María De Lourdes Lizaola Pozos obtained the best gift that an undocumented mother can receive, permanent residence in the United States, after 30 years of living in the shadows.
“My second daughter, Alma Leticia Varela presented the petition for residency. She is 30 years old now, but since she turned 21 years he was telling me to investigate and find a lawyer. And if I looked at many, but one and the other told me that they could not help me. Every time I left a lawyer’s office with a refusal, my morale would drop. ”
And so it was several years until found a lawyer who agreed to help him in his process of getting out of the immigration darkness and becoming a resident.
María de Lourdes entered the United States in February of 1990 with a tourist visa and stayed permanently in the country. In Guadalajara, Jalisco, his native land, his parents and 10 remained.
“I came with my husband and my eldest daughter, María de Lourdes who currently has 31 years and is a recipient of DACA (the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program). My two youngest children Alma Leticia and Ricardo were born in Los Angeles. ”
During the three decades that she lived without immigration status, she trusts that What he longed for most was not being able to travel to Mexico and see his family. “My parents got a tourist visa and they came to visit me. But then in 2016 my mother died and I couldn’t travel to see her and say goodbye ”, he remembers.
Despite the fact that the lawyers she consulted in her desperate longing to get out of immigration limbo, they gave him no hope, he never gave up and one day he met the lawyer Sergio Siderman who agreed to take up his case.
In October of 2018 started process I – 130 of permanent residence through the petition presented by his daughter Alma Leticia, born here.
In January of 2021 received your first work permit. On April 7 he had his interview with the Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS); On April 13 he was notified that his residency had been approved and this week he received the resident card, valid for 10 years.
“ I already did it!”, Recalls María de Lourdes who said animatedly to herself. “Some friends tell me, ‘You already believe yourself a lot for being a resident’. I tell them that I am still the same, but the truth is that I feel very good and more at ease. If something happens with my family in Mexico, I can now travel ”.
The second Mother’s Day gift was given to her by her eldest daughter, María de Lourdes. “He paid me the ticket to go to Mexico in October. I am going to meet my brothers whom I have not seen for more than 30 years and meet again with my Dad. ”
Meanwhile, what he wants the most is to get his driver’s license as a resident.
And without thinking, he says that the residence is the greatest gift he has received on Mother’s Day, and he will celebrate it by no less than traveling to Tijuana. “My daughter Alma Leticia has invited me and says that she is going to take me to eat a very good meal that they make there.”
And the The celebration will follow in October when he travels to Mexico after decades of not setting foot in his hometown. “We are going to go to the October Holidays and also to the beach,” she says enthusiastically.
Because María de Lourdes entered the country with a Tourist visa, he did not have to apply for a pardon or travel to the US Consulate General in Ciudad Juárez for an interview.
“If no would have entered legally, would have had to go through the consular process and go to Ciudad Juárez ”, he explained.
And he mentioned that many people think that for have exceeded the time allowed by the tourist visa, they can not fix. “As long as they have not committed serious crimes, there is a way to obtain residency, either because they married a citizen or resident, or because a child was born in this country. With the great advantage that they are not obliged to go abroad and qualify for a work permit that they can use before the residence interview. ”
Questioned about The reason why other lawyers could not help her, she believes it could be because they were not immigration lawyers and because they did not know the issue, they preferred not to take the case.
The lawyer Siderman He said that the residence card was given to María de Lourdes in record time. “It has been the opposite of the worst moments of the COVID pandemic – 19.”
And he adds that the story of María de Lourdes is a good sign that the USCIS is taking steps to catch up with the thousands of cases stalled due to the health crisis.
“I recommend to those who have a pending immigration case to constantly ask for information. It is vital to keep your information up to date with the USCIS as any change of address. ”