CASE: Marriage-Based Adjustment of Status

NATIONALITY: Spanish                                                                             

LOCATION: Schaumburg, IL

Our client is from Spain who came to the U.S. on a J-2 visa in June 2019. With our firm’s legal assistance, he got his J-2 waiver in October 2020.  In October 2020, our client married his U.S. citizen wife. He retained our office on March 18, 2021 for his green card application.  Our firm prepared and filed the I-130 Petition and I-485 Adjustment of Status Application on May 2, 2021.  Everything went smoothly and the receipt notices, fingerprint appointment notices, and the employment authorization document 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 the Chicago, IL USCIS office. On February 8, 2022, his green card application was approved.

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CASE: N-400 (Citizenship / Naturalization)

APPLICANT: Spanish

LOCATION: Cleveland, OH

Our client contacted us in June 2017 to seek legal representation for his naturalization and citizenship N-400 application. He applied for it before by himself, and it was denied, hence he decided to retain our firm for a re-file. He came to the United States from Spain and obtained his green card in April 2011.

We filed his N-400 application on July 3, 2017 with all supporting documents. Prior to his citizenship interview, our office prepared him at our office.  On September 19, 2017, our client appeared at the Cleveland, OH USCIS office for his naturalization interview. Attorney Sung Hee (Glen) Yu also accompanied our client as well. Our client answered all questions correctly and passed his naturalization and citizenship interview. Eventually, his application was approved on September 26, 2017. His oath taking is scheduled in which he will become a naturalized U.S. Citizen.

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CASE: Fiancé Visa

PETITIONER: US Citizen in Ohio

BENEFICIARY: Nigerian Beneficiary in Spain

PETITION FILED: November 26, 2013

PETITION APPROVED: February 4, 2014

K-1 VISA APPROVED: June 20, 2014

Our client, a US Citizen Petitioner, met her Nigerian fiancé in March 2007 in Nigeria.  Over time, they started their relationship, and she went to Spain multiple times in 2012 and in 2013 after her fiancé moved to Spain.  When she visited his fiancé in July 2012, her fiancé proposed to her. Months after his proposal, she retained our firm to file a fiancé petition for him.

After retention, we informed our client about the necessary supporting documents to demonstrate the bona fide nature of their relationship. Our client retained our office on October 14, 2013. We helped her and her fiancé draft letters in support of the fiancé petition, and we filed the petition on November 26, 2013.

On February 4, 2014, the I-129F fiancé petition was approved. On June 20, 2014, our client’s fiancé appeared at the U.S. Embassy in Madrid, Spain for his K-1 visa interview. The interview went well, and on the same day, the U.S. Embassy issued his K-1 visa.

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CASE: I-751

APPLICANT: Spanish

LOCATION: Cleveland, OH

Our client contacted our office in early December 2012 regarding his I-751 application.

He is from Spain and he married a U.S. citizen in June 2010. Through his marriage, he obtained a 2-year conditional green card in April of 2011.  His conditional residency terminated in April 2013.

To comply with immigration requirements, our client and his wife had to file an I-751 Joint Petition to Remove Conditions. He retained our office on December 18, 2012 and our office prepared the I-751 application for our client with documents we requested from them.

On January 28, 2013, our office filed an I-751 application to the USCIS with multiple affidavits from his friends and family members, joint bank statements, utility bills, insurance policies, and photos of our client and his wife to demonstrate the bona fideness of their marriage.

After the application was filed, the fingerprint notice was issued two weeks later. There was no RFE issuance or interview request for our client’s I-751 application. As a result, on July 22, 2013, the USCIS approved our client’s I-751 application and our client received his 10-year green card.

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CASE: Fiancé Visa

PETITIONER: US Citizen in Washington, D.C.

BENEFICIARY: Spanish

PETITION FILED: December 28, 2012

PETITION APPROVED: August 16, 2013

K-1 VISA APPROVED: October 28, 2013

Our client, a US Citizen Petitioner, met his Spanish fiancée in Washington D.C. in July 2011. They started their relationship, and he went to Spain in April 2012 after his fiancée went back to Spain.  When he visited his fiancée in April 2012, he proposed to her. Months after his proposal, he retained our firm to file a fiancée petition for her.

After retention, we informed our client about the necessary supporting documents to demonstrate the bona fide nature of their relationship. Our client retained our office on November 20, 2012. We helped him and his fiancée draft letters in support of the fiancé petition, and we filed the petition on December 28, 2012.

On August 16, 2013, the I-129F fiancée petition was approved. On October 28, 2013, our client’s fiancée appeared at the U.S. Embassy in Madrid, Spain for her K-1 visa interview. The interview went well, and on the same day, the U.S. Embassy issued her K-1 visa.

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CASE: I-129F Fiancée Petition and Fiancée Visa

PETITIONER: US Citizen in Washington, D.C.

BENEFICIARY: Spanish

PETITION FILED: December 28, 2012

PETITION APPROVED: August 16, 2013

Our client, a US Citizen Petitioner, met his Spanish fiancée in Washington D.C. in July 2011. They started their relationship, and he went to Spain in April 2012 after his fiancée went back. He proposed when he visited his fiancée in April 2012. Months after his proposal, he retained our firm to file a fiancée petition for her.

After retention, we informed our client about the necessary supporting documents to demonstrate the bona fide nature of their relationship. Our client retained our office on November 20, 2012. We helped him and his fiancée draft letters in support of the fiancé petition, and we filed the petition on December 28, 2012.

On August 16, 2013, the I-129F fiancée petition was approved.

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Case: I-130/I-485
Potential Issue: Visa Waiver Entry – Overstay / Response to Notice of Intent to Deny
Applicant/Beneficiary – Spanish
Location: Cleveland, Ohio

Our client entered the United States on April 11, 2010 from Spain under the visa waiver program.  When he entered the United States, he did not have any intention to get married.  In fact, he came to the United States to obtain a divorce from his former wife who was residing in the United States, and wished to come back home soon after.  As a Visa Waiver Entrant, he was only authorized to remain in the United States until July 10, 2010.

After he got divorced from his former wife in the United States, our client married his U.S. citizen spouse on June 2, 2010. One main issue in his green card application through  marriage was the fact that he came to the United States under the visa waiver program.   As our office wrote in our previous success story with a similar issue,  under the visa waiver program, citizens of certain countries can enter the U.S. for 90 days without a visa with the condition that the visitor waives his or her right to contest removal (other than on the basis of asylum).  The “no-contest” provision of the Visa Waiver Program is fundamental; if someone could enter under the VWP and then contest removability, it would defeat the whole purpose of the Program which is to make it easy for certain nationals to come to the United States to visit and then leave without all the red-tape involved in visa issuance.

Since our client resided in Cleveland, Ohio, his application had a better chance compared to states under the 9th Circuit (see Momeni v. Chertoff).  However, it was quite foreseeable that the USCIS field office will question the validity of the marriage between our client and his wife because of the existing language barrier between the couple. The US Citizen spouse speaks really little Spanish while the Spanish beneficiary speaks little English.

Our office filed the I-130 Petition and I-485 Adjustment of Status Application on September 3, 2010.  Our office requested  the CIS to exercise favorable discretion in granting adjustment of status despite the filing date falling beyond the expiration of the visa waiver. We also argued that the marriage occurred prior to the expiration of the visa waiver status and that extraneous circumstances caused the delay in the filing of the applications.

Prior to the interview, Attorney Sung Hee (Glen) Yu from our office thoroughly prepared our client for their USCIS adjustment of status interview.  On December 20, 2010, Attorney Yu accompanied our client and his wife at the Cleveland USCIS office for his adjustment interview.  The interview took two and a half hours and the officer thoroughly asked our client and his wife about the bona fide nature of the marriage and the language barrier issue.

On March 9, 2011, the USCIS issued a Notice of Intent to Deny (NOID).  The NOID claimed that there was substantial and probative evidence that the marital union between the Petitioner and Beneficiary is not bona fide.  As expected, the language barrier issue between our client and his wife was critical. They also pointed out the short time difference between the beneficiary’s divorce and subsequent marriage.

In response to the USCIS’s NOID, our office re-interviewed both the Petitioner and the Beneficiary, addressing the issues pointed out in the NOID and drafting an extensive affidavit. Multiple supporting documents  and a six-page affidavit from our client were all included as well as letters from the U.S Citizen wife’s family members, joint bank statements, joint lease, utility bills, and several pictures of our client and his wife in several occasions with different people.  Several legal authorities were cited based on particular issues discussed, and on March 31, 2011, we filed the Response to NOID prior to the 30-day deadline.

On April 5, 2011, less than a week from our Response, the USCIS approved our client’s case. We overcame both the visa waiver overstay and the bona fide marriage issues and as a result, both the I-130 Petition and I-485 Green Card Application were approved. Our client is now a green card holder.

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CASE: Termination of Removal Proceedings for Adjustment of Status With CIS
NATIONALITY: Spanish
LOCATION: San Diego, California

Our client is a Spanish national who came to the U.S. on an R-1 Visa. She resides in San Diego, California. Prior to retaining our firm, she tried to apply for a change of non-immigrant status, got denied, was placed in removal proceedings, married a U.S. Citizen, and filed an I-130 petition and an I-485 green card application simultaneously. She already went to the San Diego Immigration Court several times while the petition was pending. She did not have an attorney and did not know procedurally what to do. Eventually the I-130 marriage petition was approved, however, at the green card interview, the officer told her that they did not have jurisdiction over her case. The green card application was administratively closed. She consulted with our firm on what to do next as she was confused. She had another hearing coming up with the San Diego Immigration Court. We explained that we can terminate removal proceedings and reopen her green card application. Our office was retained and within a few days, we filed a Motion to Terminate with the Immigration Court. The Motion was granted within two weeks. We then wrote a letter to the Chula Vista, CA CIS to reopen our client’s adjustment of status application. Within a few weeks, another green card interview was scheduled for our client. She went to the interview, passed it, and eventually obtained her permanent resident card.

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