Helping Families Become Legal Residents & Citizens
We support our clients every step of the way to ensure they achieve their American dream.
Appeals / BIA / US District & Appeals Court
Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA), US District Courts – DC, Virginia, Maryland, US Courts of Appeal: 4th District, Administrative Appeals Office (AAO)
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Asylum: Fleeing Persecution & Danger!
IBLF has represented many nationalities seeking protection from persecution both in original filings and as a defense to deportation.
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Business Law
Corporation, Formation and Registration, Representation for companies that want to bring workers to the U.S.
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Business & Investment Visas
Foreign investment in the United States, particularly through the EB-5 program, is now a signifcant part of IBLF’s special focus.
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Citizenship & Naturalization
Counseling and preparation of Family, Fiance Visas, Asylees, Refugees, I-130, I-485, I-526, I-539, I-589, I-765, N-400, N-600.
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Removal & Deportation Defense
IBLF appears regularly in the Maryland and Virginia Immigration Courts, and is prepared to represent you in trial and on appeal.
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Business Immigration Services
Employers and Foreign workers both need legal help in achieving business success. Standard work visas
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Family Immigration
Counseling and preparation of Family, Fiance Visas, Asylees, Refugees, I-130, I-485, I-526, I-539, I-589, I-765, N-400, N-600. We serve all persons seeking US citizenship or resident status, entry into the United States for business, family, or reasons of persecution.
We would like to express our profound appreciation for representing Hilda and spending a great amount of time and effort on Hilda’s case. Your help made a big difference in our lives. We are very grateful for all the hard work you did, all the knowledge you have, your passion, dedication, and professionalism..
Hilda Mejia and family
Thank you ALL for your efforts to help me. I really appreciate you all.
.
Eunice Johnson
I want to thank you all for agreeing to work for me, also for your patience in processing and completing my file until it is finalized. Special thanks to Mr. and Mrs. Lewis for their dedication. Receive my best regards and greetings..
Jean Faroon
We specialize in taking complex cases and providing superior results through our commitment to our clients, totally prepared to litigate difficult issues and make new law when needed. We utilize our technological skills to work remotely and quickly with clients who are unable to personally visit our office in the middle of Washington DC.
Our Technology / Getting Started
In order to serve our clients efficiently, IBLF has implemented immigration software, which allows all attorneys, managers and our clients to access case information in a secure computer environment, totally managed and accessible on the Web. We scan virtually all documents that are necessary in the processing of our cases so that clients can receive instant copies of what is received by our office.
Areas of Specialization
IBLF attorneys specialize in difficult immigration applications and litigation, including Board of Immigration Appeal cases, appeals to US District Court, as well as the normal preparation and processing of immigration forms with the USCIS, Responses to Requests for Evidence, and virtually all forms of visa applications, including consular processing. Please examine our Staff Directory for further information on our attorneys.
Location
Our offices are located in the Barr Building on Farragut Square catty-corner to the Farragut West or North metro stops (17th or K Street Exits) on the Orange, Red, Silver or Blue Lines serving our nation’s capital, Washington DC. We are within about three blocks of all the buildings of the World Bank, half block in from the legendary attorney corridor “K” Street, and within walking distance of the White House, the Organization of American States buildings, the US State Department, Georgetown, and Dupont Circle.
Our Record
No law firm is perfect, nor can any law firm guarantee you a positive result. And law firms that do not take on the hard cases can be much more “successful” than those that are willing to litigate a disputed issue, or try to find a creative argument for a client who has been caught in the ambiguities of immigration law, or otherwise fallen into seemingly hopeless situation. What we can do is evaluate your case honestly, and then, if we find a possible legitimate argument, fight for you as hard as we can. We are not afraid to go to court, to trial, or to the appeals courts press your case, and this helps us give you advice when issues are ambiguous and the results are uncertain.
Senior Immigration Attorney
Bar Admissions: Alaska (inactive), California (inactive), District of Columbia, Virginia (inactive), US District Court: Alaska, DC, Virginia, US Circuit Ct of Appeals: Eastern & Western District Virginia, US Supreme Court
Senior Immigration Attorney
Steffanie is IBLF’s primary immigration attorney, having specialized in the field for more than 40 years, filing both family-based and labor-based petitions, appearing in Immigration Court for Baltimore, Washington, Norfolk and New York on behalf of clients, as well as filing dozens of legal appeals to the Board of Immigration Appeals, the US District Courts and Courts of Appeal, and the US Supreme Court. She is an active member of the District of Columbia Bar, and has represented numerous Pro Bono clients as well.
Special Expertise: Ms. Lewis has extensive experience in Asylum Litigation, Appeal and Mandamus Litigation, as well as as various aspects of regulatory law. She was General Counsel for a start-up airline and previously for a helicopter industry trade association, using her aviation and policy background, and establishing management practices for compliance with the requirements of the commercial aviation industry.
In her earlier life, Steffanie was a teacher in Connecticut, Washington state, and on the Aleutian chain in Alaska, later founding and developing a commercial air taxi business in Cordova Alaska, serving the commercial fishing industry and the transportation needs of government and private interests. Following law school, she successfully ran a commercial fishing boat in Alaska, while studying and receiving her Masters of Law in the area of Air and Space Law from the London School of Economics and London University system.
Managing Attorney
Bar Admissions: Alaska (inactive), California (inactive), District of Columbia, US District Court: Alaska, DC, Maryland & Virginia, US Ct of Appeals: Virginia, US Supreme Court
Managing Attorney
Albert Z. Lewis is the managing attorney of the law firm, responsible for the administration, and service of the various technologies being used.
Mr. Lewis’s particular specialties are the electronic filing done with the US CIS, as well as through the ECF systems for the US District Courts, as well as EDGAR, the computer filing system for the US Securities and Exchange Commission. He also appears in Immigration Court, supervises all aspects of family-related immigration filings, and has written numerous appeal briefs for immigration and other appeals. He has represented children and adults under the Criminal Justice Act, through programs at the DC Superior Criminal Court as well as the DC Counsel for Child Abuse and Neglect.
He speaks French, some Spanish and Bambara, and served as a volunteer in the US Peace Corps in the Republic of MALI, West Africa where he established and maintained an agricultural research program near the village of Dougourakoro on the Baguineda canal.
Attorney: Immigration / International Business / Estate Planning
Bar Admissions: Maryland, District of Columbia
Attorney: Immigration / International Business / Estate Planning
Mr. Kirk has extensive legal experience, having worked the NAACP and the International Rescue Committee, helping to resettle refugees from various countries as well as doing legal work in Bankruptcy and other legal areas. He has worked and has many contacts in East, West and South Africa .
Mr. advises individuals, entrepreneurs, and globally mobile families on immigration, cross-border business, and international estate planning. Based in Washington, D.C., he works with clients across international markets seeking to build, relocate, and protect their interests in the United States and abroad.
He brings a global perspective shaped by lived and professional experience across Europe, Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, and Latin America, and focuses his practice on helping clients navigate the legal and practical realities of operating across borders.
Senior Case Manager / International and Immigration Law Specialist
Bar Admissions: Spain Bar Association
Senior Case Manager / International and Immigration Law Specialist
Carolina León is a specialist in international and immigration law with expertise in investment, transnational companies, high-skilled employment, as all other categories of employment-based and family-based petitions. Additionally, Ms. Leon brings many years of experience working with U.S . consulates all over the world.
In addition to her law degree, Ms. León holds three master’s degrees in different areas of the law: International Business, International Commerce and Policy, and International Immigration. She joined the International Business Law Firm in April 2003, and currently represents the firm in Europe with an office set in the south of Spain, assisted by direct connections with the Washington office and the latest technology.
Attorney at Law
Bar Admission: DCTexas (inactive)
Attorney at Law
Mr. Lewis is a seasoned major case litigator recently retired from the US Federal Aviation Administration, having investigated and argued aviation cases throughout the country, and with substantial experience with insurance claim investigation and adjustment. A graduate of the University of Virginia, he has been a general aviation pilot for many years, operating his own plane throughout the United States.
Attorney at Law
Bar Admissions: District of Columbia; Virgin Islands (Inactive); United States Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit; United States District Court of DC; United States District Court of Maryland; United States Supreme Court
Attorney at Law
Vanessa has worked in many roles, as an attorney, a litigator and appellate specialist, a judicial clerk writing decisions for judges, an advocate for veterans, a government attorney, and pro-bono defense attorney. She established her own firm and is working with IBLF to expand our legal offerings
Case Manager / Accounting Administrator
Wharton School of Business, Certificate in Quantitative Analysis
Southeastern University – Masters in Public and Business Administration
Universidad Andres Bello – Bachelor in Business Administration
Case Manager / Accounting Administrator
Ms. Gisela DUQUE has worked in a variety of public and private industries, managing real estate portfolios, serving as the Budget and Planning Director for the state government in Caracas, Venezuela, as Finance and Administration Manager for government lending, and as a manager for the Banco Mercantil. She previously worked for the Inter-American Development Bank in Washington DC, and earlier for the Venezuelan Securities and Exchange Commission. She brings her broad experience to the preparation of necessary documentation for our filings with the US agencies in our practice.
Languages: Spanish, Venezuelan, English.
Senior Immigration Attorney
Bar Admissions: Alaska (inactive), California (inactive), District of Columbia, Virginia (inactive), US District Court: Alaska, DC, Virginia, US Circuit Ct of Appeals: Eastern & Western District Virginia, US Supreme Court
Senior Immigration Attorney
Steffanie is IBLF’s primary immigration attorney, having specialized in the field for more than 40 years, filing both family-based and labor-based petitions, appearing in Immigration Court for Baltimore, Washington, Norfolk and New York on behalf of clients, as well as filing dozens of legal appeals to the Board of Immigration Appeals, the US District Courts and Courts of Appeal, and the US Supreme Court. She is an active member of the District of Columbia Bar, and has represented numerous Pro Bono clients as well.
Special Expertise: Ms. Lewis has extensive experience in Asylum Litigation, Appeal and Mandamus Litigation, as well as as various aspects of regulatory law. She was General Counsel for a start-up airline and previously for a helicopter industry trade association, using her aviation and policy background, and establishing management practices for compliance with the requirements of the commercial aviation industry.
In her earlier life, Steffanie was a teacher in Connecticut, Washington state, and on the Aleutian chain in Alaska, later founding and developing a commercial air taxi business in Cordova Alaska, serving the commercial fishing industry and the transportation needs of government and private interests. Following law school, she successfully ran a commercial fishing boat in Alaska, while studying and receiving her Masters of Law in the area of Air and Space Law from the London School of Economics and London University system.
Managing Attorney
Bar Admissions: Alaska (inactive), California (inactive), District of Columbia, US District Court: Alaska, DC, Maryland & Virginia, US Ct of Appeals: Virginia, US Supreme Court
Managing Attorney
Albert Z. Lewis is the managing attorney of the law firm, responsible for the administration, and service of the various technologies being used.
Mr. Lewis’s particular specialties are the electronic filing done with the US CIS, as well as through the ECF systems for the US District Courts, as well as EDGAR, the computer filing system for the US Securities and Exchange Commission. He also appears in Immigration Court, supervises all aspects of family-related immigration filings, and has written numerous appeal briefs for immigration and other appeals. He has represented children and adults under the Criminal Justice Act, through programs at the DC Superior Criminal Court as well as the DC Counsel for Child Abuse and Neglect.
He speaks French, some Spanish and Bambara, and served as a volunteer in the US Peace Corps in the Republic of MALI, West Africa where he established and maintained an agricultural research program near the village of Dougourakoro on the Baguineda canal.
Attorney: Immigration / International Business / Estate Planning
Bar Admissions: Maryland, District of Columbia
Attorney: Immigration / International Business / Estate Planning
Mr. Kirk has extensive legal experience, having worked the NAACP and the International Rescue Committee, helping to resettle refugees from various countries as well as doing legal work in Bankruptcy and other legal areas. He has worked and has many contacts in East, West and South Africa .
Mr. advises individuals, entrepreneurs, and globally mobile families on immigration, cross-border business, and international estate planning. Based in Washington, D.C., he works with clients across international markets seeking to build, relocate, and protect their interests in the United States and abroad.
He brings a global perspective shaped by lived and professional experience across Europe, Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, and Latin America, and focuses his practice on helping clients navigate the legal and practical realities of operating across borders.
Senior Case Manager / International and Immigration Law Specialist
Bar Admissions: Spain Bar Association
Senior Case Manager / International and Immigration Law Specialist
Carolina León is a specialist in international and immigration law with expertise in investment, transnational companies, high-skilled employment, as all other categories of employment-based and family-based petitions. Additionally, Ms. Leon brings many years of experience working with U.S . consulates all over the world.
In addition to her law degree, Ms. León holds three master’s degrees in different areas of the law: International Business, International Commerce and Policy, and International Immigration. She joined the International Business Law Firm in April 2003, and currently represents the firm in Europe with an office set in the south of Spain, assisted by direct connections with the Washington office and the latest technology.
Attorney at Law
Bar Admission: DCTexas (inactive)
Attorney at Law
Mr. Lewis is a seasoned major case litigator recently retired from the US Federal Aviation Administration, having investigated and argued aviation cases throughout the country, and with substantial experience with insurance claim investigation and adjustment. A graduate of the University of Virginia, he has been a general aviation pilot for many years, operating his own plane throughout the United States.
Attorney at Law
Bar Admissions: District of Columbia; Virgin Islands (Inactive); United States Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit; United States District Court of DC; United States District Court of Maryland; United States Supreme Court
Attorney at Law
Vanessa has worked in many roles, as an attorney, a litigator and appellate specialist, a judicial clerk writing decisions for judges, an advocate for veterans, a government attorney, and pro-bono defense attorney. She established her own firm and is working with IBLF to expand our legal offerings
Case Manager / Accounting Administrator
Wharton School of Business, Certificate in Quantitative Analysis
Southeastern University – Masters in Public and Business Administration
Universidad Andres Bello – Bachelor in Business Administration
Case Manager / Accounting Administrator
Ms. Gisela DUQUE has worked in a variety of public and private industries, managing real estate portfolios, serving as the Budget and Planning Director for the state government in Caracas, Venezuela, as Finance and Administration Manager for government lending, and as a manager for the Banco Mercantil. She previously worked for the Inter-American Development Bank in Washington DC, and earlier for the Venezuelan Securities and Exchange Commission. She brings her broad experience to the preparation of necessary documentation for our filings with the US agencies in our practice.
Languages: Spanish, Venezuelan, English.
