Joshua Surowitz

Prior to founding what is now Surowitz & Argumedo in 2004, the clientele Joshua Surowitz serviced consisted primarily of business employers, ranging from large enterprises to small start-ups, with a heavy concentration in the high technology and biotechnology fields. Today, Mr. Surowitz manages the firm’s business and corporate immigration practice and is primarily responsible for advising the firm’s business clientele concerning a wide-array of permanent and temporary employment-related immigration options. Mr. Surowitz also manages the firm’s family-based, naturalization, and consular immigration matters and oversees many of the firm’s complex immigration cases including immigration appeals, motions, and cases requiring waivers of inadmissibility.

Joshua Surowitz has personally been retained for consultation and representation by nationals of over 90 different countries, and regularly represents clients at U.S. Embassies and Consulates on every continent of the world. Mr. Surowitz speaks frequently about immigration legal matters to legal, community and philanthropic organizations. Mr. Surowitz was named a “Rising Star” in Super Lawyers Magazine for Northern California in both 2009 and 2010. He is also a former Professor of Immigration Law at East Bay Law School in Oakland, CA.

Josh Surowitz received his Juris Doctor degree, with high honors, after completing his studies at Golden Gate University School of Law in 2002. As a law student, he served on the Moot Court Board, as well as his law school’s Law Review Journal of Law and Social Change. In 2002, Mr. Surowitz received the Cali. Award for excellence in Immigration Law. He also earned a Specialization Certificate with Distinction in International Law. Mr. Surowitz served as a Judicial Extern for the Honorable Claudia Wilken, in the Federal District Court for the Northern District of California, and studied international law in Bangkok, Thailand, and Tokyo, Japan. Mr. Surowitz also previously worked in Tokyo for the Japanese Law Firm of Nakada, Matsumura and Tajime and studied at Middlesex University in London, England.

Mr. Surowitz is an active member of the State Bar of California, the Contra Costa County Bar Association, and the American Immigration Lawyers Association.

 

Victoria Argumedo

After successfully representing thousands of clients over seven years at The Law Office Of Victoria Argumedo in San Francisco, California, Ms. Argumedo merged with Surowitz in October 2009, forming Surowitz & Argumedo. Today, Ms. Argumedo manages the firm’s San Francisco and San Rafael offices, and is the lead attorney for cases involving deportation defense and asylum practice before the United States Executive Office for Immigration Review. Ms. Argumedo also has extensive experience representing clients before the Board of Immigration Appeals and the Federal 9th Circuit, as well as in family-based immigration matters, naturalization, and consular practice.

Ms. Argumedo’s practice has a special focus on the intersection between criminal and immigration law, and in particular, representing victims of domestic violence and other serious crimes in applications for visas and permanent residency. Her practice also includes consulting with non-citizens and their criminal defense counsel as to the immigration consequences of pending criminal charges, and mitigation of existing criminal convictions. For years, Ms. Argumedo has been well known for her regular and frequent pro bono representation of both detained and non-detained individuals in immigration proceedings before the San Francisco immigration court. She is also a leading volunteer with the Canal Community Alliance concerning their philanthropic immigration efforts in the San Rafael and greater North Bay area.

Ms. Argumedo earned her bachelor’s degree with dual concentration in Philosophy and Sociology from the University of Vermont in Burlington in 1995, and received her Juris Doctor degree from Golden Gate University School of Law in 2000. She has also studied International Law at the Universitat de Barcelona in Barcelona, Spain.

Ms. Argumedo was born in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, and is the daughter of Peruvian immigrants. She is a fluent Spanish speaker and is conversational in French. Ms. Argumedo is an active member of the State Bar of California and the American Immigration Lawyers Association. She enjoys traveling, backcountry skiing, and spending time with her husband and child.

Associates

Marco Garzon

Marco Garzon has been an immigration attorney with Surowitz & Argumedo since July 2010. In this capacity, he represents the firm’s diverse client base in numerous areas of immigration law, including removal and deportation defense, asylum, family-based immigration, and obtaining corporate visas. Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Garzon represented workers and immigrants in several areas of employment and worker’s compensation law.

Mr. Garzon immigrated from Colombia to the United States in 2000. In Colombia, he had attended the Universidad de los Andes School of Law in Bogota, and had served as a private legal consultant for Colombian governmental agencies, including the Ministry of Defense, the State of Valle del Cauca, and the TRANSMILENIO S.A. Rapid Transit Authority. He was also a member of the Colombian Youth National Soccer Team, and still enjoys playing today.

Having received his Juris Doctor degree from Golden Gate University School of Law in 2009, as a law student, in addition to an extended clerkship with Surowitz & Argumedo, Mr. Garzon volunteered with several community organizations that provide legal representation to low-income workers and immigrants in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Mr. Garzon is fluent in Spanish and English, and is an active member of the State Bar of California, the American Bar Association, and the American Immigration Lawyers Association.