Case Status Update: Approvals: I-130s, Green Card, EAD, Travel Documents
I-130 Petition Approved for unmarried child of U.S. Citizen: Last week, we received an approval notice for a client, (hereinafter, Client "X"), who is a native and citizen of Trinidad and Tobago. X is 14-years-old and entered the U.S. in 2007, when he was just 4-years-old with his mother, as a derivative of her mother's K-1 Fiancee Visa. X became a Conditional Permanent Resident after his mother wed and adjusted her status. X's mother then applied to remove conditions on her residency, and on the residency of her 2 sons. Before the I-751 petition was approved, X's mother passed away.
X and his older brother where then thrust into Removal Proceedings as they never had the conditions on their residency successfully removed to become a full Permanent Residents. Fortunately for X, his father, a Permanent Resident, also lived in New York City. X went to live with his father and stepmom, but he still was without legal status.
X faced another hurdle due to the fact that he was born out-of-wedlock and his father was not listed on his birth certificate. So, Attorney Shaffer assisted X's father in filing a Paternity Petition in Kings County Family Court. In order to have a Paternity Petition heard in Court, you have to prove that you served process on any party that has a right to be notified of the proceeding. In this case, X was required to serve his dead mother, despite the fact that we presented the court with her death certificate. So, X was required to serve his mother's next-of-kin, who was his mother's abusive spouse since she was still married to him at the time of her death. The next, next-of-kin was X, but the court would not accept service on him, so we had to serve X's mother's mother (or X's grandmother), which was still an issue since we could not obtain X's mother's birth certificate to prove that the person we served was in fact her mother. Eventually we were able to provide acceptable proof of service for the court and the Order of Filiation was entered.
Once we had that taken care of, X's stepmom, a US Citizen, was able to file an I-130 petition for him because she married X's father before X turned 18-years-old.
Now that X has an approved I-130, we will be filing a motion to terminate his Removal Proceedings. X will then be able to file an immigrant visa petition and then leave the country for his scheduled interview. X cannot get a Green Card in the U.S., even though he is under 18, because he initially entered the country with a K visa and there are no exceptions. X has not accrued any unlawful presence because he is under 18, so he will be able to return to the U.S. right away as a Permanent Resident!
Work Permit & Travel Document Approved for Adjustment Applicant (Parent of U.S. Citizen age 21 or older: Last week we also received approvals for a work permit and travel document for our client, (hereinafter, Client "Y"), who is a native and citizen of Mali. Y was in Removal Proceedings and was ordered removed in absentia after her attorney mistakenly wrote the wrong date down in his calendar so Y failed to appear in court on the correct date.
Thereafter, Y filed a Motion to Reopen based on ineffective assistance of counsel. The motion was denied and the denial was timely appealed to the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA). The BIA granted Respondent's motion due to the fact that her former attorney admitted his error with regards to the hearing date in his response to her disciplinary complaint.
After the BIA remanded the case back to the Immigration Judge (IJ), the IJ agreed to terminate the Y's case based on her approved I-130 filed by her U.S. Citizen Son. By terminating her removal proceedings, Y was then able to file for adjustment of status. With the approval of the work permit and travel document, Y can legally work and travel outside the country while she waits for her Green Card to be approved.
Work Permit & Travel Document Approved for Adjustment Applicant (VAWA Self-Petitioner): This week we received approval notices for a work permit and travel document for our client who is also a native and citizen of Mali, (hereinafter, Client "Z"). Z entered the U.S. back in 1998 with a B-2 Visitor Visa. Years later, Z submitted an application for Asylum and Withholding of Removal. Because Z did not file within the 1-Year Filing Deadline, she was placed into Removal Proceedings where she was eventually granted Withholding of Removal, which allowed Z to permanently live and work in the U.S., but does not provide a path to a Green Card.
Z eventually got married to a Lawful Permanent Resident (LPR) who began to abuse her. After escaping the relationship, Z submitted a VAWA Self-Petition based on her relationship to a LPR abusive spouse. Once the VAWA petition was approved, we filed a joint motion with DHS to terminate Z's Removal Proceedings to allow her to adjust status to that of a LPR. Z applied for her Green Card once the joint motion was granted and is now waiting for her Green Card application to be approved. In the meantime, Z can now continue to work legally (Z effectively lost her withholding of removal status when her removal proceedings were terminated, along with her work permit based on that status), and now for the first time since she came to the U.S. almost 20 Years ago, Z can travel outside the country.
Marriage Petition & Green Card Approved for Spouse of U.S. Citizen: Finally, this week we received approval notices for a marriage petition and green card for a client who is a native and citizen of Germany, (hereinafter, Client "W"). W came to the U.S. in January of 2012 on a F-1 student visa and met his future wife at school. W and his wife got married in June 2016 and are now expecting their first child!
We wish all of our recently-approved clients the best of luck!
**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!**
(*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*)