Working closely with a team of students from the University of Michigan Law School and in partnership with employees of Firm client Synchrony Financial, Weil lawyers successfully represented an Afghan family in accessing the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program and receiving a special immigrant visa to resettle in the United States.
Our client, an Afghan man, had assisted the U.S. Army as an interpreter and feared for his and his family’s lives while remaining in Afghanistan. Weil became involved in 2017, and two years later, our client and his family have successfully made it to the United States and have relocated in Northern California. The team worked closely and regularly with our client to navigate the complicated and difficult visa issuance and resettlement process.
The Weil team also worked closely with the International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP) to provide our client with updates, explain the many complications and delays associated with the visa process, and help direct him to resources in the United States to assist his family upon arrival. When a delay in travel resources arose that jeopardized the years of work to use the special immigrant visa, Weil stepped in to pay for the travel of our client and his family to the United States.
The Weil team includes partner P.J. Himelfarb and associate Daniel Tavakoli, as well as former Weil associates Reid Powell and Megan Richardson. The Synchrony Financial team includes former Weil partner and Senior Vice President and Chief Corporate & Securities Counsel Danielle Do and Vice President and Counsel Bernadette Savage. Weil 2018-2019 summer associate Michael Goodyear, a student at the University of Michigan Law School, provided outstanding and invaluable support.