From Our Boholanos abroad!
By Glen P. Hubahib, Esq.
Immigration
Today I am rekindling an old habit. Stringing news and writing a column in the University of Bohol’s “Varsitarian” in the late 80’s. Feeding local paper press releases and occasional radio appearances here and in Cebu in the 90’s. At the urging of Bohol’s Queen of Media and mentor, I was bludgeoned into submission. Tempting me to pen ideas within my skillset. Sometimes I will stray into nation building, to be decent, and the gossip of the day – the Marites of me in jest. And here we go.
Man in ancient time moved from place to place. Following the season, rivers, and opportunities. That is why we have settlements in the Nile, Tigris, Ganges, etc. Imagine the sight of Giza, Athens, Rome, and Constantinople for the seeker. The Silk Road for the enterprising and risk takers. The latter mirrors the migration pattern of the modern man.
However, present-day migration is now complicated by the borders of nation states and Immigration laws. What was heretofore a horse or boat ride from settlements, villages, cities, provinces, and states now requires at the minimum a consent to enter and a document that contains your biodata through a magnetic strip.
Hence, we have the visa requirement. Self-petition, sponsored petition, and the accommodation of the skilled/intelligent and the refuge of the persecuted. This is true in the United States of America, the European Union, and the rest of the Group of 7 countries.
We will turn our attention to the Immigration Laws of the USA for which I have personal and trained knowledge. The founding fathers created the State as an American experiment mixing various race here and there hoping to weld an amalgam of people that believe that if you play it fair and rely on hard work, you can achieve your dream – job, food, healthcare, and shelter. Some also over-achieved, which they cannot in their home country.
The largest wave of Filipino immigrants to the US were the Sakadas (soldiers and all) after World War II and the nurses in the 1970’s to 1990’s through employer petition. These groups created one of the biggest family- based petitions. Meaning parents petitioning the children and vice versa, spousal and the fiancé visa.
I always get a question or two on this subject. So, in the next column I will discuss the family-based petition – the eligibility, requirements and examples of common hurdles.
(Editor’s Note: We are launching today a page to present our dear Boholanos abroad. This will come out every first Sunday of the month and this will be under the pen of Atty. Glen Hubahib.
Who is Atty. Glen Hubahib?
Glen honed his leadership skills as a student leader in DWC and as Kabataang Barangay President of Tagbilaran in 1985. He briefly served in the Sangunian. He then transferred to the University of Bohol (UB) to complete his Electrical Engineering Degree.
At UB, he started to write for the “Varsitarian” and eventually promoted as Associate Editor prior to graduation in1989. He passed the EE board the following year and, thereafter, enrolled at the DWC College of Law while working during the day to support his law education – First as a staff of Board Member Socorro Buslon-Tallo and then with Vice-Governor Erico Aumentado.
He took and passed the Bar in 1993 and briefly worked as a legislative Assistant for the then Congressman Erico Aumentado in Manila. Then, he was appointed as a Trial Attorney for the SSS Regional Office in Cebu City in 1994 and also taught part time at University of San Jose Recoletos (USJR).
Occasionally, he guested radio programs in Cebu discussing SS Laws. After 2 years, he got married and returned to Tagbilaran and practiced law full time while teaching part time at the University of Bohol. He was an officer of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines, participated in the religious activities of BCBP and Cursillo.
He then joined his wife and son in California in 2001. He started working in the property management and realty industry in the U.S.A. He passed the California Bar in 2007 and started contract work for Fortune 500 companies and law firms in the San Francisco Bay Area while managing his own case load.
He is married to Maria Flor Cepedoza, RN. They have a son, Glen Tomas an Aerospace Engineer. Together, they enjoy travel and cuisine. At his spare time, Glen still reads the “Bisaya” and composes balak for his wife, Inday Flor.)