CASE: Marriage-Based Adjustment of Status

CLIENT: Filipina

LOCATION: Honolulu, HI

Our client came to the United States in 2008 with an H-4 visa from the Philippines. In December 2012, she changed her status from H-4 to F-1 to pursue her Bachelor’s degree in the United States.  She married a U.S. Citizen in December 2013 and retained our office on January 21, 2014 for her adjustment of status application.  Our firm prepared and filed the I-130 Petition and I-485 Adjustment of Status Application on February 11, 2014.  Everything went smoothly and the receipt notices, fingerprint appointment, and work permits all came on time.

The interview was scheduled. However, our client’s U.S. Citizen husband left the U.S. deployment in Afghanistan. Our office submitted an interview rescheduling request to the USCIS Honolulu Field Office, asking for an interview at a later time. However, the USCIS Honolulu Field Office contacted our office and told us that they still want the beneficiary to appear for the interview even without the Petitioner.

Prior to the interview, we thoroughly prepared our client via conference calls. We made sure bona fides are shown at the interview as well as documentation as to why her husband was abroad (U.S. Army Service)

On June 5, 2014, our client was interviewed at the Honolulu, HI USCIS.  On June 6, 2014, her green card application was approved.

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CASE: I-751

APPLICANT: Korean

LOCATION: Columbus, OH

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

She is from South Korea 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 on her permanent residency. She retained our office on January 30, 2014 and our office prepared an I-751 application with bona fide marriage evidence.

On March 7, 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, joint lease, and photos of our client and her husband to demonstrate the bona fideness of their marriage.

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

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CASE: Adjustment of Status based on I-130 petition for minor step-son of US Citizen

CLIENT: US Citizen Petitioner; Mongolian Beneficiary

LOCATION: Cleveland, OH

Our clients are a U.S. citizen husband and his Mongolian wife in Cleveland, OH.  Our client has a son from her previous marriage. Her son came to the United States with B-2 visitor’s visa from Mongolia in September 2013 and has lived with them in Cleveland, Ohio.

Her U.S. citizen husband decided to petition for his step-son for an I-130 petition and the step-son wanted to file an adjustment of status application.

They contacted our office in January 2014 and retained our office to help them for the I-130 and I-485 for their step-son. Our firm prepared and filed the I-130 Petition and Adjustment of Status Application on February 13, 2014.  Everything went smoothly and the receipt notices, fingerprint appointment, and work permits all came on time.

Eventually, on June 5, 2014, the USCIS approved both the I-130 petition and I-485 adjustment of status application without an interview. Now, our client’s minor step-son is a green card holder.

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CASE: I-751

APPLICANT: Ghanaian

LOCATION: Columbus, OH

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

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

To comply with immigration requirements, our client and his wife had to file an I-751 Joint Petition to Remove Conditions on his permanent residency. He retained our office on January 29, 2014 and our office prepared an I-751 application with bona fide marriage evidence.

On February 6, 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 lease, and photos of our client and his wife to demonstrate the bona fideness of their marriage.

There was no RFE or interview request for our client’s I-751 application. As a result, on June 2, 2014, the USCIS approved our client’s I-751 application and our client received his 10-year green card.

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CASE: I-129F Fiancée Petition and Fiancée Visa

PETITIONER: US Citizen in Columbus, OH

BENEFICIARY: Ghanaian

PETITION FILED: April 7, 2014

PETITION APPROVED: May 5, 2014

Our client, a US Citizen Petitioner, met his Ghanaian fiancée in March 2013. They started their relationship, and he went to Ghana in November 2014 to see her. He proposed to his fiancée in February 2014. Shortly after his proposal, he retained our firm to file a fiancée petition for her.

After retention, we informed our client about the necessary supporting documents to demonstrate the bona fide nature of their relationship. Our client retained our office on March 20, 2014. We helped him and his fiancée draft letters in support of the fiancé petition, and we filed the petition on April 7, 2014.

On May 5, 2014, the I-129F fiancée petition was approved.

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CASE: I-751 / Response to RFE

APPLICANT: Vietnamese

LOCATION: Youngstown, OH

Our client contacted our office in the middle of January this year regarding a Response to RFE for her I-751 application. She is from Vietnam and got her 2-year conditional green card through her marriage to her U.S. citizen husband.  She obtained a 2-year conditional green card in November of 2011, and her conditional residency terminated in November 2013.

To comply with immigration requirements, our client and her husband filed an I-751 Joint Petition to Remove Conditions before November 2013. However, she did not have an attorney back then, and did not submit sufficient evidence to prove the bona fideness of her marriage to her U.S. citizen husband. As a result of that, on January 2, 2014, the USCIS issued a Request for Evidence (RFE) for our client’s I-751 filing.

She consulted with our office after receiving the RFE. After discussing the case with them, she retained our office on January 22, 2014.

We reviewed the CIS’ RFE letter and prepared our response.  On March 20, 2014, our office filed the Response to RFE to the USCIS with multiple affidavits from her friends and family members, joint bank statements, utility bills, credit card statements, joint tax records, joint vehicle title, insurance policies, and photos of our client and her husband to demonstrate the bona fideness of their marriage.

After this submission, our client wasn’t even interviewed. Instead, on May 2, 2014, the USCIS approved our client’s I-751 application and our client received her 10-year green card.

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CASE: Marriage-Based Adjustment of Status

CLIENT: Italian

LOCATION: Long Island, NY

Our client came to the United States in 2010 with a J-1 exchange visitor visa from Italy as a post-doctorate researcher in the United States. His J-1 program did not subject him to the INA Section 212(e), two-year foreign residency requirement. Since then, he has maintained his status as a J-1 and H-1B holder.

He married a U.S. Citizen in December 2013 and retained our office on December 17, 2013 for his adjustment of status application.

Our firm prepared and filed the I-130 Petition and Adjustment of Status Application on December 27, 2013.  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 May 5, 2014, our client was interviewed at the Holtsville, NY USCIS office.  The interview went well, and on the same day, his green card application was approved.

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CASE: Marriage-Based Adjustment of Status
CLIENT: Ethiopian
LOCATION: Cleveland, OH

Our client came to the United States in 2003 with an F-1 student visa from Ethiopia to pursue her bachelor’s degree in the United States.  After she got her Bachelor’s degree, she took graduate studies and eventually got her Ph.D.

She married a U.S. Citizen in December 2012 and retained our office on January 6, 2014 for her adjustment of status application.  Our firm prepared and filed the I-130 Petition and I-485 Adjustment of Status Application on January 22, 2014.  Everything went smoothly and the receipt notices, fingerprint appointment, and work permits all came on time.

The interview was scheduled. However, our client’s U.S. Citizen husband left the U.S. for a medical mission in Tanzania and he planned to come back to the U.S. in September. Our office submitted an interview rescheduling request to the USCIS Cleveland Field Office, asking for an interview after September 2014. However, the USCIS Cleveland Field Office contacted our office and told us that they still want the beneficiary to appear for the interview even without the Petitioner.

Prior to the interview, we thoroughly prepared our client at our office. We made sure bona fides are shown at the interview as well as documentation as to why her husband was abroad (mission).

On April 21, 2014, our client was interviewed at the Cleveland, OH USCIS.  Our attorney accompanied our client as well. On April 25, 2014, her green card application was approved.

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CASE: I-751

APPLICANT: Filipina

LOCATION: Cleveland, Ohio

Our client contacted our office in September of 2013 regarding her I-751 application.

She was from the Philippines and she married a U.S. citizen in June 2011. Through her marriage, she obtained a 2-year conditional green card in December 2011.  Her conditional residency terminated in December 2013.

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 again on September 26, 2013 and our office prepared an I-751 application for our client with supplemental exhibits.

On October 11, 2013, our office filed an I-751 application to the USCIS with joint bank statements, utility bills, insurance policies, joint lease, joint tax records 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 a Request for Evidence (RFE) on January 23, 2014.  The USCIS requested our client to submit more documentary evidence to prove the bona fide nature of her marriage with her husband. In response to the RFE, our office prepared the response and gathered more joint documentary evidence to demonstrate the bona fide nature of our client’s marriage. We filed the RFE response on March 5, 2014 to USCIS.

Eventually, on March 20, 2014, 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: Joint Motion to Reopen and Termination of Removal Proceedings with an Approved I-130 Petition

CLIENT: Indonesian
LOCATION: Kentucky; San Francisco (EOIR)

Our client is from Indonesia who came to the U.S. on a B-2 visitor’s visa in March 2004. She has remained in the United States past her authorized period of stay.  Later, she filed for asylum and withholding of removal in April 2006, but the Immigration Judge in San Francisco, CA denied all applications for relief.

She filed an appeal with the BIA, but in June 2007, the Board affirmed the Immigration Judge’s findings and dismissed the appeal. She then proceeded to appeal her case at the Federal Circuit Court, but was denied. She even filed a Motion to Reopen, which was also denied in January 2013.

Our client remained in the United States with the final order of removal.

She married her current U.S. citizen husband in August 2012. Her husband filed an I-130 petition in November 2012, which was subsequently approved by the USCIS in November 2013.

Our client and her husband consulted our firm. They wish to know if she has any viable options for her immigration status.

After careful review, our office determined that we can file a Request to the DHS to join in a Motion to Reopen based on the I-130 approval and Bo Cooper’s May 17, 2001 Memorandum.

Our client retained our office on December 4, 2013.

Once retained, our office prepared and filed a Request to Join in a Motion to Reopen and Terminate to the San Francisco DHS office on February 21, 2014. Our office prepared an extensive brief along with multiple supporting documents to request a favorable exercise of DHS’s discretion on this case. Our client’s husband was a member of the US army, deployed in Afghanistan several times, and that was part of our argument.

We argued that DHS should consider the following factors as set forth in Bo Cooper’s May 17, 2001 Memorandum: (1) whether adjustment of status was available at the prior hearing; (2) whether the alien is statutorily eligible for adjustment of status; and (3) whether the alien merits a favorable exercise of discretion. Bo Cooper, Motions to Reopen for Consideration of Adjustment of Status (May 17, 2001). In considering these factors, as delineated in William J. Howard’s October 24, 2005, Memorandum, “Where a motion to reopen for adjustment of status… is filed on behalf of an alien with substantial equities, no serious criminal or immigration violations, and who is legally eligible to be granted relief except that the motion is beyond the 90-day limitation contained in 8 C.F.R. § 1003.23, strongly consider exercising prosecutorial discretion and join in this motion to reopen to permit the alien to pursue such relief to the immigration court.” William J. Howard, Prosecutorial Discretion (October 24, 2005).

Our office argued that if our client’s case is reopened, she will be prima facie eligible to adjust her status. Our client has been living in the United States since 2004, has no criminal record, and has an approved I-130 petition based on the marriage to U.S citizen spouse.

Eventually, the DHS office agreed to join in our Motion to Reopen and Terminate on April 21, 2014. The DHS filed the joint motion to the San Francisco Immigration Court, and our client case will be reopened and terminated soon.

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