Facts: In April of 2016, a citizen of Jamaica came to the firm seeking help with his temporary residence card which had expired six years earlier. Too, our client had already been placed in removal proceedings.
The Firm’s Representation: Given the six-year delay, the firm could not promise our client a positive result, nevertheless the firm went to work right away and gathered the necessary documents and forms to try to remove the temporary conditions of our client’s temporary residency card. The firm discovered that our client’s wife had filed for divorce and never properly served our client with any notice of the divorce proceedings. The firm applied for a waiver based on divorce in the I-751 Petition to Remove Temporary Conditions on Residency application. The processing of our client’s I-751 took several years. In the meantime, our client had several arrests and other brushes with law enforcement which resulted in extended periods of incarceration by local law enforcement and ICE after our client’s immigration bond was revoked. The firm worked with our client’s Virginia criminal defense attorney to fashion an immigration friendly plea. Based on our client’s numerous brushes with law enforcement, the USCIS scrutinized our client’s I-751 application closely and requested numerous documents through a Notice of Intent to Deny (because USCIS asserted that our client’s marriage to his ex-wife was not bona fide) and a Request for Further Evidence (for documents related to our client’s arrests). Regarding the Request for Further Evidence of our client’s arrests, the firm prepared a legal memorandum asserting that our client’s arrests and convictions had no bearing on the USCIS decision to approve or deny our client’s I-751.
Outcome: Our client’s I-751 was granted on October 2, 2020. The firm learned about the grant of residency on October 8, 2020 and after the firm made some phone calls to ICE, our client was released from ICE custody on October 9, 2020.
Comments: Our client spent two years in local and ICE custody and his I-751 application was far from ordinary and it was a gratifying win for the firm and for our client. Our client and his family were amazed and thrilled that he walked out of ICE custody with his permanent residency card. The firm also advised our client that he was immediately eligible to apply for citizenship.