Experience, Accessibility And Excellence For Over 25 Years
Edison, New Jersey, Immigration Attorneys
Meet Attorneys Paris Lee And Angie Garasia
Choosing the right attorney is an important decision that should not be taken lightly. Not all lawyers are the same. For that matter, not all immigration lawyers are the same. Some firms are business based, and primarily serve corporations and companies.
Our firm is individual based. While we have and do handle complex immigration matters for business organizations, the primary emphasis of our firm has always been centered around people, whether it be in helping them to become citizens, filing for their green cards, keeping their green cards, bringing their families together, or keeping them together. Since 1997, we have used our experience, knowledge, and practical know-how to help people navigate the immigration maze and realize their objectives. Let our expertise help you.
Paris Lee, Esq.
Mr. Lee is a Partner of the firm with over 25 years legal experience. He is admitted to practice law in New Jersey and Washington, D.C. He is an alumnus of The Lawrenceville School as well as a graduate of Yale University and Rutgers School of Law–Newark. Besides handling the whole spectrum of immigration issues, he is also an experienced criminal defense attorney, so he is uniquely qualified to advise clients on the intersection between the immigration and criminal laws.
Prior to starting Lee & Garasia, LLC, Mr. Lee clerked for the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office in Freehold, New Jersey, prosecuting municipal appeals and preparing briefs on a wide array of criminal issues involving search and seizure as well as the constitutionality of the death penalty. After his stint there, Mr. Lee practiced criminal defense in addition to and alongside immigration, handling cases on both the New Jersey Municipal Court and Superior Court levels. He has appeared in nearly every county of New Jersey representing clients charged with traffic and quasi-criminal offenses from speeding to shoplifting to assault.
Now practicing immigration law exclusively, Mr. Lee focuses his practice on adjustment of status petitions; consular processing; naturalization; hardship waivers; sports visas; and criminal-immigration matters.
Mr. Lee is a member of AILA (American Immigration Lawyers Association), the New Jersey State Bar Association (Former Chair, Immigration and Naturalization Section), Middlesex County Bar Association (Former Co-Chair, Immigration Law and Practice Committee), Federal Bar Association, and the Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers of New Jersey. He is nationally recognized for his expertise in immigration law and was featured in Newsweek’s 2013 Nationwide Top Attorneys Showcase and TIME Magazine as a Leader in Immigration Law. He is also named a Top Contributor by Avvo and named to the 2020 Super Lawyers list by Super Lawyers Magazine. A description of the selection methodology for Super Lawyers can be found here.
In the media, he has been consulted for his opinions and perspective on immigration by national outlets such as CNN and The Washington Post, as well as local New Jersey newspapers including The Star Ledger, Asbury Park Press, and The Home News Tribune.
He is a 2nd Degree Black Belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under Renzo and Rolles Gracie, and besides training with some of the world’s best Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu athletes, also represents many of them.
Angie Garasia, Esq.
Ms. Garasia is a Partner of the firm with over 25 years experience. She is admitted to practice law in the State of New Jersey as well as before the United States Supreme Court. Ms. Garasia handles all aspects of immigration and nationality law, including immigrant and nonimmigrant visas, family and employment-based applications for permanent residence, and U.S. Citizenship and Naturalization applications. She also represents clients at deferred and secondary inspections at Newark Liberty International Airport as well as Naturalization and Adjustment of Status interviews nationwide.
A frequent and respected presence at the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Newark District Office, Ms. Garasia has been practicing law for over 20 years. Her extensive experience has guided clients through what is most often a very convoluted immigration process. She also makes appearances at the Mount Laurel Sub-District Office for clients residing in South Jersey. For the last eight years, she has been named to the list of Super Lawyers in the area of immigration by Super Lawyers Magazine. The Super Lawyers list is issued by Thomson Reuters. A description of the methodology can be found here.
Ms. Garasia received her B.A. from New York University and graduated with a Juris Doctorate from Rutgers University – Newark. While in law school, Ms. Garasia was an Editor of the Rutgers University Law Review. Ms. Garasia is currently a member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) of which she was the Former Chair of the New Jersey Chapter. She currently serves on the USCIS Liaison Committee for the New Jersey Chapter and is a former member of the Bylaws Committee for AILA National. Attorney Garasia is a member of the New Jersey State Bar Association (Immigration and Naturalization Section) and Federal Bar Association. Her latest article Naturalization, Jersey Style was recently published in the February 2017 edition of New Jersey Lawyer.
Ms. Garasia speaks her native language of Gujarati and has a comprehensive understanding of Spanish. In her spare time, she has volunteered her time for the Citizenship Rutgers Program and recently appeared as a moderator on naturalization issues for the Federal Bar Association New Jersey Chapter Annual Conference.
Michele Alcalde, Of Counsel
Michele’s practice areas consist of U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Law, Complex Removal Litigation in Federal Immigration Court, Criminal Law Defense and Municipal Court Litigation. She has counseled U.S. employers on the benefits of I-9 compliance and other general business-related visas, such as sponsoring and transferring foreign national employees. Michele has also advised foreign nationals in investing and establishing businesses in the U.S.
For the past decade, Michele has specialized in the defense of foreign nationals facing deportation on various levels. Her experience in the Municipal and Superior Courts of the State of New Jersey makes her uniquely qualified to appropriately guide and explain to clients the immigration consequences of criminal offense charges and convictions. She represents clients in Post-Conviction Relief matters related to criminal convictions for aggravated felonies leading to mandatory deportation. She appears frequently in Immigration courts on complex matters.
Michele is a former Municipal Court Prosecutor for the Cities of Newark and Paterson, New Jersey, and was the first female Municipal Court Public Defender for the City of Paterson, appointed by Mayor Jose “Joey” Torres. She also has been appointed by the Office of Attorney Ethics and has served as a member of the District XI Ethics Committee from 2008-2010.
Michele is a member of the New Jersey State Bar Association (NJSBA), the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) and The Haydn Proctor Inn of Court. She is the current Chair of the Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Liaison Committee for AILA, which advises other attorneys on how to handle issues at the Newark Liberty International Airport port of entry and communicates concerns directly to CBP head officials. She has served as a panelist for the New Jersey State Bar Association and Federal Bar Association lecturing on Immigration Law, where she has instructed other attorneys on how best to represent clients on complex issues of law combining criminal, family and immigration law. Her most recent publication is “In Status and Out of Status, An Immigration Primer for the Family Law Practitioner,” New Jersey Family Lawyer Volume 31 page 107 (February 2011). Michele was also a panelist in October 2011 for “New Jersey Municipal Court Practice 102,” which is a course designed to teach new lawyers a practical procedural primer in client representation before the Municipal Court. For the past two years, she has also participated as a panelist for the Middlesex County Bar Association’s Immigration Consequences of Municipal Court Convictions seminar.
Michele earned her Juris Doctorate in Law from Rutgers University School of Law – Camden, New Jersey in 2000. She is admitted to practice in New Jersey, before the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and the United States Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit. She clerked for Senior Federal Appellate Judge Dickinson R. Debevoise and The Honorable Sebastian P. Lombardi in Essex County, New Jersey. She also interned with the United States Attorney General’s Office in Newark, New Jersey, in the RICO litigation unit.
Contact Lee & Garasia, LLC, Today
To schedule a consultation, contact us online or by calling 732-516-1717 or 888-404-5876. We are located in Edison, New Jersey, just minutes away from the Metropark Station and the Menlo Park Mall.