my husband is a legal resident of the US and when he was in his 20's he had charges that were filed against him.. 17 yrs late he is picked u...

Question

my husband is a legal resident of the US and when he was in his 20's he had charges that were filed against him.. 17 yrs late he is picked up by ice for the charges.. we were told by the judge since we had been engaged for 3 yrs he was giving us 90 days to marry and file and i-130 , we got a lawyer.. we were married with in the time frame we were given, but our lawyer never filed the paperwork and then asked for a change of venue and without our knowledge she asked to be removed from our case(after the judge in Washington state told her she must finish and follow this case till the end).. so the change in venue was her way of getting out of it.. on his third master hearing in portland oregon she blinde sided us by asking to be removed from the case.. my husbands last hearing is tomorrow and we just found out this week she never sent the i-130 in or the g-325 .. on top of that she never filed anything never did any work and took our money leaving us with nothing, along with quiting she has since been disbarred. I need to find out if there is any way we can get and extension on his case so that we can file the proper paperwork , get out tax returns back so we can hire a new lawyer and start this again.. and since she did make a change in venue does this means the process starts over and he can get all 4 hearings or is this his last and final one?

Answer

1. find a new lawyer right away.

2. File a complaint with the WA state bar against her and try to access the security fund to recover money the money.

Robert West

Answer

I'm so sorry for your problems. I agree with the recommendations of my colleague above. I would just add that it is important that you attend your next hearing and explain the situation. The judge will give you additional time, if you ask for it, to find another attorney and get your paperwork filed properly. Make sure you have all of the fees you need, etc so that the process can be started immediately. Also you should know that USCIS will send you receipt notices when things are filed on your behalf so if you aren't getting them you know that something is wrong. Best of luck.