In November 2019, my client was in deportation proceedings, without many options. I filed a request for his records, and discovered that his father had filed a petition for his mother when my client was a little boy in Mexico. Mom never got the visa, but I convinced the immigration judge that my client was previously eligible as a derivative beneficiary. This was key, because without the original priority date, a visa would not be available for my client for a very long time. The judge granted my client’s application for adjustment of status. He is now a lawful permanent resident of the United States.