CASE: Termination of Removal Proceedings with an Approved I-130 Petition
CLIENT: Ghanaian
LOCATION: Cleveland, Ohio (EOIR) / Columbus, Ohio (USCIS)

Our client is a Ghanaian citizen who came to the U.S. on an F-1 Student Visa in August 2003 to study at a college in West Virginia.  He married his ex-wife, a U.S. Citizen, in 2007, but their marriage ended in 2011.  At the latter stage of his previous marriage, his ex-wife, a U.S. Citizen, filed an I-130 for him, but later withdrew the petition as their marriage did not work out well.  The I-130 petition was denied and after the denial, a Notice to Appear was issued and our client was placed in removal proceeding.

Our client got divorced to his first wife and then married his second U.S. Citizen wife in August 2011. He retained our office on August 29, 2011. Our office prepared and filed an I-130 Petition with bona fide marriage evidence of his two marriages on September 2, 2011. The petition also included a bona fide marriage exception letter. While the I-130 petition was pending, our client appeared at the Cleveland Immigration Court on October 19, 2011 for his initial master calendar hearing.  Attorney Sung Hee (Glen) Yu from our office represented him at the hearing, did pleadings and sought adjustment of status relief upon approval of the I-130 petition.

Our client’s I-130 interview was scheduled on March 26, 2012 at the Columbus USCIS Field Office.  Prior to the interview, our office thoroughly prepared our client and his wife for the interview. Attorney Yu also accompanied them at their interview. The interview lasted one hour, our clients were separated, but the I-130 petition was eventually approved on the same day.

After the I-130 was approved, our office filed a request to join in a Motion to Terminate proceedings with an attached I-485 application and its supporting documents. The DHS counsel in Cleveland agreed to terminate our client’s proceedings. Ultimately, the Immigration Judge granted the Motion to terminate without prejudice. He’s not in proceedings anymore. Now, he can file his I-485 adjustment of status application to the USCIS and eventually obtain his green card.

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

Our client came to the United States in January 2010 with an H-2 temporary work visa from Philippines. She married a U.S. Citizen in September 2011 and retained our office on November 8, 2011 for her adjustment of status application.  Our firm prepared and filed the I-130 Petition and Adjustment of Status Application on January 9, 2012.  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. On April 13, 2012, our client was interviewed at the Cleveland, Ohio USCIS.  We accompanied them at the interview as well.  On April 24, 2012, her green card application was approved, and our client obtained her green card a week later.

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

Our client came to the United States in June 2009 with a J-1 exchange visitor visa from Ghana. He married a U.S. Citizen in September 2011 and retained our office on January 9, 2012 for his adjustment of status application.  Our firm prepared and filed the I-130 Petition and Adjustment of Status Application on February 27, 2012.  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 at our office.  On April 30, 2012, our client was interviewed at the Cleveland, Ohio CIS office.  Attorney Sung Hee (Glen) Yu accompanied them at the interview as well.  On the same day, his green card application was approved.

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CASE: Marriage-Based Adjustment of Status
CLIENT: Costa Rican
LOCATION: Houston, Texas

Our client came to the United States in November 1993 as a B-2 visitor from Costa Rica. Although her authorized stay in the United States expired in December 1993, she has remained in the United States. Her husband was in the United States at that time, and later her husband got his green card through NACARA and eventually became a naturalized U.S. Citizen in March 2011.  Her husband filed an I-130 petition on behalf of our client in 2003 when he was a green card holder, this petition was later approved in 2006. Our client and her husband retained our office on August 18, 2011 for her adjustment of status application.  Our firm prepared and filed the Adjustment of Status Application on February 9, 2012.  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 April 25, 2012, our client was interviewed at the Houston, Texas USCIS Field Office. Attorney Sung Hee (Glen) Yu from our office accompanied them.  On the same day, her green card application was approved.

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CASE: Marriage-Based Adjustment of Status
CLIENT: Jamaican
LOCATION: New York, NY

Our client came to the United States in September 2007 with an H-2B seasonal temporary work visa from Jamaica. She married a U.S. Citizen in July 2011 and retained our office on November 7, 2011 for her adjustment of status application.  Our firm prepared and filed the I-130 Petition and Adjustment of Status Application on November 18, 2011.  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 26, 2012, our client was interviewed at the New York, NY USCIS.  Attorney Sung Hee (Glen) Yu accompanied them at the interview as well.  On the same day, her green card application was approved.

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CASE: Marriage-Based Adjustment of Status
CLIENT: Cameroon
LOCATION: Virginia

Our client came to the United States in August 2009 on a B-2 visitor’s visa from Cameroon. Although her authorized stay in the United States expired in November 2009, she stayed in the United States since then.  She married a U.S. Citizen in March 2011 and retained our office on July 21, 2011 for her adjustment of status application.  Our firm prepared and filed the I-130 Petition and Adjustment of Status Application on August 12, 2011.  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 through conference call.  On April 18, 2012, our client was interviewed at the Fairfax, VA USCIS Field Office.  On April 20, 2012, her green card application was approved.

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CASE: Motion to Reopen
CLIENT: Ghanaian
LOCATION: Phoenix, AZ / Immigration Court: Arlington, VA

Our client came to the United States on a valid B-2 visa from Ghana in 2004 to visit his aunt in Maryland. Later, he decided to stay in the United States, and did not leave. He worked illegally, and on June 2004, our client got picked up at work by immigration officers and was issued a Notice to Appear.

The Notice to Appear did not have a hearing date and time. He was told he would get a hearing notice in the mail. He never moved for the next two years, yet he never received any hearing notice in the mail. Thus, he never got notice of his hearing. Our client thought that the immigration court just closed his case due to his young age at that time.

More than three years later, he married his U.S. Citizen wife and moved to Arizona. They have a U.S. citizen child as well.

He contacted our firm to inquire about the possibilities of applying for adjustment of status. Upon checking his documents, we found out that he had a final order in 2005. He said he was not aware that he had a hearing date in March 2005. He explained that he got a Notice to Appear, was expecting a hearing notice, lived at the address that was on the Notice to Appear for the next two years, yet never received anything. Because of his absence at the Arlington Immigration Court hearing, the court issued an in absentia order of removal in 2005.  We told him that we have to reopen his case first before he can even apply for adjustment of status.

To rescind the final order, he has to get his case reopened. This is done through a Motion to Reopen filed with the Immigration Judge who gave the final order.  Based on this Motion to Reopen, the Immigration Judge can rescind the in absentia order of removal if you are able to show that you did not receive notice of the hearing.

On March 9, 2012, our office filed the Motion to Reopen with the Arlington Immigration Court. Documentation of his address at the date of the final order, a detailed affidavit regarding his addresses and his circumstances around the final order date, documentation of the last address he provided to the immigration service prior to the final order date, and other supporting documents were submitted (26 exhibits). On April 11, 2012, the Arlington Immigration Court granted our motion and reopened our client’s case.  Our client now does not have the final order of removal and may seek adjustment of status relief with the Immigration Court upon approval of the I-130 marriage-based petition that was filed for him. He may also seek termination of removal proceedings and apply for adjustment of status with the CIS instead.

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CASE: Marriage-Based Adjustment of Status
CLIENT: Jamaican
LOCATION: Newark, NJ

Our client came to the United States in October 2008 on an H-2 temporary work visa from Jamaica.  She married a U.S. Citizen in August 2011 and months later wished to apply for a green card. We met them for consultations in New Jersey and they retained our office on January 9.  Our firm prepared and filed the I-130 Petition and I-485 Adjustment of Status Application on January 19, 2012. Everything went smoothly and the receipt notices, fingerprint appointment, and work permits all came on time. There was no Request for Evidence.  Prior to the interview, we thoroughly prepared our clients. On April 4, 2012, our client was interviewed at the Newark, NJ USCIS.  Attorney Sung Hee (Glen) Yu from our office accompanied them at the interview as well.  On the same day, her green card application was approved, and our client obtained her green card.

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CASE: Marriage-Based Adjustment of Status
CLIENT: Korean
LOCATION: Columbus, OH

Our client came to the United States from South Korea in August 2010 with an F-1 student visa to study in Columbus.  She married a U.S. Citizen in September 2011 and retained our office on September 27, 2011 for her adjustment of status application.  Our firm prepared and filed the I-130 Petition and Adjustment of Status Application on October 17, 2011.  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. On March 30, 2012, our client was interviewed at the Columbus, Ohio USCIS office.  Attorney Sung Hee (Glen) Yu from our office accompanied them at the interview as well.  On the same day, her green card application was approved.

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CASE: I-601 Hardship Waiver of Inadmissibility
APPLICANT / BENEFICIARY: Cambodia
LOCATION: Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Our client’s wife is a U.S. citizen who resides in Columbus Ohio.  She contacted our office in September of 2011 about her husband’s immigrant visa application which needed an I-601 waiver for his inadmissibility. They married in December 2008 and our client filed an immigrant visa petition for her husband which was then denied in 2011 due to his inadmissibility. Our client’s husband was found inadmissible because he misrepresented his information when he applied for a visitor’s visa to come to the United States in 2003.  He used a different name when he applied for a visitor’s visa and this incident made him inadmissible under Section 212(a)(6)(C)(i) of the INA. (Any alien who, by fraud or willfully misrepresenting a material fact, seeks to procure a visa, other documentation, or admission into the United States or other benefit provided under this Act is inadmissible).  Thus, in order to obtain an immigrant visa, our client’s husband needed to have an approved I-601 waiver.

Our client retained us on September 26, 2011 for the I-601 waiver. Our firm thoroughly analyzed whether the I-601 waiver application will likely be successful. Based on her story and surrounding circumstances (hardship to U.S. citizen wife [our client] if our client’s husband is deported or if his wife would accompany him to Cambodia), our office determined that her husband has a good chance of winning the I-601 application.

If someone is found to be inadmissible under Section 212(a)(6)(C)(i) of the INA, INA Section 212(i) provides for a discretionary waiver of the fraud or misrepresentation 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 Section 212(i)(l). In addition to the equities presented, the USCIS may consider the nature of the fraud or misrepresentation.

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 husband’s I-601 application had a good chance since our client’s U.S. Citizen wife from Columbus Ohio suffers from Hepatitis B, Chronic Hepatitis, Bronchitis, and has been going to doctors and hospitals since July 2007.  She also suffers from depression, anxiety, and insomnia due to the hardship of not having a father for her son or a husband to help with the expenses of raising their son.  In the I-601 brief and supporting documents, our office included extensive medical reports from our client. We argued that if our client’s husband is barred to enter the United States, extreme hardship to her is clearly foreseeable and evident. Our client’s wife is required to have continuous medical check-ups with her doctors for her Hepatitis B, Chronic Hepatitis, and Bronchitis. Also, it would be extremely difficult for her to get the same level of medical attention and satisfactory access to medical services in Cambodia in case our client’s wife joins her husband there. Our office also included the U.S. Department of State Travel Advisory Section for Cambodia to highlight the extremely poor medical services in Cambodia.

In our brief, we also argued that our client has maintained strong family ties in the United States, that she will have difficulty in finding the same level of employment in Cambodia, and that their U.S. Citizen son and our client will face extreme financial and emotional difficulties if he is barred to enter to the United States or if our client is forced to relocate to Cambodia with her son.

On February 7, 2012, we submitted our I-601 waiver application to the U.S. Embassy in Phnom Penh, Cambodia which included the brief in support, our client’s medical records, and other documents that demonstrated hardship to her if her husband is barred from coming to the United States.  This application was transferred to the USCIS Field Office in Bangkok, Thailand for adjudication. The I-601 waiver for our client’s husband was approved on March 21, 2012.  Now, without any inadmissible grounds, our client’s husband becomes eligible and will get an immigration visa to come to the United States. Now he can be together with his wife and their son in Columbus Ohio.

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