Thomas M. Griffin

Focusing his practice exclusively on immigration law, and fluent in both Spanish and Haitian Creole so as to better serve his diverse client base, Thomas M. Griffin is an attorney at Surin & Griffin, P.C. Located in Philadelphia, he provides representation to clients throughout Pennsylvania and across the country. Mr. Griffin is admitted to practice in both Pennsylvania and Massachusetts.

A portion of Mr. Griffin's practice involves the procurement of family-based visas, including for fiancees, spouses and certain unmarried children. He also helps people who have successfully sought asylum to obtain green cards or to petition for derivative asylee status for family members. Mr. Griffin also provides defense representation for people who are in detention and who are facing deportation proceedings, such as green card holders who have allegedly committed a crime.

Mr. Griffin also has extensive employment-based immigration experience. This has encompassed helping clients to obtain EB-1 visas, such as for people who have extraordinary ability in certain fields, EB-2 visas for people with advanced degrees and EB-3 visas for certain types of professionals. Mr. Griffin's nonimmigrant visa background has included assisting heads of state, diplomatic officials, entertainers, athletes, victims of human trafficking and full-time students in accredited higher education institutions.

After graduating from Georgetown University, where he majored in sociology and received a Bachelor of Arts in 1985, Mr. Griffin went on to attend the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City and obtained a master's degree in forensic psychology. After working as a probation officer and as a schoolteacher for several years, he decided to pursue a legal education and enrolled at Suffolk University Law School, and he served on the Suffolk University Law Review before being awarded his Juris Doctor magna cum laude in 1999.