The immigration process is unquestionably challenging. It takes a long time and communication between government agencies and those who are applying for visas, waivers, a green card, or citizenship, is often unclear. At the Ranchod Law Group, we step in to make this process easier for our client, and we face the challenge with confidence.
A big source of frustration comes from the long, drawn out process—results seem so far away. We have laws, regulations, requirements, and government requests we need to address. When clients come to us frustrated, anxious, or worried, we can assure them that we are doing everything we can on our end. The fact is, decisions won’t happen overnight. Working with the US government is never easy.
We regularly interact with the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). By that name alone, you would expect this agency to be prepared to answer questions related to all things immigration. Unfortunately, that isn’t always the case, and due to that fact alone, one of our biggest challenges at Ranchod Law Group is just in interacting with the USCIS.
It is time consuming to communicate with USCIS. It may take an hour to get through to a representative that has a limited understanding of immigration law. We might call requesting a specific piece of information and their answer may be incorrect, or they may not have the information we are requesting, leading to more delays. We have encountered situations where the USCIS requests documentation we have already provided through RFE, which means we have to go through the process of resubmitting. Occasionally, they are unclear about a request, meaning we have a lot of guesswork on our end.
When they make a request like this, we have 30 to 90 days to respond or our request will end in a denial and we will have to appeal. Depending on the request, it can put a lot of pressure on us to get everything just right and to fulfill their requests to the letter. It’s a challenge we face head on. Our goal is to give our clients the best results possible, and we never lose sight of that. There are individuals, families, and companies who are depending on us. Of course, we cannot guarantee results, as these decisions aren’t in our control. We successfully respond to every request the USCIS sends us, and if any of their decisions aren’t in a client’s favor, we appeal, and keep pressing forward!
That’s what it is to face challenges. We can’t let them get us down, or we will never overcome them.
This is the kind of attitude I take home with me every night. My personal challenges may not compare to the challenges of many of my clients, but I don’t let obstacles stand in my way. Recently, I got a cold. If you recall, I’ve been working to get healthier and into better shape. This cold knocked me out for a week, and as anyone who has been in this situation knows, it’s not easy to get back on track after being sick for a while. My goal was to get back into my routine and not give myself an opportunity to slip. And so far, I’ve been successful! The hardest part was getting back into the gym, but after 10 days of procrastinating, I got back on track!
Another challenge I’ve been facing is gluten—or the lack of gluten. I feel much better than I did before removing it from my diet, but there are so many foods I miss. Sourdough bread, toasted with butter. Chocolate chip cookies. Chocolate cake. I guess we can say any baked good made with chocolate. I don’t expect the cravings to go away anytime soon, but I don’t give in.
The real challenge, going beyond these cravings, is coming home from work and wanting a big dinner. I know there is a lot of research that says the last meal of the day should be the smallest, but it’s the one I crave the most! I try to eat a healthy snack (carrots and cucumbers with hummus or nuts) before dinner to help compensate so I don’t eat as much. It helps a little.
As I’ve been working toward a healthier lifestyle, I may face setbacks and cravings, but I continue to push forward and focus on achieving my goal of better health. I know if I face this challenge with optimism and confidence, I’ll make it through, just as I know when we keep this same attitude with our clients, we set ourselves up for a more positive outcome.