Marcus and Malonda's Green Card!
Donation protected
My name is Shahid Haque-Hausrath, and I am an immigration attorney in Helena, Montana. I am writing to tell you about two Helena residents who could greatly benefit from your help.
Marcus Kelley is a client of mine living in Helena. He usually works two 30 hour/week jobs as a custodian for St. Peter's hospital and Intermountain children's home. That's 60 hours a week without overtime, and he is also a substitute custodian with the school district. He had surgery to remove his gall bladder last November, and he's had ongoing discomfort and health problems since then. Finances have been tight, to say the least.
Marcus got married to his wife, Malonda, back in December 2013. She's a citizen of the Congo living in Canada, and I've been helping them get a green card for Malonda so they can settle down and start their life here.
Appying for a green card is not easy. Marcus has been working extremely hard to make sure he satisfies the financial support requirements to bring a spouse here -- proof that he alone will make enough money to support his wife at 125% of the federal poverty level. I have been extremely impressed by Marcus's ability to work so hard despite his health issues, and keep a positive attitude.
Marcus and I worked for a year to put together the filing fees, proof of ability to financially sponsor his wife, medical exams, and supporting documents. Yesterday, the Department of Homeland Security essentially stole $1,500 in filing fees from Marcus and Malonda and said they have to start all over and pay those filing fees again.
Marcus is crushed, and he is avoiding even telling Malonda. This is heartbreaking because they were so close to being done with this process, and they can't afford to start all over yet. It will be months until Marcus has saved enough to pay those filing fees again.
Maybe we can't solve every problem facing immigrants in Montana, but we can solve the problem facing Marcus and Malonda.
Can you please help Marcus and Malonda by donating a little money towards those filing fees, so we can file again and get it done?
What was the reason for denial?
Marcus first filed a petition for his wife's green card in early 2013, soon after their marriage. However, the U.S. consulate in Canada would not issue the green card because they refused to accept Marcus's proof of income, despite sending the neccesary proof on multiple occassions.
In November 2015, after waiting almost two years, Malonda came into the U.S. to visit Marcus for the holidays. In light of the difficulties they were having with the consulate, the couple decided to apply for adjustment of status locally instead of through the consulate. This was neccesary to make sure that their application was given a proper review.
When we sent this application, we informed the government that we wanted the file transferred from the Canadian consulate to the local Helena office. Months went by, and an interview was scheduled for September 2016. However, mere weeks before the interview, the Canadian consulate informed Marcus that it was denying his petition due to "inactivity." This was injustifiable in light of the fact that another government office had already scheduled an interview to review and approve that petition, and so it was clearly not abandoned.
This was an issue with two government agencies failing to communicate with one another, but Marcus did his part correctly. We provided the Helena office with proof of the request and proof showing that he had not abandoned that application. We had also requested that the government at least allow us more time to resolve this issue before denying the application, but they chose not to do that.
Why not appeal or try to change their mind?
There is no appeal of this denial, per se. You can ask the government to reconsider a decision, but you have to pay $630.00 for that privilege. The request initially goes to the same office that made the first decision. Based on my experiences with this office, it is my informed opinion that a motion to reconsider will be a pointless exercise. What we must do is re-file from scratch, and this time we'll make sure it gets approved!
Why should you help?
Our immigration system is difficult, expensive, and harsh. Every day, thousands of people get caught up in an uncaring, nonsensical, and badly managed immigration system. Their lives, and their family members' lives, are put on hold until the immigration system spits them back out. My job is to help them land where they need to be, but obviously that doesn't always happen.
In my work, I sometimes encounter situations where no amount of public advocacy or assistance is likely to be able to fix a situation. This is not such a case. This problem can be solved.
Please donate whatever you can afford to help Marcus and Malonda get their green card so they can start their lives together in Helena.
Marcus Kelley is a client of mine living in Helena. He usually works two 30 hour/week jobs as a custodian for St. Peter's hospital and Intermountain children's home. That's 60 hours a week without overtime, and he is also a substitute custodian with the school district. He had surgery to remove his gall bladder last November, and he's had ongoing discomfort and health problems since then. Finances have been tight, to say the least.
Marcus got married to his wife, Malonda, back in December 2013. She's a citizen of the Congo living in Canada, and I've been helping them get a green card for Malonda so they can settle down and start their life here.
Appying for a green card is not easy. Marcus has been working extremely hard to make sure he satisfies the financial support requirements to bring a spouse here -- proof that he alone will make enough money to support his wife at 125% of the federal poverty level. I have been extremely impressed by Marcus's ability to work so hard despite his health issues, and keep a positive attitude.
Marcus and I worked for a year to put together the filing fees, proof of ability to financially sponsor his wife, medical exams, and supporting documents. Yesterday, the Department of Homeland Security essentially stole $1,500 in filing fees from Marcus and Malonda and said they have to start all over and pay those filing fees again.
Marcus is crushed, and he is avoiding even telling Malonda. This is heartbreaking because they were so close to being done with this process, and they can't afford to start all over yet. It will be months until Marcus has saved enough to pay those filing fees again.
Maybe we can't solve every problem facing immigrants in Montana, but we can solve the problem facing Marcus and Malonda.
Can you please help Marcus and Malonda by donating a little money towards those filing fees, so we can file again and get it done?
What was the reason for denial?
Marcus first filed a petition for his wife's green card in early 2013, soon after their marriage. However, the U.S. consulate in Canada would not issue the green card because they refused to accept Marcus's proof of income, despite sending the neccesary proof on multiple occassions.
In November 2015, after waiting almost two years, Malonda came into the U.S. to visit Marcus for the holidays. In light of the difficulties they were having with the consulate, the couple decided to apply for adjustment of status locally instead of through the consulate. This was neccesary to make sure that their application was given a proper review.
When we sent this application, we informed the government that we wanted the file transferred from the Canadian consulate to the local Helena office. Months went by, and an interview was scheduled for September 2016. However, mere weeks before the interview, the Canadian consulate informed Marcus that it was denying his petition due to "inactivity." This was injustifiable in light of the fact that another government office had already scheduled an interview to review and approve that petition, and so it was clearly not abandoned.
This was an issue with two government agencies failing to communicate with one another, but Marcus did his part correctly. We provided the Helena office with proof of the request and proof showing that he had not abandoned that application. We had also requested that the government at least allow us more time to resolve this issue before denying the application, but they chose not to do that.
Why not appeal or try to change their mind?
There is no appeal of this denial, per se. You can ask the government to reconsider a decision, but you have to pay $630.00 for that privilege. The request initially goes to the same office that made the first decision. Based on my experiences with this office, it is my informed opinion that a motion to reconsider will be a pointless exercise. What we must do is re-file from scratch, and this time we'll make sure it gets approved!
Why should you help?
Our immigration system is difficult, expensive, and harsh. Every day, thousands of people get caught up in an uncaring, nonsensical, and badly managed immigration system. Their lives, and their family members' lives, are put on hold until the immigration system spits them back out. My job is to help them land where they need to be, but obviously that doesn't always happen.
In my work, I sometimes encounter situations where no amount of public advocacy or assistance is likely to be able to fix a situation. This is not such a case. This problem can be solved.
Please donate whatever you can afford to help Marcus and Malonda get their green card so they can start their lives together in Helena.
Organizer and beneficiary
Shahid Haque-Hausrath
Organizer
Helena, MT
Marcus Kelley
Beneficiary
