In the summer of 2011, a client came to our office in desperate need of assistance with an immigration matter. In 2003, the client had arrived in the United States from Kenya on a diplomatic visa (specifically an A2 visa). She overstayed her visa, which means she remained in the US after her visa expired.
Many years later, the client met and later married a US citizen. In May 2010, she filed for her Legal Permanent Resident card (commonly referred to as a green card) on the basis of her marriage to a US citizen (I-485 – Application to Register as a Legal Permanent Resident). After conducting an interview with the client and her husband, the USCIS officer assigned to her case had suspicions that this was not a valid marriage.
Strongly suspecting that the client and her husband had only gotten married in order for the client to obtain her green card, the officer conducted a surprise field inspection at her home. The officer wanted proof that her husband was in fact living in the same home. He was looking for the husband’s personal belongings – clothing, toiletries, photos and other mementos. Finding that the husband was not present and neither were any of his belongs, the officer issued the client a Notice of Intent to Deny (also called a NOID).
The client arrived at our office with a copy of the NOID. She was petrified – first because she didn’t entirely understand what the NOID was and second because she thought she was going to be removed from the US and taken away from her husband and the life she had worked hard to create here.
After speaking with the client, our experienced immigration attorneys calmed her fears by explaining step by step what would happen next. First, our attorneys conducted their own extensive interviews with both the client and then with her husband. After conducting these interviews it became immediately apparent what the problem was.
As the officer had suspected, the Parties were not living together when the surprise field inspection was conducted. But this wasn’t because their marriage was a sham – it was because this was the only way they could financially support themselves. During the duration of the marriage and due to the severe economic crisis the US experienced, the husband was only able to secure a full time job in Virginia. Because of the job’s hours, he had to live in Virginia in order to make it to and from work on time. Meanwhile the client continued residing in Maryland in order to keep her own steady full time employment. Without both incomes, the Parties would have been unable to financially provide for all the basic necessities that they needed.
Now having a full and complete understanding of the issue that caused the officer to deny this case, our immigration attorneys drafted and filed a persuasive and thorough response to the NOID. Based solely on our response, instead of denying the case had he had originally intended to do, the officer issued a request for additional evidence that would prove this was a legitimate marriage.
Upon receiving the request for more evidence, our attorneys worked diligently with the client to obtain copies of each and every document that would help to prove their marriage was real and legitimate. Our attorneys collected bank statements and credit card statements to show our client and her husband had joint finances. They collected photographs and copies of all communications between the Parties including emails, text messages, and phone records to show that even though they were not living together, they still had constant contact with each other on a daily basis and saw each other whenever possible. Our attorneys also collected affidavits from friends and family members willing to state under oath that the marriage was real.
Despite receiving the abundance of evidence our office had collected and provided, the officer was still slow in making a final decision. However, our office never let up and kept pushing the officer to make an expedited favorable decision based on the evidence he now had in his possession. Our attorneys scheduled and attended several info passes, which are essentially in person meetings with USCIS to check on the status of the case. In addition, our immigration paralegal and attorneys bombarded the officer with phone calls and messages.
The persistence of our office finally paid off – only a few short weeks ago, on June 19, 2013, our client received an approval of her application. She is now a Legal Permanent Resident (green card holder) and one step closer to eventually obtaining her dream of becoming a US citizen.
If you or your spouse are facing a similar situation, the involvement of a skilled and experienced immigration attorney early on is paramount to ultimately receiving the favorable outcome you hope for. Contact the attorneys of the Law Offices of Anthony A. Fatemi as soon as possible to schedule a consultation. Our immigration attorneys are happy to discuss how we can help you the same way we helped this client and her husband.