DOLORES was petitioned by her U.S. citizen mother in 2003 as a married child under the F3 classification. After 18 long years, the National Visa Center (NVC) notified them they could now start preparing their paperwork.
Unfortunately, events took a bitter turn when Dolores’ husband had a heart attack and passed away a month later.
Dolores’ brother, Don, consulted with the Law Offices of Michael Gurfinkel where leading U.S. Immigration Attorney Gurfinkel proposed that they inform the NVC of the husband’s death, so Dolores’ petition could be converted from “married” (F3) to “single” (F1), resulting in visas being immediately available for Dolores and her children. Atty. Gurfinkel also requested expedited processing because the petitioner was elderly and sickly. If something happened to her, the petition could be at an end.
The “sweet” ending of this tragic situation was that Dolores and her children, Keno and Kobey, were able to immigrate to the U.S. sooner while the petitioner – Dolores’ mother and the boys’ grandmother – was still alive.
Watch this success story on an encore episode of Citizen Pinoy on Sunday, April 14 at 6:30 PM PT (9:30 PM ET) through select Cable/Satellite providers, right after TV Patrol Linggo. Citizen Pinoy is also available on iWantTFC. Viewers may download the free app.