CASE: I-751

APPLICANT: Korean

LOCATION: Cleveland, OH

Our client contacted our office in late September of 2014 regarding his I-751 application.

He is from South Korea and married a U.S. citizen in December 2011. Through his marriage, he obtained a 2-year conditional green card in November of 2012. Our office helped him with his green card application.  His conditional residency terminated in November 2014.

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 October 1, 2014 and our office prepared an I-751 application for our client with other supplemental exhibits.

On October 2, 2014, our office filed an I-751 application to the USCIS with multiple affidavits from his friends and family members, joint bank statements, utility bills, joint leasing documents, and photos of our client and his wife to demonstrate the bona fideness of their marriage.

Once the application was filed, the fingerprint notice was issued two weeks later. However, the USCIS issued a Request for Evidence (RFE) to demonstrate the bona fideness of our client’s marriage with his wife. We filed an extensive Response to RFE to the USCIS with more bona fide marital documents on April 29, 2015.

Nonetheless, the USCIS scheduled an interview for our client and his wife. On June 4, 2015, our client and his wife were requested to appear for an interview at the USCIS Cleveland Field Office.  Prior to the interview, our office prepared them thoroughly in our office and also accompanied them at the interview as well. The interview went well, and as a result, on the same day of the interview, the USCIS approved our client’s I-751 application.

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CASE: I-751

APPLICANT: Bangladeshi

LOCATION: New York

Our client contacted our office in October of 2014 regarding her and her daughter’s I-751 applications.

Our client is from Bangladesh and she married a U.S. citizen in July 2012. Through her marriage, she obtained a 2-year conditional green card in November of 2012. Her minor daughter also got a green card when our client got her green card. Her conditional residency terminated in November 2014.

To comply with immigration requirements, our client and her husband should have filed an I-751 Joint Petition to Remove Conditions before November 2014. She retained our office on October 14, 2014 and our office prepared an I-751 application for our client and her daughter with bona fide marriage evidence.

On October 27, 2014, our office filed an I-751 application to the USCIS with multiple affidavits from her friends and family members, joint bank statements, joint tax records, joint lease, joint bank statements, joint insurance, utility bills, and photos of our client and her husband to demonstrate the bona fideness of their marriage.

There was no RFE issuance or interview request for our client’s I-751 application. As a result, on June 1, 2015, the USCIS approved our client’s and her daughter’s I-751 applications and they received their 10-year green cards.

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CASE: I-751

APPLICANT: Turkish

LOCATION: New Jersey

Our client contacted our office in September of 2014 regarding her I-751 application.

She is from Turkey and she married a U.S. citizen in February 2010. Through her marriage, she obtained a 2-year conditional green card in June of 2011.  Her conditional residency terminated in June 2013.

To comply with immigration requirements, our client and her husband should have filed an I-751 Joint Petition to Remove Conditions before June 2013. However, due to financial and health related reasons, they could not file the I-751 application on time.

However, the USCIS still allows I-751 applicants to file late as long as there is a “good cause” for the late filing. She retained our office on October 1, 2014 and our office prepared an I-751 application for our client with bona fide marriage evidence and a letter to explain their late filing.

On October 17, 2014, our office filed an I-751 application to the USCIS with affidavits of applicant and her husband to explain their late filing and other joint documents to demonstrate the bona fideness of their marriage.

There was no RFE issuance or interview request for our client’s I-751 application. As a result, on May 27, 2015, the USCIS approved our client’s I-751 application and our client received her 10-year green card.

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CASE: I-751

APPLICANT: Jamaican

LOCATION: New York, NY

Our client contacted our office in early February of 2014 regarding her I-751 application.

She is from Jamaica and she married a U.S. citizen in July 2011. Through her marriage, she obtained a 2-year conditional green card in April 2012. Our office helped her in the green card process.  Her conditional residency terminated in April 2014.

To comply with immigration requirements, our client and her husband had to file an I-751 Joint Petition to Remove Conditions. She retained our office on February 19, 2014 and our office prepared an I-751 application for our client with other supplemental exhibits.

On March 31, 2014, our office filed an I-751 application to the USCIS with multiple affidavits from her friends and family members, joint tax filing records, joint bank statements, utility bills, insurance policies, and photos of our client and her husband to demonstrate the bona fideness of their marriage.

Once the application was filed, the fingerprint notice was issued two weeks later. However, the USCIS issued the Request for Evidence (RFE) to demonstrate the bona fideness of our client’s marriage with her husband. We filed an extensive Response to RFE to the USCIS with more bona fide marital documents on November 25, 2014.

Nonetheless, the USCIS scheduled an interview for our client and her husband. On March 11, 2015, our client and her husband were requested to appear for the interview at the USCIS New York City Office.  Prior to the interview, our office prepared them thoroughly via conference calls and also accompanied them at the interview as well. The interview went well, and as a result, on the same day of the interview, the USCIS approved our client’s I-751 application. On April 20, 2015, our client received her 10-year green card which removed the conditions.

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CASE: I-751

APPLICANT: Ghanaian

LOCATION: Cleveland, Ohio

Our client contacted our office in early July 2014 regarding his I-751 application.

He is from Ghana and married a U.S. citizen in 2011. Through his marriage, he obtained a 2-year conditional green card in October of 2012.  His conditional residency terminated in July 2014.

What was unique in this case was that after our client obtained his green card, their marriage suffered and they eventually got divorced. However, after a few months, they got remarried again. Those set of facts typically would raise red flags with immigration, but we got their story and obtained documents about their relationship and filed the I-751.

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 July 7, 2014 and our office prepared an I-751 application for our client with other supplemental exhibits. We made sure the application was extensive as their situation, post conditional residency application, was unique.

On August 19, 2014, our office filed an I-751 application to the USCIS with multiple affidavits from his friends and family members, joint tax filing records, joint bank statements, utility bills, insurance policies, and photos of our client and his wife to demonstrate the bona fideness of their marriage. The divorce decree plus new marriage certificate were also submitted. The beneficiary even had a domestic violence case which was brought down to disorderly conduct.

Once the application was filed, the fingerprint notice was issued two weeks later. However, USCIS issued a Request for Evidence (RFE) on December 3, 2014. The USCIS requested our client to submit more documentary evidence to prove the bona fide nature of his marriage with his wife. In response to the RFE, our office prepared the response and gathered more joint documentary evidence to demonstrate the bona fide nature of their marriage We filed the RFE response on February 5, 2015.

As expected, the USCIS scheduled an interview for our client’s I-751 application. On April 2, 2014, our client and his wife were requested to appear for their interview at the USCIS Cleveland Office.  Prior to the interview, our office prepared them thoroughly. We also accompanied them at the interview as well. The interview went well, and as a result, on the same day of the interview, the USCIS approved our client’s I-751 application and our client received his 10-year green card which removed the conditions

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CASE: I-751 / Waiver of the Joint Waiver Requirement

APPLICANT: Dominican

LOCATION: Orlando, FL

Our client contacted our office in early December of 2014 regarding her pending I-751 filing. She came to the United States from the Dominican Republic and she married a U.S. Citizen (her ex-husband) in July 2011.

Through her marriage, she was able to obtain a 2-year conditional green card in March of 2012. Her conditional residency terminated in March 2014.

Before her 2 year green card expired, our client filed an I-751 application JOINTLY with her ex-husband in 2014. However, while the I-751 application was pending, their marriage started to fall apart. Our client experienced a lot of difficulties in her marital life with his ex-husband. Eventually, they were SEPARATED AND FILED FOR DIVORCE IN DECEMBER 2014. Their marriage ended in February 2015 (divorce issued). While her I-751 was pending, she retained our office to convert her I-751 from joint filing to a waiver of the joint filing category.

According to an April 9, 2009 USCIS Memorandum by Director Neufeld, “USCIS may not deny a petition solely because the spouses are separated and/or have initiated divorce or annulment proceedings…  If a Service Center ISO encounters an I-751 petition jointly filed by co-petitioners who are still married but are in divorce proceedings, the ISO issues the Conditional Permanent Resident (CPR) a Request for Evidence with an 87-day response period.  In the RFE, the ISO specifically asks the CPR to provide a copy of the final divorce decree along with a request to have the joint filing petition treated as a waiver petition.  This affords the CPR an opportunity to provide evidence that the proceedings have been finalized and it affords the CPR an opportunity to request a waiver to the joint filing without refilling.”

Based on this Memorandum and with various supporting documents (over 42 exhibits and an affidavit over 9 pages) to demonstrate their bona fide marriage, on December 26, 2014, our office promptly filed a new I-751 application with a Request to convert the joint filing to I-751 with waiver of the joint waiver requirement pursuant to the Neufeld April 3, 2009 Memorandum for I-751 Applications pending divorce proceedings. No new filing fees were included in this conversion request.

In January 2015, the USCIS scheduled an I-751 interview for our client. Prior to the interview, our office thoroughly prepared our client via conference calls and informed her of potential issues at the interview.

On February 24, 2015, our client was interviewed for her I-751 application at the USCIS Orlando, FL Field Office.  Eventually, the USCIS approved our client’s I-751 application. Now, she has her ten-year green card.

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CASE: I-751 / Waiver of the Joint Waiver Requirement

APPLICANT: Indian

LOCATION: Cleveland, OH

Our client contacted our office in early April of 2014 regarding his pending I-751 filing. He came to the United States from India and he married a U.S. Citizen (her ex-wife) in November 2010.

Through his marriage, he was able to obtain a 2-year conditional green card in May of 2011. Thus, his conditional residency terminated in May 2013.

Before his 2 year green card expired, our client filed an I-751 application with his ex-wife in 2013. However, while the I-751 application was pending, their marriage started to fall apart. Our client experienced a lot of difficulties in his marital life with his ex-wife. Unfortunately, their marriage ended in September 2014.  Thus, our client’s jointly filed application was denied by the USCIS.

He retained our office in September 2014 to file an I-751 with a waiver of the joint filing requirement. We requested a waiver because our client entered into the marriage in good faith, but the marriage was terminated through divorce or annulment. We focused on the supporting documents that he can show and helped him draft an extensive affidavit about their marriage, and why it ended the way it did.

On September 30, 2014, our office filed the I-751 application with various supporting documents (over 16 exhibits and an affidavit over 3 pages) to demonstrate our client’s bona fide marriage with his ex-wife.

In December 2014, the USCIS scheduled an I-751 interview for our client. Prior to the interview, our office thoroughly prepared our client at our office and informed him of potential issues at the interview.

On January 8, 2015, our client was interviewed for his I-751 application at the USCIS Cleveland, OH Field Office.  Attorney Sung Hee (Glen) Yu from our office accompanied our client.  The interview was very extensive.  Nevertheless, the USCIS approved our client’s I-751 application. Now, he has his ten-year green card.

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CASE: I-751

APPLICANT: Filipino

LOCATION: Houston, Texas

Our client contacted our office in July of 2014 regarding his I-751 application.

He is from the Philippines and he married a U.S. citizen in April 2012. Through his marriage, he obtained a 2-year conditional green card in August of 2012.  His conditional residency terminated in August 2014.

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 July 8, 2014 and our office prepared an I-751 application for our client with bona fide marriage evidence.

On July 23, 2014, our office filed an I-751 application to the USCIS with multiple affidavits from his friends and family members, joint bank statements, joint tax records, utility bills, joint mortgage, joint insurance and photos of our client and his wife to demonstrate the bona fideness of their marriage.

There was no RFE issuance or interview request for our client’s I-751 application. As a result, on January 26, 2015, the USCIS approved our client’s I-751 application and our client received his 10-year green card.

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CASE: I-751 / Waiver of the Joint Waiver Requirement

APPLICANT: Ukrainian

LOCATION: Cleveland, Ohio

Our client contacted our office in early December of 2013 regarding her potential I-751 filing. She came to the United States as a J-1 exchange visitor from Ukraine and she married a U.S. citizen (her ex-husband) in November 2011.

Through her marriage, she was able to obtain a 2-year conditional green card in August of 2012. Thus, her conditional residency purportedly expires in August 2014.

Unfortunately, their marriage ended in January 2014. Our client experienced a lot of difficulties during her marriage with her ex-husband. Thus, our client could not file the I-751 application jointly with her ex-husband.

Our client had compelling reasons for getting separated and eventually divorced. We requested a waiver because our client entered into the marriage in good faith, but the marriage was terminated through divorce or annulment before they can file a joint petition. We focused on the supporting documents that she can show and helped her draft an extensive affidavit about their marriage, and why it ended the way it did.

On March 26, 2014, our office filed the I-751 application with various supporting documents (over 15 exhibits and an affidavit over 6 pages) to demonstrate our client’s bona fide marriage with her ex-husband.  We also attached numerous notarized affidavits from our client’s friends.

However, on June 23, 2014, the USCIS issued a Request for Evidence (RFEs) to demonstrate the bona fideness of our client’s marriage with her ex-husband. We filed an extensive Response to RFE to the USCIS with more bona fide marital documents on August 13, 2014.

In September 2014, the USCIS scheduled an I-751 interview for our client.

Prior to the interview, our office thoroughly prepared our client at our office and informed her of potential issues at the interview.

On October 16, 2014, our client was interviewed for her I-751 application at the USCIS Cleveland, OH Field Office.  Attorney Glen Sung Hee Yu from our office accompanied our client.  The interview was very extensive.  Nevertheless, the USCIS approved our client’s I-751 application on October 30, 2014. Now, she has her ten-year green card.

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CASE: I-751

APPLICANT: Cameroonian

LOCATION: Virginia

Our client contacted our office in January of 2014 regarding her I-751 application.

She is from Cameroon and she married a U.S. citizen in 2011. Through her marriage, she obtained a 2-year conditional green card in April of 2012.  Her conditional residency terminated in April 2014.

To comply with immigration requirements, our client and her husband had to file an I-751 Joint Petition to Remove Conditions. She retained our office on January 29, 2014 and our office prepared an I-751 application for our client with bona fide marriage evidence.

On March 17, 2014, our office filed an I-751 application to the USCIS with multiple affidavits from her friends and family members, joint bank statements, joint tax records, utility bills, and photos of our client and her husband to demonstrate the bona fideness of their marriage.

There was no RFE issuance or interview request for our client’s I-751 application. As a result, on September 22, 2014, the USCIS approved our client’s I-751 application and our client received her 10-year green card.

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