CASE: I-140 / National Interest Waiver

CLIENT: Korean

LOCATION: Denver, CO

Our client contacted us in July 2014 about the possibility of doing a National Interest Waiver self-petition. He is a researcher from South Korea and he is an exceptional researcher and scientist in the field of genetic engineering and apoptosis.

Our client’s significant contributions have placed him at the pinnacle of his field. Throughout his research career, he has made critical research contributions in programmed cell death where he used genetic analysis in the round worm to gain important insights into human cancer. Our client has devoted himself to research in the aforementioned fields for more than 15 years and his outstanding research were highly evaluated by reviewers of various journals and by colleagues and experts in the field.  Moreover, our client’s research works were published in one of the top academic journals in the world. His outstanding works were published in journals such as Science, Nature, and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Upon review of his credentials and qualifications, our office determined that he was definitely qualified for the National Interest Waiver (NIW) category. Being qualified for NIW is beneficial since you would not need an employer nor family member to petition for you for green card purposes. You’d be eligible for a self-petition and unless you are from China or India, in which case you’d still have to wait for priority dates to be current, you would be eligible to apply for adjustment of status (green card) immediately without any lag in priority dates.

As a primer, NIW applicants must have a master’s or higher degree. The landmark immigration case that discusses the standards for NIWs is Matter of New York State Department of Transportation, 22 I&N Dec. 215 (Comm.1998). This case held that the qualifying applicant must show the following elements in his or her I-140 NIW petition: First, it must be shown that the alien seeks employment in an area of substantial intrinsic merit. Next, it must be shown that the proposed benefit will be national in scope. Finally, the petitioner seeking the waiver must establish that the alien will serve the national interest to a substantially greater degree than would an available U. S. worker having the same minimum qualifications. (When we filed this case, Matter of Dhanasar, 26 I&N Dec. 884 (AAO 2016) was not issued yet. Thus, we still filed our client’s NIW under NYSDOT standard.)

Our office prepared a 20-page brief for our client’s NIW filing. Our client also obtained 6 letters of recommendation from his colleagues and internationally-recognized scientists. Our office also included his publication records, presentation records, and conference materials in the NIW application. We demonstrated the intrinsic merit of our client’s research in the United States, the national scope of his research, and asserted that our client would serve the national interest to a substantially greater degree than would an available U.S. worker having the same minimum qualifications. His NIW application contained 33 exhibits (Exhibit A to GG).

Our office filed his I-140(NIW) petition to the USCIS Nebraska Service Center on November 16, 2016. Eventually, on October 25, 2017, the USCIS approved his I-140 petition without any Requests for Evidence.  When we filed his I-140, he concurrently filed his I-485 adjustment of status application. His adjustment of status application will be approved soon as well.

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CASE: PERM Labor Certification    
EMPLOYER: Taekwondo (Martial Arts) School
BENEFICIARY: Korean
LOCATION: Ohio

Our client is a former Taekwondo athlete who currently studies in the United States. He has a Taekwondo school who was willing to petition him for a third-preference petition (I-140).  Our client has a bachelor’s degree in a related field. After talking to our client, our firm concluded that his potential employer can petition him as a Taekwondo Coach.  Based on our client’s educational, professional and working backgrounds, our office determined that he is clearly eligible for EB-3 classification for his I-140 petition.  Our client eventually retained us on December 27, 2016.

Prior to filing PERM, our firm prepared the prevailing wage request, job order, advertisements, internal job posting, recruitment report, and all other steps which are important pre-PERM filing. Take note that PERM could be filed at least 60 days from the job posting date or 30 days from the last ad. On January 6, 2017, the prevailing wage request was filed.  After we obtained foreign degree evaluation report, our office filed the job order on March 29, 2017.  On July 18, 2017, we promptly filed PERM.  Eventually, on November 1, 2017, the PERM Labor Certification was approved – an EB3 position for the Korean beneficiary. Now our client can file the I-140 petition.

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CASE: I-130 / I-485 Adjustment of Status

NATIONALITY:  Filipina

LOCATION: Montana

Our client came from the Philippines on a J-1 in September 2014 to work as a teacher. Based on her DS-2019, she was subject to the two-year foreign residency requirement.

In August 2016, she got married to her U.S. citizen husband and later on consulted with our firm for her J-1 visa waiver prior to applying for adjustment of status. If someone is subject to the two-year foreign residency requirement, he or she cannot get a green card in the United States until he or she fulfills the requirement or obtains a waiver.

Upon retention, our office promptly prepared a waiver request through a No Objection Statement (NOS) from the Philippine Embassy in the United States and eventually the EVP in the Philippines.

On December 7, 2016, the J-1 Waiver Application (Form DS-3035) was filed to the Department of State.  We also sent a request to the Montana State Government to get authentication for the necessary documents.  Later, these authenticated documents and No Objection Application (for the Philippines Government) were sent to the Philippines Consulate General in Chicago for further authentication.  On March 23, 2017, our office sent our client’s materials to the Waiver Review Committee in Manila, Philippines.  Then, the Waiver Review Committee forwarded the materials and favorable recommendation to the Philippine Embassy in D.C. who eventually issued a No Objection Statement.

On June 22, 2017, the Waiver Review Division issued a favorable recommendation based on the No Objection statement.  Eventually, on July 6, 2017, the USCIS issued an I-612 approval notice for the waiver.

Once her J-1 waiver was approved, our client retained our office again for her adjustment of status application. Our firm prepared and filed the I-130 Petition and Adjustment of Status Application on July 28, 2017.  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 through conference calls. On November 2, 2017, our client was interviewed at the Helena, Montana USCIS office.  The interview went well, and eventually, on the same day of the interview, her green card application was approved.

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CASE: PERM Labor Certification    
EMPLOYER: Taekwondo (Martial Arts) School
BENEFICIARY: Korean
LOCATION: Cleveland, Ohio (Petitioner); Seoul, South Korea (Taekwondo Coach)

Our client is a former Taekwondo athlete who currently resides in South Korea. He had a Taekwondo school which was willing to petition him for a third-preference petition (I-140).  Our client has a bachelor’s degree in a related field. After talking to our client, our firm concluded that his potential employer can petition him as a Taekwondo Coach.  Based on our client’s education, professional and work background, our office determined that he was eligible for EB-3 classification for his I-140 petition.  Our client eventually retained us on December 22, 2016.

Prior to filing PERM, our firm prepared the prevailing wage request, job order, advertisements, internal job posting, recruitment report, and all other steps which are important pre-PERM filing. Take note that PERM could be filed at least 60 days from the job posting date or 30 days from the last ad. On December 23, 2016, the prevailing wage request was filed.  After we obtained foreign degree evaluation report, our office filed the job order on March 21, 2017.  On June 7, 2017, we promptly filed PERM.  Eventually, on October 26, 2017, the PERM Labor Certification was approved – an EB3 position for the Korean beneficiary. Now our client can file the I-140 petition.

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CASE: I-485 Adjustment of Status based on Approved I-140 (EB-3 Category) / Schedule A

EMPLOYER: Nursing / Rehabilitation Center

BENEFICIARY: Nepalese

LOCATION: Houston, TX

Our client’s beneficiary is a registered nurse from Nepal and licensed in the state of Texas. She came to the United States and currently works in the United States on her TPS (Temporary Protected Status).  Her current employer was willing to petition her for a third-preference employment immigrant visa petition (I-140).

Since she is a registered nurse, he is eligible for “Schedule A” classification. The Department of Labor (DOL) maintains a schedule of occupations in its regulations, Schedule A included, for which the individual permanent labor certification procedure is not required. The schedule of pre-certified occupations is referred to as Schedule A, and is included in DOL regulations at 20 CFR 656.10. Based on an occupation’s inclusion on Schedule A, an employer may file an immigrant visa petition (I-140) directly with the (USCIS) without first going to the DOL for a labor certification. Usually, prior to filing I-140 petitions (EB-2 or EB-3 category), the employer must file a Labor Certification to the Department of Labor. However, for Schedule A cases, the employer does not have to go through the labor certification process. The position of Professional Nurses is included in Schedule A.

Our client has a Bachelor of nursing degree and has worked for the sponsor-employer. Our firm told her that her employer can petition her as a Registered Nurse under the schedule A category. Our office was retained on June 15, 2016 and started on her Prevailing Wage Request.

We filed the I-140 application on October 20, 2016 via premium processing. We included the job offer letter, the notice of filing, and other necessary supporting documents. However, on November 4, 2016, the USCIS issued Request for Evidence and asked our client to submit the copy of her bachelor’s degree certificate. Our office filed the response to USCIS on November 7, 2016.  Eventually, on November 15, 2016, the I-140 was approved.

Then, we proceeded with our client’s I-485 adjustment of status application. We prepared and file our client’s adjustment of status application along with supporting documents to USCIS on December 1, 2016. Eventually, our client’s adjustment application was approved by the USCIS on October 20, 2017 without any Request for Evidence.  After a long wait, our client is finally a green card holder.

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CASE: I-140 / National Interest Waiver

CLIENT: Korean

LOCATION: Virginia

Our client contacted us in October 2016 about the possibility of doing a National Interest Waiver self-petition. He is a researcher from South Korea and he is an exceptional researcher and scientist in the field of urban forestry and urban ecosystem research.

Our client’s significant contributions have placed him at the pinnacle of his field. He has identified innovative solutions for improving energy conservation in dense urban areas. Specifically, our client is making significant contribution in the area of urban forestry for energy conservation and other ecosystem services. His research is revealing and identifying how trees influence local climate and can decrease building energy consumption which has important implications for city, state, federal policies across the United States.

Upon review of his credentials and qualifications, our office determined that he was definitely qualified for the National Interest Waiver (NIW) category. Being qualified for NIW is beneficial since you would not need an employer nor family member to petition for you for green card purposes. You’d be eligible for a self-petition and unless you are from China or India, in which case you’d still have to wait for priority dates to be current, you would be eligible to apply for adjustment of status (green card) immediately without any lag in priority dates.

As a primer, NIW applicants must have a master’s or higher degree. While we prepared his case, the AAO set the new standards for NIW cases in Matter of Dhanasar, 26 I&N Dec. 884 (AAO 2016). Under the new standard, the petitioner must demonstrate that the foreign national’s proposed endeavor has both substantial merit and national importance. Next, it must be shown that he or she is well positioned to advance the proposed endeavor. Finally, the petitioner seeking the waiver needs to demonstrate that, on balance, it would be beneficial to the United States to waive the job offer and labor certification requirements. Id.

Our office prepared a 24-page brief for our client’s NIW filing. Our client also obtained 11 letters of recommendation from his colleagues and internationally-recognized researchers. Our office also included his publication records, presentation records, and conference materials in the NIW application. We demonstrated that our client is one of the few elite researchers who have made significant and substantial contributions to his field of endeavor, that he is well positioned to advance the proposed endeavor, and it would be beneficial to the United States to waive the requirements of a job offer and thus of a labor certification for our client. His NIW application contained 43 exhibits (Exhibit A to QQ).

Our office filed his I-140(NIW) petition to the USCIS Texas Service Center on January 26, 2017. Eventually, on September 27, 2017, the USCIS approved his I-140 petition without any Requests for Evidence.  When we filed his I-140, he concurrently filed his I-485 adjustment of status application. His adjustment of status application will be approved soon as well.

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CASE: I-140 (EB-2 Category) / Schedule A / Premium Processing

EMPLOYER: Nursing Care Facility

BENEFICIARY: Filipina Nurse Manager in Winnipeg Canada

LOCATION: Houston, TX

Our client is a Filipina lady who has worked in Canada and the Philippines as a staff nurse. Her prospective employer-sponsor is willing to petition her for a second-preference employment immigrant visa petition (I-140). Since she has a registered nurse license and the proffered position for her is a nurse manager at the nursing care facility, the petition wanted to try going for a “Schedule A” classification. They also wanted to do EB2 (requiring at least a Masters degree or Bachelors degree + 5 yrs experience).

The Department of Labor (DOL) maintains a schedule of occupations in its regulations, Schedule A included, for which the individual permanent labor certification procedure is not required. The schedule of pre-certified occupations is referred to as Schedule A, and is included in DOL regulations at 20 CFR 656.10. Based on an occupation’s inclusion on Schedule A, an employer may file an immigrant visa petition (I-140) directly with the (USCIS) without having to file a Labor Certification with the Department of Labor. Usually, prior to filing I-140 petitions (EB-2 or EB-3 category), the employer must file a Labor Certification to the Department of Labor. However, for Schedule A cases, the employer does not have to go through the labor certification process. We argued that the position of Health Services Manager should be classified under Schedule A. We argued that it falls under the broad spectrum of “professional nurse” occupations. We also argued that the job description has excerpts that fall under “professional nurse” and that the description justifies the requirements also of Bachelor’s degree in nursing and five years of related experiences.

Our client has a bachelor’s degree in nursing and more than 5 years of experience as a staff nurse. She also has a registered nursing license in the state of Texas. Our office was retained and we started on the Prevailing Wage Determination filing and other related matters.

Once the prevailing wage was determined, we filed the I-140 application on September 22, 2017 via premium processing. We included a job offer letter, the notice of filing, employment letter, past experience letter, and other necessary supporting documents. In our cover brief, we included the “ability to pay” argument and why the nurse manager position falls under a Schedule A and EB2 designation.

Eventually, on October 6, 2017, the USCIS Texas Service Center approved her EB-2 I-140 petition. Now, with the approved EB-2 I-140 petition (priority date for EB2 Philippines nationals is current), she can file her immigrant visa application.

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CASE: L-1A petition extension / I-129

PETITIONER: Child Care Center in Cleveland, OH

BENEFICIARY: Chinese General Manager

Our client is a Chinese company which has its US subsidiary in the greater Cleveland area.  In 2016, our client acquired a child development center and has offered child care services to children from the age of 6 weeks to 12 years old. They contacted our office in the middle of August 2017 to seek legal assistance for a possible L-1A extension for their employee. He came from China in 2016 with his L-1A visa to work as a General Manager.

The L-1A nonimmigrant classification enables a U.S. employer to transfer an executive or manager from one of its affiliated foreign offices to one of its offices in the United States.  This classification also enables a foreign company which does not yet have an affiliated U.S. office to send an executive or manager to the United States with the purpose of establishing one.

Upon retention, our office prepared and eventually filed the L-1A extension petition with various supporting documents. The application included a detailed employer support letter, documentation to demonstrate the qualifying corporate relationship between the parent company in China and the U.S., financial documents, past experience documents, organization chart, and physical premises evidence among others. We filed the L-1A extension petition on August 30, 2017 via premium processing.

However, on September 8, 2017, the USCIS issued Request for Evidence (RFE) for our client’s extension petition. USCIS requested more evidence to demonstrate sufficient physical premises of petitioner’s business and evidence that our client met the requirement of “one year managerial or executive position abroad.” Our office prepared and filed the Response to RFE on September 20, 2017 with 37 exhibits (A to KK).

Eventually, our client’s L-1A application was approved on September 26, 2017. His L-1A status has been extended to October 2019.

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CASE: I-140 (EB-2)    
EMPLOYER:  Hydraulic Unit Manufacturing Company in Texas
BENEFICIARY: Filipino Hydraulic Power Unit Design and Installation Project Manager

Our client’s beneficiary is from the Philippines. Our client (the prospective employer) was willing to do an immigration petition for him, second-preference. He has a Bachelor’s degree in Maritime Transportation and has more than 5 years of work experience as a Hydraulic Equipment Installer / Operator. Our firm concluded that his employer can petition him as a Hydraulic Power Unit Design and Installation Project Manager.

Prior to filing PERM, our firm prepared the prevailing wage request, job order, advertisements, internal job posting, recruitment report, and all other steps which are important pre-PERM filing. Take note that PERM could be filed at least 60 days from the job posting date or 30 days from the last ad. On September 12, 2016, the prevailing wage request was filed.  After we obtained Prevailing Wage determination, our office filed the job order on January 10, 2017.  On May 3, 2017, we promptly filed PERM.  Eventually, on August 11, 2017, the PERM Labor Certification was approved – an EB2 position for the Filipino beneficiary.

We then proceeded with the I-140 Petition filing. We submitted the “ability to pay” letter for the I-140 petition application. We included the job offer letter, employer’s tax records, and other necessary supporting documents. The I-140 Petition was filed on September 6, 2017 via premium processing service. Eventually, on September 21, 2017, the I-140 EB-2 Petition for our Filipino client was approved without any Request for Evidence (RFE).

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CASE: I-485 Adjustment of Status based on Approved I-140 (EB-3 Category) / Schedule A

EMPLOYER: Nursing / Rehabilitation Center

BENEFICIARY: Filipino

LOCATION: Houston, TX

Our client’s beneficiary is a registered nurse from the Philippines licensed in the state of Texas. He came to the United States and currently works in the United States on his H-1B status.  His current employer was willing to petition him for a third-preference employment immigrant visa petition (I-140).

Since he is a registered nurse, he is eligible for “Schedule A” classification. The Department of Labor (DOL) maintains a schedule of occupations in its regulations, Schedule A included, for which the individual permanent labor certification procedure is not required. The schedule of pre-certified occupations is referred to as Schedule A, and is included in DOL regulations at 20 CFR 656.10. Based on an occupation’s inclusion on Schedule A, an employer may file an immigrant visa petition (I-140) directly with the (USCIS) without first going to the DOL for a labor certification. Usually, prior to filing I-140 petitions (EB-2 or EB-3 category), the employer must file a Labor Certification to the Department of Labor. However, for Schedule A cases, the employer does not have to go through the labor certification process. The position of Professional Nurses is included in Schedule A.

Our client has a nursing degree and has worked for the sponsor-employer. Our firm told him that his employer can petition him as a Registered Nurse under the schedule A category. Our office was retained on April 10, 2014 and started on his Prevailing Wage Request.

We filed the I-140 application on June 25, 2014 via regular processing. We included the job offer letter, the notice of filing, and other necessary supporting documents.  However, on February 26, 2015, the USCIS Texas Service Center issued the Request for Evidence (RFE). According to the RFE, the USCIS requested our client to submit his valid Texas nursing license certificate. Our office filed the Response to RFE with our client’s Texas nursing license certificate on April 1, 2015. Eventually, on April 18, 2015, the I-140 was approved.

Then, we proceeded with our client’s I-485 adjustment of status application. We prepared and file our client’s adjustment of status application along with supporting documents to USCIS on April 27, 2015.

However, the priority date of Eb-3 category for the Philippines national backlogged. Our client had to wait until the priority date becomes current. In March 2017, his priority date becomes current. Eventually, our client’s adjustment application was approved by the USCIS on September 1, 2017.  After a long wait, our client is finally a green card holder.

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