Marc Anthony Santamaria

Dr. Marc Anthony Santamaria, SJD, is the founding attorney of Santamaria Law Firm, P.C., located in San Francisco's Financial District.  Dr. Marc Santamaria represents global clients in complex immigration matters:

• Firsthand Marriage Adjustment of Status Experience: We understand that immigration is deeply personal. Dr. Marc Santamaria possesses invaluable, firsthand experience with the marriage-based Adjustment of Status (INA § 245) process, having successfully sponsored his own wife through the system to become a proud United States citizen. This unique personal journey equips our firm with genuine empathy and unmatched strategic insight into navigating aggressive field office interviews, over-documenting marital equities, and minimizing RFE risks for families. Backed by over a decade of local practice, we provide clients with an exclusive interview question bank compiled from actual San Francisco and San Jose USCIS field office adjudications. We routinely accompany clients to their interviews in San Francisco and San Jose, offering physical advocacy grounded in years of understanding local field office procedures and officer trends. We bring technical legal focus in proactively addressing tough questions regarding unauthorized employment and visa overstays under INA § 245(c) immediate relative exemptions, shielding marriage-based petitions from discretionary denial risks. We strategically navigate the May 2026 USCIS Policy Memorandum (PM-602-0199) to help clients prepare for answering questions based on this memo. We also assist clients in adjustment of status cases in Immigration Court. 
• Immigration Court and Humanitarian Cases: In Immigration Court, Dr. Marc Santamaria has represented hundreds of respondents in removal proceedings before the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR), specifically within the San Francisco and Concord Immigration Courts. Working closely with Bay Area community organizations, our firm actively collaborates on court accompaniment initiatives to provide holistic support for noncitizens navigating deportation hearings. His litigation experience includes asylum applications under INA § 208, cancellation of removal applications under INA § 240A, adjustment of status, and other forms of humanitarian relief. His asylum practice has focused on complex claims involving political opinion, membership in a particular social group, religion, and race or ethnicity. He has represented survivors of domestic violence from Latin America, indigenous asylum seekers, including Mam-speaking clients from Guatemala and Nahuatl-speaking clients from Mexico, and individuals fleeing political persecution in countries such as Venezuela and Nicaragua. He has also represented applicants seeking protection based on religious persecution. In addition to merits hearings, Dr. Marc Santamaria has litigated a broad range of procedural and legal issues before the Immigration Court, including motions to advance hearing dates, responses opposing government motions to pretermit applications for relief, and legal briefs on the “changed circumstances” and “extraordinary circumstances” exceptions to the one-year asylum filing deadline under INA § 208(a)(2)(D). Beyond removal defense, his humanitarian practice includes U nonimmigrant status (U visa) petitions for victims of qualifying crimes under 8 C.F.R. § and VAWA self-petitions for survivors of domestic violence under INA § 204(a)(1)(A)–(B). He has worked with trauma-informed psychological evaluations, community-based accompaniment networks, and other supporting evidence to build comprehensive humanitarian cases for survivors of violence and persecution
• Advanced Federal Litigation, ICE Detainers, & Bond Remedies: Beyond administrative filings, our firm specializes in high-stakes federal court litigation and aggressive defense strategies to challenge unlawful and prolonged immigration detentions. Dr. Marc Santamaria regularly orchestrates complex Petitions for Writ of Habeas Corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2241 and emergency Temporary Restraining Orders (TROs) to halt sudden deportation flights within the Ninth Circuit boundaries. Recognizing that federal court intervention often stems from immediate enforcement actions, our firm provides seamless, parallel representation to challenge ICE Detainers and secure client release through contested custody redetermination hearings (Bond Hearings) before the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) under 8 C.F.R. § . Whether navigating local jail holds or defending noncitizens in mandatory ICE custody, our legal team executes rigorous case preparation—from drafting comprehensive applications to filing powerful Traverse and reply briefs—ensuring immediate, localized intervention across both administrative channels and the U.S. District Courts for the Northern District of California (CAND) and the Eastern District of California (CAED).
• Advanced Business & Investor Visas: Dr. Marc Santamaria leverages his LL.M. in Taxation from the University of San Francisco to prove substantial financial impact for E-2 and O-1 visas. His SJD dissertation from Golden Gate University established the economic benefits of immigrants to the United States—a proprietary framework routinely applied in his employment-based petitions.
• AI-Powered Interview Preparation: Recognized as a legal tech innovator with a Certificate in Generative AI from UC Berkeley Law, Dr. Santamaria utilizes a proprietary AI Simulation App to help clients safely role-play and prepare for high-stress USCIS interviews and law enforcement interactions.

Attorney Santamaria establishes top-tier membership: 1) State Bar of California: Active licensed member (License #284643); 2) UC Berkeley Law: Lecturer teaching LL.M. Legal Research and Writing; 3) AILA: Active member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association.

Attorney Santamaria's firm provides multilingual support: English, Spanish, Portuguese, Mandarin, Vietnamese, and Tagalog

Attorney Santamaria's practice relies directly on controlling laws and polices such as the USCIS Policy Manual, the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), and controlling case law from the Board of Immigration Appeals and the 9th Circuit Court.