[Please note: The Client’s name and case key details may have been altered to preserve the identity of the client. This Success Story is not intended to be an offer of service or case plan. Every case is unique. The Success Story is presented for information purposes only.]
In 2019-2020, we helped an undocumented woman from Mexico named Rosa finally obtain her green card.
Initially, we had worked with Rosa and her then-husband Diego back in 2001 when the company that he worked for used our services to file as labor certification on his behalf and went on to sponsor Diego for an employer-based green card and later planned to sponsor him for legal permanent residency. But these plans fell through when the company went bankrupt a year later.
Rosa, however, remembered Ms. Wong came to see her in 2019. From the time that we had seen her last, Rosa had given birth to a son by Diego named Robert who had already started college. In 2005, she and Diego had gotten a divorce but in 2016 she had remarried, this time to a United States citizen named Bernard who had his own company specializing in plumbing and doing quite well.
To be sure, due to the harsh policies of the Trump administration regarding immigration, Rosa was quite worried because she was still undocumented and had come to the United States as an “entry without inspection” aka EWI in 2000. Therefore, Rosa was wondering if an I-601 (Application for Waiver of Grounds of Inadmissibility) might be a pathway for her.
Plus, her son Robert, a U.S. citizen, was now of age and had grown-up with the goal of someday sponsoring his mom for legal permanent residency although her husband, Bernard, was more than willing to help.
Before embarking on a course of action, our team decided to review Diego’s old file and soon discovered that Rosa had been grandfathered onto the labor certification in April of 2001 thus making her eligible for 245 (i) relief under the Legal Immigration of Family Equity (LIFE) Act of 2000 since Rosa could prove that she was present in the United States on December 21, 2000 the date of the law’s enactment.
Accordingly, an I-601 would not be necessary so, in August of 2019, we filed a package for Rosa that included an I-130 (Petition for Alien Relative), I-485 (Application for Legal Permanent Residency), I-765 (Application for Employment Document), and I-485A to show that she was covered under 245 (i).
Just as he wanted, Robert got to act as petitioner on the I-130 with Rosa being the beneficiary.
Due to several factors, one of them being Covid-19, Rosa’s I-485 interview was delayed until a few days before Thanksgiving of 2020 but once it took place the ISO had no problem accepting our contention regarding 245 (i) eligibility and approved Rosa for legal permanent residency almost immediately and she was happily relieved and very appreciative of the efforts of the MWW team.
As for Rosa’s family, her son, Robert, got to act as the petitioner of the I-130 (Petition for Alien Relative) just as he wanted. Subsequently, Bernard, Rosa’s husband, got to execute the I-864 (Affidavit of Support) because he had adequate means to financially support his wife so that she would never be a “public charge.”
Upon learning that Rosa had been granted a green card, Bernard joyfully hugged both his wife and stepson while enthusiastically exclaiming, “Robert gets to be the hero by signing for his mom while I get to support her and pay all the bills!”