CASE: I-140 / National Interest Waiver

CLIENT: Korean

LOCATION: South Korea

Our client contacted us about the possibility of doing a National Interest Waiver self-petition. She is a clinical psychologist in South Korea and she did her Ph.D. in Psychology in the United States. While she was in the U.S., she pursued a career path to become a culturally sensitive and competent psychologist, focusing on working with underserved and/or marginalized diverse populations, while developing specialties in trauma-focused/informed clinical intervention.

Upon review of her credentials and qualifications, our office determined that she 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 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 concluded that our client’s research and clinical work is of substantial merit, has already aided, and will continue to aid the underserved and/or marginalized diverse population in the United States. Additionally, her trauma-focused/informed clinical care will be beneficial to treat populations (e.g., students, veterans, refugees, women with sexual abuse or domestic violence) who had struggled with developmental and/or shock trauma, and co-occurring conditions including substance use, major depressive disorder, panic disorder, and eating disorder.

Our office prepared a 25-page brief for our client’s NIW filing. Our client also obtained 10 letters of recommendation from her colleagues, clinical psychologists, and internationally-recognized researchers. Our office also included her publication records, work experience records, presentations, and conference materials in the NIW application. We demonstrated that our client is one of the few clinical psychologists who have made significant and substantial contributions to her field of endeavor, that she 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. 

Our office filed her I-140(NIW) petition to the USCIS Texas Service Center on July 17, 2020. However, on September 27, 2021, the USCIS Texas Service Center issued a Request for Evidence (RFE) and requested our client to provide more evidence to demonstrate that her work is of national importance and she is well positioned to advance the proposed endeavor. 

Our office prepared the RFE Response brief and explained that our client’s psychology and counseling field and practice, especially as it pertains to the uniqueness of her skills with cross-culture and multinationals, with its growing importance nationwide, is indeed of national importance. Considering the rising problems of mental health and discrimination being an issue even to Asian-Americans, her practice and presence in the U.S. is a benefit nationwide. We filed our RFE response brief on December 15, 2021. Eventually, on January 11, 2021, the USCIS approved her I-140 petition. She can file her immigrant visa via consular processing.

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CASE: PERM Labor Certification

EMPLOYER: Online IT Service Petitioner 

BENEFICIARY: Kyrgyz Network and Computer Systems Administrator in Chicago, IL

Our client has a prospective employer that was willing to file an I-140 petition for.  Our client has a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science and worked for IT consulting companies in the past. Based on our client’s education and work background, our office determined that she is eligible for EB-3 classification for her I-140 petition.  

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 the PERM application could be filed at least 60 days from the job posting date or 30 days from the last ad. Within a week from our retention, the prevailing wage request was filed.  After we obtained the PW determination, the job order was filed on April 9, 2021.  On July 16, 2021, we filed PERM. 

Eventually, on January 5, 2022, the PERM Labor Certification was approved without an audit. Our client can file the I-140 petition at any time.

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CASE: EB-3 I-485

APPLICANT: Filipino KRB Electronic Test Engineer

LOCATION: Maricopa, AZ

Our client had a prospective employer that was willing to petition for a third-preference I-140.  Our client has a Bachelor’s degree in Electronics Engineering and has worked for his current employer since September 2017. Based on our client’s education and work background, our office determined that he is eligible for EB-3 classification for his I-140 petition.  Our client eventually retained us on December 12, 2019. 

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 the PERM application could be filed at least 60 days from the job posting date or 30 days from the last ad. Within a week from our retention, the prevailing wage request was filed.  After we obtained the PW determination, our office filed the job order on April 28, 2020.  On September 24, 2020, we promptly filed PERM. Eventually, on May 7, 2021, the PERM Labor Certification was approved – an EB3 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 June 10, 2021 via premium processing service. Eventually, on June 24, 2021, the I-140 EB3 Petition for our Filipino client was approved without any RFE. 

Once his I-140 petition was approved, he retained our office again to file adjustment of status applications for him and his family members. On September 3, 2021, our office filed the I-485 adjustment of status applications for our clients. Everything went smoothly and the receipt notices and fingerprint appointment came on time. Eventually, on December 27, 2021, his green card application was approved without any RFE. His adjustment of status application was approved less than 3 months from the filing date.

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CASE: EB-2 I-485

EMPLOYER: Public School District

APPLICANT: Filipina Elementary Special Education Teacher in Laughlin, NV

Our client has a current employer that was willing to petition for a second-preference I-140.  Our client has a Bachelor’s degree in Education, a valid Arizona Teaching license, and has more than 5 years of experience as a Special Education Teacher. Based on our client’s education and work background, our office determined that she is eligible for EB-2 classification for her I-140 petition.  Our client eventually retained us in May 2020.  

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 the PERM application could be filed at least 60 days from the job posting date or 30 days from the last ad. Within a week from our retention, the prevailing wage request was filed.  After we obtained the PW determination, our office filed the job order on October 15, 2020.  On January 8, 2021, we filed PERM. On July 6, 2021, the PERM Labor Certification was approved without any audit – an EB2 position for the Filipina 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 July 29, 2021 via premium processing service. However, on August 5, 2021, the USCIS issued a Request for Evidence (RFE) and requested our client to submit her past experience verification letter from her former employer in the Philippines. Our office filed the Response to RFE on August 10, 2021. On August 19, 2021, the I-140 EB2 Petition for our Filipina client was approved. 

Once her I-140 petition was approved, she retained our office again for the adjustment of status applications for her and her immediate family members. On September 10, 2021, our office filed the I-485 adjustment of status applications. Everything went smoothly and the receipt notices and fingerprint appointment came on time. Eventually, on December 10, 2021, she and her family members’ green card applications were approved. Her adjustment of status application was approved within 3 months from the filing date.

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CASE: I-140 / National Interest Waiver

CLIENT: Korean

LOCATION: Seoul, South Korea

Our client contacted us about the possibility of doing a National Interest Waiver self-petition. He is a researcher in South Korea and he is an exceptional researcher and scientist in the field of data science research. 

Throughout his career, our client’s research showed that decision science can help find optimal policy alternatives for politics, international affairs and technology management. His approach, describing government arms deals as an optimal decision-making process between technology-economics-industry perspectives and political-military perspectives, can directly help us understand the arms deal policymaking process among multiple countries. Because of his innovative research, our client’s research works were highly evaluated by the reviewers of various journals and by colleagues and experts in the field.

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 7 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. 

Our office filed his I-140(NIW) petition to the USCIS Texas Service Center on April 9, 2021. Eventually, on December 2, 2021, the USCIS approved his I-140 petition without any Requests for Evidence.  He can file his immigrant visa via consular processing.

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

APPLICANT: Korean Registered Nurse 

LOCATION: Buena Park, CA

Our client is a Korean registered nurse who currently works under her OPT. Her current employer was willing to petition her for a third-preference employment immigrant visa petition (I-140) as a registered nurse. 

Since she is a registered nurse, she 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 California Registered Nursing License. Our firm told her that her current employer can petition her as a Registered Nurse under the schedule A category. Our office was retained on January 29, 2021 and we started on her Prevailing Wage Request.

We filed the I-140 application on June 29, 2021 via premium processing. We included the job offer letter, the notice of filing, and other necessary supporting documents.  Without any Request for Evidence (RFE), on July 13, 2021, the I-140 was approved. 

Once her I-140 petition was approved, she retained our office again for adjustment of status application. On August 10, 2021, our office filed an I-485 adjustment of status application for our client. Everything went smoothly and the receipt notices and fingerprint appointment came on time. Eventually, on December 1, 2021, her green card application was approved without any RFE. Her adjustment of status application was approved less than 4 months from the filing date.

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CASE: PERM Labor Certification

EMPLOYER: Public School District

BENEFICIARY: Filipina Special Education Teacher

LOCATION: Alamo, NM

Our client has a current employer that was willing to petition for a third-preference (I-140).  Our client has a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology, a valid New Mexico Teaching license, and has worked for her current employer since August 2017. Based on our client’s education and work background, our office determined that she is eligible for EB-3 classification for her I-140 petition.  Our client eventually retained us in September 2020.

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 the PERM application could be filed at least 60 days from the job posting date or 30 days from the last ad. Within a week from our retention, the prevailing wage request was filed.  After we obtained the PW determination, the employer filed the job order on March 11, 2021.  On June 17, 2021, we promptly filed PERM. 

Eventually, on December 3, 2021, the PERM Labor Certification was approved – an EB3 position for the Filipina beneficiary. Our client can file the I-140 petition at any time.

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CASE: I-140 (EB-3 Category) / Schedule A 

EMPLOYER: Nursing / Rehabilitation Center

BENEFICIARY: Filipina Registered Nurse in the Philippines

LOCATION: Houston, TX

Our client is a Filipina registered nurse who currently works in the Philippines. Her prospective employer was willing to petition for a third-preference employment immigrant visa I-140. 

Since she is a registered nurse, she 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 a Texas Registered Nursing License. Our firm told her that her prospective employer can petition her as a Registered Nurse under the schedule A category. Our office was retained on May 4, 2021 and we started on her Prevailing Wage Request. Her PW request was filed on May 11, 2021. 

We filed the I-140 application on November 15, 2021 via premium processing. We included the job offer letter, the notice of filing, financial ability to pay letter, and other necessary supporting documents. Eventually, on November 29, 2021, our client’s I-140 petition was approved without any Request for Evidence (RFE). Now, our client can file an immigrant visa application based on the approved I-140 petition.

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CASE: PERM Labor Certification

EMPLOYER: Public School District

BENEFICIARY: Filipina High School General Science Teacher

LOCATION: Casa Grande, AZ

Our client has a current employer that was willing to petition her for a third-preference petition (I-140).  Our client has a Bachelor’s degree in Secondary Education, a valid Arizona Teaching license, and has worked for her current employer since July 2016. Based on our client’s education and credentials, our office determined that she is eligible for EB-3 classification for her I-140 petition.  Our client retained us on May 29, 2020. 

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 the PERM application could only be filed at least 60 days from the job posting date or 30 days from the last ad. Within a week from our retention, the prevailing wage request was filed.  After we obtained the PW determination, our office filed the job order on October 12, 2020.  On January 8, 2021, we filed PERM. 

On August 2, 2021, the Department of Labor issued a request for audit. The DOL requested documents from the Petitioner to determine whether the recruitment process was done properly. Moreover, the Department of Labor requested Petitioner to submit a business necessity statement for this position. In response to the Audit request, our office prepared the response to Audit brief along with Employer’s declaration, notice of filing, business necessity statement from the employer, and recruitment documentation on August 27, 2021.   

On November 17, 2021, the PERM Labor Certification was approved – an EB3 position for the Filipina beneficiary. Our client can file the I-140 petition at any time.

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CASE: I-140 (EB-3 Category) / Schedule A 

EMPLOYER: Nursing / Rehabilitation Center

BENEFICIARY: Filipina Registered Nurse 

LOCATION: Houston, TX

Our client is Filipina registered nurse (citizen of Canada) who currently works in Houston, Texas under a TN status. Her current employer was willing to petition her for a third-preference employment immigrant visa petition (I-140) as a registered nurse. 

Since she is a registered nurse, she 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 a Texas Registered Nurse License. Our firm told her that her current employer can petition her as a Registered Nurse under the schedule A category. Our office was retained on May 4, 2021 and we started on her Prevailing Wage Request. Her PW request was filed on May 7, 2021. 

We filed the I-140 application on October 29, 2021 via premium processing. We included the job offer letter, the notice of filing, financial ability to pay letter, and other necessary supporting documents. On November 10, 2021, our client’s I-140 petition was approved without any Request for Evidence (RFE). Now, our client can file an adjustment of status application based on the approved I-140 petition.

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