La Abogada Samantha
La Abogada Samantha Vital founded Vital Immigration with Northwest Arkansas' immigrant community in mind.
Samantha moved to Northwest Arkansas in 2010 to attend the University of Arkansas and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science in 2014. She continued her academic career at the University of Arkansas School of Law and obtained her Juris Doctorate in 2017.
Sam achieved her goal of becoming an Attorney thanks to the support of her parents who immigrated from Mexico in order to provide greater access to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Her parent's brave decision to immigrate led Sam to become a first-generation American high school graduate, college graduate, law school graduate, and law firm founder.
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While this land of opportunity proved itself to be just that, Sam was also able to see how this nation's immigration laws work to limit and complicate liberty and the pursuit of happiness for many.
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Samantha founded Vital Immigration with the mission to assist our immigrant community as they navigate this nation's complex immigration system. Through her work, Sam hopes to empower immigrants and grow a greater sense of community. Samantha is licensed in the State of Arkansas with authorization to pratice immigration law throughout the United States.
Legal Services
Naturalization & Citizenship
U.S. Citizenship can be obtained by birth in the United States, Naturalization, or through U.S. citizen parents.
Adult Lawful Permanent Residents can become eligible for Naturalization after three or five years of residency. A great benefit to Naturalization is that the Lawful Permanent Resident children of the Naturalized parent who are under 18 can obtain U.S. citizenship through them. Also, children born outside of the U.S. to U.S. citizen parents also have the benefit of obtaining U.S. citizenship at birth!
Family-Based Petition
Both U.S. Citizens and Lawful Permanent Residents can petition and sponsor family members who wish to live in the United States permanently if they can establish the family relationship.
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Lawful Permanent Residents can begin the petition process from the very moment they become Lawful Permanent Residents. Lawful Permanent Residents are eligible to petition for their spouse, minor children, and their unmarried adult sons & daughters.
U.S. Citizens are eligible to petition for these same family members, in addition to being eligible to petition for parents, siblings, married sons & daughters, and fiancées!
Adjustment of Status &
Consular Processing
Adjustment of Status is a process that some can use to apply for Lawful Permanent Resident status.
An applicant who has entered the U.S. lawfully by being admitted or paroled may be eligible for an Adjustment of Status process. Applicants who have not entered the U.S. lawfully, normally don't qualify for an Adjustment of Status process BUT should still speak with our attorney to discuss whether they may qualify for an exception.
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Those who are ineligible for Adjustment of Status may be eligible for Consular Processing, a process that requires an applicant to return to their home country for a final interview.
VAWA Self-Petition
The Violence Against Women Act, or VAWA, helps victims escape violence and gain lawful status if they are being abused by their U.S. Citizen or Lawful Permanent Resident Spouse, Parent, or Adult Child OR if a Noncitizen Child is being abused by their U.S. Citizen or Lawful Permanent Resident Parent.
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By law, U.S. citizens and Lawful Permanent Residents can petition for their family members to receive legal status. However, abusers often may refuse to assist their victims in applying for lawful status, or may threaten to contact immigration and report their victims for being undocumented. VAWA helps these victims by allowing them to petition for their own legal status without the abuser’s help or knowledge.
U-Visas
Congress created some visas specifically for victims of particular crimes who have suffered mental or physical abuse and who are helpful in the investigation/prosecution of that criminal act.
The U-Visa was created to strengthen the ability of law enforcement agencies to investigate and prosecute cases of domestic violence, sexual assault, trafficking of noncitizens, and other crimes, while also providing immigration protections to the qualifying victims.
SIJS
Special Immigrant Juvenile Status or SIJS provides a pathway to Lawful Permanent Residency for some noncitizen children & youth.
To be eligible for SIJS, a state court must first determine that the child or youth is unable to live with one or both parents due to abuse, neglect, or abandonment and it is not in their best interest to return to their home country. For children in the State of Arkansas, this appropriate court would be the Circuit Court located in the County where the child lives.
DACA Renewals & Advance Parole
DACA is a program that provides protections and the ability to work in the U.S. for nearly 600,000 people in the U.S. who arrived prior to June 15, 2022 as children.
Sadly, on September 13, 2023, a U.S. District Court in Texas ruled that the DACA program was unlawful. Only existing DACA holders may continue to renew work permits and apply for advance parole travel documents pending the appeal of this decision.
Military
Immigration Benefits
The spouse, widow(er), parent, son, or daughter of certain military members may be eligible for immigration benefits including deferred action, employment authorization, and parole-in-place.
Qualifying individuals include the family members of active-duty, selected-reserve, or veterans of the U.S. armed forces. These programs are incredibly beneficial as they can provide periods of legal status for family members that can then be used to obtain employment authorization or even eligibility for Lawful Permanent Residency through Adjustment of Status.
Temporary Protected Status & the Central American Minor Program
Beneficiaries of Temporary Protected Status, or TPS, gain valuable protections including, safety from removal from the United States and eligibility for employment and travel authorization.
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A foreign country may be designated for TPS due to conditions that temporarily prevent nationals from returning safely due to either (1) ongoing armed conflict (like a civil war); (2) an environmental disaster (like a hurricane) or epidemic; or (3) an extraordinary & temporary condition. USCIS may grant TPS to eligible nationals present in the U.S. when the determination is made.
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For Salvadoran, Guatemalan, and Honduran TPS beneficiaries, the CAM program provides an opportunity for family reunification.
Through CAM, certain qualified children, who are nationals of El Salvador, Guatemala, or Honduras, are given an opportunity to seek refugee status or parole to the U.S. and be reunited with family. A qualified child must be unmarried, under the age of 21, and a national of El Salvador, Guatemala, or Honduras when applying.