Fish123

Hi! Please call me Fish! I need some advice/opinions.

My husband and I have been married for almost ten years and we applied for AOS back in 2002. Here is the story, sorry it is long…

My husband was married back in the early 1990s and applied for AOS, but left the woman before the interview. She wrote a letter to the INS claiming fraud and they administratively closed the case. As he was heading back home a war broke out in his country and he was unable to return. He then applied for asylum; a few years later we met and were married.

We applied for an I-30 and it was approved. We then applied for AOS and went to the interview. The immigration officer who interviewed us stated that the only thing she was concerned about was if the old case was officially closed. She asked her supervisor and her supervisor said it was closed and she could make the decision, but the officer said she wanted to check with the people in charge of deportation first, this was back in the summer of 05.

As of this summer we still had not heard anything so we contacted our local senator to research on our behalf. Our senator’s representative stated that the reason for the hold up was due to a T-File that they needed to join with our original file and he stated that they did not think it would be a problem and we should hear from them soon.

We received a letter earlier this week from the INS stating that they did not have jurisdiction over the case because my husband had been issued a final deportation order. They stated that our AOS case had been administratively closed, but that it did not mean our AOS had been denied. They said we could do a motion to reopen during his deportation proceedings.

We have emailed our attorney and will be meeting with her later next week. Our attorney stated that the INS was incorrect because my husband had never been given a final deportation order. (Our attorney had done a FOIA on my husband when she first received the case. Plus the immigration officer had never mentioned a final deportation order, nor had my husband ever received one in person.) Our attorney stated that we have three options. We were curious as to which option the people of this board think might be the best. We figured the more opinions on this the better.

1. Reopen our newly closed AOS noting their error.
2. Move to reopen the deportation proceedings and refile the AOS
3. Wait because they are likely to reopen the case on their own motion.

Thank you in advance!

ian-mstm

I'd normally jump on the chance to offer an opinion, but I think your situation is so outside the realm of whatever expertise we might have, that anything anyone here might write would be nothing more than mere speculation. Good luck to you, though - from where I sit, your attorney seems to be on the right track.

Ian

bionomique

I tend to agree that it would be speculation, but two of the list seem to indicate that your attorney has learned more about the situation.
Of the list:
1. Reopen our newly closed AOS noting their error.
2. Move to reopen the deportation proceedings and refile the AOS
3. Wait because they are likely to reopen the case on their own motion.

I wonder why, if my hunch is correct, number 2 was listed at all?

Cool Dude

I agree with bio, I am surprised that your lawyer included no. 2 at all
it will complicate your case because you would be saying that you are
filing an AOS after deportation proceeding took place and that is a NO
NO NO. You do not want to go through court at all, that is my opinion
based on my experience.

That lead me to this question: Is your lawyer highly competent with a
great reputation? And are you confident of him?

I had a lawyer who managed to piss off the judge in my case and made
him mad and took it out on my case. I fired my lawyer and get a
competent lawyer and that saved my life. I was awarded the green card.

I speculate that your options are really no. 1 and 3 and think no. 1 is
the better one. You should consult with a new lawyer a better one.

This is only a speculation based on my experience