Before Bangladesh native Fahmida Khan leaves the office of Oklahoma City immigration attorney Vance Winningham, she throws her arms around his neck and gives him a big hug.
It's easy to see her relationship with Winningham is more than just business. Once Khan shares her story, it's easy to understand why.
She, her husband and their daughter came to America 10 years ago for her husband to complete a residency in psychiatry at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center. But shortly after his training was complete, he had a fatal car accident en route to a new job in Iowa. Khan suffered multiple broken bones in the wreck.
"We'd struggled so much to get to that point and were just about to start an exciting, real life," said Khan, 40. "Then in a blink of an eye, everything was gone."
Thankfully, Winningham was there to help her pick up the pieces. Seven surgeries and five years later, Khan, who was a medical doctor in Bangladesh, has earned her master's in public health from OU, works as a preventive medicine consultant for the state Health Department and is in the process of securing permanent residence status, while her daughter, now 16, aspires to medical school.
Like Khan, Winningham has helped about 4,000 clients worldwide, from Mongolia to the Ukraine to South Africa.
"At one time, I got a world map and was going to put thumbtacks on it," he said. "But it became too overlapping."
Winningham, 63, recently spoke with The Oklahoman about his career. The following is an edited transcript:
Tell us about your childhood.
I spent most of it in Oklahoma City but went to high school in Ardmore. My father and mother, a radiologist and RN, moved us there for my father to take a job at the new Southern Memorial Hospital. I started college pre-med at Westminster. Then Medicare was introduced, and I transferred to OSU and switched to pre-law.
I was about to start law school at OU when my parents and older sister were killed in a crash in my father's plane. It was devastating.
Fortunately, I had a good support system; I was married and my oldest son had been born. My only other sibling, a sister who was 10 years younger and mentally handicapped, died last year.
And your early career?
I practiced civil law in Oklahoma City. Initially, I leased office space from Harley Venters. Harley had been my Sunday school teacher in Ardmore and became my mentor. I knew how he and his associates liked their coffee, so I'd deliver it to them and they'd tell me what to do with the particular case I was handling.
A year and a half later, I formed a practice with fellow graduate Barritt Smith. One of Barritt's college buddies -- a Jordanian who graduated in geology from OU -- convinced us to invest in an oil rig in Libya, which, in a round about way, led to my immigration practice.
For two years, I traveled to Libya every six weeks and stayed two weeks each time -- initially to check the books on my investment, then to form our own company and negotiate the sale of the company. I sold it just before Gadhafi took over in 1968 and announced all foreign oil concessions were going to be nationalized. Only two were, but his pronouncement depressed drilling activity for a few years afterward.
How'd you get into immigration law?
As a fluke really. On one of my trips to Libya, a friend in another venture -- New York immigration attorney Marvin Billett -- and I were sitting in a packed hotel bar at happy hour when our field supervisor wove his way to our table with a Hong Kong tailor in tow. The man wanted to immigrate to America. His livelihood had been making suits for U.S. servicemen at Wheelus Air Force Base, which Nixon had just announced would close.
Out of orneriness, Billett told me to take the case, that he'd help me. He rattled off all these things for the man to send and I forgot all about it -- until a package arrived three weeks later. I promptly called Billet who was traveling overseas and left strict orders not to take the case. I waded through it and a few more, and started attending seminars. Then, immigration law wasn't taught in law school, and there were only about 450 immigration attorneys nationwide, compared to 10,000 today. After the oil bust, when many of my civil law clients were going bankrupt, I moved entirely to immigration law.
What is the greatest misperception about immigrants?
Most people immediately think of the pictures they've seen on TV, like Mexicans charging the border in San Diego. But there are numerous legal immigrants from across the globe who bring much to the nation and to Oklahoma. Along with meeting specialized needs in the medical and technical fields, immigrants are important sources of entrepreneurship and job creation. Thousands help fill the lower-skilled jobs in the service sector; jobs many Americans don't want.
I bet your work has had a profound effect on you.
It has. I appreciate the blessings of where we live and what we have. While we take America for granted, people are fighting to stay here. If they get a green card (permanent residence), it means a completely different life for them.
Oklahoma City immigration attorney Vance Winningham discusses the visa process with Bangaladesh native Fahmida Khan. Photo by Paul Hellstern
E. Vance Winningham
Position: Immigration attorney, Winningham & Stein.
Web site: www.americanvisas.com.
Birth date: April 23, 1942.
Family: Dee Ann, wife of 18 years; five children, ages 21 to 40; seven grandchildren.
Education: Bachelor's in political science and history, Oklahoma State University; juris doctorate, University of Oklahoma.
Favorite pastime: Boating on Lake Murray.