 |
|
STAR
TREATMENT FOR BAY AREA FILIPINOS
Atty. Michael J. Gurfinkel announced the opening
of his Bay Area branch office located at 601 Gateway Boulevard,
Suite 460, South San Francisco, CA 94080. Telephone (650) 827-7888.
Top legal immigration services are offered by Attorney Gurfinkel,
who has handled visas of many top Filipino movie celebrities such
as Christopher de Leon, who was granted "instant" U.S. citizenship,
bypassing normal family petitions, naturalization interviews,
etc., through Gurfinkel's representation at the U.S. embassy in
Manila.
SAN FRANCISCO - He has earned the reputation as
one of the country's top caliber immigration lawyers for movie
celebrities. Yet Michael J. Gurfinkel is not at all an "unreachable"
legal luminary. In fact, Gurfinkel professes that he ensures all
his clients get the same "start treatment", regardless of status.
Bay Area Filipinos will now be able to get the same "star treatment"
which Atty Gurfinkel provides for his well-known clients, such
as Regine Velasquez, Christopher De Leon, and Sharon Cuneta, to
name a few, as the lawyer recently opened up a new branch office
in South San Francisco. "Now we can consult with Atty. Gurfinkel
without having to travel to L.A.," said a San Francisco based
client, who used to get up at 4:00 in the morning to drive to
L.A., just to see Atty. Gurfinkel. The Law Offices of Michael
J. Gurfinkel is located at 601 Gateway Blvd., Suite 460, South
San Francisco, CA 94080. Telephone 650-827-7888.
"It really gives me joy and satisfaction to help clients from
all walks of life get their green cards or citizenship, or be
reunited with their families back home", Gurfinkel said.
Gurfinkel's high profile lawyering for Philippine movie and entertainment
icons such as Regine Velasquez and Christopher de Leon has resulted
in sterling achievements, but with it also came the impression
that the Gurfinkel Law Offices is beyond the reach of the ordinary
wage earner.
That is, of course, a myth. Lives of ordinary folk have been turned
around by the legal services of Gurfinkel. Many of these people
had been turned down by other lawyers, who thought their cases
were hopeless or impossible. This earned for Gurfinkel the additional
moniker of "Attorney of Last Hope".
Regine Velasquez's story is a classic example of Gurfinkel's list
of "miracle" cases. Resigned to the fact that she could never
perform again in the United States after the U.S. Embassy revoked
her visa because of "alien smuggling", the Songbird gave up all
hope. But Gurfinkel's persistent approach and analytical mind
turned the tide and - to make the long story short - resulted
in the lifting of Regine's lifetime ban to enter the United States.
Regine has since returned to the United States for concerts last
September. Another triumphant tour is scheduled for June 2002.
Gurfinkel also performed an impressive feat in the case of Filipino
actor Christopher de Leon, who was granted "instant U.S. citizenship"
when Atty. Gurfinkel documented that Christopher was a U.S. citizen
"at birth", thereby completely bypassing the normal Immigration
and Naturalization Service (INS) process of a family petition,
filing for naturalization, fingerprinting, and interview. Christopher
got his U.S. passport in less than 15 minutes at the Embassy,
with Atty. Gurfinkel's help.
Aside from these stars, Gurfinkel is also sought after by almost
all show business personalities for their entertainer visas, such
as Sharon Cuneta, Aga Mulach, Alma Moreno, Mark Anthony Fernandez,
Vina Morales, Gabby Eigenmann, Ai Ai de las Alas, among others.
His column "IMMIGRATION CORNER" comes out every week and provides
insights, information and lessons from actual cases handled by
the Gurfinkel Law Offices.
Gurfinkel's closeness to the Filipino community can very well
be explained by his marriage to a Filipina, Millie, a business
economics graduate from the Ateneo de Manila University who now
manages her husband's law offices. Gurfinkel's wit, coupled with
Millie's business acumen, is a perfect mix that has made the Gurfinkel
Law Offices such a phenomenal success.
"He has adapted very well to our culture and tradition," his clients
observed. "He is one of our adopted kababayans."
back
|
|
|
