As an immigrant in a foreign country, would you know what you ought to and not to do so as to avoid being faced with legal charges? Daring Abroad this time focuses on a Kenyan legal practitioner in the US who would help you a great deal when faced with a legal issue while abroad.
Robert Maina Miano is an advocate who first came to the US as a student to pursue his Masters at the University of Pittsburgh. He practices Tax and Immigration Law and is now licensed to practice law in New York, USA and in Kenya. He owns a law firm in New York known as M & M Roberts LLP where he has a number of lawyers that are flexible both in the US and in Kenya. The firm deals a lot in legal requirements for Kenyans who want to invest back home.
Miano claims that driving under influence is one of the most common crimes that may disorganize an immigrant’s stay in the US. “The most important thing is compiling with the law,” he says. “You cannot try to compromise the police here.” Many illegal immigrants have survived in the US by remaining under the radar. However, once found on the wrong side of the law could lead to deportation.
Many Kenyans have always wanted to live in the US. The best way to become a citizen here is by acquiring a green card. Also, when one gets married to a US citizen, after a 2 year period, they can make an application to become citizens. What many people wonder is how dual citizenship works. When one is a citizen by birth in another country, then the law records that you cannot lose your citizenship even when you acquire citizenship of another country.
However, some Kenyans that have already made it in the US advice their fellow countrymen to not travel and start a new life in the US if they already are stable in Kenya. Life in the US can be quite tough.
Finally Miano advices that if one is a Kenyan yet still has citizenship in the USA, then he is liable to pay taxes even if he is to relocate and return to Kenya. Living in the USA can be very thrilling, yet it requires that immigrants avoid breaking the law.
He concludes by saying, “I wouldn’t say a green card is a ticket to success. You still have to work hard. So for those that think it is all roses once they acquire a green card, think again."
