In-person pick up interview decision

I

iceny

Registered Users (C)
Hi All,

I have been reading this forum for quite a while but just recently register. I had my interview couple weeks ago and was supposed to pick up the decision at the local office last Thursday 05/31. However, I was out of town at that time, making me unable to come and pick it up in person. My attorney told me it's okay and the decision would be mailed out to me.

I still don't receive anything up until today. My question is do you know how long do they usually take to mail the letter out? Can I show up at the office tomorrow morning and pick up the decision or will it be too late as the scheduled date was 05/31?

I can't wait to find out what's going on. Thanks a lot in advance for all your response and advices.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Have you asked your lawyer this question? If he gave you advice to skip picking it up initially..he should be able to answer this question too?
 
It's okay guys. I just got a phone call from my lawyer. He said they refer me to immigration court scheduled in 2 wks from today. I don't know what to do now :(
 
Need advice

I'm debating whether or not I should go for the court hearing in 2 weeks, or just let it go and maybe go to a 3rd country.

Do you know what a court hearing is like? I tried to look in the forum but it seems like most topic is about GC processing through asylum, not the process to get the asylum itself. Honestly, I don't have a lot of savings left to spend on the lawyer's fee. I'm just afraid after all the money spent on the lawyer's fee, I'm still not granted and left with no money to relocate to another place :( If any of you got any opinion, I would really2 appreciate it.

::confused:: ::confused::
 
iceny said:
I'm debating whether or not I should go for the court hearing in 2 weeks, or just let it go and maybe go to a 3rd country.

Do you know what a court hearing is like? I tried to look in the forum but it seems like most topic is about GC processing through asylum, not the process to get the asylum itself. Honestly, I don't have a lot of savings left to spend on the lawyer's fee. I'm just afraid after all the money spent on the lawyer's fee, I'm still not granted and left with no money to relocate to another place :( If any of you got any opinion, I would really2 appreciate it.

::confused:: ::confused::
Click to expand...

Hope my advice helps you. I was granted asylum from Immigration court in New York City in January 2007. Even though you might plan to go to a 3rd country, you still have to attend your court hearing. If you don't, the court will consider that you have abandoned your case and an arrest warrant will be issued. I say this because, in our third court appearance, we were fifteen minutes late for our hearing, we had an arrest warrant already written up which of course was later cancelled.

My advice is to go to court and fight your case. You never know what the future holds for you. I was illegal in this country since 1997 and my brother since since 2001. We were arrested by Immigration officials from our house at 6am in November 2005. My brother did not want to fight the case because he thought we did not have a case. I never gave up hope. I am just like you, I did not have the money to take a lawyer. We fought the case ourself. I really did not see the need for a lawyer because the prosecutor and the judge will be questioning you and the lawyer has no say. It seems you have a good understanding of the English language which is really helpful. Whenever I had a doubt about the court process, I would ask the judge and he would give me an answer.

As far as the process goes, it took us exactly one year for our case to be over. Our first hearing was in January 2006. The judge asked us if we had a lawyer. We replied no because we could not afford one. We told him, we will handle the case ourself. He was okay with that. What we did was we asked the judge what documents he needed and that was exactly what we gave him. One our first hearing we mentioned that we were going to apply for asylum and we need some time to gather all the documents. Our next hearing was scheduled for June 2006. Here we submitted our documents. The judge checked to see everything was in order. After that our next hearing was in November 2006. Here, the Judge and the DHS attorney will interrogate you. We were imterrogated for two and a half hours. Our next hearing was scheduled for January 2007. The judge spent two hours explaining why he gave the decision that he gave which was in favor of us. Mind you the first two hearings, the court is full of other people whose case will be heard that day. The interrogation and the decision hearings, the court will be empty. After the decision, you have to wait for 30 days before the decision becomes final because the judge gives DHS 30 days for which they can appeal the case. My suggestion, go to court and fight the case. The USCIS website has some great information about how to go about asylum. It does mention some court cases which are the basis of asylum which are very helpful.

By the way, your decision letter should give you reasons why your asylum was denied. Read it carefully and address them. Wishing you the best of luck and remember we are always here to help you the best we can.

Keep us posted!
 
this is VERY GOOD INFO. I also got my asylum granted by Imm. Judge and you DO have to fight tooth and nail. The same way you found this forum where people are most frenetic about their GC, you will find others where people are asylum seekers. That is what i did and many others.

The life of an asylee is not easy from the get go, so never expect anything on a silver platter.



mesbahul said:
Hope my advice helps you. I was granted asylum from Immigration court in New York City in January 2007. Even though you might plan to go to a 3rd country, you still have to attend your court hearing. If you don't, the court will consider that you have abandoned your case and an arrest warrant will be issued. I say this because, in our third court appearance, we were fifteen minutes late for our hearing, we had an arrest warrant already written up which of course was later cancelled.

My advice is to go to court and fight your case. You never know what the future holds for you. I was illegal in this country since 1997 and my brother since since 2001. We were arrested by Immigration officials from our house at 6am in November 2005. My brother did not want to fight the case because he thought we did not have a case. I never gave up hope. I am just like you, I did not have the money to take a lawyer. We fought the case ourself. I really did not see the need for a lawyer because the prosecutor and the judge will be questioning you and the lawyer has no say. It seems you have a good understanding of the English language which is really helpful. Whenever I had a doubt about the court process, I would ask the judge and he would give me an answer.

As far as the process goes, it took us exactly one year for our case to be over. Our first hearing was in January 2006. The judge asked us if we had a lawyer. We replied no because we could not afford one. We told him, we will handle the case ourself. He was okay with that. What we did was we asked the judge what documents he needed and that was exactly what we gave him. One our first hearing we mentioned that we were going to apply for asylum and we need some time to gather all the documents. Our next hearing was scheduled for June 2006. Here we submitted our documents. The judge checked to see everything was in order. After that our next hearing was in November 2006. Here, the Judge and the DHS attorney will interrogate you. We were imterrogated for two and a half hours. Our next hearing was scheduled for January 2007. The judge spent two hours explaining why he gave the decision that he gave which was in favor of us. Mind you the first two hearings, the court is full of other people whose case will be heard that day. The interrogation and the decision hearings, the court will be empty. After the decision, you have to wait for 30 days before the decision becomes final because the judge gives DHS 30 days for which they can appeal the case. My suggestion, go to court and fight the case. The USCIS website has some great information about how to go about asylum. It does mention some court cases which are the basis of asylum which are very helpful.

By the way, your decision letter should give you reasons why your asylum was denied. Read it carefully and address them. Wishing you the best of luck and remember we are always here to help you the best we can.

Keep us posted!
Click to expand...
 
Well done.

mesbahul said:
Hope my advice helps you. I was granted asylum from Immigration court in New York City in January 2007. Even though you might plan to go to a 3rd country, you still have to attend your court hearing. If you don't, the court will consider that you have abandoned your case and an arrest warrant will be issued. I say this because, in our third court appearance, we were fifteen minutes late for our hearing, we had an arrest warrant already written up which of course was later cancelled.

My advice is to go to court and fight your case. You never know what the future holds for you. I was illegal in this country since 1997 and my brother since since 2001. We were arrested by Immigration officials from our house at 6am in November 2005. My brother did not want to fight the case because he thought we did not have a case. I never gave up hope. I am just like you, I did not have the money to take a lawyer. We fought the case ourself. I really did not see the need for a lawyer because the prosecutor and the judge will be questioning you and the lawyer has no say. It seems you have a good understanding of the English language which is really helpful. Whenever I had a doubt about the court process, I would ask the judge and he would give me an answer.

As far as the process goes, it took us exactly one year for our case to be over. Our first hearing was in January 2006. The judge asked us if we had a lawyer. We replied no because we could not afford one. We told him, we will handle the case ourself. He was okay with that. What we did was we asked the judge what documents he needed and that was exactly what we gave him. One our first hearing we mentioned that we were going to apply for asylum and we need some time to gather all the documents. Our next hearing was scheduled for June 2006. Here we submitted our documents. The judge checked to see everything was in order. After that our next hearing was in November 2006. Here, the Judge and the DHS attorney will interrogate you. We were imterrogated for two and a half hours. Our next hearing was scheduled for January 2007. The judge spent two hours explaining why he gave the decision that he gave which was in favor of us. Mind you the first two hearings, the court is full of other people whose case will be heard that day. The interrogation and the decision hearings, the court will be empty. After the decision, you have to wait for 30 days before the decision becomes final because the judge gives DHS 30 days for which they can appeal the case. My suggestion, go to court and fight the case. The USCIS website has some great information about how to go about asylum. It does mention some court cases which are the basis of asylum which are very helpful.

By the way, your decision letter should give you reasons why your asylum was denied. Read it carefully and address them. Wishing you the best of luck and remember we are always here to help you the best we can.

Keep us posted!
Click to expand...

Well done man...very good advice...thanks for taking the time, we need people like you here!!!!keep up the good work!!!
 
Thanks Mauricio22, I will keep your advice in mind. It won't be easy but it's doable.

meshabul, thank you very much for sharing your experience. I guess I just have to go on and fight for it. I got my degree here in the US, been here almost 8 years. Admitted to graduate school but postponed it due to money issue. Besides, I wasn't too sure what I wanted to major in.

The letter I got stated that I did not show enough evidence of fear of past persecution?? And that it didn't relate to me or my family enough to show that my life was endanger?? (don't remember the exact words as I left the letter at home). Also, that I didn't show enough evidence for future persecution if I go back to my country.

I'm a bit confused as during the interview, the IO clearly said that I seemed to be the perfect candidate to stay in the US. I had my degree here, no criminal record at all. He even said that he was pretty sure no matter where I go, I will always contribute to the society. He said that I had a well rounded fear and I looked very honest to him. So, the letter really confused me as it was saying the opposite :(

Another thing, along with the letter was a list of free lawyers who can help me with my case. Do you know if they are as good as the ones who charge you thousands of dollars?

Thanks a lot all. Your support really means a lot to me.
 
Iceny: Hope you will win your case. I did not get my asylum through the judges, so I don’t really know much about how the process works; however, I would like to give you my general advice. First of all, do not give up. The thought of going to third country seems easy, but it is not an option for you. You should work through the courts.

Also, one thing that is very important for asylum is to read very carefully the denial letter. It should state why they denied you asylum. You must find evidence for the reasons the asylum officer denied you asylum. Asylum is all about persecution; it has nothing to do with your contribution to society, your good character, or how many degrees you have. You must prove to the satisfaction of the judge that you were persecuted in the past and that you will be persecuted if you return to your home country.

As far lawyer goes, if you have one fine; if don’t have one, that should not deter you from going to the court.

Good luck; do not give up…you are now going through a difficulty period, you will be better when the judge grants you asylum. Also do not rely on good faith to get you asylum. Make a good case for you asylum; the good faith should get you through the difficult time in your private time, but a strong case should help you before the judge. And before judge focus on your past persecution and future persecution…good luck
 
faysal: thank you for the support. I know personality doesn't amount to the decision. I was just amazed at how the IO mentioned that I did have a well-rounded fear and I looked honest to him but the result came out totally different.

Anyway, here's what is said on the Referral Notice:

You have not established that you are a refugee because:

Past Persecution
You have not established that any harm you experienced in the past, considering incidents both individually and cumulatively, amounts to persecution.

Future Persecution
You have not established that there is a reasonable possibility you would suffer persecution in the future.



Maybe I need to go back to my country, get stabbed and come back here to show the scars (just kidding!)


By the way, will I need a lawyer for the master hearing in 2 weeks? I knew meshabul mentioned the first 2 hearings will have other people in the courtroom but his case was a bit different than mine, in a way that I already had my first initial interview at the local office in Anaheim, CA. Thanks guys. Your support really helps me a lot.
 
I think there is a problem with USCIS. I think they enjoy rejecting cases. A co-worker of mine from Nepal applied for asylum. He showed them proof of persecution both past and potential future. Even the interviewing officer sympatised with him. Two weeks later when he went to pick up his decision. His application for asylum was denied. The reason was the same as yours. I am beginning to think that that is a standard reason given to everybody.

Immigration Courts is part of Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) within the Department of Justice while USCIS is part of Dept. of Homeland Security. EOIR is on top of USCIS. You are fighting against USCIS infront of EOIR. In my opinion, Immigration judges are more knowledgeable than Immigration officers because Immigration judges have been practising Immigration attorneys in the past. In my case, the judge was a practising attorney for over 25 years before he became an immigration judge.

An overview of my case might help you. I am a native of Bangladesh and have never been to Bangladesh in the last fifteen years. I am only 31 years old. I have never been persecuted. However, I grew up outside of Bangladesh in Africa where I was for twenty years. Currently, there is alot of religious violence going on in Bangladesh. My father is an Islamic teacher in Africa but visits Bangladesh regularly. He gives lectures against these violence and alot of people in my village were not happy because they have already been brainwash. Alot of people specially affiliated with the Govt were against my father. My uncle was taken in jail two years ago without any charges and he is still in jail. I told the Judge my past persecution was none. I grew up in a third country. I have potential to be persecuted if I am deported to Bangladesh because of my affiliation to my father and uncle and the fact that I live in the U.S. which is a western country with western ideologies and the Judge agreed with me. I had to overcome the one year rule. Another reason why I won the case was a mistake by the DHS attorney. After he conceded the fact that I could be in danger, he wanted me to get deported the third country where I grew up. I nailed him big time on that because I was not a citizen of that country even though my parents still live there. It pays to listen very carefully the is being said in court during the hearing. So many trick questions can come up.
 
When putting your story together you should be able to answer some basic questions such as who persecuted you, when, how, why and where. This all need to match.Every detail you remember needs to fit the frame. This shouldn't be hard if your story is genuine.

Before you appear in front of the judge your should have versed yourself to the point where you are not skipping anything from what you experienced.Remember....you have to convince the judge and the state attorney.They don't know your country and your particular details.Give them the whole show.
ohh....and don't forget to pray
 
After all of your stories and supports, I will definitely proceed with asylum. However, I'm still debating if I should keep my lawyer (and spend another couple thousands of dollars which I don't really have) or go with the free ones on the list they provided along with the Referral Letter. I'll find out when I talk to my lawyer tomorrow.

My friend told me that during the individual interview, your lawyer (not the DHS attorney) will also ask you questions in your favor. Is this true? If yes, wouldn't it be better to go with lawyer than without?

I did my best to keep my story straight and cover all the who, when, where, how and why. I'm just nervous because I don't have much clue as to what they're going to ask me. Is it pretty much the same questions with what the IO asked last time?
 
Most of the questions I was asked came from the application and the personal statements we had put. One key piece of document to submit is the Human Rights record of your country of persecution from the Dept. of Justice. The judges look very closely on that. Most of my evidence was through newspaper clippings, Dept. of Justice human rights record, a statement from myself and my brother, a statement from my father and the application. That was it.
 
" After all of your stories and supports, I will definitely proceed with asylum. However, I'm still debating if I should keep my lawyer (and spend another couple thousands of dollars which I don't really have) "

I think you able to apply for work permit after your initial interview. So don't hire a free lawyer.
 
i won asylum by appeal

iceny said:
After all of your stories and supports, I will definitely proceed with asylum. However, I'm still debating if I should keep my lawyer (and spend another couple thousands of dollars which I don't really have) or go with the free ones on the list they provided along with the Referral Letter. I'll find out when I talk to my lawyer tomorrow.

My friend told me that during the individual interview, your lawyer (not the DHS attorney) will also ask you questions in your favor. Is this true? If yes, wouldn't it be better to go with lawyer than without?

I did my best to keep my story straight and cover all the who, when, where, how and why. I'm just nervous because I don't have much clue as to what they're going to ask me. Is it pretty much the same questions with what the IO asked last time?
Click to expand...



dear iceny:

i applied for asylum in 1996: i was denied by the IO

my case was trnsfered to the immigration judge: i was denied on 1998

i appealed my case to the EOIR : i was granted on feb 2000

the whole process is gambling, but i like to mention something very important

BEFORE SEP 11 2001, THE EOIR WAS MADE FROM MANY LIBERAL JUDGES, THEY WERE VERY SOFT WITH ASYLEES WHO APPEAL THIER CASES, THE
APPROVAL RATE WAS VERY HIGH BY THE COURT,

AFTER SEP 11, ALL THE LIBERAL JUDGES WERE REPLACED BY CONSERVATIVE
JUDGES WHO HAVE NO SYMPATY TO ASYLEES,
NOWADAYS ONLY FEW PEOPLE ARE WINNING BY THE EOIR,

I DONT LIKE TO DISMOTIVATE YOU, ITS A CHOICE YOU HAVE TO MAKE BY YOURSELF,

BUT IF YOU KNOW THERE IS A 3RD COUNTRY THAT WILL ACCEPY YOU,
MY ADVICE TO YOU IS GO, YOU HAVE DEGREE , IT WILL BE EASY TO IMMIGRATE TO CANADA, CANADIAN PASSPORT IS LIKE AMERICAN PASSPORT,


GOOD LUCK
 
Dear All,

I met up with my lawyer last Friday. He said definitely to go ahead and proceed with the court. My chance of winning (unless I got a real jerk) is 90%. Unfortunately, there are about 7-8 judges that deny everyone. So, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that bad luck won't have time to visit me this time.

He also told me that this time in court, he will have a say since he will be asking me questions and can lead me to the right direction when telling my stories while in the local office, lawyers have no say at all. So, I think it would be best to keep him with me although money is terribly tight at the moment.

Oh by the way, I still haven't been assigned a judge yet, which may mean it will be postponed again to a later time. Not sure if this is a good thing or bad since my clock is still running (fortunately).
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top