CASE: I-485 Adjustment of Status (EB-3)

EMPLOYER: School

BENEFICIARY: Filipino Social Studies Teacher

LOCATION: Warren, MI

Our client has an employer willing to petition him for a third-preference I-140.  Our client has a Bachelor’s degree in Secondary Education, a valid Michigan Teaching license, and has worked for his employer since May 2018. Based on his education and credentials, our office determined that he is eligible for EB-3 classification for his I-140 petition. He retained us in October 2019.

Prior to filing PERM, our firm prepared the prevailing wage request, job order, advertisements, internal job posting, recruitment report, and all other steps which are important pre-PERM filing. Take note that the PERM application could only be filed at least 60 days from the job posting date or 30 days from the last ad. Within a week from our retention, the prevailing wage request was filed.  After we obtained the PW determination, our office assisted the Petitioner to file the job order on June 26, 2020.  On October 20, 2020, we filed PERM. 

On May 28, 2021, the Department of Labor issued a request for audit. The DOL requested documents from the Petitioner to determine whether the recruitment process was done properly. In response to the Audit request, our office prepared the response to Audit brief along with Employer’s declaration, notice of filing, and recruitment documentation on June 16, 2021.  Eventually, on August 26, 2021, the PERM Labor Certification was approved – an EB3 position for the Filipino beneficiary.

We then proceeded with the I-140 Petition filing. We submitted the “ability to pay” letter for the I-140 petition application. We included the job offer letter, employer’s tax records, and other documents. The I-140 Petition was filed on September 28, 2021 via regular processing. On June 30, 2022, the I-140 EB3 Petition for our Filipino client was approved without any Request for Evidence (RFE).

Our client decided to file his I-485 adjustment of status concurrently with the I-140 petition. Our office prepared and filed his I-485 application to the USCIS on September 28, 2021 along with the I-140 petition. On August 12, 2022, our client’s adjustment of status application was approved by the USCIS without any Request for Evidence (RFE). 

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CASE: N-400 (Citizenship / Naturalization)

APPLICANT: Indian

LOCATION: Parma, OH

Our client contacted us in February 2022 to seek legal representation for her naturalization application. She came to the United States from India and obtained her green card in April 2017.

Her N-400 application was filed on February 17, 2022 with all supporting documents. Prior to her citizenship interview, our office prepared her in our office.  On July 22, 2022, our client appeared at the Cleveland, OH USCIS office for her naturalization interview. Attorney JP Sarmiento from our office accompanied our client. She answered all questions correctly and passed her naturalization civics test. On August 9, 2022, her application was approved. Her oath taking is scheduled in which she will become a naturalized U.S. Citizen.

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CASE: Immigrant Visa / I-140 (EB-3 Category) 

EMPLOYER: Public School District in Mohave Valley, AZ

BENEFICIARY: Filipina Elementary School Teacher in the Philippines

LOCATION: Manila, Philippines

Our client has an employer (public school district in Mohave Valley, AZ) that was willing to petition her for a third-preference I-140.  Our client used to work for this employer as an elementary school teacher for several years on a J-1. With our office’s legal assistance, our client’s PERM Labor Certification was certified on December 23, 2020. Later, her employer filed an I-140 (EB-3 classification) petition for our client and it was approved by the USCIS on June 8, 2021. While her I-140 pending was pending, our client went back to the Philippines to fulfill her two year requirement, and we eventually started the consular processing phase for her immigrant visa. 

Our office filed the immigrant visa packets to the National Visa Center on August 3, 2021, 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 August 12, 2022, our client appeared at the U.S. Embassy in Manila, Philippines. The interview went well, and the Embassy approved and issued her immigrant visa. With the approved Immigrant Visa, our client can come to the United States immediately, and she will get her green card within two months of entry.

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CASE: I-751

APPLICANT: Pakistani

LOCATION: Southfield, MI

Our client contacted our office in September of 2020 regarding his I-751 application.

He is from Pakistan and he married a U.S. citizen in September 2017. He obtained a 2-year conditional green card in August 2018. His conditional residency terminated in August 2020. 

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 22, 2020. On October 1, 2020, our office filed the I-751 application to the USCIS. He already missed the filing period for his I-751; nevertheless, our office included our client’s statement in support of late filing for his I-751. 

On May 13, 2021, the USCIS issued a Request for Evidence and requested our client to submit more bona fide joint documents. On August 13, 2021, our office filed a Response to RFE to the USCIS. Eventually, on August 3, 2022, the USCIS approved our client’s I-751 application. He received her 10-year green card.

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CASE: I-140 / National Interest Waiver

CLIENT: Korean

LOCATION: Beachwood, OH

Our client contacted us about the possibility of doing a National Interest Waiver self-petition. He is in the United States as a F-2 visa holder and is an outstanding financial specialist with proved achievement in financing, investment, and derivatives. He also did a Master’s program in Financial Mathematics in the United States. Our client is a highly regarded international financial specialist who is more than capable of providing top-notch financial services to the US and international companies in the field of cross-border finance business.

Upon review of his credentials and qualifications, our office determined that he was qualified for the National Interest Waiver (NIW) category. Being qualified for NIW is beneficial since you would not need an employer nor family member to petition for you for green card purposes. You’d be eligible for a self-petition and unless you are from China or India, in which case you’d still have to wait for priority dates to be current, you would be eligible to apply for adjustment of status (green card) immediately without any lag in priority dates.

As a primer, NIW applicants must have a master’s or higher degree. While we prepared his case, the AAO set the new standards for NIW cases in Matter of Dhanasar, 26 I&N Dec. 884 (AAO 2016). Under the new standard, the petitioner must demonstrate that the foreign national’s proposed endeavor has both substantial merit and national importance. Next, it must be shown that he or she is well positioned to advance the proposed endeavor. Finally, the petitioner seeking the waiver needs to demonstrate that, on balance, it would be beneficial to the United States to waive the job offer and labor certification requirements. Id. 

Our office concluded that our client’s professional work is of substantial merit. Given that he has a plan to provide such services to US companies and multinational companies expanding business in the United Sates, his work will have merits on providing solutions and customized financial products to US companies financing funds at cheap cost in international financial markets, stimulating multinational companies producing products in the United Sates; and therefore, stimulating corporations to create jobs in the United States.

Our office prepared a 31-page brief for our client’s NIW filing. Our client also obtained 10 letters of recommendation from his colleagues and internationally-recognized finance professionals. Our office also included his work experience records, business plan, issuance reporting documents, and other materials in the NIW application. We demonstrated that our client is one of the few financial specialists who have made significant and substantial contributions to his field of endeavor, that he is well positioned to advance the proposed endeavor, and it would be beneficial to the United States to waive the requirements of a job offer and thus of a labor certification for our client. 

Our office filed his I-140(NIW) petition to the USCIS Nebraska Service Center on August 12, 2021. Eventually, on August 2, 2022, the USCIS approved his I-140 petition without any Request for Evidence (RFE).

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CASE: J-2 Waiver of Two-Year Foreign Residency Requirement / Over 21-year-old dependent child

NATIONALITY: Korean

LOCATION: St. Louis, MO

Our client is a citizen of South Korea who came to the U.S. on a J-2 Visa in February 2011.  She came with her father who entered on a J-1 Visa as a researcher in the U.S. Both were subject to the two-year foreign residency requirement, meaning they had to go back to their home country for two-years before they can apply for permanent residency or some non-immigrant visa such as the H, L, and O visas.

She turned 21 in January 2015 and currently she has a U.S citizen husband. By getting a waiver, she would have the ability to file her I-485 adjustment of status application along with her U.S. citizen spouse’s I-130 petition. However, because of her two-year foreign residency requirement, our client cannot adjust her status in the United States without the fulfillment of requirement or the waiver. 

Although J-2 dependents cannot independently apply for a waiver, in cases where a J-2 child reaches 21, the Waiver Review Division may consider requests for waivers on behalf of the J-2 dependent.  The Department of State’s policy allows for that process in instances where the J-2 dependent obtains a divorce form the J-1 principal, the J-1 principal dies, or in cases where the J-2 dependent turns 21, which is our client’s case. In fact, our client turned 21 in January 2015.  

Our firm was retained to do her J-2 waiver, and on May 24, 2022, the J-2 Waiver application (Form DS-3035 and supporting documents) was filed to the Department of State. We also sent a request to the DOS to be an interested government agency and recommend this waiver based on the fact that our client reached the age of 21 and was not a dependent of a J-1 visa holder anymore.  Eventually, on July 12, 2022, the DOS recommended to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) that our client be granted a waiver.  On July 30, 2022, the USCIS issued an I-612 approval notice for our client’s waiver request.

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CASE: I-485 Adjustment of Status (EB-3)

APPLICANT: Kyrgyz Network and Computer Systems Administrator in Huntley, IL

Our client has a prospective employer that was willing to petition for a third-preference I-140.  Our client has a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science and currently works for IT consulting companies in the past. Based on our client’s education and work background, our office determined that she is clearly eligible for EB-3 classification for her I-140 petition.  

Prior to filing PERM, our firm prepared the prevailing wage request, job order, advertisements, internal job posting, recruitment report, and all other steps which are important pre-PERM filing. Take note that the PERM application could be filed at least 60 days from the job posting date or 30 days from the last ad. Within a week from our retention, the prevailing wage request was filed.  After we obtained the PW determination, the job order was filed on April 9, 2021.  On July 16, 2021, we promptly filed PERM. Eventually, on January 5, 2022, the PERM Labor Certification was approved without the audit. Our client can file the I-140 petition at any time. 

We then proceeded with the I-140 Petition filing. We submitted the “ability to pay” letter for the I-140 petition application. We included the job offer letter, employer’s most recent tax return copy, and other necessary supporting documents.

The I-140 Petition was filed on February 24, 2022 via regular processing service. On March 10, 2022, we filed I-907 premium processing upgrade request. Eventually, on March 21, 2022, the I-140 EB3 Petition for our Kyrgyz client was approved without any Request for Evidence (RFE). 

Once her I-140 petition was approved, she retained our office again for her adjustment of status application. On April 19, 2022, our office filed an I-485 adjustment of status application for our client. Everything went smoothly and the receipt notices and fingerprint appointment came on time. Eventually, on July 29, 2022, her green card application was approved without any RFE. Her adjustment of status application was approved less than 4 months from the filing date.

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CASE: N-400 (Citizenship / Naturalization)

APPLICANT: Chinese

LOCATION: Seattle, WA

Our client contacted us in March 2020 to seek legal representation for his naturalization application. He came to the United States from China and obtained his green card in July 2015. 

His N-400 application was filed on April 6, 2020, with all supporting documents. Prior to his citizenship interview, our office prepared him via conference calls.  On July 26, 2022, our client appeared at the Seattle, WA USCIS office for his naturalization interview. Our client answered all questions correctly and passed his naturalization interview. Eventually, on the same day of the interview, his application was approved and he took his oath. He became a naturalized U.S. Citizen. 

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CASE: H-1B Visa Petition

PETITIONER: School District in Forrest City, AR

BENEFICIARY: Filipina High School Science Teacher

ISSUES: Cap-Exempt, Nonprofit Organization Affiliated with an Institution of Higher Education

Our client is a public school district affiliated with several institutions of higher education. They contacted our office in May 2022 to seek legal assistance from our office for their foreign employee. The beneficiary is a High School Science Teacher from the Philippines who has been working for this employer for the last several years under J-1 status. Her J-1 visa was not subject to the 2 year foreign residency requirement. 

The proffered position for the Beneficiary is a High School Science Teacher. We showed that this is a “specialty occupation” because the minimum requirement for this position is a Bachelor’s Degree in Education or its equivalent.

In the first week of April, the numerical cap of H-1B visas for fiscal year 2023 was already reached. However, our client is qualified for cap-exempt petitions since it is a non-profit organization affiliated with an Institution of Higher Education as defined in 8 C.F.R. 214.2(h)(19)(iii)(B). 

Upon retention, our office filed the H-1B visa petition with various supporting documents on June 28, 2022, via premium processing. On July 12, 2022, the USCIS California Service Center issued a Request for Evidence (RFE) and requested our client to submit additional documents to prove that the Petitioner is a non-profit organization affiliated with an Institution of Higher Education. Our office filed Response to RFE on July 19, 2022. Eventually, our client’s H-1B application was approved on August 2, 2022. She can now work for her employer for three years on an H-1B status.

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CASE: N-400 (Citizenship / Naturalization)

APPLICANT: Chinese

LOCATION: Columbus, OH

Our client contacted us in March 2022 to seek legal representation for his naturalization application. He came to the United States from China and obtained his green card in May 2010. 

His N-400 application was filed on March 15, 2022 with all supporting documents. On July 20, 2022, our client appeared at the Columbus, OH USCIS office for his naturalization interview. Our client answered all questions correctly and passed his naturalization interview. On July 28, 2022, his application was approved. His oath taking is scheduled in which he will become a naturalized U.S. Citizen.

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