Attorney Famuyide Wins Another Atlanta Case

It was a sunny afternoon sometime in 2005, my secretary called me on the intercom system saying there was woman from Atlanta waiting to see me. It was a desperate SOS trip for this woman who, based on the advice of a former client, decided to put her faith in an attorney she was meeting for the first time.  Her story was similar to that of many immigrants who are stranded in the United States. Some of them lost loved ones abroad without the opportunity of saying goodbye. Some of them have lived in the United States and under the raider for about 30years. She narrated her ordeal with deep agony and unfathomable sense of frustration. She was quick to add that she has faith in God that someday, she would be a legal alien in the United States. She has been able to weather the storm because of her faith in God.  According to her she had applied for the late amnesty in the early 1990s. She was denied after some years. She filed under the LIFE Act, waited for a number of years and after series of interviews, she was sent a letter of denial in the mail shortly before taking the trip to New York. Fortunately for this Atlanta woman, President Bush had just given another opportunity to all eligible late amnesty applicants to apply under the settlement agreement struck in related class action between the government and the CSS/LULAC organization.  Of course, I took the case; we agreed that she would have to foot my travel and hotel expenses anytime I needed to travel to Atlanta for the case. She signed the necessary retainer agreement papers and we started the journey together. I knew it would be an uphill battle to get residency status for this woman having been denied twice. I decided that I would adopt a “kitchen sink strategy” and throw everything at my disposal into the case with the hope that one least one argument would stick.  I dug up all the memos released by U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services on the late amnesty issue. I prepared a detailed brief without being asked by the USCIS. I tried to distinguish the requirements for late amnesty under the LIFE Act and the requirements under the Settlement agreement. I made copies of Sections of the law that could assist me whenever I was called for an interview. I was ready before I filed the case.  Months after the filing of the case, late amnesty program was hijacked by “notarios,” and  the USCIS became suspicious of every applicant. “Notarios” were parading themselves as immigration experts opening shops at every street corner. They were notorious, aggressive and cruel in their approach. They started to file applications in the millions and that culminated in the issuance of yellow letters by the USCIS while trying to root out unqualified applicants.  This wave of applicants created another problem I needed to deal with. How do I convince the examiner at the interview that my case is different from the one he just interviewed and who entered the U.S. before he was born? I needed to also pray to get an interview that would give us the necessary time to prove our case. Yes, our prayer was answered. We were called for interview some months after filing. My client quickly sent my ticket and arranged to pick me up at the Airport in Atlanta.  I spent time to prep my client and we set out for the interview venue. We got an interviewer who allowed me to “exhale” in every way necessary. He gave me the needed opportunity that gave my “kitchen sink strategy” a chance. I threw in everything including my unsolicited brief. At the end, we were told to expect the decision in the mail. My client concluded, “here they go again”. About 3 months after the interview, we received the decision, we had won, and my client had been granted temporary resident status in the United States.  To her on that day, I was a lawyer made in heaven. She could not contain her joy. She wrote a long email, called my office, thanking God for setting her free at last. She was given the card representing her temporary residency status as provided under the law creating the late amnesty.  We waited for about two years later to apply to convert her status to that of permanent resident status. I made another trip to Atlanta in 2009 to attend the interview regarding the conversion and in February 2010 she received her green card. Mission accomplished!  I am glad to report that apart from so many other local immigrants we have obtained green card for this year 2010, this case is our February 2010 star achievement by our own assessment.  This article is for your information only. It is not a representation or guarantee of any future outcome on any case. If you need immigration legal assistance, please feel free to contact Attorney Famuyide at 718-647-6767 or send an email to This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it . Follow Attorney Famuyide on Facebook and twitter.