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.

{ 0 comments }

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.

{ 0 comments }

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.

{ 0 comments }

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

Our client came to the United States in October 2013 from Belgium under the visa waiver program. He came here to visit his U.S. Citizen girlfriend (now his wife). As a visa waiver entrant, he was only authorized to remain in the United States for only 90 days.

Within two weeks of his entry to the United States, our client and his U.S. citizen girlfriend got married. They were planning to move to the Netherlands, so he did not have any immigrant intent when he initially came to the United States. However, things changed, and they decided to settle in the United States, so he and his wife filed an I-130 petition and I-485 adjustment of status application in January 2014.

Nevertheless, our client was worried about the potential immigrant intent issue so they contacted our firm in early April of 2014 for preparation and accompaniment at his green card interview. He retained our office on April 8, 2014. Prior to the interview, we thoroughly prepared our client at our office. On April 17, 2014, our client was interviewed at the Cleveland USCIS.  We accompanied our client at his interview as well.  On the same day, his green card application was approved.

{ 0 comments }

CASE: I-130 (Response to Notice of Intent to Revoke)

CLIENT: US Citizen Petitioner; Honduran Beneficiary

LOCATION: Petitioner: Cleveland, Ohio; Beneficiary: Honduras

Our client contacted our office in late January of this year. He is a U.S. Citizen living in Cleveland, Ohio and sought legal assistance for his wife’s case in Honduras. When he contacted our office, his wife already had an immigrant visa interview twice at the U.S. Embassy in Honduras.  However, her interview did not go well, and the Embassy returned the petition to the USCIS for further review and action on January 15, 2014.  Eventually, the USCIS, based on a request from the U.S. Embassy in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, issued a Notice of intent to revoke his I-130 petition on January 24, 2014.

Our client married his Honduran citizen wife back in June 2012. Our client then filed an I-130 petition for his wife in September 2012.  On December 20, 2012, the USCIS approved the I-130 petition and his wife was eventually interviewed at the U.S. Embassy in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. However, the U.S. Embassy denied her immigrant visa application, and the approved I-130 petition was subsequently returned to the National Visa Center by the Department of State for further review and action, and as stated above, the USCIS then issued a Notice of Intent to Revoke.

After our office was retained, we filed a Response to Intent to Revoke on February 7, 2014 with the USCIS Cleveland Field Office. Over 75 pages of documents and 7 exhibits were submitted in our response.

In our response brief, we rebutted each and every question that was raised by the USCIS regarding the bona fide nature of our client’s marriage to his wife in Honduras. As a result, on April 9, 2014, the USCIS determined that they will not revoke our client’s I-130 petition.

Now that the CIS has reaffirmed the I-130 petition, our client’s wife will get her immigrant visa, and will be reunited with his husband after almost two years.

{ 0 comments }

Case: I-130/I-485

Applicant/Beneficiary – French

Location: Cleveland, OH

Our client entered the United States in November 2013 from France under the visa waiver program. She came here to visit her U.S. citizen boyfriend (now husband). As a Visa Waiver Entrant, she was only authorized to remain in the United States for 90 days.

Less than a month after her entry, in late November 2013, our client and her U.S. citizen boyfriend got married in the United States.

Afterwards, she contacted our office, and they retained us.

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.  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.

Another potential issue was immigrant intent. When someone comes on a non-immigrant status or visa waiver, there shouldn’t be any intent on that entry to apply for adjustment of status. In their case though, despite the marriage, at that point they weren’t set on actually living in the United States. Thus, there was no immigrant intent upon entry.

Our office filed the I-130 Petition and I-485 Adjustment of Status Application on December 26, 2013.  Our office requested the CIS to exercise favorable discretion in granting adjustment of status and argued that the application was filed before her authorized period of stay expired. Everything went smoothly and the receipt notices, the fingerprint appointment, and the work permit all came on time. Prior to the interview, we thoroughly prepared our clients.

On April 10, 2014, our client was interviewed at the Cleveland, Ohio USCIS Field Office.  We accompanied them at the interview as well.  Despite the visa waiver and potential immigrant intent issue, on the same day, the USCIS approved her green card application.  Now, our client is a green card holder.

{ 0 comments }

CASE: Marriage-Based Adjustment of Status.

NATIONALITY:Filipina

LOCATION: New York, NY

Our client is from the Philippines who came to the U.S. on a J-1 Visa in July 2005.  Upon completion of her J-1 program, she remained in the United States and changed her status to H-1B.  She was subject to the two-year foreign residency requirement.

In April 2013, she got married to her U.S. citizen husband.

She was eligible to get a green card through her marriage to 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. In order to get a waiver of her two-year foreign residency requirement, she retained our office.

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 November 26, 2013, the Waiver Review Division issued a favorable recommendation based on the No Objection statement. The CIS receipted the fee and issued an I-612 approval notice for our client’s waiver.

After we received the I-612 waiver, our firm prepared and filed an I-130 petition and I-485 adjustment of status application on January 16, 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 the conference calls.  On April 9, 2014, our client was interviewed at the New York USCIS office.  On the same day, her green card application was approved.

{ 0 comments }

CASE: I-130 and Consular Processing (Immigrant Visa) – Marriage-Petition

Our client is a U.S. citizen who married his wife in Busan, South Korea in July 2011.  Later, they had a son who was born in South Korea in March 2012. At the time of marriage and the birth of his son, our client was a green card holder. He became a naturalized the U.S. citizen in August 2012. After the marriage, he came back to the United States to pursue his studies and contacted our office and retained us to bring his wife and son to the States.

Our office prepared and filed two I-130 petitions for his wife and son to the USCIS on January 29, 2013. After the I-130 was filed, everything went smoothly, there were no requests for evidence, and the receipt notices came on time. The I-130 Petitions were approved on March 22, 2013.

After the I-130 approval, we filed the immigrant visa packets to the National Visa Center on October 18, 2013, who in turn forwarded our client’s materials to the U.S. Embassy in Seoul, South Korea. An interview notice was set for the client at the US Embassy in Seoul, and we prepared them for the interview. On March 7, 2014, the interview was conducted.  Eventually, on March 26, 2014, the U.S. Embassy in Seoul, South Korea approved and issued their immigrant visas.

With the approved Immigrant visas, our client’s wife and son can come to the United States immediately, and they will get their green cards within two weeks of entry.

{ 0 comments }

CASE: Marriage-Based Adjustment of Status.

NATIONALITY:Indian

LOCATION: Austin, TX

Our client is from India who came to the U.S. on a J-1 Visa in December 2006.  He came to the U.S. for business training, but his J-1 program made him subject to the two-year foreign residency requirement.

In October 2013, our client married his U.S. citizen wife.

He is eligible to get a green card through marriage to U.S. citizen; however, before we can file his I-130/I-485 application simultaneously, he had to get a waiver of his two-year foreign residency requirement. Therefore, prior to his marriage, in order to get a waiver of his two-year foreign residency requirement, he consulted with our office and decided to retain our office.

Our office worked on our client’s J-1 waiver..  Eventually, the Indian Embassy issued a No Objection Statement for our client, and sent this letter to the State Department’s Waiver Review Division.  On August 6, 2013, 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.

Our firm then prepared and filed an I-130 petition and I-485 adjustment of status application on October 25, 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 client through conference calls. On March 25, 2014, our client was interviewed at the San Antonio, Texas USCIS office.  On the same day, his green card application was approved.

{ 0 comments }

CASE: Marriage-Based Adjustment of Status
CLIENT: Indian
LOCATION: Long Island, NY

Our client came to the United States in September 2006 with an H-1B work visa from India. Since then, he has maintained his H-1B status, and his employer filed an I-140 petition for him as well.

He married a U.S. Citizen in June 2013 and retained our office on August 7, 2013 for his adjustment of status application.

Our firm prepared and filed the I-130 Petition and Adjustment of Status Application on October 9, 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 March 6, 2014, our client was interviewed at the Holtsville, NY USCIS.  Attorney Sung Hee (Glen) Yu from our office also accompanied our client as well. On the same day, his green card application was approved.

{ 0 comments }