The success of a permanent resident application hinges on the clear and persuasive presentation of intricate provisions in the immigration laws. Our firm recently represented an Indian national in such a case and the U.S consulate in Mumbai reversed its decision in favor of our client. Here is a synopsis of the facts of the case; the clients name has of course been changed to protect his privacy.

Last month a U.S citizen with a brother in Mumbai came to our law firm to seek legal assistance with respect to his immigrant visa application. On November 15, 1990, she had filed an I-130 Petition for Alien Relative on her brother’s behalf. The petition was approved on December 10, 1990 and the visa for the November 15, 1990, priority date became current on December 1, 2002. At that point, the brother along with his wife and two daughters, filed the Immigrant Visa Applications with the National Visa Center. On December 27, 2003, the consulate called the beneficiary, his wife and younger daughter for an interview at the U.S Consulate in Mumbai but did not call Supriya, the older daughter, who was born on November 18, 1981 and had turned 21 just 13 days before the visa became available on December 1, 2002.

Based on the assumption that this was a simple clerical error, they took her with them for the interview anyway. At the interview, the consular officer informed the family that Supriya was not qualified for an immigrant visa due to the fact that she had turned 21 years of age before the visa became current. Based on this, he denied her application but granted the rest of the family’s application for permanent residence.

Chicago, Illinois May 1 –  Immigration Law Associates personnel who attended the recent BIO 2006 convention here encountered a variety of immigration questions from students, universities, multi-national and start-up businesses, and collateral service providers such as recruiters.

Status as a U.S. permanent resident is difficult to gain, and it can be all too easily lost due some understandable confusion about what it really means to maintain permanent resident status.  A USCIS Inspections Officer may, at a port-of-entry, challenge an LPR’s status after only a six month absence. In that case, the Immigration Service will look for evidence indicating whether the LPR’s life in the U.S. has been of a permanent or temporary character.