Natalia Segermeister

Natalia Segermeister has dedicated her career to assisting the immigrant community in the United States. She exclusively practices immigration law.

Natalia is admitted to practice law in the State of New York and is a member of the New York State Bar Association (NYSBA) and the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA).

Awards

10/10 Rating on Avvo.com
Birdeye Best Lawyer; Lead Counsel rated in Immigration Law

Awards

10/10 Rating on Avvo.com
Birdeye Best Lawyer; Lead Counsel rated in Immigration Law

Philosophy & Approach

Natalia’s approach is to begin by determining her clients’ goals with regard to their future in the United States. For some, that may mean starting or investing in a business and then retiring elsewhere when their business flourishes, while others may have the dream of U.S. citizenship. Establishing what her clients’ goals are and determining a path towards those goals is a collaborative effort with each client.

Navigating the complex nature of U.S. immigration law can be daunting, but Natalia’s relationship with her clients is founded on the belief that the only way to have a successful case is to have an open and honest relationship. This comes with the understanding that circumstances change, and the path forward may need to be adapted, but always with the input of her clients. She has a passion for immigration as she once had to secure her own status in the United States. With the insight of being an immigrant herself, she takes the care necessary to improve the lives of her clients.

See What Makes us Different

Philosophy & Approach

Experience & Background

Natalia provices direct services to her clients. She has experience successfully representing clients before the Asylum Office and USCIS, and has honed her litigation skills in removal proceedings before the immigration courts in Arlington and Baltimore, as well as New York, Texas, and California. She has also assisted clients in securing a wide array of immigration benefits and filing various petitions including:

Family-based petitions,
Asylum/Withholding of Removal,
Cancellation of Removal,
VAWA,
U Visas,
TPS,
DACA,
SIJS,
Extensions of status,
Waivers,
Adjustment,
Citizenship, and
Business immigration petitions (i.e. H, L, P, O, and PERMs).

Natalia has filed Mandamus actions against USCIS to demand agency action on petitions that the agency has failed to adjudicate. She was also an advocate with the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. (CLINIC), where she aided in the organization’s advocacy efforts by drafting legal analyses of anti-immigrant legislation, writing comments to proposed rules, answering specific client case queries by contacting the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ (USCIS) Ombudsman’s Office, and assisting with the Board of Immigration Appeals’ (BIA) Pro Bono Project to place immigration cases with pro bono counsel. In 2012, she worked as the Project Attorney at CLINIC for the Legal Orientation Program for Custodians of Unaccompanied Alien Children (LOPC), a program funded by the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR), where she supervised orientations given throughout the country to custodians of children who entered the United States as unaccompanied minors. In her role as Project Attorney, Natalia provided insight as to how to best explain the removal process and the rights of children during removal proceedings to adult custodians. Natalia is also an Immigration Lawyer volunteer at the Chesapeake Multicultural Resource Center

Throughout her career, both as a policy advocate and in private practice, Natalia has demonstrated an unwavering concern for the rights of immigrants. As an immigrant herself, she has been able to provide a unique perspective and develop a great rapport with all of her clients. Born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Natalia immigrated to the United States at the age of six and spent her formative years living in Miami, Florida. In 2010, she became U.S. citizen. Natalia attended the University of Florida in Gainesville for her undergraduate studies, where she graduated cum laude with a double major in Political Science and Criminology. She graduated in 2011 from the Georgetown University Law Center. During law school, she focused her coursework on immigration issues and was awarded a Certificate in Refugee and Humanitarian Emergencies. She was also awarded a Pro Bono Pledge Certificate for providing pro bono legal services to the immigrant community in DC.

Natalia frequently volunteers her time with non-profit immigration organizations in the DMV area. She has been a guest speaker at events at Georgetown University Law Center relating to immigration law and has been a guest panelist at the USCIS Ombudsman’s Conference. She enjoys attending concerts and food events in the DC area. She is fluent in Spanish and Portuguese, and has been residing in the DC metropolitan area since 2008 with her husband, Brandon, and dachshund, Bailey.