Braxton Coyle, managing attorney at Rivas Associates, shares two immigration cases. One Nigerian family got green cards despite a member's severe medical condition and USCIS delays. Another client obtained a U-visa after surviving violent crime, then secured approval for adjustment of status after years of uncertainty.
Hi, my name is Braxton Coyle. I'm the managing attorney here at Revison Associates. I have been a member of Revison Associates since July of 2022, and I have been doing immigration work off and on since I was in law school. So back since 2018, since I've been a member of Revison Associates, I've had the pleasure of working with hundreds of clients and hearing all different stories of people with all different types of backgrounds and all different types of situations. But since I've been here, I've had a few that have really stuck out to me, and I want to share with you two special stories. Of success that I've had since I've been at Rivas Associates. One of the first stories that I want to talk about is a family who came here from Africa, Nigeria specifically, and they were doing a family adjustment case. Unfortunately, one of the family members had a very troubling medical condition. There were lots of issues and lots of complications along the way. The— that family member wasn't able to travel. That family member had a lot of setbacks and a lot of roadblocks. And unfortunately, USCIS was making things very complicated for the entire family in that case. In this situation, we were able to advocate for the client. We were able to push back when USCIS didn't want to give us any giving or any wiggle room. And after several, several years of what should have been taken care of within about 18 months, we were finally able to get all of the family members green cards and now they are able to live here in peace. The daughter is officially on insurance so she's able to get that healthcare that they need. The dad has the work authorization so he can pay those medical bills, and hopefully they're on their way to settling comfortably here in the United States. The second situation that comes to mind is a client that was a victim of a horrific crime and was able to get their U-visa approved and then move forward with their adjustment of status. U-visas take a really, really long time. Those cases are frustrating. Clients are in limbo a lot of the time. There's not a lot of communication with USCIS as to what's going on with those cases. But once they get that U-Visa approval, of course, it's a great feeling. They feel like they have some sort of pathway to being a green card holder and then hopefully becoming a citizen. After having that U-Visa approval for so long and then moving forward with the adjustment, there are, of course, hiccups. Nothing's ever easy with USCIS. But being there with the client, Seeing them have that experience of going through that adjustment interview after seeing them wait so long, and then the relief when they heard that the officer intended to approve their green card, I think that that's something that stuck with me for a long time because they weathered the storm. They were willing to wait. They were willing to trust us and trust the process in order to obtain that green card. And I think that that's something I'll never forget.
