Amanda J. Bahena
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712-722-5300 | Email | vCard | PDF
Areas of Practice
Estate Planning and Trust Law
Immigration Law
Education
Iowa State University (Bachelor of Arts; National Merit Scholar, with Distinction, 2004)
University of Warwick, England (Masters of Arts, with Distinction, 2007)
University of Iowa College of Law (Juris Doctor with High Distinction and Order of the Coif, 2010)
ADMITTED TO:
Iowa
South Dakota
EXPERIENCE:
Amanda Bahena’s practice is focused on immigration law and estate planning. She is also experienced in corporate law, real estate, and family law matters. Amanda works together with the other firm attorneys to address her clients’ related employment, taxation, corporate, litigation, and compliance questions.
Amanda assists employers throughout the U.S. grow their workforce by hiring or retaining talented foreign-born employees. She also trains employers on Form I-9 compliance.
Amanda assists individual clients around the world in almost every U.S.-immigration area, including petitioning family members and fiancés for permanent residency, employment visas, deferred action, student visas, visa compliance, waivers, and adjustment of status. Amanda also represents individuals in immigration court proceedings in Omaha, Nebraska, and Ft. Snelling, Minnesota. She welcomes invitations to speak about immigration issues, from I-9 compliance and hiring foreign employees to know-your-rights presentations.
Amanda is also an experienced estate planner, and assists families and individuals in Iowa, South Dakota, and Nebraska with their planning needs.
Her clients appreciate her accessibility and responsiveness, attention to detail, clear fees, creative solutions, and ability to break down complex issues into understandable steps.
Amanda serves on the State Bar of South Dakota Immigration Law Committee and is a member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association.
Fluent in English and Spanish, Amanda studied and lived in Canada, Mexico, and England prior to receiving her law degree. She now enjoys life in her hometown of Sioux Center, Iowa, with her husband and three young children.
PROFESSIONAL & COMMUNITY:
American Immigration Lawyers Association
American Immigration Council
Iowa State Bar Association
South Dakota Bar Association
Sioux County Bar Association
Vi Bella Serves, Inc., Non-Profit Board President
Community Involvement
CURRENT:
Vi Bella Serves, Inc., Board President
Amigos Newcomer Outreach Program, Coordinator and Volunteer
PAST:
Northwest Iowa Community College, Foundation Board
Sioux Center Arts and Recreation, Board
Iowa-Nebraska American Immigration Lawyers Association, Treasurer
Sioux County Bar Association, President
“A firm legacy of service to me is being as a whole, dedicated to being in the community... it’s quietly behind the scenes, on the ground, working with people in the community—both leaders, to show them how they can be better leaders, and the most disadvantaged people in the community as well, because we’re in a position to help them.”
“We have been providing sustainable, well-paying jobs and training artisans in Haiti and in Mexico for 14 years... Haiti’s tough. So are they fully sustainable? No, it is not a profitable gig. It’d probably be easier to just send money down, but that would not give people the self-pride and life skills that they can pass on to their children to kind of break that cycle of poverty.”
