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I just received good news from the USCIS Administrative Appeals Office (AAO).  The AAO agreed with me, and reversed a denial issued by the USCIS Detroit Field Office.

My client has been in the United States for many years.  He entered the United States legally, under a public interest parole.  That parole authorized my client to reside in the United States for an indefinite period of time.  So, he has never been in the United States without authorization.

As we had noted to the Detroit Field Office, and as the AAO stated, my client has a low level of literacy, suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), suffers from depression, and has suffered a traumatic brain injury.

My client has been convicted of two theft crimes.  Because of those convictions, my client was deemed to be inadmissible to the United States.  My client’s mother, a permanent resident of the United States, had begun the process many years ago to help my client to become a permanent resident.

We submitted an application for permanent residence, along with an application for a waiver of inadmissibility, to state the reasons why USCIS should waive his inadmissibility, because a denial of the waiver would result in an extreme hardship to my client’s mother.

The USCIS Detroit Field Office agreed that we had shown that the denial of the waiver would, indeed, result in extreme hardship to my client’s mother, who is the sole caretaker of a household of 8 persons.  Nevertheless, the Detroit Field Office denied the waiver application, stating that my client didn’t deserve to become a permanent resident.

We submitted an appeal to the AAO, stating that the Detroit Field Office made a mistake by denying the waiver on discretionary grounds.  The AAO agreed with us, stating that, “[w]hen considering the totality of the circumstances, we find that the positive factors in this case, including the Applicant’s family ties, length of residence in the United States, and hardship to himself and his family members if he is removed, outweigh the negative factors, and he merits a favorable exercise of discretion.”

We are very thankful to the AAO for their reasoned decision.  I am hopeful that my client will soon become a permanent resident.