ILSAA Stories

Sayed: From Afghan Journalist to Green Card Applicant

Sayed, a tall man in his 30s, who was a journalist in Afghanistan, entered the United States with his wife and two children in 2021. After settling in a rural area, the family was able to obtain asylum status without too much trouble.

His difficulties navigating the U.S. immigration legal system began when the family moved to a large city, and he tried to apply for a green card—which, compared to asylum, can be a much longer and more complex application process.

Sayed faced problems common to Afghan immigrants: he needed help identifying which documents he needed, translating the forms, and even just knowing what to do first. He knew he needed legal assistance but wasn’t sure where to turn. “I did not know any friends in the new city, so I had a lot of problems,” said Sayed. “I contacted six or seven different offices to help me, and, unfortunately, they didn’t respond."

Then, an Afghan acquaintance told him about free legal services available through ILSAA, a program funded by the Office of Refugee Resettlement to provide immigration legal services to eligible Afghans in the United States. The friend told Sayed that ILSAA had helped many Afghans and characterized their services as “very good.” Sayed was skeptical. “I thought, ‘Maybe it’s possible or maybe it’s impossible…but I will send ILSAA my information.’”

Sayed got a pleasant surprise. “ILSAA responded after only one day!”

Once he had been found eligible for ILSAA support, Sayed was paired with an immigration lawyer. Sayed’s lawyer walked him through the application process, helping him gather and translate the necessary documents, answering his questions, and pre-registering Sayed at an upcoming free ILSAA legal clinic.

Because ILSAA provides services in Dari and Pashto, the two most common Afghan languages, Sayed’s lawyer was able to communicate with him in his native language. "Sometimes my English wasn’t good,” he said, “so they switched to Dari. They made it easy for me to understand the documents.”

When the date of the ILSAA legal clinic arrived, Sayed was ready: pre-screened, pre-registered, and all of the necessary documents had been collected. This preparation helped make it easier for the volunteer lawyers at the clinic to prepare Sayed’s final green card application and submit it to USCIS.

“It took a long time to arrive to that point,” said Sayed, “but it was a very important day for me.”

Ahmad: Finding Legal Help Along the Immigration Journey

Ahmad, a dark-haired man in his early thirties, who had been an Airforce pilot in Afghanistan, arrived in the United States in spring 2022. He was on his own, separated from his wife and three children, who remained in Afghanistan.

During his first months in the United States, Ahmad moved among short-term accommodations with friends. He struggled to find an affordable place to live and a job that paid him enough.

When it came time to file for asylum, Ahmad sought assistance at local resettlement agencies. Due to heavy caseloads, they were unable to help him at the time. He looked into hiring a private attorney but found he could not afford it.

“I called three or four attorneys,” he said, “and they told me it would be $350 an hour. But how can I pay $350 an hour when I don’t have anything in my pocket?”

Ahmad felt some urgency to file for asylum status because he knew the sooner he was granted asylum, the sooner he could file for family reunification. So, he watched a few instructional videos and attempted to complete the application by himself.

Unfortunately, as he said, “There were too many mistakes.” The application had been pending for 17 months when, through word of mouth, he heard about ILSAA, which provides free immigration legal services to eligible Afghans in the United States. Ahmad contacted ILSAA, and following an intake interview to determine his eligibility, his case was assigned to an ILSAA attorney.

Ahmad’s ILSAA attorney refiled his asylum case, starting again at the beginning. “They corrected all my mistakes. After they re-submitted my case to USCIS, my lawyer even went with me to the interview,” he related.

Being granted asylum was a significant milestone for Ahmad but just one step on a longer immigration journey—and his ILSAA attorney was able to help him progress. Being apart from his children is a difficult situation for Ahmad. In February, his attorney filed a family reunification application to bring Ahmad’s wife and children to the United States. In August, ILSAA helped him submit his green card application. Both applications are currently pending, and Ahmad's lawyer stays in touch, letting him know about any case updates.

“I didn’t try to do it myself,” he laughs. “I said to myself, ‘From now on I will not do anything without an attorney! Even if I get a stop sign ticket, I have to get an attorney!’”