Sarah E. Kaehler, with the assistance of Yael M. Steiner and Elizabeth Collins, obtained permanent legal residency for a Tibetan refugee. The client lived in Tibet prior to the Chinese invasion and occupation. She initially fled to Nepal after her husband was imprisoned and beaten by the Chinese government for his family’s social and ethnic group. Many years later, the client was repeatedly imprisoned and beaten by the Nepalese government for attending peaceful, pro-Tibetan demonstrations. She eventually fled Nepal for the United States.
The matter was initially referred to Kramer Levin by Human Rights First as an asylum claim. During removal proceedings, our client’s son was granted U.S. citizenship. With the assistance of Kramer Levin, the son submitted a Petition for Alien Relative on behalf of the client. Pending the outcome of the Petition, the Immigration Court granted our joint motion with the Department of Homeland Security to dismiss the removal proceeding without prejudice. The Petition was complicated by the challenge of (i) establishing their parent-child relationship due to the lack of birth certificates and (ii) the lack of documentation regarding the client’s prior arrests in Nepal. The Petition for Alien Relation was later granted and the client applied for and obtained permanent legal residency.