Save your documents and evidence instead of burning, shredding, losing, or destroying them

In most cases, a person’s eligibility for immigration benefits may be based on their ability to properly document their entitlement. People who could have had their cases approved run into problems because they either threw out, or could no longer find, critical documents, establishing eligibility. For example:

• I have had people ask me if there is anything that can be done about their denial. When asked to produce a copy of that denial, they state, “I was so upset, that I tore it up, burnt the paper, and then threw the ashes into the Pasig River. I also forgot what it said.”

• Some people who marry a US Citizen may be questioned in the future about the bona fides of that marriage. When asked to produce photos, love letters, and joint documents, they say, “I was so upset with him, that I threw out or burned all those papers.”

• Sometimes a person is required to prove that they were in the US on December 21, 2000, in order to establish eligibility under Section 245(i), but state, “I moved so many times, that during one of the moves, I lost all those papers.”

• Sometimes people say that they mailed certain forms or documents to USCIS or to the Embassy. But when asked for a copy of what they sent, they state, “Oh, I sent it by regular mail because it’s cheaper than certified mail, and I didn’t make a copy of it.”

You should never be shredding, burning, tearing up, or throwing such papers into the Pasig River, because you never know if you may need them in the future. In many cases those documents could actually help your case, or help you prove your eligibility for an immigration benefit. That is why it is so important that you keep your papers in a secure place, and I would strongly advise that when applying for immigration benefits, you seek the assistance of a reputable attorney, who can assist you in gathering the documents (that you have saved and preserved), and provide them to the USCIS or Embassy, proving your eligibility. But if you lost or destroyed key documents, establishing eligibility, it just makes your chances that much less.

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