Conditions Removed, 10-Year Green Card (I-751) Approved – We pleased to announce that we received an approval notice to remove the conditions on a Green Card based onmarriage to a U.S. Citizen for our client, (hereinafter “Y”), who is also a native and citizen ofMali. Y and his U.S. Citizen wife got married in 2007 and she subsequently filed amarriage petitionon his behalf. Because the couple was married for less than 2 years at the time of their interview, Y received a2-Year Green Card.

In the fall of 2009, Y’s wife decided to move to Texas. The couple planned for Y to follow her there once he was able to secure a job with health insurance to support them both. However, Y’s wife began to act differently after she moved. She even changed her phone #, which forced Y to call his wife’s mother in order to get in touch with her. Despite the growing concerns he had with his marriage, Y still planned to move to TX to be with his wife and timely filed to remove the conditions on his residence in January of 2010. Y subsequently learned that a few months later his wife gave birth to another man’s baby. As a result Y filed fordivorcein August of 2012.

Meanwhile, Y had still not heard back from USCIS regarding his I-751 petition and the online case status still listed his case as under “initial review.” After we sent multiple letters and emails to USCIS and not receive a response, we helped Y obtain an USCIS InfoPass appointment in September of 2013. At the InfoPass appointment, Y for the first time learned that his I-751 petition was denied. At this point, Y was now divorced and out-of-status.

So, we re-filed his I-751 as a self-petition and requested a waiver to the joint filing requirement based on a marriage that was entered into in good faith, and, during the marriage, he was the subject of extreme cruelty by his U.S. Citizen wife in February of 2014.

Finally, after waiting over 3 and a half years, we received Y’s Green Card in the mail and we are waiting for him to stop by to pick it up and Congratulate him!

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10-Year Green Card FINALLY Approved for Spouse of U.S. Citizen – We are very happy that after may years and a lot of headaches, we received an approval notice for a 10-Year Green Card for our client, (hereinafter “X”), who is a native and citizen of Mali.

X’s Green Card is based on his marriage to a U.S. Citizen. X entered the U.S. in 2000 with a B1 Visitor Visa. X and his wife wed in 2006. X was placed into Removal/ Deportation Proceedings based on his visa overstay in 2009. X’s wife filed a marriage petition for X in 2009, but it was denied in 2010.

In 2011, X was detained by ICE for 9 months in a Texas ICE detention center. X’s wife re-filed for him after he was released at the end of 2011 and X went back to New York where he lived with his wife. X was still in Removal Proceedings, but the TX Immigration Judge (IJ) refused to change venue to NY despite 4 motions requesting such.

In 2013, after 2 years went by and the marriage petition remained pending, the IJ Administratively Closed X’s case so that he did not have to keep on returning to court while the marriage petition was adjudicated. X and his wife continued to wait for the decision on the marriage petition and despite sending countless letters to USCIS for updates on the case, no progress was being made.

Finally, in July of 2015, we received a letter from USCIS stating that X’s marriage petition was approved a year earlier and that USCIS lost X’s file for over 3 years! With the marriage petition approval, we were able to file a motion to terminate X’s Removal Proceedings. The Motion to terminate was granted last year and X was then able to file for his Green Card last June.

Then, almost a year later in this past May, X FINALLY received his approval notice for his Green Card! We are so happy for X and his wife and the fact that they can finally live their lives without a dark cloud hanging over them.

Moral of the story? The immigration process is never fun, but sometimes it is a nightmare. But there is hope! With proper legal representation and a ton of patience, you can eventually obtain the immigration benefit that you are entitled to. We never gave up on X or Y’s cases, nor did X or Y, even when the delays seemed like they would never end

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Work Permit (EAD) Approvals for Asylum Applicants – We received work permit approval notices for two of our clients who are asylum applicants. Our first client, (hereinafter “Z”), is a native and citizen of Indonesia. The other client, hereinafter “W”) is a native and citizen of Nigeria. The work permits allow W and Z to work legally in the United States while they both await their Asylum interviews. Current wait times for Asylum interview if you live in the New York, NY area is about 2.5 years.

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Work Permit (EAD) Approval for VAWA Beneficiary awaiting Green Card – Last week we also received a work permit approval for our client, (hereinafter “V”), who is a native and citizen of Senegal. Shortly after entering the U.S. in 2005 with a B2 Visitor Visa, V gave birth to her first child. A few years later, V married her child’s father, a Lawful Permanent Resident. After 10 years of being together, 5 of which were spent in marital bliss, V’s husband already suspect behavior became unbearable when he began physically abusing V. The abuse got so bad that V sought an order of protection in the family court and had to hire a security company to change the locks in her apartment.

V’s husband never petitioned for her Green Card, as keeping V without legal status was one of the ways that he controlled her. Fortunately, V sought help on her own and we helped her file a VAWA (Violence Against Women’s Act) Petition. After the VAWA petition was approved, V was able to file for her Green Card. The EAD approval allows V to work legally in the U.S. while she waits for her Green Card application to be approved. We expect to receive the approval notice in the next few months.

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Work Permit (EAD) and Travel Document Approvals for Adjustment Applicant (Spouse of U.S. Citizen) – We also received an approval notice for both a work permit and travel document for our client, (hereinafter “U”), a native of Nigeria and citizen of St. Lucia. U is married to a U.S. Citizen and is waiting for his marriage interview. U and his wife have been married since May of 2015, so U will be eligible for a 10-Year Green Card once his marriage petition and Green Card applications are approved. In the meantime, U can now legally work in the U.S. and travel outside the country while he waits.

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We wish all of our recently-approved clients the best of luck!

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**If you need representation in Removal/ Deportation proceedings or with help filing for immigration benefits, contact an experienced immigration attorney at The Shapiro Law Firm today to get started!**

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(*please note that all identification information has been removed in order to protect our clients’ privacy and in order to fully comply with attorney advertising rules and regulations*)