Three Years of Sylvia and Norma: The Bilingual Team Behind Our Seattle Immigration Law Firm
Seattle Immigration Lawyer Lesley Irizarry-Hougan, Norma, and Sylvia
Last week we left the office behind and got on a boat.
We boarded at South Lake Union, went through the locks of the ship canal, and came out onto Elliott Bay with downtown Seattle on one side and the Olympics off in the distance. The sun was out, which in Seattle is its own kind of gift. The reason for all of it: Sylvia and Norma have each been with L.I.H. Law for three years!
Three years is a long time in immigration law. It covers a lot of policy changes, a lot of waiting, and a lot of families whose entire lives were riding on a piece of paper. It is also long enough to say something with confidence that a lot of firms cannot: when you call our Seattle immigration law firm, the person who answers speaks Spanish, and so does everyone she hands you off to.
Meet Norma: The First Voice You Hear When You Call
If you have ever called our office, you have talked to Norma. She is the first voice most of our clients hear, and often the voice they hear on the hardest day of their case.
She schedules the consultations, answers the questions people are nervous to ask, and keeps track of dozens of families at once without ever making anyone feel like a file number. People call our office scared. They usually finsh their call feeling like somebody is on their side. That is Norma.
She does all of it in Spanish and in English, which means nobody waits for a callback from an interpreter to find out when their appointment is.
Meet Sylvia: The Person Protecting Your Paperwork
If you have a case with us, Sylvia has had her hands on it. She prepares the documents, tracks down the records nobody can find, and catches the small mistakes that turn into big problems months later.
Immigration paperwork is unforgiving. One wrong date on an I-130 family petition, one missing signature on an N-400 naturalization application, and a family waits another year. Sylvia's attention to detail has protected many people who will never know how close a call it was.
Like Norma, she works in both languages, which matters more than it sounds. A client can read a draft declaration in Spanish, catch the detail we got slightly wrong, and fix it before it ever reaches USCIS.
Their Impact
Our clients come to us carrying things that are difficult to talk about. Sylvia and Norma meet them with patience every single time.
They remember names. They remember which case belongs to which grandmother, and they ask how she is doing. They stay steady when someone is falling apart on the phone. That kind of care cannot be trained into somebody. You either have it or you do not, and they both have it.
So thank you, Sylvia and Norma. Three years of showing up for people who needed somebody to show up for them. This firm would not be what it is without you.
Work With Our Seattle Immigration Team
L.I.H. Law is an immigration law firm in Seattle, located near the Space Needle at 2nd Avenue and Denny Way. We handle family petitions, marriage green cards, citizenship and naturalization, U visas, VAWA petitions, K-1 fiance visas, waivers, and DACA. Our entire staff is fluent in Spanish.
Call us at (206) 838-7628. Se habla español.
