PHILIPPINES

Maeve Bennett

Killeen, TX

Maeve Bennett is an international attorney admitted to practice law in New York, Washington, Texas, and the Republic of the Philippines. She obtained her Master of Laws (LLM) from the University of Washington, Seattle, and her law degree from San Beda University. She is fluent in English, Tagalog, and Ilocano. She is a member of the New York State Bar Association, Washington State Bar Association, State Bar of Texas, Integrated Bar of the Philippines, Military Spouses JD Network, and American Immigration Lawyers Association.

Verdie Atienza

Fresno, CA

Verdie J. Atienza is a Senior Attorney with 10 years of solid experience with employment-based and family-based petitions. He is a dual qualified lawyer in the State of New York and in the Philippines and is qualified to practice immigration law in any state of the U.S. For employment-based petitions, he has worked mostly on E-1 Treaty Trader, E-2 Treaty Investor visa applications and L-1 intracompany petitions for executives, managers and specialized knowledge employees. He has also worked on employment-based petitions for multinational managers and executives to allow them to obtain permanent residency in the U.S. Verdie evaluates the credentials of prospective applicants and beneficiaries to determine best nonimmigrant or immigrant visa options for them. He closely works with company executives, managers and entrepreneurs to determine the best strategy to attain their goals. In his years of practice, he has dealt with numerous U.S. Embassies and Consulates around the world and has gained significant knowledge of the guidelines and procedures that are unique for each embassy/conulate. Verdie has strong interest in various immigration issues as a first generation immigrant himself. He first gained experience when he personally handled his own adjustment of status application. Upon his admission to New York State Bar in 2014, he started giving pro-bono legal advice on immigration to members of the Filipino community in the US and handled immigration cases of family members. Prior to moving to the US, Verdie was a public defender in the Philippines and staunchly protected the constitutional rights of indigents. He effected the speedy release of long-term detainees by filing releases on recognizance motions and directed verdicts. He obtained his Bachelor of Arts degree (Major in Political Science) from Ateneo de Manila University and his Juris Doctor degree from the University of the City of Manila (Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila). Verdie is fluent in English and Filipino (Tagalog).