Attorney Alena Shautsova Wins Half-Century Old U.S. Citizenship Battle

New York, NY, April 05, 2016 --(PR.com)-- After his retirement, a sixty three years old Italian born, life-long resident of Ronkonkoma, New York visited a local social security office to inquire about the correct amount for his social security check, and he could not believe his ears when he heard that he might not be able to collect a penny. Apparently, despite the fact that he spent decades in the United States, attended a school in Brooklyn, held a union job, and paid taxes, “the system” did not have necessary proof of Mr. P.’s* Immigration status, and hence the earned funds could not be distributed.

At first, Mr. P. tried to resolve the situation on his own. He went to a local USCIS office hoping to obtain some proof that he is “legal” in the country which all his life he considered his home. The officers at USCIS only shook their heads and showed Mr. P. a blank screen: there were no records for Mr. P. in their computers. The officers were able to locate a half page record for his father who passed away a couple of years ago. The page contained only numbers and officers explained that all other records were missing, perhaps, lost forever.

Mr. P. came to Immigration office of Alena Shautsova asking for help: his ability to support himself and his family dependent on us being able to prove he was and still is in fact, a U.S. citizen. The records presented were scarce: understandably, Mr. P.’s parents who emigrated to the U.S. from Italy in the 1950’s were preoccupied with earning a living and supporting their family, rather than following formalities of the U.S. Immigration laws. The fact that all the Immigration records for Mr. P.’s father were missing did not help either. The laws for citizenship through parents have been changed several times, and it was important to put together all the pieces of the puzzle to help our client.

Upon review of the print out from USCIS for Mr. P’s father, Ms. Shautsova was able to determine that Mr. P.’s father, who was born in Italy, was a U.S. citizen: the number contained on the print-out was in a form assigned only to those who were considered citizens by birth through their parents under the U.S. laws in effect in early 1900’s. Luckily, Mr. P. had a copy of Certificate of Naturalization for his mother. Using this evidence, they were able to determine that both of Mr. P.’s parents became citizens before his 18th birthday, and that was sufficient to conclude that Mr. P. was a born U.S. citizen as well.

The only step left was to persuade USCIS to issue Mr. P. proof of his citizenship in a form of certificate of citizenship. With the help of the Congressman Lee Zeldin’s office, Mr. P.’s case was expedited, and on March 25, 2016 he took an Oath of Allegiance.

The correct reading of a short print-out resolved a 50 years old dilemma!

Ms. Shautsova is a New York Immigration attorney and can be reached at (917) 885-2261 or office@shautsova.com.

*To maintain his privacy, we do not disclose client’s full name.