Friday, September 30, 2011

Tinian Schedule

MLSC will be on Tinian for client contact and new intake on October 5th, 14th, and 286th. Please call the Saipan Marianas Office, 234-6243, for an appointment or stop by the office in Tinian if you need assistance.

Thursday, September 29, 2011

Rota Visits

MLSC trips to Rota for October 2011 will be on October 13th, 20th, and 27th. Call our Saipan office to schedule an appointment or more information (234-6243) or visit our office in Rota on the scheduled dates.

Monday, September 26, 2011

Second Parole-In-Place Workshop

The Marianas Office of Micronesian Legal Services Corporation will be hosting a series of workshops to help people prepare Parole-In-Place applications. These workshops are aimed at those foreign nationals / aliens who have no other options for their status. Each workshop targets a specific category of foreign nationals who are likely to have success or may have a good chance at success in getting Parole-In-Place from the USCIS.



The SECOND workshop is scheduled for Sunday, October 16, 2011 at American Memorial Park at 1 PM. It is for ONLY those foreign nationals who are 1) spouses or widows/widowers of or 2) parents or children of citizens of the United States of America.

Parole-In-Place is an option of last-resort. Generally speaking, where other options are available, like the CW permit for those employed, those options should be exhausted first. Although MLSC will conduct the workshop to help people understand the process and put together their applications, no individual legal advice will be given. MLSC will not be accepting cases or filing on behalf of those who attend the workshops. The purpose of the session is simply to help get information out and help people utilize the process as successfully as they can.

Each workshop will be conducted in English. Each workshop is limited by the capacity of the auditorium at American Memorial Park. If there are no auditorium seats available, the sessions will be closed. For more information, contact the Marianas Office at 234-6243.

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

About Ben Tured

UPDATE: Intentions for Ben Tured are included in the 6 AM Mass at Kristo Rai every day this week through Tuesday, September 27. There will be a Memorial Mass at 6 PM on Tuesday September 27, 2011 at Kristo Rai Church on Saipan for Ben.

Our Executive Director, Benjamin Tured, died on Monday September 19, 2011 in Yap. He worked for our program for many decades, first as a counselor starting in 1981 (a trial assistant/paralegal in Yap, Micronesia, when it was part of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands) and then as a Directing Attorney (Yap office) after he graduated from William S. Richardson School of Law in Hawaii, and eventually as our MLSC Executive Director since 2004.


Ben and Mercy-sunset cruise 2009

He was still on the job in June 2011 when he developed worsening head and neck pain, which turned out to be an aggressive form of brain cancer.


Waiting to depart, sunset cruise 2009 -Jane & Ben

We are all grieving with his family--his wife Mercy, his children Maru, Sevahn and Joshua, and the many people whose lives he touched with his warm, intelligent and humorous personality.


Toasting Omar (not in photo): Ben and Lolita

His MLSC family will miss him terribly.

(Condolences to Mercy and family may be sent to her care of MLSC in Saipan or Yap:
Box 500269, Saipan, MP 96950 or Box 206, Colonia, Yap FM 96943.)

Thursday, September 15, 2011

Parole-In-Place Workshops


The Marianas Office of Micronesian Legal Services Corporation will be hosting a series of workshops to help people prepare Parole-In-Place applications. These workshops are aimed at those foreign nationals / aliens who have no other options for their status. Each workshop targets a specific category of foreign nationals who are likely to have success or may have a good chance at success in getting Parole-In-Place from the USCIS.

The first workshop is scheduled for Sunday, September 18, 2011 at American Memorial Park at 1 PM. It is for ONLY those foreign nationals who are spouses or widows/widowers of citizens of Palau, the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), or the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RepMar), collectively called the Freely Associated States (FAS).

Parole-In-Place is an option of last-resort. Generally speaking, where other options are available, like the CW permit for those employed, those options should be exhausted first. Although MLSC will conduct the workshop to help people understand the process and put together their applications, no individual legal advice will be given. MLSC will not be accepting cases or filing on behalf of those who attend the workshops. The purpose of the session is simply to help get information out and help people utilize the process as successfully as they can.

Each workshop will be conducted in English. Each workshop is limited by the capacity of the auditorium at American Memorial Park. If there are no auditorium seats available, the sessions will be closed. For more information, contact the Marianas Office at 234-6243.

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

MLSC's 2011 Back-to-School Project--A Success!

The 2011 Back-To-School Project sponsored by Micronesian Legal Services Corporation wrapped up another successful year. MLSC provides a means for attorneys and others to contribute in-cash or in-kind for school supplies for needy children. There is a direct pass-through of all donations. The recipient children come from many of the families that MLSC serves for their legal problems and others referred to the organization from community members.







This year, MLSC distributed 79 backpacks with supplies inside, including a binder, filler paper, notebook composition book, pencil bag with pens, pencils and erasers and additional items like crayons and glue for elementary students, graph paper and compass-protractor sets for middle school students, and white paper and correction tape for high school students.
















Donations to the project came from more than two dozen members of the Bar Association and staff, Congressman “Kilili” Sablan and his staff, and Mount Carmel High School’s National Honor Society, which conducted an in-school drive to help collect supplies.



“We know that we alone cannot fill the need that exists,” said Jane Mack, Marianas Office Directing Attorney. “We’re glad to see other similar projects in the community, and we’re proud to be helping in our own way.” The MLSC Back-to-School Project evolved from a personal project of the Marianas Office Directing Attorney in the 1980's, then was adopted by the entire office who wanted to help in the 1990's and eventually expanded when other attorneys in the community also joined the effort. The project has reached out consistently to approximately 75 students each year for the past five years.


Thank you to everyone who helped!




(all photos of recipient children posted with parental permission)

Friday, September 2, 2011

Tinian Schedule

MLSC will be on Tinian for client contact and new intake on September 14th, 21st, and 28th. Please call the Saipan Marianas Office, 234-6243, for an appointment or stop by the office in Tinian if you need assistance.

Thursday, September 1, 2011

Rota Schedule

MLSC trips to Rota for September 2011 will be on September 8th, 15th and 29th. Call our Saipan office to schedule an appointment or more information (234-6243) or visit our office in Rota on the scheduled dates.