Welcome to Aust Schmiechen P.A.
who we are
Brian Aust
Brian Aust is in his 20th year of practice as an immigration attorney. Brian works on all types of immigration cases. He represents individuals in family based immigration matters, asylum, naturalization and removal defense. Brian has a particular interest in working GLBT clients. Brian is an active member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) having served as the chapter liaison between the immigration bar and the St. Paul Field Office of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services for 2 years. Brian is fluent in Spanish.
Malinda Schmiechen
Malinda Schmiechen is licensed to practice law in Minnesota and has been dedicated to improving the lives of people born outside the United States for over twenty years. Malinda understands the stress and strain of living outside your home country and traveling abroad because she lived in the former Yugoslavia and Poland and has visited countries in Africa, Central America, Asia and Europe.
SERVICES
We can represent you in all immigration matters including:
- » Adjustment of Status (“Green Card”)
- » Asylum
- » Citizenship and Naturalization
- » Consular Processing
- » DACA
- » Employment Immigration
- » Family Immigration
- » GLBT Matters
- » I-9 Compliance
- » Immigration Custody
- » Notices of Intent to Deny/Revoke
- » Removal (Deportation) Defense
- » Special Juvenile Visas
- » Temporary Protected Status (TPS)
- » U Visas/VAWA
- » Waivers
Client Reviews
Some Recent Victories
May 2021- A mother and daughter from El Salvador and Guatemala were granted Lawful Permanent Residency and will not have to return to Immigration Court in February 2022
Congratulations to our client from Jordan who is now has a Green Card through his marriage to his U.S. citizen wife.
April 2021- Long time Liberian client was granted a Green Card overcoming a Notice of Intent to Deny. Congratulations!
Congratulations to our Ethiopian/Canadian client who is now a Permanent Resident.
USCIS granted a Liberian client Permanent Resident Status under Liberian Refugee Immigration Fairness (LRIF) after issuing a Notice of Intent to Deny. USCIS initially made a finding that the client had made a “material misrepresentation” during her interactions with the agency. Arguing that the client had not in fact made any misrepresentations to the government, USCIS accepted the argument and approved the application. The client is now able to proceed to apply for naturalization since her grant dates back to her original date of entry, more than 5 years ago.
March 2021- Aust Schmiechen represented an Ethiopian who will be sworn applicant whose N-400 application had been pending since 2017. In December 2020, with the cooperation of attorney Marc Prokosch, Aust Schmiechen filed suit in federal district court asking that the court decide her application because USCIS had failed to make a decision in 120 days, as required by law. After years of waiting and because of the litigation against it, USCIS has agreed that this deserving client in eligible for naturalization and she will be sworn in in early April.
A Tunisian client who has lived in the United States since 1999 and was granted Permanent Resident status in 2016 was approved to be a U.S. Citizen and will be sworn in on May 5.
February 2021- Two Mexican clients were granted adjustment of status based on their marriage to U.S. Citizens.
A Liberian client was granted adjustment of status based on her approved VAWA petition.
The Chicago Asylum Office grants an Ethiopian client asylum based on her political opinion against the Ethiopian government and because she had been circumcised as a young girl.
A Canadian/Filipino client and their same-sex spouse had their I-751 Petition to Remove Conditions approved by USCIS without an interview in 8 months. The USCIS Service Center that approved the I-751 is currently reporting normal processing times of 13-27.5 months.
January 2021- Congratulations to Aust Schmiechen clients from Lebanon and Kenya who just became U.S. citizens. We are grateful they have chosen to be part of our community as citizens.
December 2020- We are overjoyed the Asylum Office has just granted asylum to our client from Syria.
Congratulations to our Cuban client to whom USCIS just granted a Green Card after he filed an I-212 to waive his expedited removal order, traveled to the U.S. on a K-1 (fiancé) visa and married his U.S.C. wife!
November 2020- USCIS approves a Joint-I-751 to our client from Ghana, without first requesting an RFE. Congratulations!
A client from Mexico was granted Military Parole in Place by USCIS. The grant of Military PIP will now allow this Aust Schmiechen client to apply for adjustment of status based on her daughter being a U.S. Citizen.
October 2020- Two clients from Mexico that began working with Brian in 2012 and 2013 respectively were each sworn in as U.S. Citizens and will be able to vote in the November election.
September 2020- Congratulations to our Canadian client on his approval of his I-485, Application to Adjust Status and I-601, Application for Waiver of Grounds of Inadmissibility.
After 3 years, long-awaited asylum grants were finally given to our two Ethiopian Oromo clients.
August 2020- Congratulations to our Colombian client and her fiancé’s approval of their I-129F Petition for Alien Fiancé application.
July 2020- Congratulations to our client from Sudan who is now a Lawful Permanent Resident based on her asylum victory two years ago.
June 2020- Our Cameroonian client’s I-130 Petition for Alien Relative was approved by USCIS through his U.S. Citizen son.
May 2020- In February 2020, we highlighted the approval of a Pakistani client on whose behalf the I-130 was approved. In May, USCIS granted his I-601 waiver and his application to become a Lawful Permanent Resident based on his marriage to his U.S. Citizen spouse.
March 2020- A gentleman from Kenya was granted status as a Permanent Resident based on his marriage to his high school sweetheart who he had re-connected with here in the United States.
Congratulations to our two clients who are now permanent residents. In 2015, USCIS granted two young sisters from Nigeria asylum. After 5 years, the clients were both finally issued Green Cards.
February 2020- USCIS approved the I-130 Petition for Alien Relative filed by a US Citizen on behalf of their spouse. The difficulty with the case arose from the fact that USCIS wanted evidence that the foreign national spouse was no longer married since he had said he was married when he applied for his visa to come to the United States. The problem? He was never married. With the help of an attorney in the European country where the client applied for his visa, we were able to locate a “Certificate of Non-Marriage” to prove that our client was not previously married. Once obtained, USCIS reviewed the document showing that the foreign national spouse was in fact not previously married, and finally approved the I-130 a few weeks later.
January 2020 – In July 2009, our client from South Sudan was placed in removal proceedings and tried to apply for Lawful Permanent Residence based on marriage to a U.S. Citizen. Through a series of docketing issues / continuances and family-related matters, the case had not been resolved. After 11 years, the client was finally granted a Green Card by the Immigration Court.
