Grace Montesino Esnardo

My name is Eunice L, I live in Ashburn VA with my husband and 3 children and I want to share my story with anyone going through immigration issues in hopes that my story encourages you not to give up. I would like to begin by expressing my greatest appreciation to Grace for an excellent job done duri...ng what I refer to as the most difficult challenge during my entire stay here in the USA. I have been in the USA since 1992 and got my first green card in 2010 through my husband who is a naturalized citizen. Until this point, I had not visited my home country, most people would have had the opportunity to at least take a visit to their home country but I did not, In fact, I enrolled into nursing school and right after graduation I obtained a job and then filed for my citizenship in 2013 and I hadn’t the slightest idea what turmoil I was about to endure. On the interview day I was so excited, said my prayers and appeared for it. Unfortunately, the interview did not go well, I had answered all test questioned correctly and passed but there were questions about a previous work permit I had applied for about 20 years ago, this work permit was filed as a request for Asylum, but it had been over 2 decades and remembering the details of it became a difficult task. Later, the officer ended the interview and said that I will be hearing from them. I felt like the whole world was crushing down on me. In the next couple of weeks, I received a letter from immigration denying my citizenship application stating that I appear for another round of interview, I was at work when my husband called and broke the news to me. This was a very difficult time for me and my family, bear in mind that my husband works for the government and with the shock of the news he was literally having a nervous breakdown, we were not sleeping at night and were in total disarray. My husband started discussing about getting an attorney but knew I did not want to have to travel to DC for an immigration attorney because we live in northern Virginia, so my husband did some research and that is how we met attorney Grace Esnardo. Everything was looking dark and hopeless during this period, I had so many unanswered questions; such as will I be able to continue working? Will I have to return to my home country? is this case fixable and if possible, how long will it take? Will I ever become citizen? The questions went on and on in my mind. However, I have to admit that the first time I met Grace I slept better than I had slept in several days and the reason being that she was so welcoming, I told her my entire story and she addressed all my concerns, I even broke down sometimes crying but she was so hospitable, she told me she had had similar cases before she assured me that I would come out of this but it would take a few years or a little longer and that I needed to be patient. Her fees were reasonable, and she absolutely works with you if you are unable to provide it all at once. Well immigration finally concluded that I had misrepresented but Grace knew just what to do. To cut the long story short, Grace had to file for another green card along with a 601 waiver, the previous Green card had to be cancelled due to the issues that came with it. I attended many interviews, but Grace was present and prompt with every one of them supporting me. It’s been 5 years through this entire ordeal at some point the head of immigration at the Fairfax county location even contacted Grace during the final part, and that goes to tell you how good my attorney is. Finally, I am happy to say that I received my new permanent residence card 2 weeks ago, I’m literally in tears as I type this part. Personally, my favorite thing I love about Grace is her bubbly personality, her great sense of humor made me forget my situation at times when I was with her, she is so easy to talk to, it felt like talking to a friend. Saying “thank you” is not even enough. She is the best.