Chicago Immigration Lawyer

Are you looking for an immigration lawyer in Chicago?

At Dworsky Law Firm, we are trusted immigration counsel for individuals, families, and business owners throughout Chicago.

If you are dealing with the immigration system in Chicago, you are facing a challenging area of law that changes often. Cases range from family petitions and work visas to green cards, citizenship, and defense against removal. Which forms you file, and in what order, depends on your goal and your history. Mistakes can disrupt your ability to live and work in the country. 

Dworsky Law Firm covers the full range of immigration work, from family and business cases to humanitarian relief and court defense. Our Chicago, IL immigration lawyer works with individuals, families, and employers at every stage of the process. To get started, schedule a confidential consultation with our office.

Immigration Lawyer Chicago, IL

Immigration law covers how people enter the United States, stay, work, and become citizens. An immigration lawyer helps with the petitions, applications, and hearings that decide those outcomes. The field touches families, employers, students, and people facing removal. The rules shift with each administration, and a decision in one case can affect eligibility in another.

In fiscal year 2023, 33,560 people living in Illinois became U.S. citizens through naturalization, according to state naturalization data. That is one step among many in a system that also decides who can work, reunite with family, or stay after fleeing danger. 

Types of Immigration Cases We Handle in Chicago

Immigration is a broad field, and most people need help with one specific part of it. We handle matters across the whole system, from the first petition to the final hearing. The list below covers the areas we handle most for Chicago clients.

• Family-based immigration. Citizens and permanent residents can petition for close relatives, though wait times vary by relationship and country of origin. We manage the petitions and prepare families for each stage. When a relative is abroad, we also handle consular processing.
• Green cards. Permanent residence comes through family, employment, humanitarian, or merit-based routes. We identify the route that fits and carry the filing from start to finish. That includes renewals and replacements when a card expires.
• Marriage green cards. Marriage to a citizen or resident is a common path, and these cases turn on proof of a genuine relationship. We document the relationship and get both spouses ready for questioning.
• Adjustment of status. People physically present in the country can often become residents without going abroad. We confirm eligibility and the entry record before anything is filed.
• Asylum. We represent people who fear persecution in their home country, both before USCIS and as a defense in immigration court. A clear, well-documented account is what carries these claims.
• Deportation. When the government starts removal proceedings, we defend the case and pursue every available form of relief. Early action often shapes the outcome. Bond hearings, appeals, and applications for relief are part of that work.
• Citizenship. We prepare naturalization applications and ready clients for the English, civics, and interview stages. Small issues in a person’s history can complicate an otherwise simple case.
• U visa. Certain crime victims who assist law enforcement may qualify for status and a later path to residence. We assess eligibility and build the application.
• EB-1A. This route serves people with an extraordinary record in the sciences, business, athletics, or the arts. We document the acclaim these petitions require.
• Business and work visas. Employers and workers move through sponsorship, transfers, and compliance obligations that carry strict rules. We keep the steps aligned for both sides. We also advise on I-9 and audit compliance for Chicago employers.

Why Choose Dworsky Law Firm as my Immigration Lawyer in Chicago, IL?

Immigration cases rarely stay in one lane; a work visa can lead to a green card, and a green card leads toward citizenship. One firm that handles all of it keeps your case consistent from start to finish.

A Full-Service Immigration Practice

Dworsky Law Firm handles family, business, humanitarian, and court matters under one practice, with an emphasis on family and business immigration. That range means a case that shifts, from an application to an appeal or from a visa to permanent residence, does not force you to find a new lawyer. When a matter moves into removal, we take on the removal defense as well. 

Decades of Experience and Recognition

Ashley Dworsky has spent more than 25 years in immigration law, with a practice weighted toward family and business cases. He is admitted in Illinois and New York, before the United States Supreme Court, and before two federal courts of appeals. He came to this country as an immigrant and holds a green card earned on his own merits, a background that informs how he reads a case. Super Lawyers has named him to its list every year since 2019, and he took his law degrees at the University of Witwatersrand. That mix of longevity, courtroom admissions, and lived experience is rare in one attorney.

What Is Important to Understand About Immigration Cases?

What Are Important Aspects of an Immigration Case?

• Accuracy and consistency across every form, because contradictions raise doubts.
• Deadlines, since many benefits and defenses are lost when a filing is late.
• Admissibility, as past entries, overstays, or certain conduct can block a case.
• Current policy, which changes often and can affect a case midstream, as with these recent immigration orders.
• Complete records, because missing documents are a leading cause of delay and denial.

We check all of these at the start, before a single form goes out. Getting these right early is far cheaper than fixing them after a denial.

What Is the Immigration Case Timeline?

No two immigration cases move at the same speed, but most follow a recognizable path:

1. A petition or application that opens the case.
2. A wait, in many categories, for a visa or a decision.
3. Biometrics, where the government collects fingerprints and a photograph.
4. An interview or a hearing, depending on the type of case.
5. A decision, followed by any appeal.

Published current processing times give a rough sense of the wait, though they shift with the government’s workload. Some categories also require a visa to be current before a case can move forward.

How Immigration Paths Connect

Immigration is not a set of separate boxes. The paths connect, and a sound plan looks ahead. Someone who enters on a work visa may later qualify for a green card through an employer, and many people who obtain residence eventually pursue citizenship, where the steps to naturalization become the last stage of a long journey. 

People already in the country often move toward residence by adjusting status rather than leaving for a consulate abroad. Seeing how these pieces fit lets us file in the right order and avoid choices that close off a better option later. For employers, the same forward planning applies, since a temporary work visa and a permanent employment case follow different but connected tracks.

What Should You Bring to Your Immigration Consultation?

Bring the documents that show your status, your history, and your goal. 

• Your passport and any visas, entry records, or prior status documents.
• Copies of anything you have filed with or received from the government.
• Civil records such as birth, marriage, and divorce certificates.
• Employment or sponsorship documents, if a job or an employer is involved.
• Details of any past immigration or criminal history.

The consultation is a straightforward review of your options, the obstacles, and the next steps. You leave with a clear sense of what comes next and when.

Immigration Offices and Local Resources in Chicago

Immigration cases in the Chicago area run through a handful of federal offices. The office that handles your case sets the calendar you will work around.

• The USCIS Chicago Field Office on West Congress Parkway handles green card and citizenship interviews; you can locate it and others through the USCIS field offices page.
• The Chicago Immigration Court, part of the Executive Office for Immigration Review, hears removal cases, and its immigration court data shows a heavy backlog.
• Application Support Centers in the area collect the fingerprints and photographs required for pending cases.

We handle cases at each of these offices and prepare clients for what to expect at every appearance. Arriving prepared, with the right documents, keeps an appointment from being wasted.

Reach Out to Dworsky Law Firm to Schedule a Consultation

Dworsky Law Firm offers a consultation to review your goal, your history, and the immigration options open to you. We explain the process in plain terms and tell you honestly which paths are realistic and which are not. Whatever stage you are at, we can take it from there. Contact our office to schedule a meeting with our Chicago immigration lawyer today.