Facts: In early 2017, a citizen of El Salvador came to the firm seeking help to get a green card.
The Firm’s Representation: Our client was married to a U.S. citizen. Our client had been previously represented by a notario who had successfully obtained an approved I-130 family based petition, but the notario had told our client that she had to return to El Salvador to get an immigrant visa to return to the United States because she had entered the United States illegally. However, the firm asked the client to describe her entry into the United States and the firm determined that our client had been “waved through” the border which is a valid entry into the United States according to a case in the Board of Immigration Appeals entitled Matter of Quilantan, 25 I&N Dec. 285 (BIA 2010). So, in April of 2017, the firm filed our client’s I-485 application for permanent residency based on the approved I-130 from her U.S. citizen spouse and the “wave through”. The firm attended an interview with USCIS, but USCIS would not make a decision on the case, even after two years of waiting. In April of 2019, our client was tired of waiting and engaged the firm to file a mandamus in federal court to compel USCIS to make a decision on our client’s I-485 green card application.
Outcome: On June 21, 2019, USCIS granted our client’s green card application. The client was needless to say overjoyed and celebrated July 4th as newly minted permanent resident of the United States.