When our client met with us in June 2022, she already had a lawyer.
However, she was not seeing any results; her case was at a standstill.
She felt stuck because she has an old removal order from 2006 and could not get a green card until that problem was fixed.
After hearing her story, we immediately started a case assessment to study her lengthy and complex immigration history.
Our client is from Ghana and has resided in the US for over 20 years since entering on a visitor visa in August 2002.
After overstaying her visa, she met and married her US Citizen husband.
In 2004, her husband filed an I-130 for her, and the couple was interviewed by USCIS.
Unfortunately, the interview did not go very well, and her husband withdrew his I-130 petition.
In April 2006, the I-130 petition was denied.
A month later, in May 2006, she was placed into removal proceedings as a visitor visa overstay.
In September 2006, she requested to change her court venue from Atlanta to Connecticut since she was residing in Connecticut.
Unfortunately, it is unclear whether the court ever received her Motion to Change Venue.
In November 2006, she was ordered removed in absentia by the Atlanta Immigration Judge after not receiving notice of her court date.
After this, her marriage ended in divorce.
Ten years later, her US Citizen son filed an I-130 petition on her behalf, and it was approved in September 2017.
However, she could not apply for adjustment of status because only an Immigration Judge has jurisdiction over that application in this case.
She met with lawyers who told her to wait until President Trump was no longer in office before she attempted to fix her immigration problem.
After President Biden entered office, she met with her lawyer about fixing her case. However, no work was done on her case until now.
On June 8, 2023, we submitted a Prosecutorial Discretion request (Joint Motion to Reopen) to the Atlanta ICE Field Office.
We requested that our client’s old removal case be reopened and terminated.
On June 13, 2023, our request was approved!
This is wonderful news for our client because she will now have an opportunity to apply for a green card through her son!
P.S. Every case is different. Past successes do not guarantee similar future outcomes. Consult a licensed immigration lawyer to discuss your unique situation.
