₦airaland Forum

megastu:
How do you mean no immigration lawyer could help you?

I didn't say no immigration lawyer can help us.

A few have been contacted but they weren't able to help out.

I do believe there’s an immigration lawyer out there that can help out in terms of giving vivid options on how to move forward concerning our status in the US.

Helpout12345:
In that case, you can try to apply for refugee travel document from outside. Research more on this route, probably with an attorney familiar with the process.

https://www.uscis.gov/i-131

It's still a gamble because you have already lived safely in Nigeria for 6 years after your asylum claim.

Or if you can withstand all the troubles that come with it, you can explore the Mexico route.

I do appreciate your feedback.

The Form I-131 is supposed to be filed for and approved before you leave US. It'll grant you permission to re-enter US easily. To the best of my knowledge we can't apply for this as we're already outside US .

sihamey:
The challenge you will face is getting US visa will be hard for your and your sister because of your Asylum case in US.
Is unfortunate you were a minor then I should have ask why didn’t you and your sister leave your uncles house and get a separate apartment when the problem started.

Yes. To the best of my knowledge, getting a visa is almost impossible considering we already have a status in the US.
My Uncle and his wife assured CPS they’ll be of good conduct. As I said, after the visit of CPS, he and his wife stopped troubling us. But unfortunately, he was scheming to return us back to Nigeria.

Helpout12345:
It looks like your uncle filed the asylum through affirmative process as you were minors then. Also, it appears your asylum was not granted yet before you were taken back to Nigeria.

If the process was fully approved, you would have gotten green card as permanent residents.

Because the process was not completed, you have been in Nigeria safely since 2016, and most likely now adults, forget about that asylum started by your uncle. Even if you return to the U.S. to continue with that application, it will most likely be denied.

This Asylum was granted and supporting documents of Asylum approval is in my FOIA. Minimum time before you can apply for Green card is 1yr after an approved Asylum. Green card was already being filled for me and my sister but I believe he cancelled that before it was approved.

Again, the problem now is, me and my sister have a status in US, Asylees, which means getting a Visa is unlikely possible. So, how do we return back?

Good Day House!

So I have a special case I need help with.

My sister and I went to visit my uncle, my dad's immediate brother, through a US visiting visa in 2014. While being with him, we got to spend time talking and narrating about personal experiences we had while in Nigeria. Finding out that some of the personal experiences were unpleasant and terrifying, he was pissed and unsettled by how unsafe things were while in Nigeria, so he filed for Asylum for my sister and me. We were then granted Asylum in 2015.

During our stay with him and his wife, we've had numerous misunderstandings and disputes, mostly orchestrated by his wife and her mom, to inflict pain by establishing subtle acts of segregation and physical abuse. The most notable resulting event of this was the visitation of Child's Protective Services (CPS), who my sister's school superintendent contacted because my uncle's wife threatened my sister that she wouldn't go to school anymore and ordered her to report to the school that she wouldn't be coming anymore.

After the visit of CPS to the house, things started getting better — His wife started being less malicious. Then a day came when my uncle and his wife called us to the room to have a short talk; where my uncle asked my sister and me where we'd like to go for vacation between Ethiopia or Nigeria (this was the summer of 2016). Of course, we selected Ethiopia — One because we haven't been to Ethiopia before, and it would be a worthy experience. Two, even though we hadn't set eyes on our mom for almost two years, we knew we were Asylees and weren't supposed to return to your country unless you want to forfeit your Asylum.

On the trip to Ethiopia, we had two stops — One at Frankfurt airport, and the second in Nigeria, 2016. Long story short, he dropped us in Nigeria with our mom and went back to the US. Plus, he held back our Asylum papers till this date. At the time, we were minors and weren't able to do anything about it — My mom went to the US embassy concerning this issue, but unfortunately, no worthwhile outcome came from it.

We've applied for FOIA to get an idea of my status in the US. Records showed that my uncle wrote to USCIS stating that he returned us back to our mom and that Nigeria is safe.

The reply from USCIS says that they won't be terminating our status “since subjects appear to be out of the country” and should “notify the Asylum office in the event the subjects return to the United States and apply for any other immigration benefits”.

The big question now is how do we return to the US? since my uncle has all the original documents with him.

We have tried contacting multiple immigration lawyers but have not been able to get any help — We paid some and got no feedback as well.