Immigration evaluations

As an Active-Duty Army Social Work Officer, I completed assessments on thousands of Service Members for various situations during my twenty-year military career. While doing this work, I realized that I could tell a client’s story using my clinical assessment skills, emphasizing the psychological factors that influenced their behavior and actions. These reports needed to be thorough, concrete, and meaningful. Those evaluations had to be easily understood and actionable in all scenarios and with a wide variety of commanders.

The ultimate challenge came one day when a Commander began to describe his hurdles with gaining citizenship for an interpreter who had put his life on the line for US Forces in Iraq. I knew this man (and men & women like him) had helped the United States military at significant personal risk. Together, we crafted a compelling personal narrative that helped illustrate his contributions to America that helped him gain his citizenship. Our case was successful, and we now focus our practice on assisting immigrants from all over the world. We work in person or via secured technology online.

At Bryen and Associates PC, we are all clinicians, writers, advocates.

We work with you and your attorney to translate
your experiences accurately, comprehensively, and clearly. We do this using our collective therapeutic skills and cultural sensitivity to help others understand your story.

Psychological assessments can significantly enhance your appeal. Our skilled clinicians diagnose mental health issues such as depression, anxiety, PTSD, and other conditions, using supportive evidence for an immigration petition. These evaluations greatly help Immigration Officials appreciate your experiences and motivation.

Your attorney can use a clinical evaluation to support your case and move you forward with your immigration proceedings. It is a valuable tool when applying for an immigration waiver.

There are a number of reasons why a psychological evaluation would be helpful – or sometimes even required – in order to move forward with immigration proceedings.

 These reports consist of a thorough document your legal counsel can use to strengthen your court case. For example, when looking at asylum cases as an example, while only 30% of asylum seekers  are approved, 90% of those who have a psychological evaluation as part of their asylum application are approved.

If your attorney suggested that you obtain a report of a psychological evaluation, you’ve come to the right place!

The most active part of psychological evaluation with our team will be a clinical interview. It is not meant to be a scary process but more a relaxed discussion with a caring professional. To gather the information, we need to provide USCIS and your legal counsel, we will collect information over two (or more) one-hour sessions.

Session One: An informal interview will assess emotional strengths and weaknesses, mental functioning, and relevant family history. This tends to slightly longer than one hour.

Session Two: Your second session occurs at least a week (7-10 days in most cases) after your first session. It usually lasts approximately 45-60 minutes and consists of a second interview and the completion of diagnostic scales.

All of the information gathered during your clinical interviews will be used to create the report that we provide to your legal counsel as part of your immigration process.

• The finished report will be professional, truthful, accurate, and thorough, typically about 12-18 pages in length. 
• We complete evaluations in 7-10 days. Emergency or fast turnaround evaluations (48hours) are available for cases.
• The report will also consist of a review of pertinent documents, including medical and psychiatric records where indicated, a review of personal and family history, mental status evaluation, the clinical interview, and psychometric testing. Testing helps our team assess mental and psychological distress symptoms, adding additional credibility to the assessment.
• The evaluation details the client’s comprehensive personal history, including educational, medical, emotional, and financial stressors contributing to their desire to obtain an immigration waiver. 

No worries! We provide professional translating services for your sessions that are included in the report fee.

If you are in the Lehigh Valley or beyond we are happy to meet with you virtually via a secure online platform. When you schedule your appointment, you will be provided with an online appointment slot. All you will need for your virtual appointment is an internet connection and an email address.

We take credit cards, payment apps (Ivy Pay, PayPal, Venmo, Cash App) and cash. We typically break payment into two separate payments. One is due the day of your first appointment and the other upon completion of the first draft of your report.