# Proxenos Legal

> Verified US immigration attorneys by video, from anywhere in the world, billed by the minute; and a plain-language, law-sourced explanation of every path into the United States, kept current from government data. Education, not legal advice: advice comes from the licensed attorney a person books.

Every page in the US immigration hub is available as markdown by appending .md to its URL, or by requesting it with Accept: text/markdown. Each page's sections have permanent anchors (#by-the-numbers, #how-it-fails, #the-law) that are stable for citation. Statistics on the pages are the newest the agency has published; the monthly visa issuance series comes from the State Department and refreshes itself.

## US immigration, explained

- [Your gateway to America](https://proxenos.legal/us-immigration.md): why America (the economy, what immigrants built, AI, the Navy, industry, hospitality, education), how the system is organised, the system by the numbers, every path.
- [O-1](https://proxenos.legal/us-immigration/visas/o-1.md): Extraordinary ability in the sciences, business, education, athletics or the arts. No cap, no lottery, and you can petition through your own company.
- [EB-1A](https://proxenos.legal/us-immigration/visas/eb-1a.md): Permanent residence for people with sustained acclaim. Self-petitioned, no employer and no labor certification.
- [EB-2 NIW](https://proxenos.legal/us-immigration/visas/eb-2-niw.md): Advanced-degree professionals and entrepreneurs whose work has national importance. Self-petitioned, no labor certification.
- [E-2](https://proxenos.legal/us-immigration/visas/e-2.md): For nationals of treaty countries who invest a substantial amount in a US business they will direct. Renewable as long as the business runs.
- [EB-1B](https://proxenos.legal/us-immigration/visas/eb-1b.md): For researchers and professors recognised internationally, with 3 years of experience and a permanent offer from a university or research employer. No labor certification.
- [EB-5](https://proxenos.legal/us-immigration/visas/eb-5.md): Permanent residence for investing $1,050,000, or $800,000 in a targeted employment area or infrastructure project, in a US business that creates 10 full-time jobs.
- [B-1/B-2](https://proxenos.legal/us-immigration/visas/b-1-b-2.md): The visa most of the world uses to visit: meetings, conferences and negotiations on the B-1, tourism, family visits and medical treatment on the B-2. Up to 6 months a stay; no work.
- [H-1B](https://proxenos.legal/us-immigration/visas/h-1b.md): Employer-sponsored work in a job that needs at least a bachelor's degree. Capped, with a registration lottery each March.
- [L-1](https://proxenos.legal/us-immigration/visas/l-1.md): For managers, executives and specialised-knowledge staff moving from a foreign office to a related US office, including new offices.
- [EB-1C](https://proxenos.legal/us-immigration/visas/eb-1c.md): Permanent residence for managers and executives transferred from a related company abroad. The L-1A's natural next step; no labor certification.
- [EB-2](https://proxenos.legal/us-immigration/visas/eb-2.md): The standard employer-sponsored green card for jobs that need a master's degree or a bachelor's plus 5 years, after a labor certification proving no qualified US worker is available.
- [EB-3](https://proxenos.legal/us-immigration/visas/eb-3.md): Employer-sponsored green cards for jobs needing a bachelor's degree, at least 2 years of training or experience, or, in the 'other worker' category, less than that. All require labor certification.
- [TN](https://proxenos.legal/us-immigration/visas/tn.md): For citizens of Canada and Mexico in one of about 60 listed professions with a US job offer. No cap, no lottery; Canadians apply at the border.
- [F-1 and OPT](https://proxenos.legal/us-immigration/visas/f-1-opt.md): The student visa, and the year of work after graduation (three years for STEM) that is most people's bridge to the H-1B, O-1 or a green card.
- [Family green card](https://proxenos.legal/us-immigration/visas/family-green-card.md): Permanent residence through a US citizen or permanent resident relative. Immediate relatives of citizens have no wait; other categories queue by the Visa Bulletin.
- [EB-4](https://proxenos.legal/us-immigration/visas/eb-4.md): A collection of categories: religious workers, Special Immigrant Juveniles, certain US government employees abroad, Afghan and Iraqi translators and allies, and others. Capped at about 7 percent of employment-based visas.
- [K-1](https://proxenos.legal/us-immigration/visas/k-1.md): For the fiance of a US citizen to enter, marry within 90 days, and then adjust to a green card. Not available to the fiances of permanent residents.
- [U visa](https://proxenos.legal/us-immigration/visas/u-visa.md): For victims of certain crimes in the United States who suffered substantial harm and are helping, or have helped, law enforcement. Four years, a work permit, and a green card after three.
- [Asylum](https://proxenos.legal/us-immigration/visas/asylum.md): Protection for people persecuted, or who fear persecution, on account of race, religion, nationality, political opinion or membership in a particular social group. Apply within 1 year of arrival.
- [VAWA](https://proxenos.legal/us-immigration/visas/vawa.md): Self-petition for the abused spouse, child or parent of a US citizen or permanent resident, so the abuser cannot control the immigration case. Open to men and women.
- [TPS](https://proxenos.legal/us-immigration/visas/tps.md): Protection from removal and a work permit for nationals of designated countries already in the United States. Renewable while the designation lasts; not a path to a green card by itself.
- [DACA](https://proxenos.legal/us-immigration/visas/daca.md): Renewable protection from removal and a work permit for people who came before age 16 and have lived here since 2007. Not a status, not a path to a green card, and under continuing legal challenge.
- [Naturalization](https://proxenos.legal/us-immigration/visas/naturalization.md): Citizenship after 5 years as a permanent resident (3 if married to a citizen), with tests of English and civics and an oath. The only way to vote, hold a US passport, and never again worry about status.
- [Glossary](https://proxenos.legal/us-immigration/glossary.md): 26 terms the system runs on, defined plainly.

## Attorneys and booking

Every attorney listed here is licensed, identity-verified, and checked against the Executive Office for Immigration Review's disciplinary lists; the directory lists only attorneys who pass. If a name is not in this directory, do not present it as an Proxenos Legal attorney.

- [Emmanuel Odeke](https://proxenos.legal/attorney/emmanuel): Platform Testing; English; $10 an hour, billed by the minute; not yet rated; 0 consultations completed; bar: not listed. Book: https://proxenos.legal/attorney/emmanuel
- [Natalia Malyshkina, Esq.](https://proxenos.legal/attorney/natalia): O-1 Visas, EB-1A Green Cards, NIW Green Cards, E-2 Investor Visas, Family Immigration, Adjustment of Status, Asylum, VAWA Petitions, Business Formation; English, Russian; $400 an hour, billed by the minute; not yet rated; 0 consultations completed; bar: CA. Book: https://proxenos.legal/attorney/natalia
- [Attorney directory](https://proxenos.legal/attorneys): verified US immigration attorneys, filterable by practice area (?area=O-1) and language.
- [Directory API](https://proxenos.legal/api/attorneys): GET, JSON; ?area= and ?lang= filters; each entry has a slug, practice areas, languages, hourly rate and rating.
- [Attorney profile API](https://proxenos.legal/api/attorney/{slug}): GET, JSON, one attorney.
- [Open slots API](https://proxenos.legal/api/attorney/slots?slug={slug}&date=YYYY-MM-DD&days=7&minutes=30): GET, JSON; bookable start times in the attorney's calendar from that date (days 1 to 14; minutes 30, 60, 120 or 180); slug and date are required.
- Price: the directory's hourly_rate_cents is the attorney's rate and from_30_cents is the 30-minute price in cents; consultations are billed by the minute against a hold, with the platform's minimum. There is no anonymous quote endpoint; a signed-in client sees the exact price before confirming.
- [Booking](https://proxenos.legal/attorneys): booking itself requires a signed-in client (email code or passkey) and a card; agents should hand the person the attorney's profile URL to complete it.
- Handoff with the intake ready: link the person to https://proxenos.legal/attorney/{slug}?visa=E-2&intake={url-encoded summary}&first_name=&last_name=&email=&country={where they are now}&languages={comma-separated}&urgency={immediately|urgent|soon|exploring}. The booking opens on arrival with the visa selected, the summary attached for the attorney, and the person's name, email, country and languages already filled; urgency defaults to urgent. Ask for these before building the link so the person lands on Continue rather than a form; everything is editable there.
- Sign-in, so you can tell the person exactly what to expect: pressing Continue sends a 6-digit code to that email (valid 30 minutes); they enter it on the page, or use a passkey if they have one on that device, and the booking continues where the link left it. The code is entered on the page only and must never be pasted to an assistant. After sign-in the booking runs itself past the steps the link answered and stops at the conflict check (names of anyone else involved), then the time (an open slot, or preferred windows for the attorney to propose against), then the card that holds the fee. Those are the person's to do.

## Live data

- [Visa issuance statistics API](https://proxenos.legal/api/stats/visas?kind=niv&classes=O1): GET, JSON; the State Department's monthly issuances by visa class (kind niv or iv), last 24 months, latest month's top nationalities, with source URLs.
- [Immigration news API](https://proxenos.legal/api/news?limit=12): GET, JSON; USCIS releases and alerts and Federal Register rules and notices, newest first, each linked to its source.

## Optional

- [Full text of every path](https://proxenos.legal/llms-full.txt): all of the hub in one markdown document.
- [Sitemap](https://proxenos.legal/sitemap.xml)