08 Apr 2026 USCIS and NVC Lose Mother’s Petition for Daughter
Attorney Michael J. Gurfinkel (left) works like an immigration sleuth to locate a mother’s missing petition for her daughter and then successfully reinstates it.
Nanay Nelfa petitioned her daughter Elyssa (right) as soon as she immigrated to the U.S. in 2016. Three years passed and the whole family was wondering why they never received any notices from USCIS. When Nelfa called USCIS, she was told the file was sent to the National Visa Center (NVC). When Nelfa called that agency, she was informed that Elyssa’s petition had been misdirected elsewhere. Nelfa would call every month for an update but was given a different excuse each time. Adding to her frustration, Elyssa was close to aging out of the petition.
As soon as Nelfa hired Atty. Gurfinkel, the tenacious lawyer used his expertise to locate and reinstate Elyssa’s petition within a month. But then COVID hit and all the immigration offices shut down. The law office continued to work on Elyssa’s case in the meantime. Eventually, Atty Gurfinkel was able to apply the Child Status Protection Act (CSPA) to prevent Elyssa from aging out.
Thanks to Atty. Gurfinkel’s perseverance, Elyssa was granted her green card in October 2024, fulfilling her mother’s dream of not only giving her a brighter future in the U.S. but also finally celebrating the upcoming holidays together after missing out for more than a decade.