One of the things that I enjoy most about my job as an
immigration attorney is seeing how our work changes people’s lives. Recently, I had a particularly moving case
that reminded me of how lucky I am to be doing what I do.
A young lady came to see us a few weeks ago. She was a United States Citizen who had
successfully filed a visa petition for her husband. Because he originally entered the United
States without a visa, she had also filed a separate petition to forgive this
offense. Both were approved after she
successfully established that she and her children would suffer extreme
hardship if her husband were denied a visa to the United States.
About a year and a half ago, her husband went to the
consulate in Mexico to receive his visa.
When he arrived he was told that the government had made a mistake and
that instead of a visa he was going to receive a permanent bar from ever
returning to the United States.
This young lady was desperate. She was unable to join her husband in Mexico
as she had a shared custody agreement with a child from a previous marriage and
was not allowed to move her child out of the country. Also, the wife suffered from various medical
illnesses and needed to keep her steady
job with accompanying medical insurance
in the United States. Thus, the wife was
separated from her husband and the couple’s three minor children (who were also
all United States citizens) were separated from their father.
Without her husband, this young lady’s life and family were
falling apart. She was forced to file
for bankruptcy. She lost her home. She and her three children moved into a small
basement apartment. She had to take time
off of work to find suitable child care.
The stress caused her health issues to flare up and she had to be
hospitalized. The children did not
understand where their father was or what was happening and their performance
in school began to suffer. This young
lady contacted Senators, she hired attorneys to try to work with the consulate,
she wrote letters, yet the response she received each time was that nothing
could be done.
After the wife came to see us, we immediately filed a
petition for review in federal court as a permanent bar never should have been
applied to this individual. We asked
that a federal judge review the mistakes that had been made at the consulate to
separate this family. About two weeks
after filing the lawsuit, the husband was rescheduled for another interview at
the consulate and was given his US visa.
I will never forget the gratefulness in the wife’s voice when she
thanked me for reuniting their family.
We at Kuck Immigration Partners are truly fortunately to be able to do
what we do.
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