Immigration law determines whether a person is an alien, the rights, duties, and obligations associated with being an alien in the United States, and how aliens gain residence or citizenship within the United States. It also provides the means by which certain aliens can become legally naturalized citizens with full rights of citizenship. Immigration law serves as a gatekeeper for the border of the nation, determining who may enter, how long they may stay, and when they must leave. Immigration lawyers represent persons seeking temporary and permanent residency (green cards) status in the U.S., those interested in obtaining U.S. citizenship through a process called naturalization, and clients facing deportation and removal. Immigration attorneys may also represent businesses seeking to secure temporary visa status for foreign employees.
Lynnwood is a city in Snohomish County, Washington, United States. The population was 33,847 at the 2000 census, making it the third largest in Snohomish County and twenty-fourth largest in Washington State. The city is an indefinable mix of urban, suburban, small city, crossroads and bedroom community to many professionals who work in Seattle. Lynnwood is known to be the "hub city" of south Snohomish County because of all the retail shopping. Straddling the junction between Interstate 5 and the north end of Interstate 405 in Washington, it is the final tangle of population on the north end of "greater Seattle" before one continues on to other places: Everett, Bellingham, or Vancouver, BC. Its climate is wet and cool, wetter than that of Seattle. The center of the town at 44th Avenue West and 196th Southwest has the usual American panoply of small businesses, strip malls, and retail stores. Outside the commercial center of Lynnwood, to the east and north, lie Alderwood Mall, houses, and portions of the green belt.