CASE: Marriage-Based Adjustment of Status

CLIENT: Canadian

LOCATION: Euless, TX

Our client came to the United States from Canada on a B-2 visitor’s visa in January 2020. She married a U.S. Citizen and retained our office for her green card application on February 5, 2020.  Our firm prepared and filed the I-130 Petition and I-485 Adjustment of Status Application on February 19, 2020.  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 as well. On December 30, 2020, our client was interviewed at the Irving, TX USCIS office. On January 1, 2021, her green card application was approved.

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CASE: Adjustment of Status at Removal Proceeding
CLIENT: Ukrainian
LOCATION: Cleveland, OH

Our client came to the United States in April 2009 with a J-1 exchange visitor’s visa from Ukraine. His J-1 visa did not make him subject to the 2-year foreign residency requirement.  Later, he filed an asylum and his asylum interview was conducted by the USCIS. His case was referred to the Cleveland Immigration Court. His case was administratively closed in March 2016. 

He married a U.S. Citizen in January 2017.  Our client’s wife filed an I-130 petition on behalf of our client, and this I-130 petition was approved by USCIS in October 2018. Once the I-130 petition was approved, he client retained our office in December 2018 for his removal proceedings. 

Our office prepared and filed a Motion to Recalendar to the Cleveland Immigration Court on December 5, 2018. His case was recalendared to the immigration judge’s docket and our office prepared and filed an I-485 Adjustment of Status Application.

On January 4, 2021, Attorney Sung Hee (Glen) Yu represented our client’s at his Individual Hearing for adjustment of status at the Cleveland Immigration Court. The Immigration Judge granted our client’s adjustment of status relief.  Our client’s removal proceeding has been terminated. Now, our client is a green card holder.    

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CASE: Marriage-Based Adjustment of Status

CLIENT: Mexican

LOCATION: Springfield, OH

Our client came to the United States from Mexico on a B2 Border Crossing Card in February 2016. He remained in the United States since then. He married a U.S. Citizen in October 2018 and retained our office on March 4, 2020 for his green card application.  Our firm prepared and filed the I-130 Petition and I-485 Adjustment of Status Application on April 6, 2020.  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 December 21, 2020, our client was interviewed at the Cincinnati Ohio USCIS office. On December 22, 2020, his green card application was approved.

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CASE: Marriage-Based Adjustment of Status

CLIENT: Chinese

LOCATION: Columbus, OH

Our client came to the United States from China on a B-2 visitor’s visa in February 2015. She overstayed and remained in the United States afterwards.  She married a U.S. Citizen in August 2017 and retained our office for her green card application on September 25, 2019.  Our firm prepared and filed the I-130 Petition and I-485 Adjustment of Status Application on July 14, 2020.  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 as well. On December 22, 2020, our client was interviewed at the Columbus, Ohio USCIS office. Eventually, on the same day of her interview, her green card application was approved.

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CASE: Marriage-Based Adjustment of Status

CLIENT: Filipina

LOCATION: Tampa, FL

Our client came to the United States from the Philippines on a B-2 visitor’s visa in January 2011. She overstayed and remained in the US.  She married a U.S. Citizen in September 2019 and retained our office for her green card application on December 23, 2019.  Our firm prepared and filed the I-130 Petition and I-485 Adjustment of Status Application on February 6, 2020.  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 as well. On December 22, 2020, our client was interviewed at the Tampa, Florida USCIS office. Eventually, on the same day of her interview, her green card application was approved.

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CASE: I-751

APPLICANT: Korean

LOCATION: Hackensack, NJ

Our client contacted our office in March 2020 regarding her I-751 application.

She is from South Korea and she married a U.S. citizen in June 2017. Through her marriage, she obtained a 2-year conditional green card in May 2018.  Her conditional residency terminated in May 2020.

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 March 30, 2020, and our office prepared an I-751 application for our client with supporting documents.

On April 6, 2020, our office filed an I-751 application to the USCIS with multiple affidavits from her friends and family members, joint bank statements, joint taxes, utility bills, insurance policies, and photos of our client and her husband to demonstrate the bona fideness of their marriage. 

Eventually, on December 3, 2020, the USCIS approved our client’s I-751 application and our client received her 10-year green card which removed the conditions.

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CASE: I-751 / Waiver of the Joint Waiver Requirement
APPLICANT: Filipina
LOCATION: St. Petersburg, FL

Our client contacted our office in June of 2018 regarding her I-751 application.  She is from the Philippines and she married a U.S. citizen in November 2016. Through her marriage with a U.S. citizen spouse, she obtained her 2-year conditional green card in February of 2018. Therefore, her conditional residency terminated in February 2020. 

Unfortunately, during their marriage, our client and her ex-husband went through struggles. They started living separately and their divorce proceedings were initiated. Thus, our client could not proceed with an I-751 joint filing with her ex-husband. We advised that we can help her file an I-751 application 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 before they can file a joint petition.

On July 16, 2018, our office filed the I-751 application with various supporting documents (numerous exhibits and an affidavit over 3 pages) to demonstrate our client’s bona fide marriage with her ex-husband. 

In July 2020, the USCIS issued a Request for Evidence (RFE) for our client and requested her to submit a finalized divorce decree and more bona fide marital evidence with her ex-husband. Our office prepared and filed the Response to RFE on September 4, 2020.  Eventually, the USCIS approved her I-751 application on December 14, 2020. Now, she has her ten-year green card.

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Case: I-130/I-485
Applicant/Beneficiary – British
Location: Fostoria, OH

Our client entered the United States in January 2020 from the United Kingdom. He came under the visa waiver program. As a Visa Waiver Entrant, he was only authorized to remain in the United States only for 90 days.  He married his U.S. citizen spouse in March 2020. 

In March 2020, they contacted our office regarding adjustment of status through marriage. They retained our office on March 24, 2020.  One main issue 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 issuances.

Since our client resided in Fostoria Ohio, his application had a better chance compared to states under the 9th Circuit (see Momeni v. Chertoff). It was foreseeable that the USCIS field office will exercise its discretion to deny his application because of his visa waiver entry.  

Our office filed the I-130 Petition and I-485 Adjustment of Status Application on April 7, 2020.  Our office requested the CIS to exercise favorable discretion in granting adjustment of status. Everything went smoothly and the receipt notices, fingerprint appointment, and work permit all came on time. Prior to the interview, we thoroughly prepared our clients at our office. On December 17, 2020, our client was interviewed at the Cleveland, Ohio USCIS Field Office.  Attorney Sung Hee (Glen) Yu, Esq. accompanied our clients. The interview went well, and the USCIS approved his adjustment of status application on the same day of the interview.  Now, our client is a green card holder. 

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CASE: I-751

APPLICANT: Korean

LOCATION: Darien, IL

Our client contacted our office in July of 2018 regarding her I-751 application. She is from South Korea and she got her two-year green card through marriage to a US Citizen. She obtained the 2-year conditional green card in November 2016. Thus, her conditional residency terminated in November 2018.

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 and we prepared an I-751 application for our client.

On October 26, 2018, our office filed an I-751 application to the USCIS with multiple affidavits from her friends and family members, joint tax documents, birth certificate of their daughter, and photos of our client and her husband to demonstrate the bona fideness of their marriage.

In August 2019, the USCIS issued a Request for Evidence (RFE) and requested our client to submit more bona fide marriage documents. Our office filed the Response to RFE on November 11, 2019. 

In November 2020, the USCIS scheduled an interview for our client and her husband. On December 16, 2020, our client and her husband were requested to appear for the interview at the USCIS Chicago Field Office.  Prior to the interview, our office prepared them thoroughly via conference calls. The interview went well, and as a result, on December 16, 2020, the USCIS approved our client’s I-751 application.

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CASE: I-751 / Waiver of the Joint Waiver Requirement
APPLICANT: Vietnamese
LOCATION: Round Rock, TX

Our client contacted our office in March of 2019 regarding his daughter’s I-751 filing. Our client is from Vietnam and he married a U.S. citizen and got his conditional green card in 2015. He filed his I-751 application and his I-751 application was approved as well. When he was petitioned by his U.S. citizen wife, she also filed I-130 petitions for our client’s daughters and they got their conditional green card in March 2015. 

Unfortunately, during their marriage, our client and his ex-wife went through struggles. His ex-wife (his spouse at that time) refused to sign the form I-751 for his daughters to remove their conditional green cards. His daughters on their own (without an attorney) filed form I-751 under extreme hardship. In their application package, besides the required documents, each of them wrote a letter, explaining their hardships. The hardship evidence included leaving Vietnam at a very early age, being unable to communicate and continue learning, lack of safety protection, family separation, being unable to continue with their education, life insecurity, and physical and emotional depression. 

They client received a Request for Evidence for this I-751 application in January 2019 and contacted our office for legal assistance.  After consultation, we advised that we can help her re-file the I-751 application with a waiver of the joint filing requirement instead. We requested a waiver because our client (applicant’s father) entered into the marriage in good faith, but the marriage was terminated through divorce or annulment before they can file a joint petition.

On April 3, 2019, our office filed the I-751 application with various supporting documents.

Eventually, on December 3, 2020, the USCIS approved the I-751.

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