Success Story: Baydaa & Qasim Al-Kawaz

Pictured left to right: Hussein, Baneen, Kewan Asaad (CLIA Accredited Representative), Baydaa Al-Kawaz, Qasim, and Hawraa

The process of filing paperwork, being granted interviews and finally getting residency is a long and arduous process.

Baydaa came to the U.S. from Iraq for a medical reason in April 2022 where she met Qasim through mutual friends and later married him.

Baydaa’s children Hussein, Baneen, and Hawraa — who were still in Iraq — were not able to travel to the U.S. for her medical procedure because they didn’t have visas.

Qasim, a U.S. citizen, petitioned Baydaa and his stepchildren and applied for her green card, which they were able to do because she was in the U.S. legally).

Qasim and Baydaa came to CLIA for help in September 2022. Their biggest obstacle was their lack of knowledge about what to file and where.

We helped her obtain permission to leave the country to see her children in Iraq, obtain legal permanent residence (green card) in April 2023, and expedite her children's cases.

Her children’s I-130s were approved right after Baydaa received her green card. Almost a year later, in February 2024, the embassy in Iraq scheduled their interviews, and they were able to travel to the U.S.

After nearly two years, the family was reunited. Baneen, Baydaa’s daughter, is planning to learn English and continue her medical schooling here in the U.S. Baydaa, who was a lawyer in Iraq, is currently looking for a job.

Success stories like these make two years of waiting worth it.

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