Mr. Gonzales is the Monitor of the Firm’s Immigration Department. He assists international banks, government institutions, business process outsourcing corporations, and other multinational companies in the work permit and visa applications of their foreign personnel, and counsels them on the relevant rules and regulations concerning the expedient entry of their expatriates in the Philippines.
Mr. Gonzales has successfully represented clients in judicial naturalization cases, and has also rendered assistance in challenging unmeritorious deportation charges and blacklist entries at the Bureau of Immigration. He regularly appears before both trial and collegiate courts in the Philippines, and has advocated for clients in various criminal cases, including alleged graft and corruption charges, cyberlibel offenses, and child abuse violations.
He co-authored the Philippine chapter of International Immigration and Nationality Law that was published by the Center for International Legal Studies, Austria, in 2022.
Mr. Gonzales was ranked by The Legal 500 Asia Pacific as a “Rising Star” for Immigration in 2021 and 2022, and was cited by the same publication as a recommended lawyer for Immigration from 2020 to 2022.
He represented the Philippines in the 2017 Stetson International Environmental Law Moot Court Competition in Florida, USA, where he was awarded as one of the ten best oralists.
Mr. Gonzales was admitted to the Philippine Bar in 2018, and is a member of the Quezon City Chapter of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines, the Immigration Lawyers Association of the Philippines, and the ASEAN Law Association.