Life seems to be filled with paperwork, even though most people detest doing paperwork. I guess I’m a bit of an odd duck because I generally don’t mind doing paperwork. The one qualifier is that I need to feel somewhat confident in knowing how to complete the paperwork correctly. If it’s confusing and unclear, I dislike paperwork along with the masses. But if I have at least a decent idea of what I’m putting down, it gives me that sense of marking things off a checklist (oh so satisfying!), and if I’m helping someone else it also gives me that satisfaction of saving them a little bit of pain.
I recently completed an eight-week Immigration Law course as the first step towards accreditation by the Department of Justice (DOJ) to help people with… paperwork. There’s a little more to it than that, but a lot of it boils down to figuring out what forms to fill out, how to fill them out correctly, when to file them, and how to follow up on them. The need for help with immigration paperwork is great, which is probably why the DOJ allows non-lawyer folks like me to help. The U.S. has a very complicated immigration system, and the lack of some people's ability to travel to and pay for good legal help is also a significant limitation.
In our IAFR drop-in office located in the heart of Fort Morgan, a lot of what I help with is paperwork. Sometimes it is good old-fashioned paper, and other times it is the electronic version of paperwork. My current schedule has me there for five hours on Wednesday afternoons and frequent Saturdays for a few hours. I check the status of forms that were oftentimes filed many months previously and make follow-up inquiries when appropriate. I help with applications for jobs, passports, and travel visas. I help interpret complicated medical bill paperwork and other mail that may or may not be important. Unfortunately, there is also a lot of immigration paperwork I currently can’t help with until I am a DOJ-accredited representative, which will hopefully be the case soon.
One of the biggest themes I’ve faced over and over again while in the IAFR office is the drawn-out struggle for reunification of families. A large percentage of the people I meet with have pending immigration paperwork for family members. Many of them are U.S. citizens or legal permanent residents, but the rest of their families are overseas. The process is not weeks-long or even months-long; it often takes years. The emotions are difficult. The frustrations are completely understandable. It doesn’t feel right that at the end of the day I’m able to close up the office and head home to be with my family, when I have just spent time with people living the single life because their spouse and children are on the other side of the world.
Current team plans are for me to take over more leadership of our IAFR drop-in office in 2024. Please pray that I will be a good leader in that space and with our small team, which includes a volunteer from my church. Also, pray that I will be able to make good connections with one or two immigration law groups in Loveland or Denver so I can acquire some valuable hours of experience. I will need a solid resume in order to convince the DOJ I’m up for the task of doing some immigration paperwork with our partner group in Greeley, part of a broader Immigrant Hope community (www.immigranthope.org). I hope to do well with all of this paperwork!
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