Here are a few examples of the recent work of my District Office staff:

• We were successful in securing visas for a youth hockey team from Poland, ages 11-13, so they could participate in a hockey tournament in Fraser, Michigan. The team had been denied visas because a year earlier, the management for the same youth team had been denied visas after including a list of adults as team trainers who had no background to perform such duties. The Consulate in Krakow eventually agreed that the kids on the team had nothing to do with the problems of the previous year and issued the visas to the team.
  
  
• Our office was successful in assisting an 87 year-old World War II veteran receive compensation from the Department of Veterans Affairs for hearing loss suffered while in combat. The veteran had filed the claim years earlier and was continually denied because most of his medical records had been lost or destroyed. We were able to assist him in finding information that convinced the VA to approve his claim.
  
  
• Our office was successful in securing an early release for a Navy recruit diagnosed with cancer, so that he could receive chemotherapy treatment from his family doctor at home.
  
  
• We worked with the Internal Revenue Service liaison to help a local company that was given notice of an $1,800 fine to be levied for a late filing of tax returns. The company was sure that the returns were mailed in time, but they didn't have proof of mailing. An abatement of the fine was requested based on the company's excellent prior record for submitting timely returns. As a result of our request for review, the IRS waived the fine.
  
  
• We helped a Troy woman's daughter travel back to the U.S. from Ecuador with her new husband after her husband was denied a visa by the Consular office in Ecuador. We requested a review of their situation and the Consulate reversed their decision. The bride and her new husband celebrated their "American Wedding" on October 20, 2001.
  
  
• Our office assisted an 88-year-old grandmother obtain Social Security survivor benefits based on her late husband's employment. After reviewing her case, the Social Security Administration determined that she was owed $44,361 in back payments since 1997. She will also continue to receive her regular monthly survivor benefit.