today is the day...second attorney

[tommy07030]

Hi all...today we're heading over to the second immigration attorney that was referred to us from the first one we saw last week. Any important questions I need to ask? I have a bunch written down but just in case I missed one. Just to refresh your memory. She's EWI, been here a little over a year from Brazil, escaped abusive ex husband. This attorney seems like a sharp one..amazing credentials, professor in college teaching immigration attorneys. Supposedly he's the go to guy for all other attorneys that need research on waivers, EWI's, etc etc. His name is Robert Frank in Newark.

[Laura]

Ask him how many I-601 waivers he has done through Lima. And how many were approved. Credentials aren't always the most important thing. Waivers are a very specific area of law, even in the context of immigration law, so make sure he's experienced with what you are going through. Good luck!

[Shrek]

I agree with Laurafern. His experience with foreign filed I-601 waivers is important, and especially filing through Lima. Ask him how many he has done thru Lima and what is his success rate.

[tommy07030]

Great...thanks. It does say he specializes in 601's and waivers on his sit but approval rate is key. Thanks again.

[losguerra]

You should also ask him to explain exactly what his fee includes.

You might also want to ask him what he thinks your chances are of being approved.

Ask if you will be communicating directly with him during the process, or would it be through a secretary or other staff?

[chalakita]

Dont forget to tell him every detail about she got here. I called a lawyer that was recomended here from Florida, she is only charging $ 2000 :whoa:what is really really really cheap (suspicious?) compare to Laurel or Heather going thru Lima, BUT she has never done any waiver for Lima :( so I dont think thats gonna work for me. Good Luck!

[tommy07030]

OK..here's the scoop. He has gone through Lima. He has gotten approvals many times BASED ON A GENUINE HARDSHIP. He said we need to get married and start building a case as well as time together.

Because she is EWI there are the usual options. He also mentioned that its possible that she can do an AOS here but she might not qualify for the waiver. There is a case pending now with the same situation. If it goes in our favor then we might try that route. This way she won't have to leave. BUT, that case needs to happen in our favor. Otherwise she can get deported. HOLY **** so much to absorb. Either way we need to build the hardship. Time for a ****tail...man oh man. And this is the beginning???

[Laura]

How would she be eligible to AOS? Based on the abuse? Did he mention the VAWA benefits?

Best of luck!

[Pinkpig]

Tommy07030,

Please read from Heather's site about abused immigrants. This information should help you understand what your possibilities are.


http://www.humanrightsattorney.com/sub/abused.jsp;jsessionid=83695F1B0E3ACE017E6BEAD3E6D2 560D

[tommy07030]

No not based on abuse. He said she can do the AOS here and ask for the pardon in front of the courts here if we are married and can prove hardship. He said it's been done before but that confused me. There's some case going on now that i referred to before that is similar and if the case settles with the person staying here then we're good. OR we will have to do it the normal way by going back to Brazil. I need to review my noted again but thats the jist of it. Has anyone ever heard of such a thing? I do have a friend who married a woman that was an overstay and she didn't go back either. I know we have different situations but I'm trying to see if I'm just missing some fine print some place.

[Laura]

Has she been in the U.S. for 10 years? What you are talking about is cancellation of removal, and one of the requirements is that she has resided in here for ten years.

Here's something that explains a little bit:

http://www.mendozamueller.com/permanent.html

[Laura]

Overstays are different than entries without inspection. If you EWI and are here a year or however long you cannot adjust status (save for cancellation of removal, which is EXTREMELY difficult to get approved) where if you enter on almost any visa and overstay (even if it's for 10 years) as long as you have proof of entry, if you marry a citizen you can still adjust status without leaving the country.

[tommy07030]

Definitely not 10 yrs. Its been 1 yr and 4 months. Like I said, that threw me for a loop. But at the same time, my friend married his wife 2 yrs. ago, they had a baby and she was an over stay and never went back.

[tommy07030]

Now pinking sent me a link to Heather Pooles website and that says overstays are not eligible for AOS here.

[tommy07030]

sorry, I meant pinkpig. Laurafern, what do you mean by "any Visa"?

[Laura]

Where does it say that? It depends on the circumstance.

"Any visa" - I mean, there are a few visas where you cannot adjust status. Like crewman visas.

Here's some info on that:

http://www.immihelp.com/greencard/adjustmentofstatus/

[tommy07030]

It says it as soon as you click "illegal entries" Number 2 states: entered lawfully but then overstayed the allowed time granted and is now out of valid immigration status

[djones9714]

Tommy: If we thought we ever had any chance of cancellation of removal, we would not be here at this forum. You will never win a cancellation of removal case unless it is a "matter of life or death." My SIL has been here over 10 years (almost 11 now), has a baby on the way in 2 months, and that is not "extreme and exceptional circumstances."

No way is your attorney right here. If he was right, we would have done this process without having to go back home and leave his family for over 7 months and pray that they will let him come back.

I don't mean to sound harsh -- just wanted to let you know that something is not right in what the attorney is telling you and I don't want you to be deceived like a lot of other people.

[tommy07030]

He definitely didn't say it was a cancellation of removal process because she hasn't been here for 10 yrs.

[Laura]

I don't understand now else, unless there is something we are missing and she came on some sort of visa, that she could adjust status. Unless it has to do with the abuse. If there was a way to adjust status after EWI-ing someone else would have found it. Can you ask this attorney what he is talking about...

[tommy07030]

Oh I sure will Laura...This is confusing the hell out of me.

[djones9714]

Me too Tommy. I sure would like to know what he is talking about -- maybe my SIL has been wasting his time worrying all this time. LOL. Good luck.

[Ginger]

My advise to you is to ask this attorney to show you cases that he has pending ( as he claim). Also to give you his recommendations ( ex-clients who can recommend him).
If he would say that he can not show you papers due to the confidentiality – RUN. The truth is that lawyer can show you copies of the other clients trials relevant to you situation as long as he/she marked personal info so you can no see it.

My husband and I got into the immigration mess when we hired an attorney who claimed that she had case just like ours and it was approved, and everything is cool. When we asked her to show a copy of that case, she starting to say that due to the confidentiality and so on she would not be able to do so. She sounded so assuring, gave us statues of the law ( we did not get a thing from reading them). When it was time to go to the Interview and immigration officer asked her to show that case- she told him that SHE DID NOT BFING IT WITH HER! Officer told her that is she would send or fax a copy of that case or at least a case # and it would be similar to our situation – she would grand me a green card. Do I need to mention that we never heard from that lawyer again?