Folinskyinla

Marnee:

If you chose to get a lawyer who is known and respected by the DHS people -- go see Dagmar Butte (503) 241-1320. I had some discussions with her at the recent AILA National Conference in Vancouver -- she is good.

USA & Pakistan

Thank you! I will give her a call.

Marnee

USA & Pakistan

UPDATE:

I feel much better after talking with the attorney, Dagmar Butte, today. She was really nice and helpful and when I told her we were referred by Mr.F, she got a smile on her face and said "Folinsky's a great guy!". She reviewed our I-751 petition packet and said that it was very impressive, that we sent in more than most people do, and that she did not see any reason for it have been held up, so that was some vindication! She knows the immigration officer that we met with and said we were very unlucky to get her because she is very uptight and rude. The officer used to handle assylum applications and has probably been lied to a lot.

Anyway, the attorney advised us to go ahead and gather all of the current stuff we can find... up to 2 years of the joint bank statements and utility bills, car title, insurance, sttements, cards or invitations from friends/family, photos - dated if possible, etc... just drowned the officer with papers and an ultra-polite, schmoozy letter to go with it, even before we receive any RFE letter or whatever the officer is going to send us. Unless we get an "intent to deny" letter or an RFE (request for evidence) with some unusual request on it after we send in this current stuff, Ms. Butte said that we should be able to take care of this ourselves, but that if we email the letter to her, she will take a look at it before we send it... that was very nice of her!

Some advice and comments she had for us:

Bills, statements, etc, do not mean anything at all to the officers unless they have both people's names on them (ie: bank statements, utility bills, etc must be JOINT) or dont bother to include them. I asked about the significance of showing both people receiving mail (like seperate bank statements) at the same address, and she agreed with the logic, but said they pretty much discount any piece of paper that doesnt have both names. She even said to highlight the names. I was afraid that if I didnt send out individual bank account statements along with our joint account statements, it might look like we were hiding something, but she said no, dont worry about that. Only send the joint stuff.

Ms. Butte also said that statements from my mother & daughter would carry a lot of weight, especially the one from my mom. It's like, if the mother-in-law likes him, then he must be ok. We had included one from my daughter, brother, and a friend with the application already, but I will get some new ones to add to it.

Ms Butte was particularly revved up when I told her that the officer had said that DH was Out Of Status, and as we all know, that is just completely wrong. Since the officer stamped DH's passport though, hopefully this will not be an issue. Bottom line, is that we feel better after talking to Ms. Butte and she helped us compile a new list of documents to send in. My poor dining room looks like a filing cabinet exploded with files and papers everywhere!

Marnee

Rete

Marnee

Glad you had the consultation with the referred attorney. Sounds like she put your mind at ease.

One thing that might have turned her in your favor is a photo of that lovely bed you bought.

meauxna

Marnee, I'm glad to see such an upbeat report!
It's nice to know that your submissions were so good to start with, and a bit of explanation about your officer.

Very gracious of Ms Butte to lend her experience to you; I'm so glad she helped you two feel better about things again!

Will be looking for your victory dance.