CASE: I-485 / National Interest Waiver

CLIENT: Korean

LOCATION: Delaware

Our client contacted us in March 2015 about the possibility of doing a National Interest Waiver. He is a visiting professor from South Korea and he is an extraordinary researcher and scientist in the field of photovoltaic science, thin film photovoltaic materials and processing, and design of semiconductor processing techniques.

His significant contributions have placed him at the pinnacle of the field of photovoltaic research. He is a leading researcher and engineer in the field and has made tremendous contributions in the thin-film semiconductor photovoltaic field for last 15 years. Moreover, our client’s research have been essential to the understanding of certain solar cell absorber synthesis processing and development of cost-effective commercial production process. Over the years, his research have been highly evaluated by the reviewers of various journals and by colleagues and experts in the field.

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. 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.

Our office prepared a 26-page brief for our client’s NIW filing. Our client also obtained 7 letters of recommendation from his colleagues and internationally-recognized scientists. Our office also included his publication records, patents, 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 81 exhibits (Exhibit A to CCCC).

Our office filed his I-140(NIW) petition to the USCIS Texas Service Center on November 2, 2015. Eventually, on March 3, 2016, the USCIS approved his I-140 petition without any Requests for Evidence.  Our office filed his I-485 application along with his I-140 petition concurrently. On March 28, 2016, the USCIS approved his I-485 application as well. Now, he is a green card holder.

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CASE: J-1 Waiver (No Objection Statement)

NATIONALITY: Philippines

LOCATION: Montana

Our client came from the Philippines on a J-1 Visa in November 2013 to work as a teacher. Based on her DS-2019, she was subject to the two-year foreign residency requirement. After her authorized stay period expired, she remained in the United States.

In October 2015, she got married to her U.S. citizen husband and later on consulted with our firm for her J-1 visa waiver prior to applying for adjustment of status. If someone is subject to the two-year foreign residency requirement, he or she cannot get a green card in the United States until he or she fulfills the requirement or obtains a waiver.

Upon retention, our office prepared a waiver request through a No Objection Statement (NOS) from the Philippine Embassy in the United States and eventually the EVP in the Philippines.

On November 2, 2015, the J-1 Waiver Application (Form DS-3035) was filed to the Department of State.  We also sent a request to the Montana State Government to get authentication for the necessary documents.  Later, these authenticated documents and No Objection Application (for the Philippines Government) were sent to the Philippine Consulate General in Chicago for further authentication.  On January 5, 2016, our office sent our client’s materials to the Waiver Review Committee in Manila, Philippines.  Then, the Waiver Review Committee forwarded the materials and favorable recommendation to the Philippine Embassy in D.C. who eventually issued a No Objection Statement.

On March 9, 2016, the Waiver Review Division issued a favorable recommendation based on the No Objection statement.  Eventually, on March 24, 2016, the USCIS issued an I-612 approval notice for the waiver. Now, our client can file for her adjustment status application along with her U.S. Citizen husband’s I-130 petition for her.

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CASE: I-485 / I-140 (EB-2)

EMPLOYER: Home Health Services in Chicago Illinois

BENEFICIARY: Nigerian Director of Business Technology and Strategy

Our client is a Nigerian individual who was in the U.S on H-4 status. His prospective employer was willing to do an immigration petition for him, second-preference. Our client has a Master’s degree in Engineering Management.

After talking to our client, our firm concluded that his employer can petition him as a Director of Business Technology and Strategy. Based on our client’s educational, professional and working background, our office determined that he is eligible for EB-2 classification.

Prior to filing PERM labor certification, 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 Labor Certification application could be filed at least 60 days from the job posting date or 30 days from the last ad.

On October 28, 2014, the prevailing wage request was filed.  On April 17, 2015, we filed the PERM labor certification application.  Eventually, on November 17, 2015, the PERM labor certification was approved – an EB2 position for the Nigerian Director of Business Technology and Strategy.

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 November 24, 2015 via premium processing service. However, on December 7, 2015, the USCIS issued a Request for Evidence (RFE) for our client’s petition. In the RFE, the USCIS requested our client to submit any documentation that demonstrates his specific software usages in the past. Our office filed the Response to RFE on December 8, 2015 to USCIS. Eventually, on December 16, 2015, the I-140 EB2 Petition for our Nigerian client was approved.

Once his I-140 petition was approved, our office prepared his adjustment of status application. On December 23, 2015, our office filed I-485 adjustment of status applications for our client and his wife. Everything went smoothly and the receipt notices and fingerprint appointment came on time.

Eventually, on March 23, 2016, the USCIS approved our client and his wife’s I-485 adjustment of status applications. Now, he is a green card holder.

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CASE: N-400 (Citizenship / Naturalization)
APPLICANT: Lebanese
LOCATION: Ohio

Our client contacted us in November 2015 to seek legal representation for his naturalization and citizenship N-400 application. He came to the United States from Lebanon and obtained his green card in 1991. O client was previously placed in removal proceedings due to his criminal convictions. However, after his conviction charges were vacated and dismissed, he was no longer removable and his case was terminated at the Cleveland Immigration Court. He retained our office for his naturalization and citizenship N-400 application on November 18, 2015.

The naturalization and citizenship N-400 application was filed on December 3, 2015 with all supporting documents. Our office prepared him before his naturalization interview, and also accompanied him on February 29, 2016 at the Cleveland CIS office. Our client answered all questions correctly and passed his naturalization and citizenship N-400 interview. Eventually, his naturalization application was approved. His oath taking is scheduled in which he will become a naturalized U.S. Citizen.

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CASE: PERM Labor Certification

EMPLOYER: IT Consulting Company

BENEFICIARY: Indian Computer Systems Analyst

LOCATION: Jacksonville, FL

Our client is a computer systems analyst from India, who is currently working at an IT consulting company in Jacksonville, Florida which was willing to do an immigration petition him for a second-preference position (I-140 EB-2).  Our client has a Master of Science degree in Computer Information Systems and has worked for this company under H-1B status.  After talking to our client, our firm concluded that his employer can petition him as a Computer Systems Analyst II. Based on our client’s education and professional background, our office determined that he is clearly eligible for the EB-2 classification for his 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 Labor Certification application could be filed at least 60 days from the job posting date or 30 days from the last ad. Once retained, our office filed the prevailing wage request in April 2015.  On October 16, 2015, we filed the PERM labor certification application.  Eventually, on March 24, 2016, less than 6 months from filing, the PERM labor certification was approved – an EB2 position for the Indian Computer Systems Analyst. Now our client can file the I-140 Petition.

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CASE: I-140 (EB-2 Category) / Schedule A / Premium Processing

EMPLOYER: Nursing Care Facility

BENEFICIARY: Filipino

LOCATION: Beneficiary: Thailand / Petitioner: Houston, TX

Our Filipino client is currently working in Thailand as a nurse coordinator. His prospective employer-sponsor was willing to petition him for a second-preference employment immigrant visa petition (I-140). Since he has a registered nurse license and the proffered position for him is a nurse manager at the nursing care facility, the petitioner wanted to try going for a “Schedule A” classification. They also wanted to do EB2 (requiring at least a Masters degree or Bachelors degree + 5 yrs progressive experience).

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 having to file a Labor Certification with the Department of Labor. 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. We argued that the position of Health Services Manager should be classified under Schedule A. We argued that it falls under the broad spectrum of “professional nurse” occupations. We also argued that the job description has excerpts that fall under “professional nurse” and that the description justifies the requirements also of Bachelor’s degree in nursing and five years of related experiences.

Our client has a Bachelor’s degree in nursing and 5 years of experience as a nurse coordinator and a coordination nurse. He also has a registered nursing license in the state of Texas. Our office was retained and we started on the Prevailing Wage Determination filing and other related matters.

Once the prevailing wage was determined, we filed the I-140 application on February 16, 2016 via premium processing. We included a job offer letter, the notice of filing, employment letters, and other necessary supporting documents. In our cover brief, we included the “ability to pay” argument and why the nurse manager position falls under a Schedule A and EB2 designation.

However, on March 2, 2016, the USCIS Texas Service Center issued the Notice of Intent to Deny (NOID) for our client’s I-140. The USCIS alleged that our client’s past experience was not progressive in nature. We submitted new past experience letters showing that they were indeed progressive in nature and submitted the response to NOID on March 11, 2016.

Eventually, on March 17, 2016, the USCIS Texas Service Center approved his EB-2 I-140 petition. Now, with the approved EB-2 I-140 petition (priority date for EB2 Philippine nationals is current), he can file and obtain an immigrant visa.

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CASE: I-751 / Waiver of the Joint Waiver Requirement
APPLICANT: Filipina
LOCATION: Cleveland, OH

Our client contacted our office in late June of 2015 regarding her potential I-751 filing. She was from the Philippines and married a U.S. citizen in May 2013. Through her marriage with a U.S. citizen spouse, she obtained a 2-year conditional green card in October of 2013. Therefore, her conditional residency terminated in October 2015.

Unfortunately, during their marriage, our client and her ex-husband went through struggles. They lived separately for a while and their divorce was finalized in July 2015. Thus, our client could not file I-751 application jointly with her ex-husband. After consultation, we advised that we can help her file an I-751 application with a waiver of the joint filing requirement. We requested a waiver because our client entered into the marriage in good faith, but the marriage was terminated through divorce or annulment before they can file a joint petition.

On August 25, 2015, our office filed the I-751 application with various supporting documents (over 20 exhibits and an affidavit over 4 pages) to demonstrate our client’s bona fide marriage with her ex-husband.  Eventually, on March 14, 2016, the USCIS approved our request for the removal of conditions on her permanent resident status without even an interview nor a request for evidence. Now, she has her ten-year green card.

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CASE: H-1B Change of Employer

PETITIONER: Sensor Device Development Company

BENEFICIARY: Japanese Mechanical Engineer

LOCATION: Irvine, CA

Our client is a leading company in providing innovative sensors and health monitoring solutions to problems related to maintenance and safety of civil infrastructure and other structural / material systems. They contacted our office in early February 2016 to seek legal assistance from our office for their foreign employee. The beneficiary is from Japan and obtained his Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering. The proffered position for the Beneficiary is a Principal Engineer which we argued qualifies as a specialty occupation.

The foreign beneficiary in this case already had his H-1B visa from his previous employer.  However, his H-1B visa was not expired yet, and he wanted to extend his H-1B status on a change of employer basis.

Once retained, our office promptly filed the H-1B visa petition with various supporting documents on February 26, 2016 via premium processing service.  Since this petition was based on a change of employer, we argued that this petition was exempt from the annual cap of the H-1B.  There were no Requests for Evidence during the processing of the H-1B.  Eventually, our client’s H-1B Petition was approved on March 8, 2016.  The H-1B approval had the duration of March 2016 to March 2019. Now the Beneficiary can work for his Petitioner-Employer as an H-1B visa holder and he can work there for next three years.

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CASE: I-140 (EB-2)

EMPLOYER: Data Marketing Company

BENEFICIARY: Nepali Computer Systems Analyst

LOCATION: Omaha, NE

Our client is a computer systems analyst from Nepal, who is currently working at a data marketing company in Omaha, Nebraska who was willing to do an immigration petition him for a second-preference petition (I-140 EB-2).  Our client has a Master of Science degree in Computer Science and has worked for this company since January 2013. He has maintained his status as an H-1B visa holder in the United States.  After talking to our client, our firm concluded that his employer can petition him as a Computer Systems Analyst II. Based on our client’s educational, professional and working background, our office determined that he is clearly eligible for an EB-2 classification for his I-140 petition.

Prior to filing PERM labor certification, 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 Labor Certification application could be filed at least 60 days from the job posting date or 30 days from the last ad. Once retained, our office filed the prevailing wage request in December 2014.  On May 26, 2015, we filed the PERM labor certification application.  Eventually, on November 19, 2015, less than 6 months from filing, the PERM labor certification was approved – an EB2 position for the Nepali Computer Systems Analyst.

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 March 1, 2016 via premium processing service. Eventually, on March 11, 2016, the I-140 EB2 Petition for our Nepalese 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: I-140 / National Interest Waiver

CLIENT: Korean

LOCATION: Delaware

Our client contacted us in March 2015 about the possibility of doing a National Interest Waiver I-140 Self-Petition. He is a visiting professor from South Korea and he is an extraordinary researcher and scientist in the field of photovoltaic science, thin film photovoltaic materials and processing, and design of semiconductor processing techniques.

His significant contributions have placed him at the pinnacle of the field of photovoltaic research. He is a leading researcher and engineer in the field and has made tremendous contribution in the thin-film semiconductor photovoltaic field for last 15 years. Moreover, our client’s research results have been essential to the understanding of certain solar cell absorber synthesis processing and development of cost-effective commercial production process. Over the years, his work have been highly evaluated by reviewers of various journals and by colleagues and experts in the field.

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. 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.

Our office prepared a 26-page brief for our client’s NIW filing. Our client also obtained 7 letters of recommendation from his colleagues and internationally-recognized scientists. Our office also included his publication record, patents, 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 81 exhibits (Exhibit A to CCCC).

Our office filed his I-140(NIW) petition to the USCIS Texas Service Center on November 2, 2015. Eventually, on March 3, 2016, 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. His adjustment of status application will be approved soon as well.

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