Client Reviews and Success Stories: Conditional Green Card Waivers

Conditional Green Card Waiver Approved for Brazilian national whose Husband Refused to File for Her

Rachel, a free-lance artist from Brazil, was subjected to cruel threats of physical harm, threats on her life, and cruel psychological abuse from her husband. Her husband also had a drinking problem which he refused to get help for that put her in grave risk, especially when he would waive his loaded guns around the house when he was drunk. He treated her like a dog, commanding her around and criticizing her and degrading her in front of his family and her friends. He threatened to have her deported if she disobeyed him. She had a conditional green card, which was set to expire. Her husband refused to file with her to remove the conditions as he knew that this was his main power over her and why she was putting up with his treatment.  He tried to cut her off from earning a living on her own by intimidating would be employers who were all too scared of him to hire her. As a result of living through this marriage, Rachel experienced extreme moments of fear and panic, nightmares, insomnia, and helplessness, and even started to question herself and her own judgment.  Rachel came to Attorney Heather for help, seeing no way out. Attorney Heather helped Rachel figure out ways to document the abuse, although many witnesses were too scared to come forward. Her conditional green card waiver was approved without interview and she has since left her husband, regained her self-confidence, and is a thriving artist.  Rachel writes of our services:

“I was referred to Heather by another immigration attorney. It was a pleasure to work with Heather. She is very clear about everything, guiding me step by step and also was very sincere and honest. Heather has a great heart. Heather really knows what she is doing and she does it very well. Heather has a passion for her work. . I have a special place in my heart from you. Blessings and much love and victories for you!”

RO, Santa Barbara, California 

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Japanese National Saves Her Green Card with Approved Conditional Green Card Waiver

Nanami was physically and emotionally abused her husband. She struggled with constant illness from the stress of living through the abuse, which made her weaker and more difficult for her to defend herself against him. He intimidated her into silence, telling her that with his connections, he could have her killed.  During arguments, he blocked her from leaving the room and repeatedly reminded her of his power over her immigration status to keep her quiet. He constantly interrogated her and played with her mind, trying to get her to question her own sanity and judgment. Even after escaping him, Nanami still suffered from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. He continued to follow her, showing up at her new apartment, threatening her and demanding she come back to him. Heather filed a conditional green card waiver based on extreme cruelty for Nanami, a few months after she received her initial conditional green card. Because she and her husband split so soon after her initial green card was issued, she faced a potential finding by CIS that she had committed visa or marriage fraud (i.e., only married for the green card). Heather advised her how she could document her case with help of her doctors, therapist, and witnesses. Less than eight months later, her case was approved without an interview. She received a ten-year green card. She becomes eligible for US citizenship through the naturalization process early, even though she is no longer married to her US citizen abusive spouse because she received an approval of her extreme cruelty conditional green card waiver. Nanami writes of our services:

“Heather was very confident and encouraging during the initial meeting and I felt that I could trust her. She was linked to the website to support non-violence against women. Heather was great in many ways. She saved me from an extremely terrible situation and I am thankful, of course! I recommend her because she is always going to do her best to help and bring out the result! Thank you for everything! “

NY, Los Angeles, CA 

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Deportation Proceedings Dismissed & Green Card Saved for Male Immigrant from Trinidad after Conditional Green Card Waiver approved.

Will had come to the US for a better life when he could no longer support his children in Trinidad. Years after living in the U.S., he fell in love with a U.S. citizen.  He fell for his new wife’s positivity and false promises, not knowing that she would soon try to control every aspect of his life, isolate him from his family, and become physically and financially abusive.  His wife became a hoarder, driving them into financial ruin, and forced Will to give over his paycheck with no questions asked, to feed her addictive buying.  If he tried to refuse her, she threatened to have him harmed by people she knew. She physically attacked him from behind so he couldn’t defend himself in arguments and often shoved him up against the wall, wedging her forearm into his throat.  She degraded him as a man, making fun of him in bed and comparing him to her ex-boyfriends, demanding sexual subservience, and eventually openly cheating on him.  She stalked him at work, repeatedly checking up on him, and cut him off from his friends, always threatening to have him deported if he left or defied her.   

Will hung on for as long as he could because he knew he had a conditional green card and knew he needed her to cooperate with the process after they filed to the joint petition to removal the condition on his green card. Unforeseen to Will was that the case remained pending for years. Eventually, he couldn’t wait anymore and fled from her.   After he fled, he missed his interview and his case was denied. Will came to Attorney Heather for help, thinking all hope had been lost since his green card had been terminated and Will was now staying in Canada. Attorney Heather filed a conditional green card waiver based on the abuse – nearly five years after his divorce was final.  Besides the many years in between filing the joint petition and the waiver, Heather was able to save Will’s green card. Besides the challenges with the passage of time, Will also had access to only a few joint documents to prove the underlying bona fide nature of the marriage, finding it difficult to document a marriage that had long been over. Attorney Heather worked with Will to help him think outside the box to provide alternative forms of documentation to prove the marriage was real. Despite these challenges, Will’s conditional green card waiver was finally approved. He is now eligible to apply for US citizenship even though he is no longer with his wife.

“Thank you, thank you, and once again, thank you. I would like to take this opportunity to thank you and your staff for your professional, courteous and prompt manner in which you handled my immigrant I-751 case. It is with greatest gratitude that comes from the bottom of my heart for a job well done, as you never hesitated to go above and beyond what was required to assist me. Once again, I am forever thankful.” 

WY, Helena, MT

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Conditional Green Card Waiver Approved for Indian Woman Although Separated from Husband Only Months After Green Card Approved

Documenting the abuse was a challenge because of the tight control her husband had over every aspect of her life. She was forbidden from speaking with co-workers and friends (who could otherwise be witnesses) as her husband was paranoid jealous of any man she knew. He even tried to get her fired from her job and wouldn’t let her friends over to the house and commanded her around as if she was his servant in front of his own friends.  He threatened to call the police on her and lie to them about her on multiple occasions if she ever tried to leave him. The neighbors were scared of cooperating, after hearing his yelling tirades through the walls.  Her husband monitored her activities, refusing to even let her pick up their mail or talk with the neighbors. He also demanded money from her on a daily basis. Heather thought outside of the box to help Nadira document the abuse, she was able to remove the condition on her green card and keep a permanent green card without her husband’s involvement, taking back control over her own immigration destiny.

“After I spoke with Heather, I got convinced that you are the right attorney. She is very intelligent. I loved the way Heather represented me. Thank you Heather for helping me out! You are excellent!”

ND, Los Angeles, CA 

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Jamaican Spouse Keeps Green Card Despite Break Up of Marriage

Joseph and his wife separated after over two years of Joseph living through her severe mood swings, violent temper and obsessive spending habits, nearly bringing them to financial ruin and eviction.  She used him financially during the marriage, misappropriating his and their roommate’s rent money exposing them all to losing their home and constantly withdrew his paycheck funds often the same day his salary was deposited, money they needed to pay basic expenses.   His wife never disclosed to him, prior to marriage, that she suffered from severe manic depressive disorder.  It was not until he came across her medication one day that he realized that his wife was suffering from a mental illness.  When she found out that Joseph had discovered that she had this illness, she left him. 

The couple divorced during the two year conditional period.  Heather argued that the couple did enter into a bona fide marriage and that Joseph made great efforts to save his marriage.  She documented the abuse that Joseph suffered from his wife and the depression and fear he developed from the abuse.  Heather also helped him demonstrate that his wife was misappropriating the rent funds which caused them to receive late charges and potential eviction. Heather also provided evidence that his wife was taking medication to control her bipolar disorder (manic depressive illness) and depression.  Less than a year later, Joseph’s expiring 2 year conditional residency turned into permanent residency without an interview. 

 “I am extremely happy to recommend you as a competent immigration attorney!”

JT, Phoenix, AZ

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Conditional Green Card Waiver Approved for Japanese National Despite Divorce

Heather filed a conditional green card waiver based on good faith marriage for an immigrant spouse from Japan after his marriage fell apart months after he received his conditional green card. Immigration suspected that the marriage was not valid or real because of the early separation. Heather not only had to argue that the marriage was real, but that the separation was not due to the immigrant spouse’s actions. Attorney Heather argued that the wife had suffered mental and emotional problems after failing to gain admission into a university program. She also changed her mind on supporting her husband’s medical practice and was upset that he wasn’t making more money. Heather argued that the immigrant spouse did everything he could to save the marriage, including financially supporting his wife during the separation and suffered severe emotional loss after the separation. CIS approved the waiver without an interview three months after Heather filed the case.

“I chose you to represent me because I really liked the initial consultation.  Heather was confident, trustable and warm.  Also, she sounded very focused on the matter. The overall quality of the services was very good.  Ms. Heather Poole is a great attorney. I would recommend this firm to others because Heather does a great job.”

WJ, South Carolina

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Brazilian spouse obtains conditional green card and removes condition successfully despite few joint documents given wife’s financial problems

“You are the best. My wife and I had a great experience with you in my initial green card case so I hired you again for the conditional green card removal application that I filed jointly with my wife. I‘d use your services regardless of the location because you are an awesome and competent attorney.  I am looking forward to having you represent me for my citizenship process.”

MB, Arleta, CA

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Ethiopian Man Removes Condition on Green Card Despite Divorce

“I would like to consciously thank you for what you have done for me. You are my hero! You work tirelessly, patiently, handling my case with courage. I am the result of your own effective work environment. From the day one, I remember your staff treats me good. Heather, you sepnt hours to interviewing and writing. I am still impressed . . . Thank you for your understanding and as I always telling you, you will be proud of me as your own success story. Even if you have a huge volume of work, you smile. You guys care! What a wonderful experience to work with you. Heather, you understood my financial problem, too. Thanks for being so flexible for my payment option. I thank you very much.”

JJ, St Louis, Missouri

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Indian woman obtains green card after escaping abusive husband

“Thank you for all the great work, support, and guidance with my case. You have given me new confidence, which has transformed my life to a great extent. I would definitely recommend your services to others. The result has been positive. Your staff was extremely polite and helpful and the services were excellent. Wishing you great success and happiness.”

T.W. San Francisco, CA

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Filipino Immigrant Becomes U.S. Citizen After Leaving her Abusive Spouse

I couldn’t be more thankful to Heather for helping me. You brought me back my eagerness t hope for my future and made me realize that a lot of good things are in store for me. You guys are very professional, you’re the best. You have exceeded my expectations. I am very lucky and have to have worked with you. God bless!”

JL, Sacramento, CA

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Turkish National Removes Condition on Green Card Without Husband’s Help

“In our initial consultation, all the aspects of my case were explained to me. I was really impressed by how knowledgable Heather is. I know I wouldn’t be able to find a better attorney. Your fee was reasonable and your paralegals and staff treated me courteously and the quality of services provided were excellent. Email made it easy to communicate with you. Thank you and all your staff. I will recommend your firm to everybody.”

CO, Los Angeles, CA

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Past results are not a guarantee of future outcome. Attorneys are barred from guaranteeing an approval or any particular result in your case. Always consult a licensed, experienced immigration attorney about your particular situation to discuss the chances and pros and cons of options available to you.