Abeba Habtemariam

Attorney Abeba Habtemariam has been practicing law for over 15 years and is an active member of the California Bar. Having served with United States Citizen and Immigration Services (USCIS) as an Asylum Officer and Immigration Services Officer, she now enters private practice as an immigration law subject matter expert for her clients.

For more than decade, Abeba has been committed to serving San Diego’s immigrant populations and making legal assistance more accessible. While serving as lead counsel for several non-profits, she has worked with a diverse client population from around the world, and recognizes that each individual case is unique and complex.

Through her work as an Asylum Officer at USCIS, Abeba has conducted interviews and rendered a decision (approval or denial) for cases involving applicants fleeing persecutions (such as religious, political, membership to a particular ethnicity or race) in their country of nationality. She has extensive experience conducting extensive legal and country conditions research, reviewing evidence from all sources to reach decisions. In her role she conducted credible fear interviews for detainees across detention centers, at Family Residential Centers and under the Migration Protection Protocol (MPP), and asylum interviews for Unaccompanied Children (UACs). She uses her deep understanding of the law and knowledge of the USCIS process for interviewing, researching and adjudicating asylum applications to serve her clients.

Through her work as a head counsel for a immigration non profit organization, dedicated to serving San Diego’s undocumented population, as well as her work in private practice, Attorney Habtemariam has successfully represented clients with even the most complex of cases. She has represented clients in court proceedings for asylum, naturalization, and family-based petitions and can help you file family based and employment based adjustment of status applications, visas, family petitions, asylum, removal of conditions, and naturalizations. She can also help you respond to Request for Evidence (RFE) and NOID (Notice of Intent to Deny) letters.

Through her immigration work in both the non-profit & government sectors, Abeba brings a comprehensive understanding of the law, the process for review, and an appreciation for the nuances of each individual’s case. For her clients, Abeba is more than an attorney processing forms, she is an advocate, and explains the law applied to your case in a way that is easy to understand. She understands what it means to leave your life behind and seek refuge in a new country, and aims to make that process easier for her clients and get it done right, the first time.