About USADefend
What services does USADefend offer?
- – USADefend Law Firm focuses on immigration law, tax benefits, civil litigation, intellectual property, and international business matters, providing comprehensive legal solutions for clients in the United States and Puerto Rico.
– We help businesses and entrepreneurs overcome legal obstacles in tax, immigration, and blockchain matters in the United States, while attracting investment capital to incentivize economic growth in Puerto Rico.
Services: – Investment Visas in the United States – General USA Immigration (Visas, Petitions, Waivers) – Puerto Rico Tax Benefits for Individual Resident Investors and Export Services Companies under Act 20, 22, and 60 – Federal Civil Litigation in United States District Court – International Real Estate Investments and Relocation Planning – Trademark Registry and Intellectual Property Litigation
– Here you will find answers to your frequently asked questions: https://usadefend.com/about/faq/ You can book a meeting here: https://www.usadefend.com/meet/
What forms of payment do you accept?
USADefend accepts all major credit cards through an online secure portal. All unearned legal fees are deposited into an interest bearing trust account (IOLTA), compliant in multiple jurisdictions.
We also accept most common crypto assets, such as Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and multiple others. Please inquire before providing payment.
Where do you offer services?
USADefend offers services all across the United States of America, all its territories and possessions, as well as a multitude of countries across the world. Click here to see our Service offering.
Is what you do legal?
Absolutely. 100% legal.
We abide by strict ethical and moral standards, and only work with other similar professionals. In certain cases, we may evaluate your current situation and determine that it is marginally or significantly non-compliant in the jurisdiction where it may be happening, upon which we will inform you immediately. However, we will not endorse any further continuation of unamended activities.
Is this a scam?
No, this is not a scam. All the information provided and solutions offered during our services are third-party verifiable in nature. Oftentimes, citations for legal sources are provided.
In addition, Christian M. Frank Fas – The Expat Expert -, is admitted as an attorney in multiple jurisdictions around the United States of America, and is also a member of several professional organizations.
We will gladly provide references and credentials upon request.
Can I ask you just a few questions?
Due to the extreme volume of inquiries we receive, we aren’t able to answer specific questions until after a consultation is scheduled. While sharing information on our multiple platforms is provided freely, each particular situation requires time and effort to custom tailor specific solutions to particular problems.
Please understand that this limitation is not by choice, but by design.
Schedule a consultation here.
But, I only have one question. Can you make an exception?
Sorry, that one question leads to further questions. Once we go down the rabbit hole, there’s no turning back.
Schedule a Consultation here.
Where are your offices located?
Our services are provided remotely. You can address written communications and parcels to:
- USADefend Law Firm
1887 Whitney Mesa DR #9669
Henderson, NV 89014
About Christian M. Frank Fas, Esq.
How can I check your credentials?
Are you my lawyer?
Although some of the information and services we provide may be considered legal in nature, only a licensed attorney can provide legal counsel.
While the author of this webpage, Christian M. Frank Fas, is in actuality a licensed attorney, none of the information provided here, can be considered legal counsel. Only through the engagement of our legal services provided by USADefend Immigration, can legal counsel be provided.
USADefend Immigration offers legal services, but exclusively limited to immigration and nationality matters.
Please bear in mind that all the information contained in this website, does not constitute legal counsel as of yet, and is purely for your information.
Asking for any additional information or questions pertaining this matter has not created a legally binding Attorney-Client relationship, nor a contractual relationship for your legal representation, until you have completed a Legal Representation Contract with us and we have accepted a retainer or deposit to initiate any legal proceedings.
For additional information, please read our End-User Agreement and Disclaimers.
What languages do you speak?
Christian is natively fluent in English and Spanish. He also dabbles in Italian, French, Portuguese and sometimes a bit of Klingon, for fun.
Where are you licensed to practice law?
I am admitted to practice law in Puerto Rico, RUA Núm. 16,407 and a proud member of the Colegio de Abogados y Abogadas.
When did you start practicing law?
I was admitted to practice law by the Puerto Rico Supreme Court on March 2007.
Here’s a list of some of the legal matters I have represented over the years:
- Legal counsel and representation to mainland USA clients who required representation in Puerto Rico.
- Complex interstate divorces involving division of marital estates.
- Parental Kidnapping Prevention Act Defense.
- Interstate Child Support Defense.
- Disputes over breach of exclusive distribution contracts of products and services.
- Business startup planning, creation and formation in Puerto Rico.
- Legal counsel to multiple Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearm related industries, including import, export and excise tax compliance, and international trade.
- Complex probate, estate division and impeachment of testaments in Puerto Rico.
- Development of digital notary practices.
- Alpha and Beta testing of electronic document filing systems in multiple legal jurisdictions.
- Family immigration including waivers, VAWA and U Visa applications.
- Complex removal cases before Immigration Court.
- Asylum Defense in Removal Proceedings before Immigration Court.
- Immigration Appeals before the Board of Immigration Appeals.
- Immigration Appeals before the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals.
- Civil Rights Violation Lawsuits before Federal District Court.
Have you been cited as a legal source?
As a pioneer of digital document handling in the legal field, I authored the first article in a Puerto Rican legal review journal to write about digital notarial practice in 2006.
My law review article, titled The Future of Notarial Practice in the Digital Age (45 Rev. Der. PR 345 (2006)), has been cited as a legal source for the establishment of a notarial legal practice model which intertwines the traditional Latin notarial activities in an ever developing digital world.
Read the legal review article here.
Subsequently cited by the Puerto Rico Supreme Court’s Commission for the Study and Evaluation of the Notarial Functions in Puerto Rico.
Mandamus Litigation
Why are we suing? What is this case about?
We want to help people who filed USCIS Form I-601A, Application for Provisional Waiver of Unlawful Presence, more than six months ago.
We are going to sue USCIS because the two service centers that handle these cases are not working on them fast enough. At the moment, these are the waiting times:
If these requests are not decided quickly, thousands of people are unable to obtain consular processing and have to wait in the United States without being able to work or have legal status.
We believe that any applicant who waits more than six months for a decision on an I-601A application has the right to say that her case has been unfairly delayed, since the waiting time on I-601A applications was less than five months. just a few years ago. Federal agencies have a non-delegable duty to do their work in a way that meets the needs and desires of the people concerned. We will ask a federal judge to order USCIS to decide our claimants’ applications immediately and for the government to take necessary action to return processing times to a reasonable amount of time.
Who are the attorneys filing these cases?
This case is being brought by Christian M. Frank Fas, Esq, founder of USADefend Immigration, a law firm in Lakewood, Colorado. USADefend Immigration also collaborates with law firms specializing in federal litigation nationwide.
Who is eligible to participate?
Anyone who has filed an I-601A application and it has been pending for more than six (6) months without adjudication.
How much does it cost to join this case?
We are charging $1,250 per applicant to participate in the case as of March 15, 2023.
The fees are a one-time charge and we will not charge for additional expenses or legal fees.
The amount is payable at the beginning. In the event that you request our resignation as legal representatives, we will keep records of the hours invested in this case, and if you indicate that you do not wish to proceed after signing our representation contract and receiving payment, but before the presentation of demand, we may offer you a partial refund.
However, once the claim has been drafted and filed with USCIS, all fees will be deemed earned and no refunds will be issued after that time. Please note that we are moving quickly in filing this lawsuit and our goal is to file a lawsuit on a rolling 60-day period.
Is this case being handled as a class action?
We are still evaluating whether to add to the current pending class action lawsuit filed jointly with AILA.
While filing a class action lawsuit could sometimes delay the case by significantly increasing the requirements for your certification, thus making it more difficult for the federal government to mount a defense. We will then report our position on the certification of this lawsuit as a class.
Where is the lawsuit filed?
It depends on where the plaintiffs are located and whether we file as a regular lawsuit or a class lawsuit. There are several top options, including Nebraska, Maryland, Northern District of Virginia, among others.
There is currently a class lawsuit to be certified in the state of Washington, and if the certification is issued, we will proceed to unite ours in the class lawsuit nationwide.
What is this lawsuit trying to achieve?
Simply put, we want the government to make a decision on the plaintiffs’ pending applications in our lawsuit as soon as possible.
We are of the opinion that the government prefers to expedite the decision of our plaintiffs’ pending cases, even before we go before a court to litigate. This has happened in similar cases. However, some plaintiffs will have to wait for a court order before their decisions are issued.
If the government does not obey a judge’s order, they risk being held in contempt, and subject to fines and penalties.
If your case is successful, you will get a decision on your I-601A waiver application. The result can be approval or denial. After receiving a decision on your I-601A waiver application, you will still need to apply for your immigrant visa at a consulate as part of the rest of the process.
Are there drawbacks if I participate in the lawsuit?
We have seen over the years that the opposite is true: those who file a lawsuit tend to receive better care than those who do not. The federal government guarantees equal treatment of the laws, and they presume that a plaintiff is not afraid to claim his rights in court, and in addition the government prefers to settle a case quickly, because it costs him time, effort and money
Also know that we are only demanding that they expedite the processing of pending applications. We do not know if your application is meritorious, and will not safeguard any reason for ineligibility of the same. In other words, suing the government will not fix an application that would be denied anyway.
What happens if I already have an attorney or I have a pending mandamus lawsuit?
We are not representing you in your application specifically and cannot advise you on your application strategy. If you are represented by a lawyer, you should discuss the benefits and possible drawbacks of joining the action and whether it is right for you.
You cannot be a plaintiff in this lawsuit if you are currently filing a mandamus action on your own.
Also, we are not evaluating the merits of your application for an I-601A waiver. The claim requires you to prove “serious suffering” to a Qualified Relative, and will be inadmissible during consular processing solely on an unlawful presence ground under section 212(a)(9)(B) of the Immigration Act. and Nationality.
You and your individual attorney (if you have one) will be responsible for presenting adequate evidence to demonstrate suffering of an eligible relative in your waiver application with USCIS.
If your case is successful, you will get a resolution on your I-601A waiver application.
The result can be approval or denial.
Also, even if the I-601A waiver is approved, there is no certainty that the consulate will approve your immigrant visa application. Also, there is no certainty that your case will be scheduled for an interview at the consulate. All that is sought in this case is a ruling on the I-601A waiver application.
How long will it take to see results?
We could start seeing results as soon as the case has been filed.
This is because the government often speeds up decision-making on these cases and gets people out of litigation by approving their applications quickly.
This is likely to be done first for people who have been scheduled for consular interviews, and may also expedite interview scheduling for others.
Once we file the lawsuit at the end of December and the judge orders a hearing on our request for a preliminary injunction in several weeks. However, please be aware that the courts can be delayed, and have sometimes taken longer in recent months.
Don’t be surprised if it takes 6-8 weeks to hold the first hearing. The preliminary injunction hearing is the hearing at which a judge can order a temporary remedy until the case finally goes to trial. For most plaintiffs, this will be the end of their lawsuit, as USCIS has been compelled to make a decision on their pending application. In some cases, a judge will adjourn the hearing in the expectation that the federal government will move forward on pending applications during this time.
If we win, we would expect consular appointments for our plaintiffs to be scheduled within a few weeks after the judge issued an order. If the government is not deciding these waivers satisfactorily, we will seek judicial remedy from the judge in the case. The government can be declared in contempt by a judge if it does not move these cases, and subject to penalties and sanctions.
