Ms. Helbush is a Certified Specialist in Immigration & Nationality Law by the California State Bar Board of Legal Specialization and served on the State Bar Commission on Specialization for Immigration & Nationality Law. Ms. Helbush was Chair of the Amicus Committee for the American Immigration Lawyers Association and Chair of the National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild.

Ms. Helbush previously taught Immigration Law at Golden Gate University School of Law in San Francisco. She was the recipient of the 1996 Phillip Burton Immigration and Civil Rights Award. Ms. Helbush has particular expertise in and has frequently lectured on issues related to nonimmigrant visa and immigrant visa classification for software professionals, research scientists and artists and scientists of exceptional ability and currently serves as a Mentor for the American Immigration Lawyers Association on nonimmigrant visa issues.

In addition, Ms. Helbush represents clients in relation to family petitions, asylum and deportation defense. She often is consulted by community groups and other lawyers on issues relating to asylum, marriage and the immigration consequences of criminal convictions. She has participated in INS (now USCIS) training for the Asylum Officer corps and has led many training sessions for pro bono attorneys representing asylum applicants. Ms. Helbush has been active with the National Network for Battered Immigrant Women and worked with this organization to provide input during the drafting of the initial VAWA immigration provisions. She acted as the Editor for Immigration Law & the Family.