Category: client success

From U-Visa to Green Card: Our Client’s Success Story

Our client’s green card was approved (U-Visa) one month after RFE was submitted! (Of course, it took USCIS over a year to issue the RFE!)Our client’s green card was approved (U-Visa) one month after RFE was submitted! (Of course, it took USCIS over a year to issue the RFE!). 

U-visas are granted to victims of criminal activity who help the police in the investigation or prosecution of the crime. In essence, the U-visa is a way to help victims less afraid of reporting criminal activity, to help them remain in the US to see that justice is done, and to thank them for their role in the investigation and prosecution of a crime.  After four years living in the US on a U-visa, a U-visa holder is eligible to file for adjustment of status (green card). After five years of living in the US with the green card, the noncitizen may be eligible to become a US citizen–at least. 

In this case, we submitted a strong and approvable application that should have been approved with our first submission. However, to respond to the RFE’s request for evidence of the client’s residence in the US, we collected substantially more evidence that the client lived in the US for the required years and more. This work required brainstorming with the client about which documents to include, finding documents that he otherwise would not have located, and writing letters of support from family and friends. Our team did this legal work from Cambridge, MA for this client who lives in California. Less than one month after the response submission, our firm was notified that the case was approved! Now, our client can continue to live in the US with his green card, and he can start counting the days until he can file for US citizenship. Congratulations, Mr. S.!

If you need to talk to an experienced immigration attorney. We’ve helped hundreds of people traverse the complicated immigration and citizenship process. We would love to help you as well.  Call (617-272-7980) or email hello@cambridgeimmigrationlaw.com to get in touch.

Marriage-Based Green Card Interview Victory – Awesome Interview #2

Marriage-Based Green Card Interview Victory - Awesome Interview The interview is a critical part of your USCIS immigration application, if your case requires an interview. Being represented by an attorney at the interview sometimes makes the difference between winning and losing your case.

A client needed to submit an application very quickly due to deadline issues in her particular case and the client did not have time to provide us with any supporting documentation of the marriage. Unlike the Awesome Interview #1, we entered the interview with the Officer suspicious of the case. However, as soon as I sat down, I asked the officer if I could give a brief overview of the case. The Officer allowed me to explain the legal reason for the quick filing and our inability to submit the original application with supporting documents. I explained to the officer that we had brought many documents to prove the marriage and I asked the Officer to allow me to present the documents. I handed the Officer a package with a clear, concise index (with pagination) and briefly explained what the package contained. The package contained the couple’s joint lease, many months of joint bank statements, the couple’s first (and only) joint tax returns, documents relating to joint family health insurance, proof of the recent birth of their daughter, proof of the couple’s years-long history of joint travel around the world, and photos of the couple on various dates, in various locations, in different clothing, and with various family and friends. The Officer immediately let down his guard, thanked us for preparing so thoroughly for the interview, and conducted a friendly, short interview of the couple. The case was approved on the spot.

If you need to talk to an experienced immigration attorney. We’ve helped hundreds of people traverse the complicated immigration and citizenship process. We would love to help you as well.  Call (617-272-7980) or email hello@cambridgeimmigrationlaw.com to get in touch.

Marriage-Based Green Card Interview Victory – Awesome Interview #1

Marriage-Based Green Card Interview Victories and Horror StoriesThe interview is a critical part of your USCIS immigration application, if your case requires an interview. Being represented by an attorney at the interview sometimes makes the difference between winning and losing your case. 

(This exact interview scenario happens often!) Cambridge Immigration Law prepares amazing application packages for our clients because we know that a USCIS will look at the application package at least for a few minutes before calling the applicants into the interview. When that USCIS Officer sees a clear, well-documented application that addresses all legal and factual aspects of a case, the Officer can start the interview with approval in mind. In fact, many times when my clients and I have entered the interview room, the USCIS Officer says, “I’ve looked at the case. I’m going to approve it. I just need to ask a few questions.” I have been in and out of even marriage-based interview in less than 10 minutes with approvals!

If you need to talk to an experienced immigration attorney. We’ve helped hundreds of people traverse the complicated immigration and citizenship process. We would love to help you as well.  Call (617-272-7980) or email hello@cambridgeimmigrationlaw.com to get in touch.

Journey to Citizenship: Overcoming Trauma and USCIS Delays

Journey to Citizenship Overcoming Trauma and USCIS DelaysFour years ago, a wonderful person came to my office seeking help. She was confused about what USCIS planned to do with her “green card” and was terrified that she would be deported from the United States. She was faced with a devastating decision of whether to bring her young US citizen daughters to live in her home country, where deadly violence was rampant, or leave them in the US without her.

She came to me because USCIS had sent her a “Request for Evidence” (RFE) after she and her now ex-husband had submitted Form I-751, Petition to Remove Conditions on Lawful Permanent Residence. She and her ex-husband had split up, and he refused to assist her with the case. The client informed me about her experience with her ex-husband, and it became apparent that he had subjected her to abuse and extreme cruelty. We decided to file a waiver of the “joint” I-751 petition based on abuse. This meant that we would renew her “green card” without her husband’s support by explaining that he, a US citizen, had abused her during their marriage.

For the next few months, the client worked with me to prepare a clear explanation of her experiences with her abusive husband. We submitted the petition and hoped for a speedy approval by USCIS. However, many months passed, and there was still no decision by USCIS. The client then decided to file for US citizenship, once again explaining that she was eligible based on her ex-husband’s abuse of her.

Then, two years after the client first hired me, USCIS scheduled her for an interview on her I-751 Petition and N-400 Application for Naturalization (Citizenship). While we prepared for the interview, we realized that the client had forgotten important information in prior USCIS applications. We discovered that the client had blocked out the memory of a prior abusive marriage that she had not previously disclosed on USCIS applications. We quickly connected the client to a mental health specialist who could analyze why the client had forgotten about her first marriage when she had been previously asked about all of her past marriages. The mental health specialist determined that the client suffered from Post-Traumatic Stress, which caused her brain to protect itself by suppressing memories of past abuse, including her entire first marriage. The mental health specialist explained that this was a common response to trauma, and the client’s mistake in not previously mentioning the marriage was not an intentional lie–it was a trick her brain played on her to help her survive after trauma.

We attended the interview, confident that we could explain the client’s full story and all inconsistencies in her past applications. Unfortunately, we ended up with an officer who doubted her answers throughout the interview and distorted what she said over and over, despite my corrections to his mistaken understanding of her answers. He wrote a statement that he wanted her to sign, and I insisted that he correct it four times because he repeatedly misstated the client’s answers in the written document. I spoke with a supervisor and explained how we presented our case clearly and proved that the client was eligible for the green card and citizenship applications to be approved. However, both the USCIS supervisor and officer refused to approve the decision that day.

After the interview, several months passed before we heard anything from USCIS. I contacted them on multiple occasions, but still, there was no decision. Finally, after almost two years since the client hired me, USCIS approved her I-751 Petition, and her green card was extended for another ten years. While it was great news, I knew that the client was still waiting for her citizenship application to be approved. I considered suing the federal government over the delay, but the client was hesitant to take that step. So, I kept pestering USCIS until we finally saw an online update, almost three years after the client hired me, that her case had been scheduled for a Naturalization Oath Ceremony. The client, her family, and my entire team were thrilled that she finally received the result that she deserved. Our client is now a proud U.S. citizen.

Ellen Sullivan, Esq.   Founding Attorney Cambridge Immigration Law, P.C., April 11, 2023

 

If you need to talk to an experienced immigration attorney. We’ve helped hundreds of people traverse the complicated immigration and citizenship process. We would love to help you as well.  Call (617-272-7980) or email hello@cambridgeimmigrationlaw.com to get in touch.

From Misunderstandings and Medical Challenges to Citizenship Victory: How Cambridge Immigration Law Helped an Immigrant Overcome Hurdles to Achieve US Citizenship

Discover how Cambridge Immigration Law helped an immigrant overcome legal hurdles and medical challenges to achieve US citizenship in this inspiring story.Almost two years ago, a mother of an adult son called our office desperate for help. Her son recently attended a US Citizenship interview. Shortly after the interview, he received a Notice of Intent to Revoke his previously renewed and approved marriage-based green-card. Her son (the applicant for US citizenship) was shocked by the accusations in the Notice. USCIS accused her son of lying to get his green card, lying on various immigration applications, and then lying at his US Citizenship interview.

Our team met with the mother and her son and spoke with them at length. We learned that for years the applicant for US citizenship had suffered from various medical challenges including schizophrenia. These debilitating conditions affected his memory,  his ability to understand written and spoken language, and his ability to express himself verbally and in writing. While the applicant had submitted a valid N-648 Medical Certification of Disability, USCIS somehow did not understand that the applicant’s disabilities were the cause of the mistakes on his applications and testimony. Looking at his immigration file with the understanding that this applicant struggled with memory, cognition, and communication skills it was clear that the “lies” alleged by USCIS were sadly misunderstandings and miscommunications caused by the applicant’s serious medical conditions.

The applicant hired our team to respond to the Notice of Intent to Revoke. We prepared multiple letters of support from the applicant’s family and friends. The family and friends explained that the applicant’s relationship with the US citizen ex-wife was real. They couple loved each other, but their relationship and lives became complicated when the applicant started struggling with schizophrenia, which went undiagnosed for years. We prepared documentation that thoroughly proved that the applicant’s medical conditions caused his memory and communication problems. We submitted an excellent and clear package that defended the client against USCIS allegations of lies and USCIS’s attempts to not only deny the client’s citizenship application but also to revoke his lawful permanent resident status.

USCIS delayed over 20 months in responding to our submission. Our firm contacted USCIS at least six times in various formats–emails, online inquiries, written requests. In February 2023–20 months after we responded to USCIS–we received the amazing news that the applicant was scheduled for a Naturalization Oath Ceremony. Weeks later, he became a US citizen. Now, his decade-long journey to US citizenship has ended in victory. The applicant, and his entire family, now know that they will never lose their son to deportation from the United States. With his US passport and Certificate of Naturalization, he has all the rights, privileges and protections of a proud US citizen.

 

If you need to talk to an experienced immigration attorney. We’ve helped hundreds of people traverse the complicated immigration and citizenship process. We would love to help you as well.  Call (617-272-7980) or email hello@cambridgeimmigrationlaw.com to get in touch.

Fiance Visa to Citizenship

From Fiance visa to citizenshipOur client of many years recently got their Citizenship Application approved! When they came to us, they were a newly engaged couple who had experienced some complications with their Fiancé Visa application.  They decided that they couldn’t wait to get married so we filed an I-130 instead.  Once their application was approved, we worked with them on the National Visa Center applications and prepared them for the Embassy Interview.  Not long after that, the couple was reunited in Massachusetts!  A couple of years later we submitted their I-751 application.  While their I-751 was still pending we submitted their Citizenship Application.  On the day of the interview, both the I-751 and the N-400 were approved! All these years later and the newly engaged couple has grown into a happily married family of four.

 

If you need to talk to an experienced immigration attorney. We’ve helped hundreds of people traverse the complicated immigration and citizenship process. We would love to help you as well.  Call (617-272-7980) or email hello@cambridgeimmigrationlaw.com to get in touch.

US citizenship in less than 3 months

This week one of our clients became a US citizen in less than three months. She had been a permanent resident for more than 5 years and decided that it was time to take the next step in her immigration process. We immediately began to work with her and submitted a strong application to USCIS on her behalf. She was scheduled for her Naturalization interview within 3 months. Our attorney prepared our client for her naturalization interview and went with her to the interview. The attorney was with our client through the whole interview process to make sure everything went smoothly. Our client’s naturalization application was approved the same day. She is now a United States citizen, in what we consider record time.

 

If you need to talk to an experienced immigration attorney. We’ve helped hundreds of people traverse the complicated immigration and citizenship process. We would love to help you as well.  Call (617-272-7980) or email hello@cambridgeimmigrationlaw.com to get in touch.

Green card approved without an interview

green card approved without an interview
This week, one of our clients got his green card approved. It was a long waiting period of over two years to get his green card approved. However, when his application was finally reviewed, he was approved without conducting an interview. Our firm made sure that his application was strong on paper which resulted in approval of his green card. Getting an approval of a green card without an interview is one of the best results we can achieve as an immigration firm. Congratulations to our client!

If you need to talk to an experienced immigration attorney. We’ve helped hundreds of couples traverse the complicated immigration and citizenship process. We would love to help you as well.  Call 617-744-7919 or email hello@cambridgeimmigrationlaw.com to get in touch.

 

Green card Approved at US Embassy in Spain

 Green card Approved at US Embassy in SpainOur client’s immigrant visa (green card) application approved at US Embassy in Spain, and bonus? The client was able to travel to the US while he was waiting for the final approval. The US citizen spouse needed to return to the US before our client was able to get an immigrant visa, aka as a “green card.” We represented the couple as they were separated for over a year and half, during COVID, waiting for his immigrant visa to process through USCIS, the National Visa Center, and the US Embassy in Europe. Many months into the National Visa Center process, the client wanted to travel to the United States to see his US citizen daughter graduate from high school. Our team prepared a strong package for our client to show to US Customs and Immigration, proving that while he wanted to move to the US with a “green card,” at that time, he just wanted to enter the US for a few days to see his daughter graduate. His quick trip was a success, and a few short months later, he had his Embassy interview and his immigrant visa approved. He wrapped up his life in Europe and moved to the US to start a new life with his wife and children.

 

If you need to talk to an experienced immigration attorney. We’ve helped hundreds of couples traverse the complicated immigration and citizenship process. We would love to help you as well.  Call 617-272-7980 or email hello@cambridgeimmigrationlaw.com to get in touch.

US Citizenship after arrest for solicitation

citizenship after arrestA client was arrested for soliciting a prostitute when he was caught in a sting at a local massage parlor. He successfully defeated the criminal case against him by winning “pre-trial” probation and completing probation without any problems. This meant that he had no criminal conviction. However, all criminal issues must be disclosed on US naturalization applications, and even dismissed cases can cause someone to be denied US naturalization. Here, the client waited until 5 years passed after finishing probation and then wanted to apply for citizenship. He was statutorily eligible, meaning there was no reason that USCIS had to deny his case. On the other hand, there was no reason that USCIS was required to approve his case. He had to prove that despite participating in activity that got him arrested, that he was a good person who deserved to become a US citizen. Our team prepared an excellent application that explained that this man was not defined by one error, was an upstanding member of his community, and deserved the privilege of becoming a US citizen. He was approved on the spot at the interview and sworn in as a US citizen on the same day as the interview.

 

If you need to talk to an experienced immigration attorney. We’ve helped hundreds of couples traverse the complicated immigration and citizenship process. We would love to help you as well.  Call 617-714-4375 or email hello@cambridgeimmigrationlaw.com to get in touch.

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Marriage-Based Green Card Document Guide

We work hard to make your immigration case easy for you. Use this easy guide to help you organize the documents that you would use if you are eligible to submit an application for a marriage-based green card application. You should consult with an attorney to figure out if you are eligible for a green card before you submit any applications or documents to the U.S. government.