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Wait, did your friend pay the money to the lawyer or to the USCIS? What paperwork did she file? Did she file it or did the lawyer?
My friend paid USCIS for the paperwork to be taken care of, she hadn't been to the immergration office at that point and according a friend associated with immigrations, you are correct about USCIS being screw ups. My friend and another of our friends is heading directly over to the immergration office when she gets off work this afternoon. We're not worried about any ramifications from being here illigally, that's not the issue, she had her green card, has the A#, just not the physical card, has filed the paperwork and forms required, but USCIS, keeps jerking her around. The lawyer was just someone she spoke with briefly. Another lawyer friend of a family member, says what that other lawyer told her doesn't sound quite right and she needed to get down to immigrations pronto to get a clearer idea about what's going on with her paperwork, which she's doing today.
I've learned two things through the years reading and hearing about immigration cases; 1) The USCIS is a mess that screw up everything. Half the people there don't know what they're doing and they're experts at losing stuff. 2) A lot of immigration lawyers are at best unethical and at worst crooks. Many will tell confused immigrants what they want to hear in order to give them hope, hoping to be hired even though they know full well that there is little hope. I don't know how many times I've heard of lawyers telling their clients not to worry because he will file some papers and take care of their situation as soon as they pay him a few thousand dollars even though the lawyer knew that the situation couldn't be fixed. He doesn't care. He gets paid either way. Some lawyers are downright crooks who take money and do nothing.
A piece of advice I want to give anyone dealing with immigration issues and is using a lawyer is to educate themselves well on the law and procedure so that they know when the lawyer is BSing them and is not doing his job. I'd also recommend that before you hire a lawyer that you consult with at least two or three different lawyers, preferably more (some do free consultations over the phone), to get an idea of whether or not you are being given good, accurate info and if the fees are competitive. Do your homework before hiring a lawyer and don't just hire the first guy willing to take your money. It may also be a good idea to send in any forms to the USCIS yourself to make sure it gets done correctly and on time.
I will get back to this later, I have to run out now, just wanted to touch base.
I really do appreciate all the helpful info you've all offered. I will keep you all informed.
No luck today, the office where she went for info was having pc troubles, this was not as I thought, they had only gone to a different DMV. From now on, I'm typing most of this as she relays it to me, so I'm more accurate about where and when she goes to which office. But I'm cleaning it up a bit after she hangs up so it's somewhat more readable. I was very confused, I guess USCIS is their home land security and immigration office in Tampa; like I said, I'm not familiar with the terms in all of this.
So back when this started last year and After being denied her DL my friend filled out the N-600 forms that were given to her at the USCIS office only to have them mailed back to her with her $600 MO, from the processing office located in Arizona, because they were filled out on outdated forms, (by about five years,) given to her by, who else, but the USCIS person at that office. This time around,(a few months ago), she downloaded the forms from their on-offline site and double checked by calling the Arizona office to make sure the dates on the forms where correct and then proceeded with sending out those forms and so the wait is on.
As previously stated, the big frustration is her not being able to drive while this matter is looked into at the Arizona Imigration processing office. The DMV told her she couldn't have another DL extention, while this process may take up to a year. So She's no spring chinken any more that may have considered trying to hike over ten miles to the office if pushed, but even then she didn't have to be to work at 5am. Sigh. She already is off the phone and is going to give her dad a piece of her mind. Which will probably be just her sobbing whyyyyyyyyyy didn't you take care of this properly from the start but I still love you daddy. He's trying to find the mother's original citizenship papers, she's going over there soon to have him sign notirize sworn affidavit forms to add to her files.
Hopefully, they will find her green card records and this matter will be solved without much more ado. She did have one, she still has the number, she just doesn't have it physically in her posession as she thought she no longer needed it due to being told she was grandfathered in. Silly wabbit.
She doesn't need to find her green card papers. It sounds like she's a citizen but just doesn't have the documentation to prove it required by the DMV. Of course if she isn't a citizen she needs to get a new green card by applying for one and then use the green card to get a new DL. That she turned in her old green card years ago doesn't matter. That card would be useless now anyway. She could just apply for a replacement card now if she's a green card holder. It doesn't sound like she is though.
Once she gets her N-600 in it should take about 5 months for her to get her certificate as long as it was filed and filled out correctly. It shouldn't take as much as a year. At least in normal cases.
Could your friend possibly file an appeal with the DMV to see if she can overturn their denial of the extension? Or at least get some sort of exception that would allow her to go to and from work.
She doesn't need to find her green card papers. It sounds like she's a citizen but just doesn't have the documentation to prove it required by the DMV. Of course if she isn't a citizen she needs to get a new green card by applying for one and then use the green card to get a new DL. That she turned in her old green card years ago doesn't matter. That card would be useless now anyway. She could just apply for a replacement card now if she's a green card holder. It doesn't sound like she is though.
Once she gets her N-600 in it should take about 5 months for her to get her certificate as long as it was filed and filled out correctly. It shouldn't take as much as a year. At least in normal cases.
Could your friend possibly file an appeal with the DMV to see if she can overturn their denial of the extension? Or at least get some sort of exception that would allow her to go to and from work.
She doesn't need to find her green card papers. It sounds like she's a citizen but just doesn't have the documentation to prove it required by the DMV. Of course if she isn't a citizen she needs to get a new green card by applying for one and then use the green card to get a new DL. That she turned in her old green card years ago doesn't matter. That card would be useless now anyway. She could just apply for a replacement card now if she's a green card holder. It doesn't sound like she is though.
Once she gets her N-600 in it should take about 5 months for her to get her certificate as long as it was filed and filled out correctly. It shouldn't take as much as a year. At least in normal cases.
Could your friend possibly file an appeal with the DMV to see if she can overturn their denial of the extension? Or at least get some sort of exception that would allow her to go to and from work.
I believe they denied the extension, because she's already had two and the reason she's had two extensions is because of all the refiling due to misplaced paperwork and or being given wrong documents to file, but they don't want to hear about that even though their offices are the ones that handed her the wrong forms to file. She's allowed to work, she does have enough documentation to keep her here for now but getting to work is a real issue which may get worse if this goes on too long. At present her department supervisor is picking her up and dropping her off, sometimes a work friend, when their schedules mesh, gives her a ride as well. Truly, at this point, getting a ride from her co-workers, shouldn't be an issue considering her past history with helping them out, but that's another story. I happen to know several of the co-workers pretty well and they should be ashamed of themselves for not rising to the occasion without humming and ahhing before jumping in line to give rides to her. Though I know some of their personalities quite well, so I shouldn't be surprised. Sorry, just me venting again.
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She's allowed to work, she does have enough documentation to keep her here for now but getting to work is a real issue which may get worse if this goes on too long. At present her department supervisor is picking her up and dropping her off, sometimes a work friend, when their schedules mesh, gives her a ride as well. Truly, at this point, getting a ride from her co-workers, shouldn't be an issue considering her past history with helping them out, but that's another story. I happen to know several of the co-workers pretty well and they should be ashamed of themselves for not rising to the occasion without humming and ahhing before jumping in line to give rides to her. Though I know some of their personalities quite well, so I shouldn't be surprised. Sorry, just me venting again.
