Immigration Legal Services
A Success Story
When Habiba*, a middle-aged Afghani woman, fled her homeland in 1998, it was with the belief that her daughter Suri* had been killed. After entering the U.S. and settling in Austin. Habiba learned Suri was alive and also had managed to flee Afghanistan
Full of renewed hope upon learning of her daughter's survival, Habiba contacted Catholic Charities of Central Texas. Could they help her make sense of the complicated process required to reunite with her daughter?
Filing the necessary refugee relative petition was a long and arduous process, full of challenges for both the Catholic Charities staff and family. Due to lack of d ocumentation establishing the family relationship, Catholic Charities staff was required to do a great deal of research, then collect affidavits of friends and family to demonstrate the validity of the mother/daughter relationship. (Afghani birth certificates do not list the mother's information, so collecting affidavits turned out to be an essential part of the case.) Additionally, family photos and mementos were gathered to prove Suri's age and relationship to Habiba. Finally, after two years of research, interviews and appeals, mother and daughter were reunited.
Though Catholic Charities served as the advocate in this situation, this is a story of the coming together of a community to help a family in need. Catholic Charities could not have completed the work without the full support and resources of Habiba's family and friends, Farsi and Dari translators, Congressman Lloyd Doggett's office, and other local nonprofits who originally referred Habiba to Catholic Charities.
* name has been changed
- Though Catholic Charities served as
the advocate in this situation, this is
a story of the coming together of a
community to help a family in need.