Elinor K Tesfamariam

Elinor is an exceptional lawyer. Her expertise, professionalism, and attention to detail are exceptional. She always goes above and beyond to ensure that i receive the best possible outcome. She has great communication skills. She was always available to answer my questions and address my concerns, ...making me feel comfortable and confident throughout my asylum process. I highly recommend Elinor.

I’m so proud of her and I do recommend her for anyone who needs an immigration lawyer around DMV area. She really knows what she is doing. Few years back, my case was referred to an immigration court for a very trivial reason and I have been wondering what my fate would be during my individual hearin...g if I face a government attorney or judge who is not that much reasonable. During that long-awaited frustration time, she was so composed and more than 100% sure that we would win our case. Apart from what she did as my lawyer, she was advising me to wait for my case patiently while answering tons of questions that I’ve been asking as a panicking client. I would like to mention one simple example that can vividly show how she was cautions in organizing my documents like the declarations, affidavits, d/t pictures and also representing me. As any client who has a good understanding of how the individual hearing works, I was expecting my hearing to take between three to four hours. As the hearing started, the judge asked my lawyer and the government attorney to have 5 mins in separate meeting/chat room and discuss so that whether the government attorney had anything to say regarding my case or not. I had the chance to join that meeting and watched my lawyer articulating how my case was referred to the immigration court without a solid reason. The government attorney was convinced with my lawyer’s justification. I wish I clapped for my lawyer at that moment but kept quite as if nothing has happened. Then we joined the main hearing session again with the judge saying she was so surprised why even such a well-organized and convincing asylum case was referred from the immigration office to the court. Then the judge added by saying that she checked every content of the two declarations line by line and, she checked the pictures my lawyer filed which I took while I was abroad. So, with a surprising tone, she repeated the same question that she asked few minutes back “Why this case is refereed in the first place, all those pictures and the dates they were taken align with the story in the declaration without a single inconsistency?”. It’s that time where my lawyer stepped in and clarified in detail why the immigration officer referred my case to the immigration court without even having a single inconsistent statement from me when I was asked by the officer or from the documents that I submitted. So, while I was thinking what the question-and-answer session would look like between my lawyer and I and also between the government attorney and I, the judge forwarded her question to the government attorney asking her whether she has any question regarding the files she received and also whether she has an interest to dig further with this application by asking questions. Miraculously she said she was fine with the justification that was given by my lawyer, and she didn’t see any inconsistency with the document she received that leads to further questions. Just like the judge she added that she doesn’t understand why this case was referred to the immigration court. And at that specific moment, I understood that I had the best lawyer in town who knows what she’s doing starting from documenting properly, convincing government attorney and the judges. So, the judge granted my asylum case within 25mins while I was expecting it to take between 3-4 hours. Before winding up my review, I would like to thank her assistant Ayda who relentlessly responded to my questions and helped me schedule meetings with my lawyer Elinor K Tesfamariam (whom I call BOSS).

I not only recommend attorney Elinor Tesfamariam, but I guarantee once you have used her service you too will look no further. She responds in an extreme timely matter, she is a very knowledgeable, trustworthy person. There is no other attorney that will work as hard for you. I used Elinor for my mom...’s naturalization, she was patient and made my mom feel safe and helped her understand the process. She is a wonderful attorney and I could not have been happier and I will never go anywhere else.

Preparation. Upon my initial consultation with her, she explained to me the way the whole asylum process works. She asked me for my story, and guided me on what to expect on the day of going for the actual asylum interview with the immigration officer. She was extremely thorough and knowledgeabl...e, demonstrating her vast experience as an immigration attorney. I continued to see her over the next couple of weeks leading up my application for asylum being filed. During this time, she helped me polish up my final Declaration, which she would go through and provide pointers on how to improve it. With my assistance, she then prepared the I-589, Application for Asylum and Withholding of Removal form. I also received a copy of all those documents for my records. Two weeks prior to me going for the asylum interview, Ms. Elinor compiled a pack of documents for the USCIS, which included all the relevant documentation to support my case. These were my Declaration, Supporting Letters from Witnesses, copy of my Passport, Country Report and her own brief analysis of the the situation as it stands in my country for LGBT activists. Asylum Interview. She accompanied me to the asylum interview and took notes. These notes proved to be particularly valuable as I was called back to give a second clarification interview as the immigration officer had paraphrased some of her notes. Ms. Elinor’s notes were crucial in assisting us clarify the statements that the immigration officer had queries on. They saved us much time in getting through the entire process.