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Our client of the month for June 2022 is YMM, who has been a client of Benach Collopy since 2013 and sought and was granted citizenship this winter.  In addition to being one of the loveliest people one could ever hope to meet, YMM is a Spanish national who worked with BC Partner Dree Collopy to seek lawful permanent resident status along with her husband.  She and her husband were granted green cards in 2015 based on an approved extraordinary ability (EB-1) petition.  However, like many permanent residents with demanding careers, both she and her husband needed to spend significant amounts of time outside of the United States for their work as journalists. 

Dree worked with them from 2015 on to advise them and take concrete steps to maintain their lawful permanent resident status despite their lengthy trips abroad for their work.  Then, in 2020, YMM became eligible to seek U.S. citizenship and again worked with Dree and the BC team to prepare and submit her application for naturalization to U.S. citizenship. 

Senior Attorney Sarah Pitney attended YMM’s naturalization interview with her and was there to advocate on YMM’s behalf when the USCIS officer posed difficult questions about YMM’s physical presence in the United States and potential disruptions to the continuity of her residence, a requirement for naturalization.  Following the interview, USCIS issued a request for additional evidence, questioning whether YMM maintained her residence in the United States during one of her lengthy trips abroad.  Dree and Sarah pushed back hard and filed a thorough response demonstrating YMM’s extensive ties to the United States, including her home and financial ties, as well as her strong emotional and community ties to this country. 

USCIS was quickly convinced, and YMM officially became a U.S. citizen on February 12, 2022 (though if you ask her, she had been a U.S. citizen at heart for many years!).  We are lucky to call her a fellow citizen and know that she will continue to make great contributions to our country.  Congratulations YMM!