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Category: Case Study

Domestic Violence Leads to U Visa

About five years ago, I was at a pro bono event providing free consultations to individuals in Southern California.  On that day, a mother approached me and showed me photographs of a badly beaten woman. The mother started to cry and told me that it was her daughter. I asked what happened to her. She told me that her daughter was in a relationship with a man who was very abusive. I then asked her if her daughter had ever reported the abuse and she responded in the affirmative. I told the mother that I needed to see her daughter.

A few weeks passed and the daughter came with her three children. She was in removal proceedings and was unaware of her rights. The daughter told me her story about how she had returned to Mexico and the abuse continued even after she left the United States so she returned once again.

Premises liability & Falls

I explained to her that she would be safe here in the United States. The fact that she had reported the crime on previous occasions, she would be able to apply for the U Visa.

After multiple court hearings, this woman was finally able to obtain legal status in the country.

Currently, we are in the process of closing her removal proceedings. In the next three years, she will be eligible to apply for her green card.

If you are a victim of a crime, please call our office to evaluate your case and determine if you have a case to obtain legal status.

Citizenship Given To A Client With A False Claim To U.S

Citizenship given to a Client with a False Claim to U.S. Citizenship and Procedurally Regular Entry

Usually a False Claim to U.S. Citizenship is a bar to obtain Legal Permanent Resident Status. Especially, if the claim for false citizenship occurred on or after September 30, 1996.

Jane​i was born in Mexico. However, she was raised and adopted in the United States. Jane thought she was a U.S. citizen because when she was adopted the judge told her she was a U.S. citizen. Jane traveled outside the United States on multiple occasions, registered to vote and in fact voted. It was not until she applied for a U.S. passport and was denied that was in fact not a U.S. citizen. This was around 2003 and Jane lived her whole life under the understanding she was a U.S. citizen. This was a shock and Jane was having difficulty living her day to day life.

Jane came to my office distraught and worried about what could happen to her. She was eligible to adjust status because she was married to a U.S. citizen and she entered with “admission” as since her entry was “procedurally regular.” See Matter of Quilantan, 25 I&N Dec. 285 (BIA 2010). She was very worried about the false claim, however, a false claim to U.S. citizenship requires an intent to defraud which Jane did not have.

Jane, through the assistance of this office, filed for adjustment of status. Jane attended two interviews and after providing U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) with further documentation to support our claims, she was granted a green card.

Jane became eligible to apply for naturalization three years after her adjustment because she was married to a U.S. citizen. Jane hired my office once again and we were once again able to succeed, and she is now a proud U.S. citizen.

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Danish Shahbaz
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(213) 652-3673
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