Free legal clinics help Nepalis in Virginia file for Temporary Protected Status
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- MRN
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- Announcement
After the April 2015 earthquake the United States designated Nepal for Temporary Protected Status, which allowed Nepalis already in the country to stay and work legally. The designation was worth nothing to anyone who could not complete the paperwork.
The organisation announced a free filing service for Nepalis living in Northern Virginia, Washington DC and Maryland, staffed by pro bono attorneys who completed and filed applications at the event itself. Places were limited and allocated by lot from a web form. Applicants were told to bring all their legal documents.
The first session was held on 11 July 2015 at an office in Reston, Virginia, lent by one of the board members. A second followed on 25 July, at which ten applicants filed. The organisation reported that all ten left able to complete the process themselves.
It is the only programme in the archive that served Nepalis in the United States rather than in Nepal, and it fits the organisation's pattern: a specific, bounded problem, solved with donated professional time rather than money.
