CASE: I-140 (EB-3)
EMPLOYER:  E-Commerce Merchandiser Employer in Dallas, TX

BENEFICIARY: Korean Operations Research Analyst

Our client is from South Korea and his prospective employer was willing to do an immigration petition for him, second-preference. Our client has a Master’s degree in Business Administration. After talking to our client, our firm concluded that his employer can petition him as an Operations Research Analyst. Based on our client’s education and work background, our office determined that he is eligible for EB-2 classification.

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 PERM could be filed at least 60 days from the job posting date or 30 days from the last ad. On May 18, 2017, the prevailing wage request was filed.  After we obtained Prevailing Wage determination, our office filed the job order on August 8, 2017. On October 11, 2017, we promptly filed PERM. Eventually, on March 19, 2018, the PERM Labor Certification was approved – an EB2 position for the Korean 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 necessary supporting documents.

The I-140 Petition was filed on April 13, 2018 via premium processing service. Eventually, on April 26, 2018, the I-140 EB2 Petition for our Korean client was approved without any Request for Evidence (RFE). He can file an I-485 adjustment of status application for his green at any time since his priority dates are current.

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CASE: N-400 (Citizenship / Naturalization)

APPLICANT: Ghanaian

LOCATION: Cleveland, OH

Our client contacted us in December 2017 to seek legal representation for his naturalization and citizenship N-400 application. He came to the United States from Ghana and obtained his green card in October 2012.

Once retained, his N-400 application was filed on January 11, 2018 with all supporting documents. Prior to his citizenship interview, our office prepared him at our office.  On March 26, 2018, our client appeared at the Cleveland, OH USCIS office for his naturalization interview. Our client answered all questions correctly and passed his naturalization and citizenship interview. Eventually, his application was approved on April 4, 2018. His oath taking is scheduled in which he will become a naturalized U.S. Citizen.

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CASE: N-400 (Citizenship / Naturalization)

APPLICANT: Korean

LOCATION: Akron, OH

Our client contacted us in December 2017 to seek legal representation for her naturalization and citizenship N-400 application. She came to the United States from South Korea and obtained her green card in February 2013.

Once retained, her N-400 application was filed on December 28, 2017 with all supporting documents. Prior to her citizenship interview, our office prepared her at our office.  On March 16, 2018, our client appeared at the Cleveland, OH USCIS office for her naturalization interview. Our client answered all questions correctly and passed her naturalization and citizenship interview. Eventually, her application was approved on April 4, 2018. Her oath taking is scheduled in which she will become a naturalized U.S. Citizen.

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CASE: Consular Processing (Immigrant Visa)

CLIENT: US Citizen Petitioner Daughter; Mexican Beneficiary Mother in Mexico

LOCATION: Petitioner: Cleveland, OH; Beneficiary: Ciudad Juarez, Mexico

IV APPROVED: April 9, 2018.

Our U.S. Citizen client retained us to bring her mother over from Mexico. She retained our office in February 2017, and our office prepared and filed the I-130 petition for her mother on April 11, 2017. This I-130 Petition was approved by the USCIS on September 20, 2017. Once the I-130 petition was approved, we then started the immigrant visa processing phase of trying to get her mother over to the United States.

On November 7, 2017, we filed the immigrant visa packets to the National Visa Center who in turn forwarded our client’s materials to the U.S. Consulate General in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. An interview notice was set for our client’s mother at the U.S. Consulate General in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, and we prepared her for her interview.  She did her interview on April 4, 2018, and the U.S. Consulate General approved and issued her immigrant visa.

With the approved immigrant visa, our client’s mother 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-485 Adjustment of Status / I-140 (EB-3 Category) / Schedule A

EMPLOYER: Nursing / Rehabilitation Center

BENEFICIARY: Filipino

LOCATION: Houston, TX

Our client’s beneficiary is a registered nurse from the Philippines licensed in the state of Texas. He came to the United States on an F-1. His prospective employer was willing to petition him for a third-preference employment immigrant visa petition (I-140) as a registered nurse.

Since he is a registered nurse, he is eligible for “Schedule A” classification. The Department of Labor (DOL) maintains a schedule of occupations in its regulations, Schedule A included, for which the individual permanent labor certification procedure is not required. The schedule of pre-certified occupations is referred to as Schedule A, and is included in DOL regulations at 20 CFR 656.10. Based on an occupation’s inclusion on Schedule A, an employer may file an immigrant visa petition (I-140) directly with the (USCIS) without first going to the DOL for a labor certification. Usually, prior to filing I-140 petitions (EB-2 or EB-3 category), the employer must file a Labor Certification to the Department of Labor. However, for Schedule A cases, the employer does not have to go through the labor certification process. The position of Professional Nurses is included in Schedule A.

Our client has a nursing degree and has worked for the sponsor-employer. Our firm told him that his employer can petition him as a Registered Nurse under the schedule A category. Our office was retained on March 12, 2015 and started on his Prevailing Wage Request.

We filed the I-140 application on June 3, 2015 via regular processing. We included the job offer letter, the notice of filing, and other necessary supporting documents. Without any issuance of Request for Evidence (RFE), on October 7, 2015, the I-140 was approved.

Once his I-140 petition was approved, he retained our office again and determined to file an adjustment of status application for him. On September 12, 2017, 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.

Prior to the interview, we thoroughly prepared our client at via conference calls as well. On April 2, 2018, our client was interviewed at Houston Texas USCIS office. Attorney Sung Hee (Glen) Yu from our office also accompanied our clients as well. Eventually, on April 4, 2018, his green card application was approved.

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

NATIONALITY: Chinese

LOCATION: New York, NY

Our client is a citizen of China who came to the U.S. on a J-2 Visa in January 1998.  She came with her mother who came on a J-1 Visa for her research program in the United States. 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.

After our client came to the United States, she was attending a school and changed her status to F-1.

She turned 21 in August 2012. She has a U.S. citizen fiancé who will file I-130 petition for her after they get married.  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 August 2012.

Our firm was retained to do her J-2 waiver, and on December 19, 2017, 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 February 5, 2018, the DOS recommended to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) that our client be granted a waiver. On April 4, 2018, the USCIS issued an I-612 approval notice for our client’s waiver request.

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CASE: N-400 (Citizenship / Naturalization)

APPLICANT: Korean

LOCATION: Akron, OH

Our client contacted us in December 2017 to seek legal representation for his naturalization and citizenship N-400 application. He came to the United States from South Korea and obtained his green card in February 2013.

Once retained, his N-400 application was filed on December 28, 2017 with all supporting documents. Prior to his citizenship interview, our office prepared him at our office.  On March 16, 2018, our client appeared at the Cleveland, OH USCIS office for his naturalization interview. Our client answered all questions correctly and passed his naturalization and citizenship interview. Eventually, his application was approved on March 30, 2018. His oath taking is scheduled in which he will become a naturalized U.S. Citizen.

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CASE: N-400 (Citizenship / Naturalization)

APPLICANT: Filipina

LOCATION: Cincinnati, Ohio

Our client contacted us in May 2016 to seek legal representation for her naturalization and citizenship N-400 application. She came to the United States from the Philippines and obtained her green card in May 2009. She retained our office for her naturalization and citizenship N-400 application on May 16, 2016. She was concerned about her previous domestic violence case which was vacated later by the Court. Because of this domestic violence case, she was also placed in removal proceedings; but, her proceedings were terminated after her conviction was vacated. Nevertheless, our client has a clean record besides the aforementioned vacated conviction, so she should not be ineligible for her naturalization.

The naturalization and citizenship N-400 application was filed on May 24, 2016 with all supporting documents. Our office prepared her before her naturalization interview, and our client appeared on her interview on November 7, 2016 at the Cincinnati CIS office. Our client passed her naturalization and citizenship N-400 interview. However, her N-400 case remained pending due to her former criminal conviction record. The USCIS officer asked our client to submit a certified copy of her vacated conviction record. We filed the RFE response to the Cincinnati USCIS Field Office in February 3, 2017.

Eventually, her naturalization application was approved on March 22, 2018. Her oath taking is scheduled in which she will become a naturalized U.S. Citizen.

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CASE: I-485 / I-140 / National Interest Waiver

CLIENT: Korean

LOCATION: Denver, CO

Our client contacted us in July 2014 about the possibility of doing a National Interest Waiver self-petition. He is a researcher from South Korea and he is an exceptional researcher and scientist in the field of genetic engineering and apoptosis.

Our client’s significant contributions have placed him at the pinnacle of his field. Throughout his research career, he has made critical research contributions in programmed cell death where he used genetic analysis in the round worm to gain important insights into human cancer. Our client has devoted himself to research in the aforementioned fields for more than 15 years and his outstanding research were highly evaluated by reviewers of various journals and by colleagues and experts in the field.  Moreover, our client’s research works were published in one of the top academic journals in the world. His outstanding works were published in journals such as Science, Nature, and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Upon review of his credentials and qualifications, our office determined that he was definitely 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. The landmark immigration case that discusses the standards for NIWs is Matter of New York State Department of Transportation, 22 I&N Dec. 215 (Comm.1998). This case held that the qualifying applicant must show the following elements in his or her I-140 NIW petition: First, it must be shown that the alien seeks employment in an area of substantial intrinsic merit. Next, it must be shown that the proposed benefit will be national in scope. Finally, the petitioner seeking the waiver must establish that the alien will serve the national interest to a substantially greater degree than would an available U. S. worker having the same minimum qualifications. (When we filed this case, Matter of Dhanasar, 26 I&N Dec. 884 (AAO 2016) was not issued yet. Thus, we still filed our client’s NIW under NYSDOT standard.)

Our office prepared a 20-page brief for our client’s NIW filing. Our client also obtained 6 letters of recommendation from his colleagues and internationally-recognized scientists. Our office also included his publication records, presentation records, and conference materials in the NIW application. We demonstrated the intrinsic merit of our client’s research in the United States, the national scope of his research, and asserted that our client would serve the national interest to a substantially greater degree than would an available U.S. worker having the same minimum qualifications. His NIW application contained 33 exhibits (Exhibit A to GG).

Our office filed his I-140(NIW) petition to the USCIS Nebraska Service Center on November 16, 2016. Eventually, on October 25, 2017, the USCIS approved his I-140 petition without any Requests for Evidence.

When we filed his I-140, he concurrently filed his I-485 adjustment of status application. However, on January 29, 2018, the USCIS Nebraska Service Center issued a request for evidence (RFE) regarding whether our client’s maintenance of his non-immigrant status and updated medical.

The RFE letter from the USCIS requested us to submit evidence showing our client has maintained his non-immigrant status until the filing of his adjustment of status application. Our office filed this response to RFE along with requested evidence and updated medical record on March 7, 2018.

On March 29, 2018, the USCIS Nebraska Service Center approved our client’s adjustment of status application. The derivative applicant of this case (his wife) also received I-485 approval.  Now, our client and his wife become green card holders.

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CASE: I-751

APPLICANT: Palestinian

LOCATION: Akron, OH

Our client contacted our office in September of 2016 regarding her I-751 application.

She is from Palestine and she married a U.S. citizen. Through her marriage, she obtained a 2-year conditional green card in December of 2013.  Her conditional residency terminated in December 2015.

To comply with immigration requirements, our client and her husband should have filed an I-751 Joint Petition to Remove Conditions before December 2015. However, due to financial and health related reasons, they could not file the I-751 application on time.

The USCIS still allows the I-751 applicant to file his or her I-751 application as long as there is a good cause for the late filing. She retained our office on September 8, 2016 and our office prepared an I-751 application for our client with bona fide marriage evidence and a letter to explain their late filing.

On September 28, 2016, our office filed an I-751 application to the USCIS with affidavits of applicant and her husband to explain their late filing and other joint documents to demonstrate the bona fideness of their marriage.

There was no RFE issuance or interview request for our client’s I-751 application. As a result, on March 21, 2018, the USCIS approved our client’s I-751 application and our client received her 10-year green card.

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