Oana C. Marina
Oana Marina immigrated to the United States from Romania in 2002, and her practice grows directly out of that experience. She is attentive to what immigrants are actually navigating — not only the legal problem, but the linguistic, cultural, and personal weight that travels with it.
Before emigrating she practiced in Bucharest as a civil-law notary public, handling corporate, estate planning, probate, and real-estate matters, and holds a Bachelor of Laws from Nicolae Titulescu University. After arriving in the United States she completed a Certificate in Paralegal Studies at Boston University and earned the highest grade in Principles of Legal Writing at Harvard Extension School, before graduating cum laude from Case Western Reserve University School of Law in 2009. She joined the firm in 2011.
She is one of the firm's strongest writers, with extensive experience arguing complex legal questions on paper — briefs to the Board of Immigration Appeals, responses to USCIS notices of intent to deny or revoke, and appeals of USCIS denials. She attends USCIS interviews, represents clients before ICE and the Immigration Court as needed, and works with congressional offices to secure support on stalled matters.
Her particular focus is among the most sensitive areas of immigration practice: U visa and VAWA petitions for survivors of crime and domestic violence. These cases turn on a certification that law enforcement is free to decline for any reason or none, and Oana has spent years finding routes through that discretion for clients who would otherwise have none. She has maintained a near-perfect U visa approval rate since she began handling them in 2011. As she puts it, the work requires being both an attorney and a counselor — someone who "works with people, not just papers."
Her practice also covers religious worker cases, naturalization with medical waivers, complex I-751 good-faith-marriage waivers, I-601 and I-601A waivers, and Special Immigrant Juvenile matters.
Oana is active in the local Romanian community and has helped Americans of Romanian origin obtain Romanian citizenship. She is a member of the State Bar of Michigan and the American Immigration Lawyers Association, has been named a Michigan Super Lawyers Rising Star, and serves clients in Romanian and French.
Practice focus
- U visas and VAWA
- Religious worker cases
- Medical waivers
- I-601 and I-601A waivers
- Employment-based immigration
Credentials
- State Bar of Michigan
- American Immigration Lawyers Association
- J.D. cum laude, Case Western Reserve University School of Law, 2009
- Bachelor of Laws, Nicolae Titulescu University, Bucharest
- Certificate in Paralegal Studies, Boston University