practice also represent themselves as criminal defendants for the suspects who can pay for the legal fees. These attorneys are employed by small, large and medium size law firms focussing on criminal justice. Remember that paying a private lawyer is usually an expensive process. Often the suspects convicted of -white-collar’ crimes appoint their own lawyers.

Legal Aid Societies

Non-profit organizations also exist for representing the poor defendants. In order to take an instance the New York Legal Aid Society is the leading provider of public defender services in New York.

Panel Attorneys

Jurisdictions such as the District of Columbia pay private attorneys for representing indigent defendants. The government has a panel of private criminal justice lawyers receiving hourly compensation for their time. Making use of a panel of criminal justice attorney has been often a supplement to the public defender service and not a replacement. In order to take an instance the Columbia District has panel attorneys as well as a strong public defender service.

District Attorneys

The government always has the responsibility of prosecuting persons accused of crimes. This process falls under the local district lawyer’s office for most jurisdictions. The local district lawyers have a staff of assistant district attorneys who are accountable for prosecuting crimes in the local and state courts all across the USA.

United States Attorneys

The chief law enforcement official in the USA is the Attorney General. The attorney of the United States for every federal district is appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate. Every US attorney has a staff of assistant United States attorneys and they are responsible for prosecuting crimes in the federal district courts of the USA.

Appoint an expert federal criminal lawyerand expunge your criminal charges

Excellent Fiancee Visa Service for My Thai Fiancee by USA Immigration Law Thailand

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Brian Wrights USA Immigration Law Thailand service was really great for us when I was a several thousand miles away from my Thai Fiancee in Thailand and we needed our Fiancee Visa processed to be done. Brian Wright made everything completely manageable though the stumbling blocks of the fiancee visa process seemed almost insurmountable considering the distance and language barriers. Brian Wright and his staff took the time to make sure we understood the fiancee visa process and kept us from making any mistakes that would have cost us time. Brian Wright even took the time to help us after we returned to the United States and DHS screwed up our paperwork for the Change of Status.

My Thai Fiancee is happily in America I want to thank Brian Wright for the excellent fiance visa service he provided. Everything went very smoothly and he took care of everything exactly as Brian Wright promised.

Having lived and worked around the world, I knew upfront the process for getting a fiance visa was not going to be easy. There are many obstacles to overcome such as the following:

The many documents the Thai applicant must obtain.

The Medical and Police report.

The form in English that need to be completed by the Thai applicant.

Knowledge of the Embassy and the process and customs for a successful application.

The many documents that must be supplied by the petitioner.

Brian Wrights fiance visa service was excellent and he helped make the whole fiancee visa process very simple for both of us. My Fiancee commented many times that she fell very comfortable with the way he was handling the fiance visa application. This helped her to relax and be less anxious through the fiancee visa process.

USA Immigration Law Thailand firms sole area of practice is fiancee visa, marriage visa & CR-1 marriage visa from Thailand to the United States. USA Immigration Law Thailand does not process other types of visas to America, nor does process visas to other countries.

The only additional services USA Immigration Law Thailand provides support the fiancee visa and marriage visa application process.

As a result of USA Immigration Law Thailand firms sole focus on processing fiancee visa and marriage visa from Thailand to the USA, USA Immigration Law Thailand have processed more visas to the USA from Thailand than all other Thailand based and US based immigration attorneys and visa service companies, combined. This has earned USA Immigration Law Thailand firm the distinction of being the most experienced and knowledgeable in this field.

USA Immigration Law Thailand firm, which is based in Thailand and America, is headquartered in Thailand as the primary focus of the visa application process is with your Thai fiance or Thai wife.

I (Anthony S., Pennsylvania, USA) would surely recommend USA Immigration Law Thailand by Brian Wright to anyone trying to get a Visa to the United States from Thailand for Thai Fiance.

Again, thank you for your excellent fiancee visa service.

Guatemala and Enforcement of Foreign Judgements

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Executive Summary What we are going to discuss here is whether or not a creditor can come to Guatemala with a judgment from a foreign (Non Guatemala) court and enforce it or make it collectible in Guatemala. We will look at the complications involved and the chances of success which are miniscule at best. I would like to point out that this is a topic not covered by our competition. There are collection law firms that discuss international judgement collection but they are trying to sell their services. In spite of this I have never seen one collection law firm getting enthusiastic about collecting foreign judgements. It is best done through a treaty which Guatemala does not have with any country. We will discuss the matter in depth below.
What is a Judgement A judgement is a decision from a court based on a trial or it could be based on a summary judgment where there was not trial held because the odds of success for the defendant were so small the court just goes ahead and railroads him. Sometimes this happens because the defendant can not afford a legal defense. This is prevalent in the USA. In this discourse we are addressing judgments for money damages. A judgement can have other aspects to it like an eviction proceeding ordering one to leave a house. It does not matter if it is a local court or a national court for this discourse. This is because Guatemala has no treaties for enforcement of foreign judgments but more on this later. The court would need to be contained in a country that Guatemala has diplomatic relations with. Guatemala also insists that the country of the judgement allows Guatemala judgements to be enforced in that country.
What is Not a Judgement A tax lien is not a judgment. Tax liens can come from local or national governments. There is normally no trial preceding a tax lien. There was no judge, no jury, no due process, no right to defend yourself, no attorney present for the defendant, no right to examine your accuser, no chance of jury nullification, etc. This is a government administrative procedure that is not enforceable offshore in other countries. A tax lien would need to be reduced to a judgement by filing a lawsuit in a court of appropriate jurisdiction in the home country. It would be like any other lawsuit. The defendant would have the right to present a defense and have a jury trail. Such a judgement would also then be dischargeable in an ordinary bankruptcy case. Tax liens are practically never converted into a judgement for these reasons and of course the expense involved, time delay to go to trail and so forth.
Guatemala Has No Treaty for the Enforcement of Foreign Judgements It is good that Guatemala has no such treaty. If a treaty like this was present the process of collecting a foreign judgment would be simplified. The judgment itself would be sufficient evidence to proceed with collection. With Guatemala, foreign judgements are anything but a cost effective easy thing to collect on.
Guatemala Corporations and Foreign Judgements Before we get into the ins and outs of the nightmares associated with collecting foreign judgments in Guatemala lets look at the initial problem a judgment creditor would face. We always have our clients use corporations for asset protection. This applies to banking, real estate, cars etc. We prefer to start with fresh corporations formed in the jurisdiction as long as they are anonymous bearer share corporations. Guatemala has very anonymous bearer share corporations. The names of the owners of the corporation do not appear in any public registry, database and the government does not know who owns the corporation. In places like the USA where the legal system has run amuck you will hear a lot of talk concerning piercing the corporate veil. This piercing the corporate veil tactic is nasty and effective in the USA. Try it in Guatemala and you will fail and have one angry judge to deal with who will be less than appreciative of your attempts to import sleazy legal tactics from the USA into his or her courtroom. The corporate veil is not going to be pierced for foreign cvil judgement collection matters. So how does the creditor attack real estate or a bank account owned by a corporation in Guatemala? He doesn’t! You are the owner of the corporation but he does not know that and cannot prove that. Ownership of Guatemala corporations is not in any public registry or database. Going to court and saying well the judgment debtor wired funds from his home country bank account to a bank account owned by this corporation, is not going to prove a single thing in Guatemala regarding corporate ownership. The judgment debtor may have invested in this corporation, he may have bought real estate from this corporation or bought a boat, a plane a car, etc. It does not prove any ownership. The judgement creditor is not going to be able to get into any Guatemala banking records using a foreign judgment as grounds. Guatemala has serious bank secrecy. You must understand that in Guatemala a corporation is a free standing judicial person (artificial person) that has its own assets and liabilities. Your liabilities are not the liabilities of the corporation. This means personal debts do not transfer over to a corporation.
Fraudulent Conveyance The catchall used to attack offshore bank accounts is fraudulent conveyance. A fraudulent conveyance references activity where funds or assets were removed from a jurisdiction to prevent a creditor from recovering the debt. The term can also apply to transferring title of real estate or a car to another to keep it from being attached by a creditor. Panama allows a creditor to pursue a fraudulent conveyance action based on a foreign judgment and this even applies to their foundations. As a comparison Guatemala is not a fraudulent conveyance friendly jurisdiction. Such cases are seldom ever heard of in Guatemala because the chances of success are extremely slight. The plaintiff would need to show that the transfer was specifically designed or intended to remove the assets from the reach of the creditor. If the defendant could show this was not the case then there is no fraudulent conveyance. The money could have been moved to say a Guatemala corporation to pay for services, goods, make an investment, buy a residence, invest in real estate, buy a boat, and so forth. Please bear in mind that in Guatemala the creditor is in the dark. He cannot just subpoena bank records like in other countries. He has no idea who owns the corporation. There are a lot of just about insurmountable obstacles in the path the creditor has to follow. This is why we do not really see these cases in Guatemala.
Foreign Judgement Enforcement Complications in Guatemala There are a lot of conditions that need to be met to enforce a judgment in Guatemala from another country.
Default judgments are not enforceable in Guatemala. The defendant must have been served personally. This means a live process server gave them the legal papers. If the service was by mail, by courier, by publication it invalidates the entire lawsuit and judgement as far as Guatemala is concerned. Dropping the papers on the doorstep or taping them to the door is not going to work. This right off the top eliminates a large amount of judgements.
The judgment must be final in that there is no more room for appeals. This is usually going to mean a few months in most cases.
The court that issued the judgment has to have had proper jurisdiction over the matter. Frivolous cases filed in foreign jurisdictions with incorrect venue or authority are not going to be enforceable. The debtor can always argue that the jurisdiction or authority the court asserted is incorrect. This can then make it a triable issue of fact in the Guatemala courts. The defendant would try to get the plaintiff to retry the entire case in Guatemala if he could not find another way to dispose of the matter. To do this means two sets of lawyers for the plaintiff, one in Guatemala and one from the foreign country. Think big money. Remember that Guatemala has no treaties for the enforcement of foreign judgments. This opens up the playing field to counter attack the plaintiff attempting to collect the judgement. When there is a treaty the judgment itself stands as admissible evidence and the grounds for objecting are most limited.
There is no enforcement if no such claim would be possible under Guatemala law. Guatemala will refuse to enforce the foreign money judgment if the claim on which the foreign judgment is based could not have been brought in Guatemala. The foreign case has to be consistent with Guatemala law. Guatemala law is not as crazy as USA, UK law. If you were sued for sending out faxes that were unsolicited, this judgment would be void in Guatemala since they have no such law in Guatemala. Many USA lawsuits are for civil violations that are absent from Guatemala law and thus not enforceable in Guatemala. This means the foreign attorney will have to retain foreign counsel to review the case and see it is consistent with Guatemala law. Can be expensive. He may have to have the entire matter translated into Spanish by a certified translator at a cost of $10 to $15 a page. Some cases are hundreds of pages. Then the Guatemala lawyer has to read the case which means billable hours. He will ask questions to the foreign attorney so now we get into double billable hours. In any event to enter the judgment into the Guatemala court system in an effort to collect there would need to be a translation of the judgment into Spanish. Then when the debtor started making objections the entire case file would most likely need to be translated into Spanish.
If the judgment was for contempt of court it makes the judgment not valid in Guatemala. This sort of judgment would not be collectible in Guatemala.
The judgment has to not be for default. In other words if you failed to respond to a foreign court action and were in domicile in Guatemala and they got a summary judgment that would not be a valid judgment.
More Foreign Judgment Collection Obstacles in Guatemala The creditor wishing to collect on a foreign judgment in Guatemala is basically on a financial mission, to collect funds. His path is like walking through a minefield. He can hit a number of unexpected or hidden tactics presented by the debtor that will make a financial recovery very unlikely.
First, we have to look at the appeals process open to the defendant. These are the things a creditor will be advised to consider before proceeding with an expensive and time consuming foreign judgment matter in Guatemala. Please bear in mind the defendant (debtor) can appeal any negative decision from a lower court two ways. The defendant can appeal to the Supreme Court claiming the law was not followed correctly applying any of the above noted objections, or all of them. He can also claim procedures were not followed correctly. He can claim the case is not consistent with Guatemala law. He can attack the way he was served. There are many things he can do. He can even file a counter claim against the creditor. The other appeals option is to appeal to the special Constitutional Courts Guatemala has to just decide constitutional issues. How hard would it be to argue that the defendant had some constitutional rights violated in the process somewhere.
If all that fails after years of waiting for the process to work its way through the courts, then there is the bankruptcy option. Guatemala has a complex bankruptcy court system that could be utilized for shelter from creditors. Using these appellate processes is going to run up the bill for the plaintiff substantially. Without the appeals system, the time required for cases can run up to the 3-5 year mark easily. Then add in appeals. and the bankruptcy for even more years. The plaintiff could conceivably go broke or die of old age before the appeals process runs out. They might recover nothing especially if a bankruptcy is used. The plaintiff might never prevail. The expenses involved could be more than the amount of the judgment. By the time all the appeals are used, the time limit for the judgment may have expired (7-10 years usually) and then the case could be dismissed because the judgment is not longer valid, thus not enforceable. And on and on it goes. Such collection efforts are indeed rarely ever seen in Guatemala.
Summary If you have read this you are looking for a secure offshore asset protection jurisdiction and structure. We have several excellent options. Please bear in mind the perfect jurisdiction and structure does not exist. There is always going to be a give and take scenario. We have managed to isolate a few excellent options but there is no perfect solution that meets the needs of everyone. We do try though!

Legal Cases are Crucial! Ensure an Expert Attorney to Protect Your Rights and Justice.

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The legal system, courts and legal acts are formed not only to protect the fundamental rights of people but to provide them justice against the crimes or anything unlawful happened to them. However, people have to struggle hard to get desired justice as the court provides justice only when the crime is proved. And cunning culprits hence take the advantage of the situation to set free from their crime. Does it mean that there is no way an innocent can expect justice from the legal system! Well, there is way and it will give you the expected justice for sure.

To take care of your legal matters, you need a person who holds an expertise in handling legal cases and who have the in-depth knowledge of legal acts and aspects. And thus, you should look for an attorney Lubbock who with his proficient legal service provides an assurance to solve your legal issues. Like there is a specialist doctor for specific disease likewise you can find specialist attorneys for varied legal issues that include misdemeanour or felony crime defense, divorce, child custody, criminal law, personal injury, employee compensation or workplace injury, property lawyers and various others.

Finding the right attorney is important to bring justice to the client. There are some law firms in Lubbock, USA where you will find a team of licensed attorney staff, trial lawyers and legal representatives who will fight you case to protect your right to get justice. If you have been a victim of road accidents, accident with any kind of vehicle, employment injuries, oilfield injuries, brain injuries or any industrial accident that have caused you major health and financial loss, then find the best personal injury attorney Lubbock TX to get deserving compensation for the financial loss and punishment for the criminal.

Besides, to protect your right for criminal prosecution in cases like domestic violence, sexual abuse, drug possession, white-collar crimes, burglary or murder, you must find one of the best and renowned criminal defense consultants in Lubbock USA. Also if you have fallen into drink and drive case, then only an experienced DWI attorney can help you in protecting your reputation. These lawyers hold a huge experience and knowledge in handling critical legal issues with perfection to preserve your rights. Whether it’s a state, county or federal courtroom, Lubbock attorneys ensure justice in any premise. So don’t bear crime and injustice, fight for your right and justice by hiring a knowledgeable and experienced attorney Lubbock to defend your case.

Guatemala and Enforcement of Foreign Judgements

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Executive Summary What we are going to discuss here is whether or not a creditor can come to Guatemala with a judgment from a foreign (Non Guatemala) court and enforce it or make it collectible in Guatemala. We will look at the complications involved and the chances of success which are miniscule at best. I would like to point out that this is a topic not covered by our competition. There are collection law firms that discuss international judgement collection but they are trying to sell their services. In spite of this I have never seen one collection law firm getting enthusiastic about collecting foreign judgements. It is best done through a treaty which Guatemala does not have with any country. We will discuss the matter in depth below.
What is a Judgement A judgement is a decision from a court based on a trial or it could be based on a summary judgment where there was not trial held because the odds of success for the defendant were so small the court just goes ahead and railroads him. Sometimes this happens because the defendant can not afford a legal defense. This is prevalent in the USA. In this discourse we are addressing judgments for money damages. A judgement can have other aspects to it like an eviction proceeding ordering one to leave a house. It does not matter if it is a local court or a national court for this discourse. This is because Guatemala has no treaties for enforcement of foreign judgments but more on this later. The court would need to be contained in a country that Guatemala has diplomatic relations with. Guatemala also insists that the country of the judgement allows Guatemala judgements to be enforced in that country.
What is Not a Judgement A tax lien is not a judgment. Tax liens can come from local or national governments. There is normally no trial preceding a tax lien. There was no judge, no jury, no due process, no right to defend yourself, no attorney present for the defendant, no right to examine your accuser, no chance of jury nullification, etc. This is a government administrative procedure that is not enforceable offshore in other countries. A tax lien would need to be reduced to a judgement by filing a lawsuit in a court of appropriate jurisdiction in the home country. It would be like any other lawsuit. The defendant would have the right to present a defense and have a jury trail. Such a judgement would also then be dischargeable in an ordinary bankruptcy case. Tax liens are practically never converted into a judgement for these reasons and of course the expense involved, time delay to go to trail and so forth.
Guatemala Has No Treaty for the Enforcement of Foreign Judgements It is good that Guatemala has no such treaty. If a treaty like this was present the process of collecting a foreign judgment would be simplified. The judgment itself would be sufficient evidence to proceed with collection. With Guatemala, foreign judgements are anything but a cost effective easy thing to collect on.
Guatemala Corporations and Foreign Judgements Before we get into the ins and outs of the nightmares associated with collecting foreign judgments in Guatemala lets look at the initial problem a judgment creditor would face. We always have our clients use corporations for asset protection. This applies to banking, real estate, cars etc. We prefer to start with fresh corporations formed in the jurisdiction as long as they are anonymous bearer share corporations. Guatemala has very anonymous bearer share corporations. The names of the owners of the corporation do not appear in any public registry, database and the government does not know who owns the corporation. In places like the USA where the legal system has run amuck you will hear a lot of talk concerning piercing the corporate veil. This piercing the corporate veil tactic is nasty and effective in the USA. Try it in Guatemala and you will fail and have one angry judge to deal with who will be less than appreciative of your attempts to import sleazy legal tactics from the USA into his or her courtroom. The corporate veil is not going to be pierced for foreign cvil judgement collection matters. So how does the creditor attack real estate or a bank account owned by a corporation in Guatemala? He doesn’t! You are the owner of the corporation but he does not know that and cannot prove that. Ownership of Guatemala corporations is not in any public registry or database. Going to court and saying well the judgment debtor wired funds from his home country bank account to a bank account owned by this corporation, is not going to prove a single thing in Guatemala regarding corporate ownership. The judgment debtor may have invested in this corporation, he may have bought real estate from this corporation or bought a boat, a plane a car, etc. It does not prove any ownership. The judgement creditor is not going to be able to get into any Guatemala banking records using a foreign judgment as grounds. Guatemala has serious bank secrecy. You must understand that in Guatemala a corporation is a free standing judicial person (artificial person) that has its own assets and liabilities. Your liabilities are not the liabilities of the corporation. This means personal debts do not transfer over to a corporation.
Fraudulent Conveyance The catchall used to attack offshore bank accounts is fraudulent conveyance. A fraudulent conveyance references activity where funds or assets were removed from a jurisdiction to prevent a creditor from recovering the debt. The term can also apply to transferring title of real estate or a car to another to keep it from being attached by a creditor. Panama allows a creditor to pursue a fraudulent conveyance action based on a foreign judgment and this even applies to their foundations. As a comparison Guatemala is not a fraudulent conveyance friendly jurisdiction. Such cases are seldom ever heard of in Guatemala because the chances of success are extremely slight. The plaintiff would need to show that the transfer was specifically designed or intended to remove the assets from the reach of the creditor. If the defendant could show this was not the case then there is no fraudulent conveyance. The money could have been moved to say a Guatemala corporation to pay for services, goods, make an investment, buy a residence, invest in real estate, buy a boat, and so forth. Please bear in mind that in Guatemala the creditor is in the dark. He cannot just subpoena bank records like in other countries. He has no idea who owns the corporation. There are a lot of just about insurmountable obstacles in the path the creditor has to follow. This is why we do not really see these cases in Guatemala.
Foreign Judgement Enforcement Complications in Guatemala There are a lot of conditions that need to be met to enforce a judgment in Guatemala from another country.
Default judgments are not enforceable in Guatemala. The defendant must have been served personally. This means a live process server gave them the legal papers. If the service was by mail, by courier, by publication it invalidates the entire lawsuit and judgement as far as Guatemala is concerned. Dropping the papers on the doorstep or taping them to the door is not going to work. This right off the top eliminates a large amount of judgements.
The judgment must be final in that there is no more room for appeals. This is usually going to mean a few months in most cases.
The court that issued the judgment has to have had proper jurisdiction over the matter. Frivolous cases filed in foreign jurisdictions with incorrect venue or authority are not going to be enforceable. The debtor can always argue that the jurisdiction or authority the court asserted is incorrect. This can then make it a triable issue of fact in the Guatemala courts. The defendant would try to get the plaintiff to retry the entire case in Guatemala if he could not find another way to dispose of the matter. To do this means two sets of lawyers for the plaintiff, one in Guatemala and one from the foreign country. Think big money. Remember that Guatemala has no treaties for the enforcement of foreign judgments. This opens up the playing field to counter attack the plaintiff attempting to collect the judgement. When there is a treaty the judgment itself stands as admissible evidence and the grounds for objecting are most limited.
There is no enforcement if no such claim would be possible under Guatemala law. Guatemala will refuse to enforce the foreign money judgment if the claim on which the foreign judgment is based could not have been brought in Guatemala. The foreign case has to be consistent with Guatemala law. Guatemala law is not as crazy as USA, UK law. If you were sued for sending out faxes that were unsolicited, this judgment would be void in Guatemala since they have no such law in Guatemala. Many USA lawsuits are for civil violations that are absent from Guatemala law and thus not enforceable in Guatemala. This means the foreign attorney will have to retain foreign counsel to review the case and see it is consistent with Guatemala law. Can be expensive. He may have to have the entire matter translated into Spanish by a certified translator at a cost of $10 to $15 a page. Some cases are hundreds of pages. Then the Guatemala lawyer has to read the case which means billable hours. He will ask questions to the foreign attorney so now we get into double billable hours. In any event to enter the judgment into the Guatemala court system in an effort to collect there would need to be a translation of the judgment into Spanish. Then when the debtor started making objections the entire case file would most likely need to be translated into Spanish.
If the judgment was for contempt of court it makes the judgment not valid in Guatemala. This sort of judgment would not be collectible in Guatemala.
The judgment has to not be for default. In other words if you failed to respond to a foreign court action and were in domicile in Guatemala and they got a summary judgment that would not be a valid judgment.
More Foreign Judgment Collection Obstacles in Guatemala The creditor wishing to collect on a foreign judgment in Guatemala is basically on a financial mission, to collect funds. His path is like walking through a minefield. He can hit a number of unexpected or hidden tactics presented by the debtor that will make a financial recovery very unlikely.
First, we have to look at the appeals process open to the defendant. These are the things a creditor will be advised to consider before proceeding with an expensive and time consuming foreign judgment matter in Guatemala. Please bear in mind the defendant (debtor) can appeal any negative decision from a lower court two ways. The defendant can appeal to the Supreme Court claiming the law was not followed correctly applying any of the above noted objections, or all of them. He can also claim procedures were not followed correctly. He can claim the case is not consistent with Guatemala law. He can attack the way he was served. There are many things he can do. He can even file a counter claim against the creditor. The other appeals option is to appeal to the special Constitutional Courts Guatemala has to just decide constitutional issues. How hard would it be to argue that the defendant had some constitutional rights violated in the process somewhere.
If all that fails after years of waiting for the process to work its way through the courts, then there is the bankruptcy option. Guatemala has a complex bankruptcy court system that could be utilized for shelter from creditors. Using these appellate processes is going to run up the bill for the plaintiff substantially. Without the appeals system, the time required for cases can run up to the 3-5 year mark easily. Then add in appeals. and the bankruptcy for even more years. The plaintiff could conceivably go broke or die of old age before the appeals process runs out. They might recover nothing especially if a bankruptcy is used. The plaintiff might never prevail. The expenses involved could be more than the amount of the judgment. By the time all the appeals are used, the time limit for the judgment may have expired (7-10 years usually) and then the case could be dismissed because the judgment is not longer valid, thus not enforceable. And on and on it goes. Such collection efforts are indeed rarely ever seen in Guatemala.
Summary If you have read this you are looking for a secure offshore asset protection jurisdiction and structure. We have several excellent options. Please bear in mind the perfect jurisdiction and structure does not exist. There is always going to be a give and take scenario. We have managed to isolate a few excellent options but there is no perfect solution that meets the needs of everyone. We do try though!

A St. Louis Personal Injury Lawyer Shoulders Multiple Responsibilities

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A personal injury lawyer represents those clients who claim to have been injured either physically or psychologically. Such injuries are inflicted upon the victims as a result of either negligence or wrongdoing of other persons. The state-specific injury laws are in force in different provinces along the length and breadth of USA. Therefore, if a person has been victimized due to others’ inadvertent or deliberate action in St. Louis, he or she should seek advice from a St. Louis personal injury lawyer.

Personal injury law, known to be tort law, covers a vast horizon including economic or non-economic damages to a person’s right, fame as well as material possessions. A person, company and even a government agency may be responsible for causing damage to an innocent entity. Harsh punishment for the wrongdoer is a must to secure justice for the poor victims and their families. Help of a St. Louis personal injury lawyer is a need for a St. Louis resident who has earned injuries not owing to his faults but someone else’s.

A St. Louis injury lawyer is well-trained and licensed to practice in any filed of law but he only handles the injury related cases. Tort law applies but is not restricted to work injuries, vehicle accidents, defective products, slip and fall injuries, medical mistakes and many more.

In order to be a St. Louis injury lawyer, the ambitious students have to pass a written ‘bar examination’. Sometimes they have to appear for a written ‘ethics examination’ too. Once the injury lawyers get admission to the state bar, they have to complete some legal education courses. Such courses help them be well aware of the latest development in the legal and non-legal fields. Imbibing up-to-date knowledge in the law and related fields is what helps a St. Louis personal injury lawyer efficiently cater to the needs of his clients.

A law degree holder in St. Louis can concentrate on handling only personal injury cases. By shifting his sole attention to a specific arena of law, an injury lawyer can earn specialized knowledge and experience in that field. The injured persons, being in a deep trouble and intently waiting for justice turn to an expert St. Louis personal injury lawyer rather than rapping on the door of an jack-of-all-trades and master-of-none attorney. A St. Louis injury lawyer must complete a certification program accredited by the American Bar Association prior to starting practice as a specialist injury lawyer.

Once permitted by the state bar association to practice law, the lawyers have the full right to file legal complains, represent the injured victims in the court and argue with the opponent lawyers. A St. Louis personal injury lawyer has to shoulder multiple responsibilities to serve his clients to a T. Apart from trying utmost to tilt the verdict of the case in favor of their clients, the injury lawyers have also to conform to the ethical rules and professional codes of conduct as set by the bar association of the state. The injury lawyers, also referred to as plaintiff lawyers, interview the clients, assess their cases, go for extensive study to build up a strong case. A St. Louis injury lawyer is a trusted personality to ensure justice for his plaintiffs and also secure the just amount of compensation they deserve.

Different between immigration and non-immigration visa

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The foreign citizen interested to live in the USA permanently to work or to live. An immigrant visa gives all privileges like a normal US citizen. The non-immigrant visa issued to foreign citizens for temporary bases like travelling, tourism, business and education with limited privileges. The US consulate provides the Visa either immigration or non-immigration visa is depend upon the purpose. Non-immigrant visa is granted by the Department of Homeland Security Office.

Present Non immigration visa has more than twenty non-immigrant visas for temporary usage. Depend upon the reason US consulate temporarily provides appropriate non Immigration visas. Some of the non-immigrant visas: >

A transit C-1 visa is a temporary transit visa when you are going to another foreign country through the United States and your final destination is not a United States.

The B1 visa is a temporary visiting visa for either business or work and come back to your home country after completing work. B2 visa is a tourist visa with pleasure. With pleasure you go to the USA for tourism purpose like a honeymoon or tourism and more.

The F1 visa: is study visa. The student interested to go to the USA for the higher education purpose and come back to their motherland after completing your education. You must qualify TOFEL test to get F1 visa.

In this way have a lot of non-immigration visas. All non-immigrant visas are having a temporary limited period of time. Mostly US Department provides Australian (E-3) visa, border crossing card for Mexican travels.

Immigration visas: The visa for Live and Work in the USA permanently without any restrictions as a home country is legally called an Immigration visa.

The first step to get immigration visa is Visa sponsors petition to the USCIS for permanent residency. (United Stages Citizenship and Immigration Services simply called USCIS) Once USCIS has approved that petition, then it is forward to the NVC (National Visa Centre) further process to check petitioner is eligible or not.

The NVC center first instructs and analyzes the required applications to complete the visa application. Green card holders are the best example for immigration visa holders.

Most of the immigration categories are family sponsorship and employment sponsorship. It is also possible to upgrade non-immigrant visa holders as immigration visa holders. You can get non immigrant visas easily and quickly, but immigration visas are taken long period to get a green card.

Each and every visa have a certain limited number of visas either immigration or non-immigrant visas. If petitions are crossed the number of petitions, that petition is under waiting list and it will delay to approve that petition.

More info contact Immigration Attorney or at call 718-263-5999 for a FREE CONSULTATION.

New Jersey Immigration AttorneyLawyer

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Getting immigration permission from the higher authorities of any country can be a hard task for those people who are planning to settle abroad. Therefore, it is necessary to seek an experienced immigration lawyer. Immigration is extremely critical so choosing the right qualified New Jersey immigration attorney will make the difference. One should always make sure to choose an attorney who is licensed to practice in the United States jurisdiction and is in good standing with the state bar of New Jersey.

If you are in New Jersey, USA then before hiring any Immigration Lawyer in New Jersey, you should make sure that the firm should be dedicated to protect your rights and should handle your case with the personal attention. Samuel D. Bornstein, P.A. gives full attention and support to their clients. Samuel D. Bornstein, P.A. provides the time to overcome the client’s requirement regarding the immigration case and their trained immigration lawyers quickly determine how to resolve your problems through the legal structure. From the very basic, family and business visas to the naturalization and deportation cases they provide the complete knowledge, information and experience to assist with all your immigration requirements.

The immigration lawyers of Samuel D. Bornstein, P.A. keenly recognizes the specified complications that can arise when involved with federal immigration regulations. In addition, as a New Jersey immigration lawyer, they know circumstances and confusion that can surround immigration, deportation, naturalization and other issues for you and your family members. Samuel D. Bornstein, P.A. helps individuals and businesses with all the manner of immigration, naturalization, deportation issues, including obtaining of temporary visas, etc. They offer the following services:

Family and Employment Based Cases Deportation & Removal All Visas and Consulate Processing Employment-Based Legal Permanent Residence Citizenship & Naturalization

Remember, with an experienced, focused, attentive, strategic and creative representation, you can resolve immigration issues efficiently. Proficient law firm and experts primarily concentrate on comprehensive details and gives personal attention to their clients. This approach provides an edge in obtaining a successful and an efficient resolution of both individual and business matters. Initial discussion of your immigration issue, to schedule a consultation or case evaluation could be extremely helpful. About The Author:

Author, Samuel D. Bornstein, is associated with the law firm () and has 40 years of experience in representing individuals and a wide variety of businesses from Fortune 100 companies that need specialized assistance to smaller companies that look to the firm as their “in house” lawyer for general day-to-day advice. The firm is experienced with transactional work and litigation, emphasizing corporate and partnership operations, employment and workplace law, professional negligence, malpractice matters, immigration, civil rights and real state matters and insurance defense.

Guatemala Pensionado Permanent Residency Program

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Introduction Guatemala is offering a Pensionado program. This is a permanent residency allowing one to live in Guatemala for the rest of their life. The Pensionado receives a Cedulla which is a national identity card that would allow the person to open a bank account in Guatemala without showing the passport from their home country. The Cedulla is a high tech digital ID card. The identity card can reflect a lawful name modification for additional banking privacy. With the Cedulla one can travel without a passport to five other central american countries, off the grid so to speak.

Time Frame The process takes approximately 2-4 weeks, so three weeks is a fair approximation of the time frame. One does have to be in Guatemala during the process. Five Star hotels run about $100 to $145 a night depending on the season. It is possible to stay in Antigua, Guatemala which is a lovely resort community (google Antigua Guatemala). A large steak dinner in a five star restaurant is about $20. You will find things cheap here.

Fee The complete fees are $8,000 for one person, $9500 for a couple. Each child is an extra $1000. Children must be under 18 years old. All fees are paid at the start of the application. Fees can be paid by cash or wire transfer. We do not take checks because they take longer to clear (30 days) than the program requires to complete.

Pensionado Economic Requirements The program is for retired or disabled people. There is no age restriction. One does have to show financial responsibility. An income of $1000 a month is needed. This is $1250 for a married couple. This is so stated in a declaration to the government. The income is proven with bank statements, stock broker statements etc. Income can be private sourced from investments, rental properties etc. It is a good idea to also present gold and platinum Visa cards as additional support for financial independence. You will not have permission to work as an employee for others. You can be self employed in your own business.

Guatemala Taxes Guatemala does NOT tax offshore derived income. Money coming in from outside of Guatemala is NOT taxed. Your pension, investments etc from outside of Guatemala are not taxed. If you had a shoe store in Guatemala you would pay taxes. There is a VAT of 15% on some goods. A plasma TV costs a few hundred dollars more than in USA. USA cars are about same price without the discounts which are better in USA. European and Asian cars are higher priced. Solid wood furniture is far cheaper than in USA and better quality.

Official Documents Needed One needs their passport, birth certificate and marriage license if married. If possible marriage license and birth certificate should be the more modern variety with seals etc.

Language Requirement None. You do not have to speak Spanish. It is a great idea to start taking spanish lessons ASAP when here or before. There are a number of computer programs that are excellent. Rosetta Stone is popular. We do advocate learning the language. Our law firm and staff all speak English well. The better hotels and restaurants will have English speakers. Most of the Doctors speak English. Many establishments do not speak English as well.

Rights in Guatemala You have the rights of a citizen except you cannot vote and cannot get a passport. As a Pensionado you are not supposed to seek work as an employee for others. This is not the purpose of the program. You can own property, start businesses, own corporations, have bank accounts, get mortgages etc.

Time to Become a Citizen The normal time is five years. After you are a resident for three years to can apply to have the residency time shortened to three years from the normal five years. Only citizens can have passports, not residents.

Cross Border Travel as a Resident There is a Free Border Treaty in Central America. With a Guatemala Residency ID card you can travel by land or boat into the following countries without any passport needed: Mexico, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Honduras and Belize. Costa Rica has signed the treaty but is known for not honoring it so don’t count on them. If you go by commercial airline you will need a passport. Your home country will not know where you are since the passport is not being swiped. You will not be able to open bank accounts in the other countries by just showing your national identity card (Cedulla), just Guatemala.

Name Change What can be done is the maiden name of your mother can be added onto your resident ID (Cedulla) as a third name. If you were Daniel Boone now and your mother maiden name was Smith you could now be Daniel Boone Smith. This is a lawful and customary practice in Latin America but of course optional. Now when you open your bank account in Guatemala it will be in name of Daniel Boone Smith and not reference your home country in the records. No lies and nothing illegal yet this allows you to fall through the cracks.

Guatemala Banking As a Pensionado resident in Guatemala you can have a bank account in Guatemala without showing a passport or any ID from your home country. NO passport needed. What can be done is the maiden name of your mother can be added onto your resident ID (Cedulla) as a third name. If you were Daniel Boone now and your mother maiden name was Smith you could now be Daniel Boone Smith. This is a lawful and customary practice in Latin America but of course optional.

Now when you open your bank account in Guatemala it will be in name of Daniel Boone Smith and not reference your home country in the records. No lies and nothing illegal yet this allows you to fall through the cracks. Guatemala has NO tax treaties for information sharing with any country. There will be no sharing of any banking information for tax reasons (any sort of tax or tax related case). Guatemala has no Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT) with the USA, Canada, UK or EU Countries. This means sharing of information for criminal cases will be difficult.

Other Countries Pensionado Residency Programs – With the Panama Pensionado program there is a zero chance of ever opening a bank account without showing your home country passport. We know people who have tried this with a number of Panama Banks. The Panama banks are not allowed to take the pensionado ID or even a permanent residency ID to open a bank account. The cell phone companies in Panama will not open an account without one showing a home country passport no matter what sort of Panama permanent residency they have. All the panama residency programs, permanent, pensionado or otherwise, are nothing more than long term tourist visa, period. Panama residency ID’s of any sort do not allow for any cross border travel without a passport.There are very few Pensionado programs in the world today. There are residency programs. They usually take about six months to process a residency and one needs to remain in the country during this period of time.

Does One Live Free in Guatemala ? Oh think of it like the USA in the 1950’s. The police cannot come into your home without a search warrant. None of this “I heard a cry for help” garbage. Warrants from the patrol car radio are not happening. The police will need evidence of a violation of law to get a warrant. We did not say probable cause as in a reasonable person would deduct blah blah blah, that is USA not Guatemala. Not a common thing to see a search warrant issued here. If the police stop your car you can refuse to let them search it. You can also call your lawyer and wait until the lawyer comes and then the search proceeds, your choice. The police will generally be polite and a request to search a car would be like when there is an emergency and a roadblock scenario to catch fleeing felons who were shooting at police or something drastic. Not a common thing.

We have a kind of police called Transito. Traffic cops is what they are. They have no guns. They have cool yellow green uniforms with white helmets like Bermuda Police. They can only do traffic or auto equipment violations. Normally they will have a side of the road setup and look at cars to make sure they have a current sticker. They will check trucks to see if their loads are secure or not. When pulled they ask for driver license to make sure it is current. None of this – “where are you going, can I look in your trunk, do you have any weapons, have anything I should know about”. None of this happens with a traffic stop. If you do get a ticket just send your lawyer down to appear for you and pay fine. No point system. Very rare to ever see radar and never saw laser yet in Guatemala. People don’t even bother with radar detectors. Never saw any speed or red light cameras. They do offer parking tickets for parking violations and they can be generous in this area in some locations. Tickets are cheap, relax. Some towns like Antigua boot cars. Never park illegally in Antigua they love parking enforcement. Antigua has a special tourist police force that are on almost every corner when it is busy. They often speak English and you will find them very polite and eager to help. If you say you want leather belts they will even tell you where such a store that sells that is located.

The regular Guatemala police are called the black police (policia negro) because their cars and uniforms are black. They have guns. They do not work traffic and cannot pull you for traffic reasons. They are crime fighters only. They generally ignore you. The police will probably never show if you call them to come to your house or if they did it would take a lot of time. I never knew anyone to have their house robbed. We live in gated communities with armed guards. We have alarm systems. When the alarm goes off two ex military guys from the alarm company on a motorcycle come with guns. Often in about five minutes. One hides behind cover and the other walks around to see what is up. They have body armor and are serious fellows. So you have the armed guards in the community, some sort of fence, the alarm and now the alarm guards show up. Never knew anyone to have his home robbed.

The lawyers and court system does not work in a harassing way like in USA. This is not a society that likes lawsuits. Lawyers do a lot of contracts, real estate law, family law, criminal law but not a lot of civil litigation. If you go about your business and do not bother other people, no one will be bothering you. People here do not go out and start trouble with their lawyers like up north. People will tend to settle their differences more sanely here than the USA. That being said never ever sign any real estate agreement or any contract without a lawyer to review it. I think this rule applies anywhere. The freedom here is very noticeable.

Firearms A resident can apply for permission to own and carry concealed firearms. Assault weapons are not allowed to be purchased now which means no centerfire rifles under a current law which is going to expire in a few months and will most likely not be renewed, as a political guess. There are some already registered assault rifles that could transfer but would have to be kept in the home only, no carrying. They will be hard to find and most likely in .223 caliber.

You can have handguns in any common caliber and 12 ga. Shotguns in semi-auto, pump, double barreled etc. Glocks, CZ, Beretta, Sig Sauer, Walther, Jerico, and Bull are the popular quality handgun brands. Mossberg and Remington are popular shotgun brands. Franchi makes a 14″ pump in 12 ga that is sold as a regular shotgun and can be included on a carry permit, legal and nice for the car. One can get plastic shoulder stocks for some glock pistols and Jerico pistols. The stocks are not a restricted or controlled item. This is called a short barreled rifle in some countries. The most popular handgun calibers are 9mm and .40 but there are a lot of 45acp., .380, and .22 pistols available. Anyone who thinks they cannot defend themselves adequately with a Berretta or Glock handgun and a 12 ga pump shotgun in an urban environment does not know what they are talking about, end of story.

A person is only allowed to purchase 700 rounds of ammunition per month for each gun owned, range ammo excluded. Most manage without shedding any tears. Importing guns is a possibility but they are never going to consider more than two guns being imported. A forty two gun collection is either an arsenal or a store to the customs officials, forget it. Same with your 35,000 rounds of ammo. We have quality shotgun ammo and premium Magtech, handgun ammo in the gun stores. The gun and ammo variety in the USA is not here but we have anything you need for functional self-defense. No handloading. That is considered an ammunition manufacturing facility in most Latin America countries.

One can own an unlimited amount of firearms in their home. Each firearm has a title certificate for it similar to a car title. A person can only have 12 weapons included on their carry license. Rotating guns on the license is possible but a big pain in the neck, ill advised. There are at least 18 gun stores in Guatemala City and the suburbs. There are a lot of guns in Guatemala. We have 100,000 security guards most with a Mossberg 12 ga maverick pistol grip or a .38 caliber revolver. We keep our homes, communities, stores, malls, restaurants safe that way. It does not let the criminals take root.

This paragraph is so extensive because a lot of people are escaping police states and gun ownership is a cherished right and we applaud and support this right. On the other hand no law says you have to own a gun and many people do not own guns. Guatemala is a free country and we do not impose our will on people.

Knives and Edged Weapons Many people carry machetes on their belts, usually in the countryside. Can be startling at first since it looks like a sword. They use them to work on the land. A single edged folding knife with a blade of 3.9″ or less can be carried in a pocket or on the belt in an urban area but is not restricted in the country. There are no size restrictions in the code for non-folding knives. There is a prohibition against automatic knifes, stilettos (not sure of legal definition) and daggers (again not sure of legal definition). If you ask where assisted folders etc stand the answer is we do not know. Could be construed as an automatic or not? Same for flippers. Laws not defined clearly. Generally speaking knives are not considered a prohibited item and enforcement is not tight, but follow the law. This section was included because many of our clients are escaping from oppressive police states and their rights are very important to them and thus to us as well.

Drivers License Of course you can have a driver license as a resident. It is a bit bureaucratic and some red tape. You can drive on your home country license for some time while you adjust into your new home.

Health Care You will find the health care better than North America and Europe. The Doctors almost always have English. The staff is three times nicer than what you’d expect. The hospitals are cleaner and far cheaper. A hospital suite is about $165 a day in an expensive neighborhood. Pharmacies generally do not require a prescription and drug prices are about one third of the USA price.

Pharmacies deliver, many round the clock. Doctors make house calls for $25 to $30. Dentists are about 25% of the USA price and are very good. Veterinarians also make house calls for same price and are excellent. If the pet needs to go into for x-rays etc they transport for you. Without the oppressive prescription laws you can treat a lot of pet infections yourself by just buying the drugs or the pet store will help you out. We have a lot of homeopathy practitioners. There are chiropractors and naturopaths. There are some health food stores and organic food is becoming more and more available. Plastic surgery is popular and affordable. In a word health care way more affordable and better.

Real Estate We live far better than North Americans or Europeans imagine. Most of our single family detached homes are at least 500 sq. meters. A sq. meter is 10.75 sq. feet. Most housing that is top drawer will run $900 to $1100 a sq. meter. In the countryside real estate prices are lower. The more rural the lower it gets. It is common to see homes of 800 to 1000 sq. meters. Hacienda homes will run up to 1800 sq. meters. For a perspective one can get a 3000 sq. foot (not meter) executive townhouse in a gated community with armed guards new for $200,000 with fenced yard, garage etc. Check out a community called Antigua, Guatemala in google. You can get a great townhouse there for $150,000 a beautiful patio home $250,000 to $350,000.

Beaches We have beaches on the Pacific and Caribbean. Simple but acceptable beach homes can be had for $100,000 to $150,000. The Pacific beaches are about ninety minutes from Guatemala City. Beaches are warm and humid.

Weather Guatemala is at about 5000 foot altitude. It is 55 to 75 degrees year round. Homes have no air conditioners or heaters. Think of savings on utility bills. We do use fans, usually ceiling fans. It never snows except on the very top of the volcanoes. Warning: Do not bring ice skates, they will rust.

Schools There are a number of k-12 private schools. They are generally bi-lingual english and Spanish. The schools have campuses with playgrounds etc. They are far nicer than USA schools and the teacher student ratio is much lower. Costs vary from school to school but will be a fraction of USA price.

Domestic Help A live in maid runs $175 a month plus you feed them and supply uniforms. A gardner handyman can run $400 a month if you need one every day. A driver would run $500 a month live in. A nanny for the kids would run about $225 a month live in. Elderly folks can hire two maids and a driver and avoid going to a rest home. There are always two servants on premises and they can go on car trips, to the doctor, shopping, beauty parlor etc. They do not have to clean, cook or drive. Beats the heck out of the alternative.

Food The food is close to organic or free range meat. Prices are a fraction of USA prices and quality is wonderful. Numerous fruits priced so low almost for free. All kinds of vegetables, breads, juices etc. The food is Central American style not Mexican so it is not very spicy. We have restaurants offering anything you could want including: French, Greek, Italian, Steaks, Chops and Ribs, Mexican, Chinese, Japanese. Middle Eastern, German and much more.

Internet We have 1 meg DSL and cable connections available.

Cell Phones We have great cell phones, 3G etc.

How to start Call, email or Skype us. We will create an immigration case file for you. We will have you send us scans of the documents required for review by one of our lawyers. If the documents are not in order we will have you correct them before coming since it is much cheaper and easier this way. Next after the documents are in order you will need to schedule a trip to Guatemala. The hotels will send a shuttle bus to pick you up at the airport. We will have one of our English speaking drivers collect you from the hotel and take you to our executive offices to begin. A bi-lingual associate from the law firm will accompany you to all the needed visits to government offices for fingerprinting, signatures, photos etc. You never go to government offices yourself. We do require a $1000 deposit in order to open a file and begin the work. This fee is 100% applied to the Pensionado fee. It is not an additional fee. This is paid by wire transfer.

1. First you fill out an online order form. Click Here
2. Next you send us scan of passports of all parties applying (husband, wife kids, etc). These are sent in an email as a file attachment to .
3. Then we will forward wire instructions to you. We do need to have the $1000 fee paid before we can schedule an appointment. You can pay the remaining fee when here in cash or by wire transfer. You could also elect to pay the whole fee before coming as many immigration clients do for convenience.
4. Then you come to Guatemala.When you come for your appointment you remain here and process for the Pensionado. Figure about three weeks. You will not be busy every day so there will be time for sightseeing. We have beaches, Mayan Ruins, Volcanoes to hike up and there is always Antigua. One could always drive over to a nice white sand beach, all inclusive hotel in El Salvador like the Decameron with a three and a half hour drive time. In about four hours you can be in Mexico where there is a lot of cheap shopping. In any event many of our clients just enjoy a nice rest hanging around the swimming pool at one of our many five star resorts. Warning Our food, beverages and wines are so good here do not even think about dieting.