IMMIGRATION
LEGAL SERVICES
Our legal staff specializes in immigration law. We assist clients with a variety of forms of immigration and humanitarian relief. We are recognized by the Department of Justice to provide legal immigration services. Please be wary of individuals pretending to be immigration experts or “notarios.” Only licensed attorneys and non-profit organizations recognized by the Department of Justice are legally able to provide immigration advice and prepare immigration forms with clients.
Our DOJ Representatives Andrea Paret, left, and Balbina Valadez ,right, at the oath ceremony of their client.
We charge non-profit fees for our services. We work with clients so they can receive crucial help with their immigration case regardless of income. We collaborate with other organizations and with private immigration attorneys in the Siouxland community to be able to provide the best services possible.
OUR SERVICES INCLUDE:
- Applications/Renewals for permanent residency (green cards) and work permits in certain categories.
- Refugee Processing and applications
- Petitions for family members
- Applications for U.S. Citizenship
- Forms of Humanitarian Relief
APPOINTMENTS ARE REQUIRED
Consultations are offered to discuss available options for immigration relief. Appointments are required for all immigration matters. We do not accept walk-ins.
Please contact us by phone email or in person to get more information.
SOME OF OUR SUCCESS STORIES
Names have been changed to protect confidentiality.
Mizba had met her future husband on a visit to her home country and they fell in love with each other. She had been in the United States for many years and had naturalized. She filed a fiancé petition for her fiancé with another attorney in 2020 which was approved a few months later.
In early 2021, she came to Mary J Treglia Community House to file the visa application and accompanying forms and documents. Everything was submitted in April 2021. Additional information was submitted as requested by the U.S embassy overseas. With the limitations and backlogs caused by the COVID- 19 pandemic, we did not know how long the process would take. Mizba faced some health challenges, and we requested help from her state senator. When her faience’s interview at the US embassy was scheduled for November 2021, we were all excited. More new documents were requested which were submitted promptly. The required registration for the interview did not work smoothly and necessitated more contracts with the embassy. Finally, the day of the interview come.
The interview went well but a few more documents were requested. They were submitted within a couple of days and Mizba and her fiancé were looking forward to being together in a few months, but then nothing happened.
Our legal staff as well as the Senator inquired every few months, but no new information was given. Finally, in February 2023, the fiancé received a message to submit a new passport since the other one had expired as well as any other information that needed to be updated. Our legal staff stayed late that day to help Mizba (and her fiancé who was on a phone with us) to submit everything that was needed.
What joy it was not in April when Mizba stopped in our office together with her husband to thank us. He had just arrived, and they got married right away. We will now be helping him with the next steps for his permanent residency.
Mayra came to our office in 2014. She had been the victim of severe domestic abuse. Without having legal status, her spouse threatened her with deportation which would mean she would not be able to see her two children anymore who were living with them. Thankfully Mayra was getting counseling from a local domestic abuse organization and was referred to us. She was eligible for the U-Visa, a special form of relief for victims of crimes.
Our legal staff filed the U-Visa application for her in January of 2015 after collecting all necessary documents, among them a certification from law enforcement indicating that Mayra had worked with them. Later, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) requested additional information which she was able to gather and submit with the help from our attorney.
In 2018, Mayra received notification that she and her two children living with her were eligible to apply for a work permit. Again, our legal staff helped with that process. And in May 2019, Mayra received the approval notice for her U-Visa. Three years after receiving this approval, she was eligible to apply for permanent resident status. The challenge was though that her one daughter was still in the home country. If Mayra would apply for and be granted her permanent resident status before her daughter arrived in the United States, her daughter could no longer be included as a derivative of her U-Visa application. Her daughter had a fingerprinting appointment scheduled at the US Embassy in Honduras in the summer of 2020. But because of the COVID-19 pandemic, this appointment was cancelled and she was not able to receive a new appointment until December of 2022. Even though our legal staff had been in contact with the embassy and tried with the help of a Senator’s office to get an earlier date for an appointment, this was not granted. After the appointment, her daughter finally received a visa to come to the United States and arrived here shortly afterwards.
Applying for permanent resident status is very costly. Mary J Treglia Community House is a non-profit and in special cases we are able to give discounts for our fees or waive fees partially (but not for the fees for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services). Mayra worked hard to save enough money for the $1,225 USCIS fee for each of the applications, for herself and her two children in Iowa. Her daughter who just arrived from Honduras will not be eligible to apply for permanent residency until she has been in the United States for 3 years.
Currently, Mayra and her two children are waiting to have their permanent residence applications approved. At this time, processing times are extremely long and according to the USCIS website, it might take 16 to 24 months before they will have their “green cards” in hand.
Through all these years, from 2014 until now and continuing, Mayra had support from our legal apartment. Working with us through this complicated process, she was able to get a job, her children were able to finish high school and find jobs after they graduated. Her son has recently bought a house. The family is very grateful for the help our organization has been able to provide so they can have a stable and secure future.
OUR DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE ACCREDITED REPRESENTATIVES
Andrea Paret
Balbina Valadez
