Can't go to interview - now what?

[yapian]

We have interview late May and my husband cannot attend.

OK, here is the whole story:

- I filed for asylum early 2002.
- Married May 2004.
- Asylum interview December 2004.
- Asylum denial April 2005 (referred to a higher court)
- First interview scheduled September 2005 (we just moved at that time and we had to re-schedule because our papers were being moved to another state).
Asylum cancellation court appointment November 2005 (the Judge was not happy because the gov't attorney did not schedule the interview so the Judge postponed the cancellation till Feb 2006)
- Asylum cancellation court appointment February 2006 (same story like previous: gov't attorney did not schedule the interview, so the Judge asked her how much time she needed, to which she responded she needed a year. The Judge set another court appointment for February 2007 making two conditions: first-if the interview is not set by then, the Judge would overrule the interview (I guess she would just give us the green card or whatever); second-she would not tolerate any delays by the applicants.
- Interview letter received in January 2007 for the date in May 2007
- February 2007 appointment is being rescheduled for June 2007.

The problem is that my husband cannot attend May 2007 interview and he wants to reschedule. My lawyer tells me that even if they do approve rescheduling it will be rescheduled for another 8-9 months, plus June 2007 is my court appointment for the asylum cancellation case. Oh, yes, to make it more interesting, everything is happening in New York (moved from Florida).

Anyone has any thoughts?

 

[dcAndreas]

I really don't know anything about asylum cases, but here's my take:

In Jan 07 the govt. attorney realized there's a court date coming up in Feb 07, which s/he screwed up twice already (by not setting an interview date). So they schedule the interview for May 07 (and presumably notify the judge and asked for a court date after the interview - hence it got moved to June).

Given that the judge specifically said "she would not tolerate any delays by the applicants" you're gonna be screwed if you try to reschedule, as the interview most likely wont happen before the June court date. So, in other words, in the eye of the judge, the govt attorney held their side of the bargain (even though just barely), while it looks like you didn't. I don't think there's any way around your husband showing up for the interview or your case being denied.

 

[NeShawn]

How important is this to you and husband? You heard what the judge said, why are you willing to risk it after judge specifically said 'not tolerate any delays.' What part of that did you not understand?? You are really taking big risks. You should have asked for another attorney. Ridiculous

MY ADVICE IS TO DON'T RESCHEDULE.