CASE: Marriage-Based Adjustment of Status

CLIENT: Filipina

LOCATION: Cleveland, OH

Our Filipina client came to the United States on a J-1 exchange visitor visa to do her internship in the United States in July 2013. She was not subject to the two-year foreign residency requirement.

She married a U.S. Citizen in June 2014 and retained our office on June 27, 2014 for her adjustment of status application.  Our firm prepared and filed the I-130 Petition and I-485 Adjustment of Status Application on July 10, 2014.  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 September 30, 2014, our client was interviewed at the Cleveland, OH USCIS.  Attorney Sung Hee (Glen) Yu from our office accompanied our clients as well. On the same day, her green card application was approved.

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CASE: I-130 and Consular Processing (Immigrant Visa) – Marriage-Petition
CLIENT: US Citizen Petitioner; Filipino Beneficiary in the Philippines
LOCATION: Petitioner: New York; Beneficiary: Manila, Philippines

Our client is a U.S. citizen who married her Filipino boyfriend in the Philippines in 2011.  She had her marriage ceremony with her husband in the Philippines in September 2011.  When she came back to the United States, she wanted to bring her husband over here.

She contacted our office in late March 2013 and retained our office to help bring her husband to the States. Since the client’s husband was not in the United States, and their marriage occurred in the Philippines, our office filed the I-130 on April 15, 2013.

After the I-130 was filed, everything went smoothly and the receipt notices came on time. The I-130 Petition was approved by the USCIS on December 5, 2013.

After the I-130 approval, we filed the immigrant visa packets to the National Visa Center on April 29, 2014, who in turn forwarded the client’s materials to the U.S. Embassy in Manila, Philippines. An interview notice was set for the client at the U.S. Embassy in Manila. On July 16, 2014, our client’s husband appeared at the U.S. Embassy in Manila, Philippines. They then asked for an NBI clearance and CENOMAR, which were eventually submitted. Eventually, on September 23, 2014, the U.S. Embassy in Manila, Philippines approved and issued his immigrant visa.

With the approved Immigrant visa, our client’s husband can come to the United States immediately, and he will get his green card within two weeks of entry.

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CASE: Marriage-Based Adjustment of Status.
NATIONALITY: Australian
LOCATION: Houston, TX

The marriage-based green card approval we got recently was for an Australian client who came to the U.S. on a J-2 Visa in 1999. She came to the U.S. with her father who came on a J-1 visa for his research program in the United States.  Later, our client changed her J-2 visa to F-1 visa.  After she graduated, she married her current U.S. citizen husband in 2007 and her husband filed an I-130 petition on behalf of our client.  The I-130 petition was approved in July 2010. She did an adjustment of status application by herself before retaining us, and this was denied due to her being subject to the two-year foreign residence requirement.

As explained in a previous success story, our office worked on our client’s J-2 visa waiver through the Interested Government Agency (IGA) route.  Eventually, the CIS issued an I-612 approval notice on April 28, 2014.

After we received the I-612 waiver, our client retained us again and sought legal assistance for her I-485 adjustment of status application. Our firm prepared and filed the I-485 adjustment of status application on July 3, 2014. 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 September 18, 2014, our client was interviewed at the Houston, Texas USCIS office. On the same day, her green card application was approved.

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CASE: Marriage-Based Adjustment of Status

CLIENT: Chinese

LOCATION: Boston, MA

Our Chinese client came to the United States on a F-1 student visa to pursue her graduate degree in 2012. She married a U.S. Citizen in May 2014 and retained our office on June 13, 2014 for her green card application.  Our firm prepared and filed the I-130 Petition and I-485 Adjustment of Status Application on June 25, 2014.  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 September 18, 2014, our client was interviewed at the Boston, Massachusetts USCIS office.  On the same day, her green card application was approved.

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CASE: I-360 Petition

NATIONALITY: Canadian

LOCATION: Florida

Our Canadian client came to the U.S. in February 2013. He entered the United States with B-2 visitor’s visa for pleasure to go to Florida.

In October 2013, he contacted our office to seek legal representation for his I-360 petition.

Our client’s marital life was tough and he was abused by his spouse. He was hesitant at first because he was male, and believed VAWA cases for males were impossible. However, with his story and evidence, our office determined that he would be eligible for an I-360 self-petition as a spouse of an abusive U.S. citizen.

Our client experienced domestic violence and spousal abuse during his marriage. His wife physically and mentally abused him after the inception of their marriage. Thus, we prepared and filed his I-360 petition and I-485 adjustment of status application, which included 40 exhibits and a detailed brief to the USCIS Vermont Service Center on February 14, 2014.

Despite our client’s thoroughly prepared I-360 application, in May 2014, the USCIS Vermont Service Center issued a Request for Evidence (RFE).  Specifically, the RFE letter requested our client to submit more documents to prove his marriage was in good faith at the time of the inception of marriage. Our client and our office thoroughly gathered the requested documents, and filed a response to the RFE on July 24, 2013.

Finally, on September 8, 2014, the USCIS Vermont Service Center approved our client’s I-360 petition.

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Case: I-130/I-485

Applicant/Beneficiary – Lithuanian

Location: Columbus, OH

Our client entered the United States in April 2013 from Lithuania under the visa waiver program. She had a transit stamp on the passport though 90 days was given. While her flight was delayed, she spoke with a close friend and decided to stay in the US.

As a Visa Waiver Entrant, she was only authorized to remain in the United States for 90 days, as was stamped on her passport.

Later, in May 2014, our client married her U.S. citizen boyfriend. However, her authorized stay had elapsed. Our client and her husband contacted our office, and they retained us on May 30, 2014.

One main issue in her green card application through marriage was the fact that she came to the United States under the visa waiver program. Another issue also was the “transit” note there (which also conflicted with the 90 day handwritten date provided on the stamp).

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 issuance.

Our office filed the I-130 Petition and I-485 Adjustment of Status Application on June 26, 2014.  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. On September 11, 2014, our client was interviewed at the Columbus, Ohio USCIS Field Office.  Despite the visa waiver issue, on the same day, the USCIS approved her green card application.  Now, our client is a green card holder.

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CASE: Marriage-Based Adjustment of Status.

NATIONALITY:Filipina

LOCATION: Seattle, Washington

Our client is from the Philippines who came to the U.S. on a J-1 Visa in October 2011.  Upon completion of her J-1 program, she remained in the United States and overstayed.  She was subject to the two-year foreign residency requirement. Later, she got married to her U.S. citizen husband.

She was eligible to get a green card through her marriage to a U.S. citizen; however, before we can file her I-130/I-485 application simultaneously, she had to get a waiver of her two-year foreign residency requirement.

As a previous success story explained, our office worked on our client’s J-1 waiver.  Eventually, the Philippine Embassy issued a No Objection Statement for our client, and sent this letter to the State Department’s Waiver Review Division.  On December 6, 2012, the Waiver Review Division issued a favorable recommendation based on the No Objection statement. The CIS has receipted the fee and issued an I-612 approval notice for our client’s waiver on December 28, 2012.

Later on, our client retained us for her adjustment of status application. Our firm prepared and filed the I-130 petition and I-485 adjustment of status application on March 5, 2014.  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 August 29, 2014, our client was interviewed at the Yakima WA USCIS office.  On September 2, 2014, her green card application was approved.

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CASE: I-130 / BIA Remand / Stokes Interview

CLIENT: Canadian

LOCATION: New York, NY

Our client came from Canada in 2002 as a visitor. He marrie his U.S. Citizen wife in October 2002. Our client has stayed in the United States since the inception of marriage and his authorized period of stay expired. Due to his overstay, our client was placed in removal proceedings in April 2010. He already had an I-130 approval but when he filed for adjustment of status on his own, they denied it and placed him in removal proceedings, and revoked the I-130.

He retained our office in 2010 for legal assistance for his removal proceedings representation and I-130 filing.

Unfortunately, on July 2, 2010, the USCIS New York office denied our client’s I-130 petition, after an almost three-hour Stokes interview. Before and at the interview, extensive evidence of bona fide marriage covering 8 years of marriage was submitted. The couple was able to answer a majority of the questions in the two and half hour interview, and the grounds and discrepancies relied upon by the USCIS in denying the I-130 compared to the majority and relevance of the correctly answered questions together with the extensive evidence was relatively minor.

In response to this denial decision, we timely filed a Notice of Appeal to the Board of Immigration Appeals on July 29, 2010.  The BIA appeal was pending for a long time. Eventually, on May 9, 2012, the BIA found that a remand is warranted for our client’s case.  As a result, on September 29, 2012, our client and his U.S. Citizen wife appeared at the USCIS New York Field Office for another I-130 interview.

Even after the second interview, the I-130 remained pending without any issuance of any RFEs or Notice of Intent to Deny. In the meantime, we filed a Motion for Continuance based on the pending I-130 petition. The New York Immigration Court kept granting our Motions, and on October 28, 2013, the Immigration Judge administratively closed our client’s removal proceedings. Nevertheless, the I-130 petition remained pending.

In August 2014, the New York USCIS Field Office sent us another Stokes Interview request for our client and his wife. We prepared our clients extensively regarding their 12-year marital life. On August 20, 2014, our clients appeared at the New York USCIS Field Office for their second Stokes Interview. Attorney JP Sarmiento from our office also accompanied them as well. Finally, the USCIS approved our client’s I-130 petition. Now, our client can file for adjustment of status after the Immigration Court grants our Motion to Re-calendar and Terminate.

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CASE: Velarde Hearing in Immigration Court

CLIENT: Nigerian

LOCATION: New Orleans Immigration Court

Our Nigerian client came to the United States in August 2011 with a valid F-1 student visa to study in a college. However, he did not maintain status and was placed in removal proceedings in July 2012. After he got a Notice to Appear, he appeared at his initial master calendar hearing at the New Orleans Immigration Court without an attorney.

In May, he contacted our office and asked us whether we can take his case. He was married to a US Citizen, but he also had two previous marriages and divorces, also to US Citizens. We told him an I-130 can be filed, but that we need bona fides from his first two marriages also. We explained that the strength of his wife’s I-130 for him would also depend on how he can prove that his first two marriages were in good faith.

He retained our office on May 16, 2014. He married his U.S. wife in May 2014 and our office filed the I-130 petition for our client with a bona fide marriage exemption letter and bona fide marital documents. We organized the exhibits so that bona fide evidence from his first two marriages are also shown. We filed the I-130 application to the USCIS on June 12, 2014.

On June 17, 2014, our attorney Glen Yu appeared at his master calendar hearings via telephonic appearance. Attorney Yu did pleadings for our client, requested adjustment of status relief for our client, and requested a continuance based on a pending I-130 petition. However, the DHS requested a Velarde hearing to the Court. The DHS requested this hearing to determine whether proceedings should be continued to allow USCIS to adjudicate the I-130. DHS argued that our client’s marriage to his U.S. citizen spouse is presumptively invalid under immigration purposes since he married his wife after initiation of removal proceedings.

A Velarde Hearing is a hearing to establish whether good cause exists to continue proceedings for adjudication of a pending I-130 petition. A variety of factors may be considered, including, but not limited to: (1) DHS’ response to the Motion to continue; (2) whether the underlying visa petition is prima facie approvable; (3) the Respondent’s statutory eligibility for adjustment of status; (4) whether the Respondent’s application for adjustment merits a favorable exercise of discretion; and (5) the reason for the continuance and any other relevant factors. Matter of Hashimi, 24 I&N Dec. 785 (BIA 2009).

The Velarde hearing for our client was scheduled for August 18, 2014. Prior to the hearing, our office filed a brief in support and more documents to demonstrate the bona fide nature of our client’s marriage to his U.S. citizen wife.  Attorney Sung Hee Yu from our firm prepared him and his wife extensively via conference calls. He also represented our client at the Velarde Hearing at the New Orleans Immigration Court on August 18, 2014.

The hearing went well and as a result, the Court concluded that our client’s I-130 petition is prima facie approvable. The Immigration Judge granted a continuance based on the pending I-130 petition. His next master calendar hearing is scheduled for October 2015. Until then, and presumable eligible for further continuances, our client and his wife can wait for adjudication of the I-130 petition.

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CASE: Marriage-Based Adjustment of Status

CLIENT: Chinese

LOCATION: Cleveland, OH

Our Chinese client came to the United States on a F-1 student visa to pursue her graduate degree in 2010. She married a U.S. Citizen in February 2014 and retained our office on March 3, 2014 for her green card application.  Our firm prepared and filed the I-130 Petition and Adjustment of Status Application on March 26, 2014.  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 August 19, 2014, our client was interviewed at the Cleveland, Ohio USCIS office.  Attorney JP Sarmiento from our office accompanied our clients as well. On the same day, her green card application was approved.

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