Hi everyone, my friend is an Afghan woman who has been a US citizen for some years. She is currently sponsoring her elderly mother who is here with her in the US for citizenship; that is in process. She would like to bring her siblings over; they had to flee Afghanistan this past year because they had worked for an American company in the past (not the government) and felt their life was threatened in their community as a result. They are in Iran now, and having an extremely difficult time. I believe they have their Afghan passports with them.
I don't myself know anything about immigration, but I advised her to get an immigration lawyer to hep her. She said that the person who helped her with her mom's paperwork said it's not possible to bring her siblings over from Iran because they are no longer in Afghanistan. However, they cannot go back. He also said that he doesn't think she makes enough money to sponsor them. She isn't well-off; her husband drives for Uber and she is in childcare, but they aren't destitute and I believe her older son is working now too.
She asked me if I knew of any cheap / free refugee/immigration services that could help her in this process -- she reached out to some refugee resettlement agencies, but they only work with refugees who have already made it here and don't handle the legal side of getting them permission to come. I've done a little research, but it looks like places like RAICES also only work with people who are already here? Are there pro bono lawyers out there that can give her advice and walk her through the paperwork?
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source https://www.reddit.com/r/immigration/comments/qyj026/immigration_services_for_us_citizens_afghan/