CASE:   I-601A Hardship Waiver of Inadmissibility

APPLICANT / BENEFICIARY: Guatemalan

LOCATION: Cleveland, Ohio

Our client came to the United States from Guatemala in January 2000 without inspection and admission. He married his LPR wife in January 2011. They have a U.S. citizen daughter together.  His LPR wife filed an I-130 petition for him on December 12, 2016. This I-130 petition was approved on May 17, 2018.

Our client cannot file for adjustment of status application due to his ground of inadmissibility. He needs a waiver of inadmissibility to become a green card holder. Moreover, our client was placed into removal proceedings, but with our office’s assistance, his removal proceeding was administratively closed in November 2012 to file the provisional waiver application. 

Under current law, immediate relatives of U.S. citizens who are not eligible to adjust status in the United States must travel abroad and obtain an immigrant visa. Individuals who have accrued more than 180 days of unlawful presence while in the United States must obtain a waiver of inadmissibility to overcome the unlawful presence bars under section 212(a)(9)(B) of the Immigration and Nationality Act before they can return to the United States.

In 2013, the USCIS announced of new policy called the provisional unlawful presence waiver. Beginning March 4, 2013, certain immigrant visa applicants who are spouses, children and parents of U.S. citizens (immediate relatives) can apply for provisional unlawful presence waivers before they leave the United States. The provisional unlawful presence waiver process allows individuals, who only need a waiver of inadmissibility for unlawful presence, to apply for a waiver in the United States.

The new process is expected to shorten the time U.S. citizens are separated from their immediate relatives while those family members are obtaining immigrant visas to become lawful permanent residents of the United States.

INA § 212(i) provides for a discretionary waiver of the entry without inspection inadmissibility ground. To qualify for the waiver, the alien must establish that his or her US Citizen spouse would suffer extreme hardship if the alien were denied admission. INA § 212(i)(1). In addition to the equities presented, the USCIS may consider the nature of the inadmissibility ground.

There is a seminal BIA case that deals with this waiver.  In Matter of Cervantes, 22 I & N Dec. 560 (BIA 1999), the BIA identified the factors to be considered in determining whether a qualifying relative would suffer extreme hardship if the alien were denied admission.  Those factors include: the presence of LPR or USC family ties both within and outside the United States; the conditions in the country to which the qualifying relative would relocate and the extent of the qualifying relative’s ties to that country; the financial impact of departure from the United States; and significant conditions of health, particularly when tied to the unavailability of suitable medical care in the country to which the qualifying relative would relocate.

Our client’s I-601A application had a good chance since our client’s LPR wife suffers from a great degree of medical hardship. In the I-601A brief and supporting documents, our office included extensive medical reports of his wife.  We argued that if he was removed from the United States, extreme hardship to his wife is clearly foreseeable and evident. His wife has ongoing medical hardships and she would not be able to take care of her own needs and the bulk of their family chores, most importantly taking care of their children. Also, it would be extremely difficult for her to get the same level of therapy and satisfactory access to medical services in Guatemala in case she joins our client there.

In our brief, we also argued that our client and his wife have maintained strong family ties in the United States, that his wife will have difficulty in finding the same level of employment in Guatemala, that our client has good employment in the United States, and that his U.S. citizen child and his wife will face extreme financial and emotional difficulties if he is removed.

On November 14, 2018, we filed the I-601A waiver application which included the brief in support, his wife’s extensive medical examination records, and other documents that demonstrated hardship to his wife if he is removed from the United States.

Eventually, his I-601A waiver was approved on August 12, 2019. Now, he can file packet 3 and 4 here in the United States, and would go to Guatemala shortly to get his immigrant visa.

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CASE: Marriage-Based Green Card (Same Sex Marriage Case)

CLIENT: Filipino

LOCATION: Bullhead City, AZ

Our client came to the United States from the Philippines on a J-1 Exchange Visitor’s visa in 2015. He married his U.S. Citizen same-sex spouse in March 2016.

On June 26, 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court held that restricting U.S. federal interpretation of “marriage” and “spouse” to apply only to heterosexual unions, by Section 3 of the defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), is unconstitutional under the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment. United States v. Windsor, 570 U.S. ___ (2013). After Windsor decision, the USCIS implemented a new policy that the USCIS officer must review immigration via petitions filed on behalf of a same-sex spouse in the same manner as those filed on behalf of an opposite-sex spouse. As long as a same-sex couple is married in a U.S. state that recognizes same-sex marriage, their marriage shall be considered a valid marriage under the immigration law. 

They married in Nevada where the same-sex marriage is recognized. Our client contacted our office and retained us on July 31, 2018 for his I-130 petition and I-485 adjustment of status application. Our firm prepared and filed the I-130 petition and I-485 adjustment of status application, together with all necessary supporting documents, on August 21, 2018. 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 August 19, 2019, our client was interviewed at the Phoenix, Arizona USCIS office. The interview went well and his green card application was approved on the same day.

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CASE: Marriage-Based Adjustment of Status

CLIENT: Filipina

LOCATION: Anson, TX 

Our client came to the United States from the Philippines on a H-1B visa in January 2017 to work as a medical scientist. She married a U.S. Citizen in June 2018 and retained our office on August 27, 2018 for her green card application.  Our firm prepared and filed the I-130 Petition and I-485 Adjustment of Status Application on October 2, 2018. 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 August 17, 2019, our client was interviewed at the Dallas, Texas USCIS office. Eventually, after the interview, her green card application was approved.

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CASE: I-751

APPLICANT: Egyptian

LOCATION: Strongsville, OH

Our client contacted our office in August of 2018 regarding his I-751 application.

He is from Egypt and he married a U.S. citizen in September 2015. Through his marriage, he obtained a 2-year conditional green card in December of 2016.  His conditional residency terminated in December 2018.

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 September 12, 2018, and our office prepared an I-751 application for our client with other supplemental exhibits.

On September 20, 2018, our office filed an I-751 application to the USCIS with multiple affidavits from his friends and family members, joint bank statements, joint taxes, utility bills, insurance policies, 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. There was no RFE issuance or interview request for our client’s I-751 application. As a result, on August 14, 2019, 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: Adjustment of Status at Removal Proceeding
CLIENT: Cameroonian
LOCATION: Columbus, OH (USCIS) / Cleveland, OH (EOIR)

Our client came to the United States in December 2013 on a F-1 student visa from Cameroon. Later, she filed an asylum application and her asylum interview was conducted by the USCIS. Her case was referred to the Cleveland Immigration Court and she retained our office for the representation of her removal proceedings in 2017. 

She married a U.S. Citizen in October 2018.  Our client’s husband filed I-130 petition on behalf of our client, and this I-130 petition was approved by USCIS Columbus Field Office in July 2019. Attorney Sung Hee (Glen) Yu, Esq. from our office accompanied our clients.   Once the I-130 petition is approved, our office prepared and filed the I-485 Adjustment of Status Application, pre-hearing memorandum, and other supporting documents to the Cleveland Immigration Court.

On August 19, 2019, Attorney Sung Hee (Glen) Yu represented our client’s at her Individual Hearing for adjustment of status at the Cleveland Immigration Court.  After the hearing, the Immigration Judge granted our client’s adjustment of status relief. Our client’s removal proceeding is terminated simultaneously. Now, our client becomes a green card holder.    

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CASE: I-130 (Petitions for Parent) and Adjustment of Status

CLIENT: Filipina

LOCATION: Arlington, VA

In 2017, our client retained us to petition her mother. Our client was born and raised in the Philippines, but was naturalized in the United States.  Upon retention, our firm prepared and filed the I-130 petition for her mother on January 9, 2017. Eventually, the I-130 petition was approved in December 2017. 

Our client’ mother works for an international organization on a G-4 visa. With frequent international work-related travel, she could not proceed with her adjustment of status application. In early 2019, she contacted our office again for the preparation and filing of her adjustment of status. Our office filed her I-485 adjustment of status application on February 19, 2019. Everything went smoothly and the receipt notices, fingerprint appointment, and work permits all came on time.  Eventually, on August 2, 2019, our client’s mother’s adjustment of status applications was approved.  

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CASE: Adjustment of Status Based on Approved K-1 Visa

CLIENT: Filipina

LOCATION: Humble, TX

Our client came to the United States in April 2018 as a K-1 visa entrant from the Philippines.  Our client is the beneficiary of an approved I-129F petition. She came to the United States as a K-1 Fiancée of a U.S. Citizen whom she married within 90 days of her entry. By law, if you married your petitioner-fiancé within 90 days of your K-1 visa entry, you are eligible to apply for adjustment of status (green card) in the United States. She married in May of 2018. 

Our client contacted our office initially and consulted with us for her adjustment of status application. She retained our office on May 29, 2018. After retention, our firm quickly prepared and filed the I-485 Adjustment of Status Application on June 7, 2018.  Things went smoothly and the receipt notices, and the fingerprint appointment all came on time.  

Thereafter, the USCIS scheduled an interview for our client’s adjustment of status application.  Prior to the interview, we thoroughly prepared our clients via conference calls. On July 31, 2019, our clients were interviewed at the Houston, Texas USCIS office. Eventually, on the same day of the interview, her green card application was approved.

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CASE: Marriage-Based Adjustment of Status

CLIENT: Indian

LOCATION: Elyria, OH

Our client came to the United States from India on an F-1 student visa in 2009. He married a U.S. Citizen in April 2017 and retained our office on March 13, 2019 for his green card application.  Our firm prepared and filed the I-130 Petition and I-485 Adjustment of Status Application on April 3, 2019. 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 July 23, 2019, our client was interviewed at the Cleveland, Ohio USCIS office. Attorney Sung Hee (Glen) Yu from our office accompanied our clients as well. Eventually, on July 24, 2019, his green card application was approved.

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CASE: Marriage-Based Adjustment of Status

NATIONALITY: Canadian                                                                                                      

LOCATION: Sandpoint, ID

Our client is from Canada who came to the U.S. as a visitor in September 2018. In December 2018, our client married her current U.S. citizen husband.  She retained our office for her green card application, and our firm prepared and filed the I-130 Petition and K-485 Adjustment of Status Application on January 2, 2019. 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 July 17, 2019, our client was interviewed at the Spokane Washington USCIS office. Eventually, on the same day of the interview, her green card application was approved.

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CASE: Marriage-Based Adjustment of Status

CLIENT: British

LOCATION: Parma, OH

Our client came to the United States from the United Kingdom on a B-2 visitor’s visa in 1993 when she was a minor. Since then, she has remained in the United States.  She married a U.S. Citizen in December 2007, and retained our office on February 28, 2019 for her green card application. Our firm prepared and filed the I-130 Petition and I-485 Adjustment of Status Application on March 19, 2019.  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 July 18, 2019, our client was interviewed at the Cleveland, Ohio USCIS office. Eventually, on the same day of the interview, her green card application was approved.

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