In May of 2018, Elizabeth became a United States citizen due to her marriage to Greg, who was born and raised here. This was a happy time for Elizabeth because now she could support her father, Martin, who wanted to acquire legal permanent residency. In turn, Martin could then back his younger daughter, Gabriela, who had just turned twenty-two and was protected by DACA.
To escape dangerous gangs that were fostered by corrupt government officials, Martin, a widower, brought his daughters here from Mexico in 2010 on B-2 visas and a year later had applied for asylum but nothing came of it due to the petition not being properly filed.
Later, in 2017 out of fear of President Trump, Martin sought the services of the [nap_names id=”FIRM-NAME-1″]. Wong team in Cleveland who re-filed the asylum petition because we noticed several errors on the one that was filed years ago. We cautioned Martin, though, that the chances asylum being approved were not too good because Martin didn’t have too much evidence of direct threats against him or family members.
Yet Martin admired and trusted Ms. [nap_names id=”FIRM-NAME-1″]. Wong because she was straightforward and honest with him. In fact, it was Ms. Wong who helped Gabriela secure DACA and Elizabeth obtain her marriage-based and permanent green cards as well as citizenship.
Therefore, Martin followed Ms. Wong’s instructions when she directed him to secure letters and affidavits from family members and friends about current conditions in Mexico especially where Martin once lived because it would increase what chances he had of securing asylum.
To be sure, however, Elizabeth’s citizenship opened new possibilities for the family so October of 2017, we were able to file a package for Martin that included an I-130 (Petition for Alien Relative) and an I-485 (Application for Permanent Residency).
As for Gabriela, she was finishing up college and very law-abiding. Therefore, she was not afraid of deportation for the time being, but she was quite worried about President Trump’s efforts to end DACA.
As the manager of several properties where low-income people lived, Martin did not make too much money but Elizabeth’s husband, Greg, a successful realtor, was most agreeable most when it came to sponsoring his father-in-law on the I-864 (Affidavit of Support) form.
In October of 2020, a member of our team accompanied Martin, Elizabeth, and Greg to the USCIS interview in Pittsburgh which went quite well because we were able to substantiate Martin’s asylum claims which helped to legitimize his presence here in the United States and Martin, himself, offered evidence that he had, indeed, been paying taxes in the U.S. since his arrival.
The ISO, a young person who had handled only a few cases, said that he would have to review the case with his supervisor, but the result was that Martin was issued a green card at the end of January of 2021.
Upon hearing the good news, Martin booked another appointment with our team to start working on legal permanent residency for Gabriela and started making plans to take an extended vacation to Mexico to re-acquaint himself with those dear to him that he had not seen for some time. On a more poignant note, he also wanted to visit his late wife’s graveside.
We reminded Martin of the asylum application, though, and cautioned him not to return to Mexico until it was withdrawn and a week later, after the necessary forms were signed, we filed for its termination.
From Martin’s perspective, the delay was fine because now he could reschedule his visit for the summer months when the air was hot, and the beaches were beautiful.
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.
