Hi,

My name is Bill Kadarusman; I am from Indonesia originally, so I don't speak Nepalese. I am also an immigration attorney here in the United States. First of all, I want to express my concerns and shympaty to all Nepalese due to the recent political instability and unrest development in Nepal. I became a political asylee after the unrest that happened in mid-May of 1998 in Indonesia, so I can understand how you feel especially when you think about your family members back home.

For many of you who think that you are affraid to go back to Nepal, I have written "Asylum Standard and Filing Procedures." The document can be found on my website at http://www.immigration-lawhelp

For those who have further questions about asylum process, feel free to call me. I am inviting all Nepalese to ask me questions. This issue of asylum process is personal to me, and I will be very happy to help as best as I can.

Sincerely,
Bill Kadarusman
Attorney at Law
(801) 268-2108 or 1-866-468-2108 (Toll Free)

This may improper on my part and what I have to say below is not an attack on your desire to help the Nepali community but as a Nepali and someone who is aware that there are many who are working overtime to make fools of the Nepali community with all manner of promises, I have to say the following:

For those of you that frequent this forum and may be considering applying for asylum based on the circumstances back home, please be very careful about the attorney's you choose.

As a current law student and someone who has worked in the Nepali community with lots of Nepalese who have been taken to the cleaners by unscrupulous attorney's..please make sure that you know the attorney's history and track record before you hire them to represent you.

Political Asylum is NOT an easy application to make. There a lot of requirements that have to be fulfilled. First of all, applications have to be made within a year of entering the United States and the applicant has to be able to show a fear of persecution or a well founded fear of persuction to them (meaning, you cannot show that becuase you or your cousin is a mamber of the Congress, Communist or even KG's cabinet for that matter, your life is at risk. You have to show that your own Religious, Political, Social Group or National Origin put you at a risk in Nepal)

The consequences of a failed application are sever - deportation is every possibility and yes, you can appeal the decision of the Immigration Judge but the appeal is a very lenthy and expensive process.

I am not telling you to NOT apply, all I am saying is BE CAREFUL!...there are a lot of attorney's who have no concerns about charging am nuch as $3000 for an application and you should not become a victim.

Just another butcher

Thank you for so many comments! The brief article that I posted on my website is free for everyone, and I truthfully testify to you that the content is accurate. It's one way for me to reach out and help the community. Please read it, study it, and question it.

Sincerely,
Bill Kadarusman

I have already applied for the asylum but not getting responses.It has been already 10 weeks what should I do?
I have no lawyer.Please suggest me.

Goahtalo ji,
Have you recieved any notice that the service has recieved your application? You should recieve a letter from them with your name etc telling you that they have recieved your application. This letter should also have a recipet number on the letter.

In order to track your application status, you should call the 1-800 phone number for BCIS and give them the recipet number you were given and they will be able to tell you what the current status of your application is.

Unfortunately, the service normally takes a very long time to get anything done so it could be that your paperwork is in the millions of papers that they recieve but you should call the customer service number as soon as you can and try and find out what the current status of your application is.

If you have any further questions let me know, also, let me know what state you are in and I look for lawyers/organizations that may be there that help low income individuals.

Regards,

Nepaali Ji,


Would you please suggest or recommend for any immigration attroneys around Rhode Island or MA state that might offer service in reasonable fees.

Thank you

Rayy,

Here are a few that I came across. I cannot promise that they will be able to help, but at the very least, they should be able to point you in the direction of people you can contact in case they aren't able to help.

Good luck!
***********************************************

Asian American Civic Association
Chau Ming Lee
200 Tremont Street
Boston, MA 02116
Tel: 617/426-9492
Email: alan@aaca-boston.org


Political Asylum/Immigration Representation Project
14 Beacon Street - Room 804A
Boston, MA 02108
Tel: 617/742-9296
Email: referral@pairproject.org


International Institute of Boston
One Milk Street
Boston, MA 02109-5413
Tel: 617/695-9990
Email: beacon@iiboston.org


Greater Boston Legal Services
197 Friend Street
Boston, MA 02114
Tel: 617/371-1234


Centro Presente
Oscar Chacon
54 Essex Street - 2nd Floor
Cambridge, MA 02139
Tel: 617/497-9080
Email: cpresent@igc.apc.org OR ochacon@msn.com


Centro Presente
Carmen Paniagua
54 Essex Street - 2nd Floor
Cambridge, MA 02139
Tel: 617/497-9080
Email: cpresente1@qwest.net


Refugee Immigration Ministry
Malden, MA 02148
Tel: 781/322-1011

***********************
For the rest of you in other states, the webiste that I got the above information from has listings for various legal Aid prividers in the U.S so here's the link to the website.
http://www.searac.org/probono_legal.html
*****************************************
Gothalo,
Please click on the link above and contact one of the organizations in your state. They may be able to help you get some advice. You cannot withdraw your political asylum application but you always have the right and the ability to supplement it, so, the lawyers may be able to help you make it stronger. Also the interview process itself can be very scary and officers have been known to ask really tough questions to people who are not accompanied with a lawyer so it is in your interest to make sure you get as much legal advice as you can before you get called for the interview. Also, one of these groups may be helpful in tracking down your application

Regards,

Nepaali Ji, how about in denver area?

Unit,

click the link or copy/paste it..like I said, it has listings for every state in the country.

What all of you have to understand is that most of these places are for low income folks and many if not all, have requirements that the person applying for help NOT have any criminal issues involved.
***********************************************

I am in the run up to Law school finals so I will not be around on sajha, but, if you have concerns/questions, post them here and I will try and get to them as I can..forgive me, if it takes me a while to answer but, most of you are students so you know what finals feel ilke :-)

Regards,

NEPALI
I AM A LAW STUDENT TOO, COULD WE CONTACT EACH OTHER? MY CONTACT NUMBER IS 415-202-3215 AND MY FULL NAME IS SANTOSH GIRI. I AM A PRACTICING ATTORNEY FROM NEPAL AND CURRENTLY DOING LLM-MASTERS IN CA.

LETS KEEP IN TOUCH.

http://uscis.gov/graphics/services/asylum/faq.htm#how1
http://uscis.gov/graphics/services/asylum/index.htm
http://uscis.gov/graphics/services/residency/IJBenefit.htm
http://uscis.gov/graphics/services/RefAdjust/index.HTM