I tried to come to the USA legally. I went to the US Embassy in my country, in Haiti, and submitted all the documents, but they refused to give me a visa. After this I got the idea to travel with my brother’s passport, who had an American visa. For white Americans, all of us black Haitians look alike. That’s what I thought at that time.

I easily crossed the border with my brother’s passport. I also took my real passport with me. I started living in the United States, years went by, I dated an American girl, we got married, she gave birth to our son. But we did not know what to do with my immigration problems and documents.

My friends told me about Marina Shepelsky. I honestly explained everything, and she came up with a plan. First, we applied for a green card through marriage, and after this Marina asked the immigration service to forgive me the fact that I entered the United States with a fake ID (this is called a waiver of inadmissibility as I learned). There were two conditions: I had to admit that I came with someone else’s passport and I feel bad about it, and I had to prove that I crossed the border with someone else’s passport legally.

I was lucky to save my brother’s passport, and there was a stamp from border control.

Marina went with me to the interview with an officer of the immigration service. I was afraid that they will arrest me, but Marina calmed me down. We brought proof that I have an American wife and a child. My wife has health problems, and she is a student, so I am the only one who can provide for our family. My wife and our small child are dependent on me. We brought proof of that as well. I also said that I sincerely regret that I have violated US law by arriving with my brother’s passport.

It all worked out and I got my green card thanks to the great work of my immigration lawyer, who proved that I am worthy of the chance to live in this great country and be a proud member of society.