CASE: Marriage-Based Adjustment of Status

NATIONALITY: Cote D’Ivoire                                                                                                        

LOCATION: Cleveland, OH

Our client is from Cote D’Ivoire who came to the U.S. on a F-1 Student Visa in October 2013 to pursue his undergraduate degree in United States.  In May 2017, our client married his current U.S. citizen wife.  He retained our office for his green card application in August 2017. Our firm prepared and filed the I-130 Petition and Adjustment of Status Application on December 21, 2017. 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 at our office as well. On March 13, 2018, our client was interviewed at Cleveland USCIS office. Attorney Sung Hee (Glen) Yu also accompanied our clients as well.  Eventually, on March 20, 2018, his green card application was approved.

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CASE: I-140 (Derivative Beneficiary) and Adjustment of Status

CLIENT: Filipina

LOCATION: Houston, TX

Our client retained us for her green card application. Our client was born and raised in the Philippines. Her husband became a beneficiary of the approved EB-2 I-140 petition from his employer and got his green card in January 2016. She could have been a derivative applicant at the time of her husband’s green card filing, but she was not in the United States at that time. Nevertheless, we explained to our client that we can do I-824 and consular processing for her when she wants to permanently move to the United States.

In February 2016, her husband contacted our office to do an I-824 follow-to-join application to the USCIS so that our client can file an immigrant visa and come as a derivative beneficiary of the I-140 petition. He retained our office on February 26, 2016, to help bring our client to the States.

After we were retained, our office filed an I-824 follow-to-join application to the USCIS on March 8, 2016.  After the I-824 was filed, everything went smoothly and the receipt notice came on time. The I-824 application was approved by the USCIS on August 22, 2016, and this case was transferred to the National Visa Center.

Nevertheless, in January 2017, our client visited the United States with her B-2 visitor’s visa. Once she came to the United States, she asked our office whether she can file adjustment of status application (instead of filing immigrant visa in the Philippines) in the United States. She retained our office for her adjustment of status process.

Once retained, our firm prepared and filed the Adjustment of Status Application on March 17, 2017, for our client.  Everything went smoothly and the receipt notices, fingerprint appointment, and a work permit all came on time. In December 2017, the USCIS schedule our client’s adjustment of status interview at Houston USCIS Field Office.

Prior to the interview, we thoroughly prepared our client through conference calls.  On January 22, 2018, our client was interviewed at the Houston USCIS Field office in Texas.  Eventually, on February 26, 2018, her green card application was approved.

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CASE: Consular Processing (Immigrant Visa)

CLIENT: US Citizen Petitioner Wife; Pakistani Beneficiary Husband in Pakistan

LOCATION: Petitioner: Pennsylvania; Beneficiary: Islamabad, Pakistan

IV APPROVED: August 15, 2017.

Our U.S. Citizen client retained us to bring her husband over from Pakistan. She retained our office in January 2017, and our office prepared and filed the I-130 petition for her husband on March 16, 2017. This I-130 Petition was approved by the USCIS on August 15, 2017. Once the I-130 petition was approved, we then started the immigrant visa processing phase of trying to get her husband over to the United States.

On October 10, 2017, we filed the immigrant visa packets to the National Visa Center who in turn forwarded our client’s materials to the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan. An interview notice was set for our client’s husband at the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan, and we prepared him for his interview.  He did his interview on January 8, 2018. Eventually, on March 10, 2018, the U.S. Embassy 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 months of entry.

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CASE: PERM Labor Certification    
EMPLOYER:  E-Commerce Merchandiser Employer

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 clearly 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. Now our client can file the I-140 petition.

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CASE: PERM Labor Certification

EMPLOYER: Public Schools District

BENEFICIARY: Filipina Speech Language Pathologist

LOCATION: Kansas

Our client has a current employer that was willing to petition her for a second-preference petition (I-140).  Our client has a master’s degree in speech language pathology, a valid Kansas speech language pathologist license, and has worked for her current employer since August 2014. Based on our client’s education and work background, our office determined that she is clearly eligible for EB-2 classification for her I-140 petition.  Our client eventually retained us in November 2016.

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, our office filed the job order on March 21, 2017. On July 17, 2017, we promptly filed PERM.

However, on December 18, 2017, the Department of Labor issued a request for audit. The DOL requested documents from 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 December 28, 2017.  

Eventually, on March 19, 2018, the PERM Labor Certification was approved – an EB2 position for the Filipina beneficiary. Since her priority date is current, our client can file the I-140, I-485 green card application, and I-765 simultaneously.

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CASE: H-1B Extension

PETITIONER: Elementary School

BENEFICIARY: Filipina Elementary School Teacher

LOCATION: New Mexico

Our client is a public grant elementary school for Native Indians in New Mexico. They contacted our office to seek assistance for their foreign employee. The beneficiary is from the Philippines and she obtained her Bachelor’s degree in English. The proffered position for the Beneficiary is an elementary school teacher which we argued qualifies as a specialty occupation.

The foreign beneficiary in this case already had her H-1B from our client last year.  She also has an approved I-140 petition which allows her to get three year extension. Her H-1B status was not yet expired, and she wanted to extend her H-1B status.

After retention, our office promptly filed the H-1B visa petition with various supporting documents on December 13, 2017 via regular processing.  Since this petition was based on an extension, this petition was exempt from the annual cap of the H-1B. Thus, we could file prior to April 1, 2018.  Eventually, our client’s H-1B Petition was approved on March 8, 2018 without any RFE. Now the Beneficiary can work for her Petitioner-Employer as an H-1B visa holder and she can continuously work there.

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CASE: PERM Labor Certification    
EMPLOYER:  Civil Engineering Company in California
BENEFICIARY: Filipino Building Project Engineer Manager

Our client is from the Philippines. His prospective employer is willing to do an immigration petition for him, second-preference. Our client has a Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering and has more than 5 years of work experience as a Design and Structural Engineer. After talking to our client, our firm concluded that his employer can petition him as a Building Project Engineer Manager. Based on our client’s educational, professional and working backgrounds, our office determined that he is clearly 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 January 30, 2017, the prevailing wage request was filed.  After we obtained Prevailing Wage determination, our office filed the job order on April 26, 2017. On September 18, 2017, we promptly filed PERM. Eventually, on March 8, 2018, the PERM Labor Certification was approved – an EB2 position for the Filipino beneficiary. Now our client can file the I-140 petition.

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CASE: Marriage-Based Adjustment of Status

NATIONALITY: Indonesian

LOCATION: Columbus, OH

Our Indonesian client came to the U.S. on a J-1 Visa in May 2016.  She came to the U.S. for an internship, and her J-1 visa made her subject to the two-year foreign residency requirement.  In March 2017 our client married his U.S. Citizen husband and she wanted to apply for permanent residency. However, due to the two-year foreign residency requirement, she had to obtain a waiver first.

After she retained our firm, we prepared and filed a waiver request through a No Objection Statement (NOS) from the Indonesian Embassy in the United States.  Our office contacted the Indonesian Embassy in Washington D.C. to make sure we knew all the requirements needed for their office to issue a no objection statement.  The Embassy requested nine different documents including a statement of reason for the waiver, the applicant’s resume, a copy of her valid Indonesian passport, and a copy of Form DS-3035.

On March 22, 2017, the J-1 Waiver (Form DS-3035) Application was filed to the Department of State.  We also sent a request to the Indonesian Embassy to issue a No Objection Statement and recommend this waiver based on the fact that our client would have been eligible to file a marriage based adjustment of status application but for the waiver.

The Indonesian Embassy eventually issued a No Objection Statement for our client, and sent this letter to the State Department’s Waiver Review Division.  On August 7, 2017, the Waiver Review Division issued a favorable recommendation based on the No Objection statement. The CIS then issued a receipt and an I-612 approval notice on October 20, 2017.

Once we received the I-612 waiver for our client’s J-1 waiver, our firm prepared and filed I-130 petition and I-485 adjustment of status application on November 8, 2017.  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 February 27, 2018, our client was interviewed at the Columbus USCIS Field office in Ohio. Eventually, on March 7, 2018, her green card application was approved.

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CASE: N-400 (Citizenship / Naturalization)

APPLICANT: El Salvadorian

LOCATION: Cleveland, OH

Our client contacted us in November 2017 to seek legal representation for her naturalization and citizenship N-400 application. She came to the United States from El Salvador and obtained her green card in March 2009.

Her N-400 application was filed on November 29, 2017 with all supporting documents. Prior to her citizenship interview, our office prepared her at our office.  On March 2, 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 March 9, 2018. Her oath taking is scheduled in which she will become a naturalized U.S. Citizen.

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CASE: Marriage-Based Adjustment of Status

CLIENT: Burkina Faso

LOCATION: Cleveland, OH

Our client came to the United States from Burkina Faso on a F-1 student visa in December 2014. He married a U.S. Citizen in August 2016 and retained our office on August 22, 2016 for his green card application.  Our firm prepared and filed the I-130 Petition and I-485 Adjustment of Status Application on September 26, 2016. 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 January 11, 2017, our client was interviewed at Cleveland, Ohio USCIS office. Attorney Sung Hee (Glen) Yu from our office accompanied our clients as well. In February 2018, the USCIS issued Request for Evidence and requested our client to do updated medical / vaccination check-up with the USCIS approved civil surgeon. Our client did it and submitted the sealed result to the USCIS Cleveland Field Office. Eventually, on March 7, 2018, his green card application was approved.

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