For many young adults, immigrating to the United States is often a path paved with denial and rejection. That was especially true for one of our recent clients, who we will refer to as “Maria” to protect her identity. Maria’s case was repeatedly denied, until Reeves Immigration Law Group was finally able to convince the U.S. Embassy in Manila that she was indeed eligible for her immigrant visa.
Maria’s father was petitioned for permanent resident status (green card) by a prospective employer. When he received his immigrant visa, his eligible derivative family members (spouse and children) were supposed to receive their immigrant visas as well. However, the U.S. Embassy in Manila insisted, multiple times, that Maria was too old to immigrate as her father’s derivative. Multiple consular officers said that Maria was no longer considered a “child” since she was already 21 years old. The consular officers also said that Maria was not protected by the Child Status Protection Act (CSPA) and that she had aged-out.
Maria and her entire family were devastated. Their hopes and dreams of entering the United States as a family, in search of a better life and more opportunities, were shattered when Maria’s application for an immigrant visa was denied. However, Maria and family refused to give up. Immigrating to the U.S. as a family was too important to them. They decided to seek the advice of Reeves Immigration Law Group (RILG) and they met with Attorney Flomy Diza.
Attorney Diza explained to Maria and her family that he believed that Maria was protected by the CSPA, and as a result, she should be eligible to immigrate to the U.S. as her father’s derivative. Attorney Diza immediately began preparing a legal argument to present to the U.S. Embassy in Manila. His argument included the relevant facts and dates, as well as the specifics of the CPSA and how it applied to Maria’s case.
Attorney Diza also argued that Maria qualified under the CSPA because she was the victim of ineffective assistance of counsel. Attorney Diza stated that Maria’s prior attorney made several mistakes, including not timely submitting required documents to National Visa Center and/or the U.S. Embassy. Attorney Diza believed that the prior attorney’s failures qualified as an extraordinary circumstance.
RILG is now extremely excited to say that the U.S. Embassy in Manila changed their minds after reading Attorney Diza’s compelling and persuasive legal brief. They have agreed that Maria is eligible for her green card as a derivative of her father’s employment-based visa even though she is over 21 years old. The entire process took longer than Maria and her family expected, and was certainly more stressful then they had hoped, but Maria and her family will now all be immigrating to the United States together as a family!
