ABOUT
WHO WE ARE
Our Grateful Nation (OGN) is an IRS recognized 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving military family unity through the Military Parole in Place Program (MIL-PIP). It was incorporated in the State of Nevada, in 2020 and recognized by the U.S. Department of Justice in 2022 to provide representation in federal immigration matters through its accredited representatives.
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OGN was founded by LtCol Marvin who is the sole attorney in the U.S. specializing in the MIL-PIP program. LtCol Marvin became very aware of the limitations of a single law firm in being able to help the many military/immigrant families eligible for this form of relief. He therefore created OGN.
Read more about our founder LtCol William J. Marvin and his passion for helping military families.
WHY WE’RE HERE
The strongest link in our Nation’s defense is its force of trained, motivated, patriotic Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, and Marines. Many of these service members are immigrants, or the children of immigrants.
This includes the families of past and present U.S. service members. However, there is a priceless benefit available to them and their immediate family members. It’s called MIL-PIP.
An active duty U.S. service member, Reservist, National Guard member, or honorably discharged veteran of the U.S. military can sponsor qualified immediate family families (usually parents, spouses, or children) for temporary legalization through MIL-PIP. MIL-PIP gives the family member a year of “parole in place,” during which they can apply for an employment authorization document (EAD) and adjustment of status (AOS) to lawful permanent residency (LPR).
MIL-PIP was used sparingly since 1965. It was finally written into U.S. law through the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2020, and is now available to potentially millions of qualifying U.S. service members and their families. But few people know about this incredible benefit.
OGN was formed to raise awareness of MIL-PIP and to assist military-immigrant families in accessing the benefits they deserve. OGN will change lives and strengthen America, by preserving military family unity through MIL-PIP.
OUR FOUNDER
LtCol William J. Marvin, U.S. Marines (Ret)
President
LtCol Marvin has decades of relevant experience as an infantry officer and in both military and immigration law. Before attending law school as a Marine Corps Captain, LtCol Marvin served as a weapons and tactics instructor, as a company commander in a deployed infantry battalion (BLT 1/9), and at Headquarters U.S. Marine Corps (HQMC), administering the USMC’s first-term reenlistment program. Subsequently, LtCol Marvi n worked as a Marine Corps lawyer in positions of increasing responsibility, as a Special Assistant United States Attorney (AUSA) for the U.S. Department of Justice, and as a member of the existing USMC Special Operations Training Group (SOTG). LtCol Marvin’s maternal grandparents emigrated to the USA from the Austro-Hungarian Empire (Ukraine and Poland).
LtCol Marvin is the sole attorney in the U.S. specializing in the MIL-PIP program. However, he became very aware of the limitations of a single law firm in being able to help the many military/immigrant families eligible for this form of relief. He therefore created OGN, a nationwide nonprofit that could – and will – make MIL-PIP possible for the greatest number of service members, veterans, enlistees, and their families.
*N.B.: LtCol Marvin is a retired member of the United States Marine Corps Reserve (USMCR). Use of his military rank and job titles does not, and is not intended to imply endorsement by the USMC, Department of the Navy, or Department of Defense (DoD), of OGN or his activities.
A NOTE ON OUR FEES AND PHILOSOPHY
Our Grateful Nation (OGN) serves military families primarily on a fee-for-service basis that is significantly below market rates for identical or similar professional services provided by for-profit immigration-law firms.
OGN is a nonprofit whose business strategy is Effectiveness, Efficiency
and Sustainability. Our intent is to make and keep our services affordable for military families, and to serve as many families as we can.
Through our corporate sponsors, we also have subsidies available to further substantially discount fees for many families.
If we are a nonprofit, why do we charge fees to clients at all? The answer is the third prong of our strategy, Sustainability. We have designed OGN’s systems and processes to deliver maximum Effectiveness
and Efficiency, based on our founder’s 30 years of experience in founding and managing law practices and businesses. With that said, we are still a provider of top-notch professional services and we intend for that to continue over the long term. We hire and develop the best professionals to specialize in assisting military families receive the MIL-PIP benefit they have earned. These professionals do what they do because they love and believe in the work, but they still have to feed their own families.
Affordable fees from OGN clients pay for our systems and professionals’ salaries today, to serve the clients of tomorrow. It’s that simple.
OGN recognizes that some current and former U.S. servicemembers, and their families, will be unable to afford our professional services even at the substantially discounted rates at which we offer them. OGN stands ready to further discount or waive these fees, based on simple means tests to ensure that we care for our most vulnerable military families, while maintaining Sustainability
for future clients.
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An IRS recognized 501(c)(3)
nonprofit organization