Tiffney Johnson

Attorney · University of Arizona College of Law

Tiffney Johnson served as a consular officer with the U.S. Department of State for 15 years. Her postings include Honduras, Australia, Cuba, Juarez, Mexico, New York, and Washington D.C. After a domestic tour in the Visa Office Legal Directorate in Washington, D.C., her first assignment abroad was to Juarez, Mexico, where she also served as the Deputy Fraud Prevention Chief. In Havana, Cuba, she served as the Immigrant Visa Chief and implemented the Cuban Family Reunification Program. In Sydney, Australia, she served as Deputy Consular Section Chief, started the first fraud prevention unit, and interviewed applicants from almost every country. She also served as Deputy Consular General in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. In her last tour, Tiffney was the Assistant Director of the New York Passport Agency; the largest passport agency in the U.S., where up to 400 emergency same-day passports are processed. In her career, she interviewed over 150,000 immigrant and non-immigrant visa applicants, completed the Advanced Consular Course, and trained over 60 junior Foreign Service officers.  

Tiffney has significant experience in the field of consular "crimmigration" (visa eligibility consequences of criminal convictions), complex citizenship issues, and visa and passport policy. She also focuses her practice on O visas for performing artists and procuring national interest waivers for self-employed professionals applying for immigrant visas. 

Tiffney graduated summa cum laude from the University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law and has a B.S. in Accounting from the University of Texas at Austin. She is a fluent Spanish speaker and currently works as an immigration attorney and freelance legal writer in Tucson, Arizona. Find her at tiffneyjohnsonlaw.com.


Articles By Tiffney Johnson

Filing for an I-192 Waiver: "Forgiveness" of U.S. Inadmissibility
Form I-192, the Application for Advance Permission to Enter as a Nonimmigrant, is to be used by foreign nationals wishing to obtain forgiveness of a ground of inadmissibility and enter the U.S. on a temporary, nonimmigrant basis.
Getting a Hardship Waiver After Deportation or Unlawful U.S. Presence
If you or a member of your family have been deported (removed) from the United States or spent time in the U.S. without lawful permission to be there, obtaining the legal right to return will not be easy. The law has placed various barriers in your way. Although some of these can be overcome with a request for a waiver, others cannot.
Getting a K-1 Visa for a Fiance With a Criminal Record
Depending on the crime, it might be possible to bring a fiancé into the U.S. who was convicted of only one crime and meets certain other criteria for the“sentencing exception.”
Entering the U.S. on an Immigrant Visa and Passing CBP Inspection
What to expect when you arrive in the U.S. on an immigrant visa to claim your lawful permanent resident status.
Timeframe to Get a Nonimmigrant U.S. Visa Approved
If you are applying for a nonimmigrant visa to the United States, make sure the visa is ready in time for your trip.
Automatic U.S. Citizenship for Children Born to or Adopted by Citizen Parents (Acquisition)
A child can, under certain circumstances, acquire U.S. citizenship automatically through birth to U.S. citizen parents, no matter where the birth took place.
Getting a U.S. Visitor Visa With a Criminal Record
The process to obtain a B visa can be difficult for anyone, but especially challenging for a foreign national with a criminal record.
Documents to File With an N-600 Application for U.S. Citizenship
Form N-600 is issued by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). It enables certain people who became U.S. citizens automatically, through their U.S. citizen parents or by extension, their grandparents, to apply for a certificate proving their citizenship. (Most applications involving grandparents
Green Card Application Process After Winning the DV Lottery
The first big question is, where should you file your green card application? At a USCIS office in the United States or at a U.S. consulate outside of the United States?
Can I File an N-600 for My Children to Get Certificates of Citizenship?
You can file an N-600 on behalf of your minor children if they have acquired or derived U.S. citizenship through you.