About Us
Practice limited to United States Immigration and Nationality law.
Kolken & Kolken offers a full range of immigration legal services at affordable and reasonable prices. Our goal is to find a solution to your immigration problem. While past performance is no guarantee of future results, we welcome the opportunity to:
- Serve your business-related US immigration needs.
- Reunite your family by getting your relative a Green Card if eligible.
- Help you obtain protection in the United States via asylum.
- Litigate matters in Immigration Court to assist you in defense of deportation.
- Appeal your case to the Board of Immigration Appeals and beyond in the Federal court system.
- Overcome refusals of admission by Immigration officials and help you obtain a waiver of inadmissibility.
- Enable you to realize your dream of becoming a United States citizen.
Our location in Buffalo on the Canadian border is in close proximity to the Immigration Court in Buffalo, the Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS) District Office in Buffalo, four ports of entry in the Buffalo-Niagara Falls area, the CIS office at the Toronto airport, the Federal Detention Center in Batavia, the Canadian Consulate in Buffalo, and the U.S. Consulate in Toronto.
We represent clients from all over the world and travel to Immigration Courts throughout the United States. We are just a phone call away, and welcome the opportunity to service your immigration needs by utilizing the law to your advantage.
Robert D. Kolken is a former member of the Board of Governors of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, a past Chair of the Upstate New York Chapter, and a current member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association. He is also past Chair of the Immigration Law Committee of the Erie County Bar Association. He is a frequent speaker at AILA and New York State Bar Association immigration law conferences. He is admitted to practice before the the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the 2nd, 3rd, and 11th Circuits, and has appeared in Immigration Courts throughout the United States. He has been practicing law for over 50 years.
Matthew L. Kolken is an elected member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association's Board of Governors where he has been a member since 1997. He is admitted to practice in the courts of the State of New York, the United States District Court for the Western District of New York, and the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
Mr. Kolken has received the highest AV peer rating by Martindale-Hubbell, has been named a "Super Lawyer" in Upstate New York by Super Lawyers magazine, was listed by Business First of Buffalo as being among the “Legal Elite of Western New York," and has received a "Superb" rating and "Client's Choice" award on Avvo.com. The New York Law Journal has recognized him as a "Lawyer Who Leads by Example" for his work providing pro bono legal services to unaccompanied refugee children, and he is the recipient of the 2018 Marquis Who's Who in American Law Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award. Mr. Kolken was also awarded the American Immigration Lawyers Association Upstate New York Chapter's Equal Justice Under the Law Peter J. Murrett III Pro Bono Award in recognition for community service, and the Erie County Bar Association's Pro Bono Award in recognition and appreciation for legal services performed in immigration matters before the Court.
Mr. Kolken has appeared nationally on FOX News, MSNBC, and CNN. His legal analysis has been solicited by the Washington Post's Fact Check of the immigration statements of Secretary Hillary Clinton, then Presidential candidate Donald Trump, and the immigration status of the parents of First Lady Melania Trump. His opinions on immigration law have been published in Forbes Magazine, Bloomberg, The Los Angeles Times, Business Insider, and FOX News among others. He has been an invited speaker at AILA's annual conference on grounds of removability, is the author of the Deportation and Removal Blog on ILW.com, where he is a member of the advisory board of the Immigration Daily, an online immigration news periodical with more than 35,000 readers. He is also a prominent immigration reform activist having been ranked as the most influential person on Twitter in the area of Immigration Law.
Matthew L. Kolken in the news:
- Defense Contractors Shouldn't be in the Childcare Business. Must that be said?, The Guardian
- Facing Deportation, Communities Wait as Immigration Remains in Legal Limbo, MSNBC
- Immigration Lawyers See Uptick in Deportations Despite Obama's Assurances, MSNBC
- Authorities No Longer Shielding DAPA-Eligible Immigrants from Deportation, International Business Times
- A Republican Controlled Senate May Be the Only Way Immigration Reform Passes, Fox News Latino
- Advocates Warn Immigrants to Watch Out For Scams, Huffington Post
- Why Tam Minh Le Wasn't Deported, Rochester Democrat & Chronicle
- The Audacity of Nope, Fox News Latino
- Why is President Obama Protecting Refugee Children with a Stroke of His Pen?, Fox News Latino
- President Obama's Immigration Wait and See Seeks to Maximize Political Impact, Fox News Latino
- On Immigration Reform the President is Betting on the Guys Wearing the Black Hats, Fox News Latino
- The Untenable Cost of Doing Nothing on Immigration Reform, Fox News Latino
- White House Won't Rule Out Executive Action on Immigration if Reform Isn't Passed, Latin Times
- Obama dara permiso de estadia a familiares de militares, La Opinion
- Leading Pro-Immigrant Congressman Severs Ties with DREAMer Groups, Fox News Latino
- US to Deport a member of the 'DREAM 30' as other activists Hold a hunger strike, Fox News Latino
- The Legacy of the DREAM 9, Fox News Latino
- Mexican Nationals, the 'DREAM 9', take a step toward asylum, The Los Angeles Times
- Homeland Security Will Allow Most of the DREAM 9 Activists to Pursue Asylum, Fox News Latino
- Opinion: Did the DREAM 9 go too far?, NBC Latino
- WNY Congressman on Immigration, WBEN Radio
- Saying the law is the law isn't enough, Philadelphia Inquierer
- Confusion over Obama's Immigration Changes, NBC Latino
- Reactions on #DACA, The Next America
- President Obama: Deporter in Chief, Forbes Magazine
- SB 1070 ruling spurred muted response at first, The Arizona Republic
- Obama Immigration Plan: Advocates offer mixed reactions, The Los Angeles Times
- President Obama limits deportations for some immigrants, The Los Angeles Times
- Lies and Immigration, The Philadelphia Daily News
- Allowed to stay, Miami student becomes face of Obama immigration policy, The Christian Science Monitor
- Barnaby admits DWI but avoids jail, The Buffalo News
- Longtime legal residents get caught in ramped-up campaign of deportations, Albany Times Union
- Are Obama Deportations truly aimed at 'criminals'?, The Christian Science Monitor
- 'Dreamers' languish in deportation limbo, The Buffalo News
- Immigration Lawyers Say Enforcement of Deportation Memo Falls Short, The Daily Beast
- Albion Killing Sparks New Debate on Illegal Immigrants, NBC News
- Immigration memo called 'backdoor amnesty' by ICE union, Yahoo News
- Undocumented immigrant tries to navigate uncertain future, Salt Lake City Tribune
- Americans Married to Immigrants Push for Reform, Huffington Post
- Motion seeks dismissal of UC student's deportation case, Cincinnati.com
- Proceedings in Liberian's Deportation Trial Closed, The Daily Record
- UC Honor Student Faces Deportation, NBC News
- Immigration Courts Face Backlogs, The Daily Record
- Former U.S. Ambassadors testify at trial for alleged Liberian Warlord, Democrat and Chronicle
- Somali arrested in Montreal no-fly case released, National Post
- George Boley Sr. deportation trial set to start, Democrat & Chronicle
- Could Missing Soldier's Wife Be deported?, ABC News
- Missing Soldier's Wife Faces Deportation, CBS News
- Missing Soldier's Wife Won't be Deported, Fox News
- Green Card for Missing Soldier's Wife, USA Today