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This isn’t Gabriela’s first success story with Southam Law. About a year ago, Southam Law helped Gabriela renew her DACA status. This was helpful in anticipation of what came next: a green card. Gabriela entered the US as a young child and grew up in the US. In short, she’s a DREAMer. She married a US citizen, but could not become a lawful permanent resident (that is, get a green card) in the US because she didn’t have a lawful entry.

Käthe became a permanent resident several years ago based on her marriage to her US citizen wife, Laura. The two were happily living together in Chicago with their sons when Laura was offered a post-doctoral fellowship in Europe. Laura of course wanted to take the fellowship, but Käthe was worried about losing her green card status in the US. Living in Europe could jeopardize that status. Käthe also wanted to apply to become a US citizen, but for that application, she had to prove that she and Laura had lived together in the US for three years.

Naziha came to the US several years ago as a student. Naziha was married at that time but things were rocky, and ultimately she decided to divorce her husband. Her husband and his family had previously been gruff with Naziha, and their attitude only worsened after the divorce. Naziha continued to live and study in the US. She eventually also had a falling-out with her own family, and that’s when Naziha began to worry for her safety in her home country.

Weronika came to the United States with her parents when she was a young child. Her father was a student, and Weronika went to elementary and then high school in the US. When Weronika graduated from high school, she was thrilled to be admitted to a prestigious university with a scholarship. However, as a dependent on her father’s student visa, she could not accept the scholarship as planned. That’s when Weronika came to Southam Law.

Claudia and Marco have know each other for some time. Claudia came to the US with her parents as a child, but after several years returned to her home country. Marco meanwhile is a citizen of the United States. Later in life, Claudia and Marco got married. Based on this marriage, Marco applied for an immigrant visa so that Claudia could move back to the United States to join him. Unfortunately, the US consulate denied Claudia’s visa, saying she was ineligible to enter the United States due to her prior trips to the United States.

Marisol and her son Benjie came to the US over fifteen years ago and have been fighting to stay in the country for almost as long. A few years after she arrived in the US, Marisol met Johnny in an online chat room (this was before the time of Match.com and long before Tinder). Marisol and Johnny went on a date not long after, and they clicked. As they spent more and more time together, Marisol and Johnny fell in love, and they decided to get married.