18NadeenA – CA Work Experience Program

Day 8 (psyche, it’s my day 4)

Today was a pretty interesting day to say the least. I worked some more on some case files, and I helped fill out an I-90 application. This application is for the renewal of a green card for a permanent resident, and it can be due to either losing your green card or having a mistake/error on your green card. The clients I-90 that I helped fill out, had a green card with an error that was made by the DHS (Department of Homeland Security). It is very important for the client to receive her renewed green card as it is detrimental to her stay in the United States. I also worked on translating another document from English to Spanish, and I have to say, I think my brain is fried. I spent a good hour and a half translating the document, and I am still not even close to done! It has been really interesting to finally be able to use my knowledge of the Spanish language to aid others, as well as become more fluent in a foreign language I did not grow up listening to.

An important thing I learned today was the I-864 petition, which is a petition for sponsorship. I learned that anyone can sponsor someone to receive a green card, the only requirement is that their income be at a certain amount. When looking at payments, the number of people always starts at two because it includes the sponsor and the person looking to be sponsored. The reason I bring this up is because the firm received a consultation that had to deal with a joint sponsorship. This means that two people are looking to sponsor someone to receive their green card because one of the people does not receive enough income and or a substantial amount of income. With that in mind, the sponsor has to sponsor all 10 years the person they are sponsoring holds their green card, and the only exception is if the person they are sponsoring receives their citizenship within those 10 years. At that point, the sponsor is no longer liable. I learned that most of the time, the petitioner is considered the principal financial sponsor, which is why the petitioner is normally the U.S. citizen in the family. In marriage cases, the petitioner is the U.S. citizen spouse.

Over the past 4 days I have learned more about immigration then I have over the past 17 years I have been alive. I hope to continue learning more about immigration and its impact on society. It is important to note that I am not actually done with my work experience. My time at the firm is continuing throughout the summer, and I will continue making my work my first priority. I have had so much fun these past few days, playing chess, learning how to make phone calls, learning how to make appointments, and most importantly, going over and researching cases. I can’t wait to learn more and work for the next few weeks!

Day 7 (psyche, it’s my day 3)

Today was a pretty low-key day at the office. I spent most of the day filling out a document for one of the clients. I transferred information from birth certificates, tax papers, and just basic personal information. It took quite a bit of time to fill out because there were sections that I was not sure if I should fill out. Some of the spaces I ended up leaving blank because the documents didn’t hold the information to fill out those sections. Since they are empty, the attorney has to go back and ask for that information as they have to send in a completed form. I learned a decent amount about the differences between cases, especially when they deal with different things. For example, there is the classic I type of document or petition, but there is also a N document or petition. The I stands for Immigration, and all documents that have that have to do with receiving a green card or a visa. The N stands for Naturalization, and all documents that have that have to do with citizenship. It is really interesting the different forms of citizenship there are and all the different ways to receive it.

An example of one form of citizenship is when you are born on U.S. soil. That means you are granted automatic citizenship because it is considered a “birth right”. Something interesting I learned today is that if a child holds a green card, and there parent received their U.S. citizenship, that makes the child an automatic U.S. citizen. Rather than applying for a classic N-400, they would apply for a N-600 which is specific to those kinds of cases. I provided an image of the worksheet that would be needed to be filled out, and it is very important to realize all the different steps that are necessary to take when applying to receive a certificate of citizenship. This is necessary because those who become automatic citizens through their parents need a form of identification, so the certificate is detrimental to their stay in the U.S.

I also learned about this thing called an Alien Number. Apparently, when applying for a green card, each person is given a unique number, and the number is never repeated. This number stays with the person forever and is normally 8 digits. Recently, due to the large influx of immigrants, the amount has gone up to 9 digits. Most of the time the 9th digit is a 0. After today, I can’t wait to see what is in store for the rest of my time at the firm. I am very excited for tomorrow and I hope to be doing a lot of helpful and impactful work on my last day of my WE!

Day 6 (psyche, it’s my day 2)

Today was a very eventful day, exhausting even. I did so many things and learned so many things that my head hurts. First, I sat in on another practice interview where the client was questioned about the government of the United States, the history of the United states, and more. What’s interesting is that I actually spoke in Arabic during this interview and I acted as an interpreter during the time I was present. I helped translate a lot of the information that they didn’t understand, and it was really cool that I was able to use my third language to help someone else. I also worked a lot on my Spanish, especially since I had my first phone call (in Spanish). I set up an appointment for someone who had already had a consultation, making it easier to set up a time and to give the attorney time to free up their schedule. I learned how to translate an entire legal document from English to Spanish, and it took quite a bit of time. Right as I was about to finish, I accidentally exited out of the document and I almost lost all my work! It took me about 15 minutes just to retrieve my file, especially since I had no idea where to start looking. Once I found it, I quickly finished and tried my hardest to do the best I could do.

Something really important that I learned is how immigration goes through the court systems and how some sections of government have more power over others. I am talking specifically about I.C.E, C.B.P, and U.S.C.I.S. All of these are government organizations under the Department of Homeland Security that are meant to help regulate the flow of immigrants as well as issue Visas, Green Cards, and eventually, U.S. Citizenship. Speaking of Visas, there was an act passed in 1997 that talked about the consequences of staying in the United States unlawfully. If someone enters the country on a non-immigrant Visa, they are allowed into the country for 6 months. If they overstay their 6 months and then leave the country, there are not allowed back into the United States for 3 years. Furthermore, if you stay in the United States for over a year after you were supposed to leave, you cannot enter the U.S. for 10 years after leaving. This is very important when it comes to returning citizens or people applying for a green card.

In regards to time, most cases take over 6 months. Some take years. These times are specific to the type of Visa, especially if the visa is a family sponsored immigrant visa. There are 4 (technically 5) types of family sponsored visas; the F1, F2A, F2B, F3, and F4. The time for each varies based upon the country that you come from. A lot of the information is on the picture I have provided, especially the amount of years a case can be pending before it is taken into consideration. In the end, I learned a lot today and I can’t wait to learn more about the government system and TPS and more!

Day 5 (psyche, it’s my Day 1)

Today was my first day at The Law Offices of Omar Baloch. The place I am working at is an immigration law firm and they focus on different cases regarding communication, immigration, DACA, and citizenship. Today I began learning how to talk with clients and gathering there information. I learned how to fill out a client intake which allows the attorney to gain some basic knowledge about the client prior to the actual consultation. I realized that being tri-lingual was going to be very helpful, especially since a lot of the clients are from outside the United States. It was interesting to see the different cultures and different languages that were being showcased at the firm. I used Spanish for the first time since my AP, and I was kind of surprised I would be using it so soon. I learned how to make phone calls in Spanish and communicating with possible and returning clients whose English was not as great as their native language. It was surprising to see the amount of cases the firm has, especially since a large amount of the cases are still on-going.

I also experienced my first interview with a real client. Technically, it was a practice interview that the client had to go through in order to somewhat experience what an actual interview to get your citizenship would be. My mentor went through multiple possible questions that the actual citizenship test could have. Some of the questions were specifically about North Carolina and others were about the federal government, and there were a few that I didn’t even know! Going through APUSH this year actually helped me figure out some of the answers, and helped me understand a lot about the legal system. The client also went through a literacy test that seemed to be fairly simple, yet for some it might be a difficult. It was interesting to see how marriage has a lot to do with immigration, and how the idea of family can give someone opportunities that weren’t present before. A spouse, who is a United States citizen, can help the client in applying for either a VISA, Green Card, or citizenship.

An important thing to note is that there are multiple different types of visas. One of the ones I learned about today was the U-Visa. In order to qualify for a U-Visa, the client has to meet 4 requirements. First, they have to be a victim of a crime. Second, they have to be helping in the investigation of THEIR crime. Third, the client has to have been substantially harmed by the crime. Fourth, the client has to be a person of good moral character. It is really interesting to me that there are so many qualifications and tests and programs that a person has to go through, all just for a Visa. I am very excited to learn more about immigration law and I can’t wait for my second day!