On October 9, 2009, an immigration judge in Houston granted a client of our office adjustment of status based on his marriage with a US citizen.  The grant of the permanent residency ended our client＊s seven-year effort in legalizing his status.

The client initially came to the US with an L-1 visa.  He then changed to F-1, but lost his status back in 2002.  Further, he was arrested by the government in 2004 and was detained by the BICE.  When the family sought help from us, we firstly bonded him out from the Immigration detention, and then started representing him in the immigration court.  At the time the client was picked up by the BICE, his wife has only a permanent residence.  Hence, we requested the court to allow us to help the wife to apply for citizenship, and after the wife obtained the citizenship, asked the court for the relief in adjustment of status.

It should be noted that in the hearing of October 9, 2009, the government asked only two questions.  One is whether our client has ever been convicted of any crime, and the other is whether he intended to remain marriage with his wife.  The hearing took only 5 minutes because that prior to October 9, 2009, we have contacted and conferred with the government counsel, and ironed out any possible issues.  In addition to our client, his wife, and their four-year-old son were also presented in the Court.  The judge congratulated our client of receiving the relief, but also advised him to cherish this new status.