CASE: Marriage-Based Adjustment of Status

NATIONALITY: Singaporean                                                                                  

LOCATION: North Royalton, OH

Our client is from Singapore who came to the U.S. on a B-2  visa in April 2021. In July 2021, our client married his U.S. citizen wife. He retained our office on August 17, 2021 for his green card application.  Our firm prepared and filed the I-130 Petition and I-485 Adjustment of Status Application on September 7, 2021.  Everything went smoothly and the receipt notices and fingerprint appointment all came on time. Prior to the interview, we thoroughly prepared our clients at our office via conference calls. On February 7, 2022, our client was interviewed at Cleveland, OH USCIS office. Attorney JP Sarmiento, Esq. accompanied our clients as well. Eventually, on February 8, 2022, his green card application was approved.

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CASE: Marriage-Based Green Card (Same Sex Marriage Case)

CLIENT: Singaporean

LOCATION: Wyoming

Our client came to the United States from Singapore as a visa waiver visitor in March 2018. He married his U.S. Citizen same-sex spouse in June 2018.

On June 26, 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court held that restricting U.S. federal interpretation of “marriage” and “spouse” to apply only to heterosexual unions, by Section 3 of the defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), is unconstitutional under the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment. United States v. Windsor, 570 U.S. ___ (2013). After Windsor decision, the USCIS implemented a new policy that the USCIS officer must review immigration via petitions filed on behalf of a same-sex spouse in the same manner as those filed on behalf of an opposite-sex spouse. As long as a same-sex couple is married in a U.S. state that recognizes same-sex marriage, their marriage shall be considered a valid marriage under the immigration law.

They married in Wyoming where same-sex marriage is recognized. Our client contacted our office and retained us on June 12, 2018 for his I-130 petition and I-485 adjustment of status application. Our firm prepared and filed the I-130 petition and I-485 adjustment of status application, together with all necessary supporting documents, on September 11, 2018. Everything went smoothly and the receipt notices, fingerprint appointment, and work permits all came on time.

Prior to the interview, we thoroughly prepared our clients via conference calls. On March 12, 2019, our client was interviewed at the Centennial, Colorado USCIS office. The interview went well and his green card application was approved on the same day.

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CASE: H-1B1 Extension

PETITIONER: Education Consulting Organization

BENEFICIARY: Singaporean Market Research Analyst

LOCATION: Pennsylvania

Our client is an education consulting organization located in Western Pennsylvania. They contacted our office in January 2017 to seek assistance from our office for their foreign employee’s H-1B1 extension. The beneficiary is from Singapore and she has bachelor’s degree. The beneficiary has more than 10 years professional work experience in the field of management and marketing. The proffered position for the Beneficiary is a Market Research Analyst which we argued qualified as a specialty occupation. Since she is the Singaporean National, she was eligible to get H-1B1 status in 2016.

After retention, our office promptly filed the H-1B1 visa petition with various supporting documents on February 20, 2017 via regular processing. We also gathered supporting documents from both the Petitioner and Beneficiary and did research on the industry, focusing on similarly sized businesses, to demonstrate that a bachelor’s degree is commonly required for this position.

Moreover, in our brief, our office argued that the degree requirement is common to this industry in parallel positions among similar organizations.  Also, we provided evidence that Petitioner’s competitors normally require degrees in a specific specialty for closely related positions like that of Market Research Analyst.  Moreover, our office asserted that the nature of the specific duties is so specialized and complex that knowledge required to perform the duties is usually associated with the attainment of a baccalaureate or higher degree in a specific specialty.

Eventually, our client’s H-1B1 application was approved by the USCIS Nebraska Service Center on June 15, 2017. She can work for her employer until March 2018.  

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CASE: H-1B Visa Petition
PETITIONER:  Online Grocery Store in Washington, D.C.
BENEFICIARY: Singaporean Business Development Director

Our client is an online grocery business and is one of the first D.C-based businesses to present a selection of locally and seasonally sourced products on a user-friendly website, combining a simple ordering process with a highly professional, same-day delivery service. They contacted our office in late July of 2011 to seek legal assistance and we met them at our Washington DC satellite office prior to retention.

The beneficiary obtained his Bachelors degree in Economics in the United States and completed his Masters degree in Georgetown University. The proffered position for the Beneficiary was for a business development director which we argued qualified as a specialty occupation.  We proffered that the minimum requirement for this position is a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics or its equivalent.

Once retained, our firm prepared and eventually filed the H-1B visa petition with various supporting documents on September 27, 2011 via premium processing service.  The USCIS Vermont Service Center then issued a Request for Evidence (RFE) on October 13, 2011.  The USCIS argued that the proffered position does not qualify as a “specialty occupation.” They claimed that the business was too small, with only 6 employees, and that a Bachelors degree was not required for this position for “grocery” businesses. In response to the RFE, our office asserted in an 8-page response brief with 23 exhibits that the nature of the specific duties are so specialized and complex that knowledge required to perform the duties is usually associated with the attainment of a Bachelors degree.  Moreover, we argued that the degree requirement is common to the industry in parallel positions among similar organizations. We explained that running an online grocery business is more complex than running a small convenience store or small grocery, especially since our client specialized in high-end products.

Our office filed the response to the USCIS Vermont Service Center on January 6, 2012.  Our client’s H-1B application was approved 11 days later on January 17, 2012.  Now the Beneficiary can work for the Petitioner on an H-1B status until September 30, 2014.

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