Case: Immigrant Visa with With Request for Expedited Processing
Client: Syrian
Location: Petitioner: Toledo, OH / Beneficiary: Damascus, Syria
Our client is a U.S. citizen who married his wife in Damascus, Syria in December 2012. After their marriage in Syria, the U.S. citizen husband came back to the United States, and immediately filed an I-130 petition for his wife. He prepared and filed the I-130 himself on February 8, 2013.
The petition was pending when our client contacted our office in the middle of March. Due to the political unrest and violence going on in Syria, his wife’s residence was part of a huge area that was bombed. Multiple deaths transpired and houses got burned, fortunately our client’s wife was one of the few who survived. There were also shots fired by random militia, and it was very pertinent in Syria due to the country’s political turmoil.
Our client was desperate to see his wife and was worried for her safety. So, he wanted to bring her here as soon as he can. He retained our office on March 15, 2013 and we immediately worked on a detailed brief to request expedited processing of our client’s I-130 petition.
According to USCIS standards, all expedited requests are reviewed on a case-by-case basis, and are granted at the discretion of the Director. The burden is on the applicant or petitioner to demonstrate that one or more of the expeditious request criteria have been met. The criteria are as follows:
- Severe financial loss to company or individual
- Extreme emergent situation
- Humanitarian situation
- Nonprofit status of requesting organization in furtherance of the cultural and social interests of the United States
- Department of Defense or National Interest Situation (Note: Request must come from official United States Government entity and state that delay will be detrimental to our Government)
- USCIS error
- Compelling interest of USCIS
In this case, we argued that there was an extreme emergent situation, a humanitarian situation, and a compelling interest by USCIS. We fully explained the nature of the attack, her situation after the attack, and submitted supporting documents such as pictures of her residence and area. We sent this request to the USCIS on March 18, 2013. Eventually, the I-130 was processed quickly and was approved on April 10, 2013.
After the I-130 was approved, we prepared the immigrant visa packet for our client’s wife and our client went to Amman, Jordan for his wife’s Immigrant Visa Interview. The interview was held on July 17, 2013 at the U.S. Embassy in Amman, Jordan. They went to the interview together, and on the same day, the U.S. Embassy in Syria approved and issued her immigrant visa.
With the approved Immigrant visa, our client’s wife came to the United States last week, and she will eventually get her green card in a mail.