CASE: N-400 (Citizenship / Naturalization)

APPLICANT: Filipina

LOCATION:  Boston, MA

Our client contacted us in August 2015 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 July 2012 through her marriage with her US citizen husband. She retained our office on August 19, 2015.

The N-400 application was filed on September 8, 2015 with all supporting documents. Prior to her citizenship interview, our office prepared her via conference calls. On February 22, 2016, our client appeared at the Boston, MA 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 2, 2016. Her oath taking is scheduled in which she will become a naturalized U.S. Citizen.

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CASE: I-485 Based on Approved I-140 / National Interest Waiver

CLIENT: Korean Radio Frequency Researcher

LOCATION: Dallas, Texas

Our client contacted us in July 2014 about the possibility of doing a National Interest Waiver. He is a research professor in the field of electrical engineering and radio frequency research, and is currently working as a research professor in Dallas, Texas.

His significant contributions have placed him at the pinnacle of the field of radio frequency research. He is a leading researcher and engineer in the field; specifically, Radio Frequency Integrated Circuit (RFIC) design and microwave research.  Our client’s research on RFIC has led to important innovations in his field of endeavor. Throughout his career, our client has provided innovative solutions and contributions for various areas of the microwave engineering from semiconductor device modeling and measurements to complex system-on-a-chip design which were 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 19-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 record, presentation record, 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 46 exhibits (Exhibit A to TT).

Our office filed his I-140(NIW) petition to the USCIS Texas Service Center on May 6, 2015. On November 30, 2015, the USCIS approved his I-140 petition without any Requests for Evidence.  

Once the I-140 petition was approved, our client retained our office again for his I-485 adjustment of status application. Our office filed an I-485 adjustment of status application for our client on December 8, 2015. Everything went smoothly and the receipt notices and fingerprint appointment came on time.

Eventually, on March 3, 2016, the USCIS Texas Service Center approved our client’s adjustment of status application. Now, he finally is a green card holder.

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

EMPLOYER: Physician’s Office

BENEFICIARY: Kyrgyz

LOCATION: Delaware

Our client is a family nurse practitioner who is from Kyrgyzstan. Her current employer was willing to petition her for a second-preference employment immigrant visa petition (I-140). Since she was a family nurse practitioner, she was 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 Nurse Practitioner is included in Schedule A.

Our client has Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in nursing and is a certified Nurse Practitioner. Our office was retained on August 18, 2015 and we filed the Prevailing Wage Determination immediately.

We filed the I-140 application on February 1, 2016 via premium processing. We included the job offer letter, the notice of filing, employment letter, and other necessary supporting documents.

In our cover brief, we included the “ability to pay” argument and why nurse practitioners must fall under the Schedule A designation.  However, on February 12, 2016, the USCIS issued Request for Evidence (RFE) and asked for our client’s recent W-2. Our office filed the Response to RFE on February 23, 2016. Eventually, on March 2, 2016, the USCIS approved her EB-2 I-140 petition. Since the priority date for Kyrgyzstan nationals are current for the EB-2 category, she is eligible to file her adjustment of status application now.

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CASE: I-140 (EB-2)

EMPLOYER: Cultural Center

BENEFICIARY: Chinese Educational Services Market Research Analyst

LOCATION: Cleveland, OH

The beneficiary is a Chinese lady who is currently working at a cultural center in Cleveland Ohio. The company was willing to do an immigration petition for her, second-preference. She has a Master’s degree in Business Administration.

Our firm believed her employer can petition her as an Educational Services Market Research Analyst. Based on our client’s educational, professional and working background, our office determined that she may be clearly eligible for EB-2 classification.

Prior to filing the PERM labor certification application, 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 September 26, 2014, the prevailing wage request was filed.  On January 28, 2015, we filed the PERM labor certification application.  Eventually, on August 19, 2015, the PERM labor certification was approved – an EB2 position for the Chinese Educational Services Market Research 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 February 10, 2016 via premium processing. However, on February 16, 2016, 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 demonstrated her specific software special skills in the past. Our office promptly filed the Response to RFE on February 25, 2016 to the USCIS by submitting a letter from her employer detailing her usage and knowledge of the specific software that was required. Eventually, on March 2, 2016, the I-140 EB2 Petition for our Chinese client was approved. She can file an I-485 adjustment of status application for her green card when her priority date becomes current.

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CASE: I-751

APPLICANT: Filipina

LOCATION: Houston, TX

Our client contacted our office in May of 2015 regarding her I-751 application.

She is from the Philippines and she married a U.S. citizen in March 2013. Through her marriage, she obtained a 2-year conditional green card in September of 2013. Our office helped her in the green card process.  Her conditional residency terminated in September 2015.

To comply with immigration requirements, our client and her husband had to file an I-751 Joint Petition to Remove Conditions. She retained our office on June 1, 2015 and our office prepared an I-751 application for our client with supporting documents.

On June 15, 2015, our office filed an I-751 application to the USCIS with multiple affidavits from her friends and family members, joint bank statements, utility bills, joint leasing documents, and photos of our client and her husband to demonstrate the bona fideness of their marriage.

Once the application was filed, the fingerprint notice was issued two weeksr. However, the USCIS issued a Request for Evidence (RFE) to demonstrate the bona fideness of our client’s marriage with her husband. We filed an extensive Response to RFE to the USCIS with more bona fide marital documents on January 29, 2016.

Eventually, on February 22, 2016, the USCIS approved our client’s I-751 application.

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CASE: I-130 (Petition for Father) and Adjustment of Status

CLIENT: Filipino

LOCATION: California

Our client retained us to petition her father for his green card. Our client was born and raised in the Philippines, but was naturalized in the United States in February 2015 through our firm’s legal assistance. She contacted our office in June of 2015 and discussed with us the green card process for his father. After consultation, she retained our office again on June 22, 2015.

Once retained, our firm prepared and filed the I-130 Petition and I-485 Adjustment of Status Application on June 24, 2015 for her father.  Everything went smoothly and the receipt notices, fingerprint appointment, and work permit all came on time. On November 17, 2015, our client (the father) appeared at his I-485 adjustment of status interview at Santa Ana, California USCIS Field Office. Prior to the interview, our office prepared him with possible interview questions via conference calls. Eventually, on February 23, 2016, our client’s  adjustment of status application was approved. Now, he is a green card holder.

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CASE: J-1 Waiver of the Two-Year Foreign Residency Requirement, No Objection Statement

NATIONALITY: Taiwanese

LOCATION: Rhode Island

Our Taiwanese client came to the U.S. on a J-1 Visa for her post-doctoral research program. Her her J-1 visa made her subject to the two-year foreign residency requirement. She wanted to file for adjustment of status as a derivative applicant of her husband’s employment-based I-140 based adjustment of status application.  However, due to the two-year foreign residency requirement, she had to obtain a waiver first before she files her adjustment of status application in the United States.

After she retained our firm, we prepared and filed a waiver request through a No Objection Statement (NOS) from the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the U.S.  Our office contacted the TECR Office in Washington D.C. to make sure we knew all the requirements needed for their office to issue a no objection statement.  The Office requested numerous documents including a statement of reason for the waiver, employment letter, the applicant’s resume, a copy of her valid Taiwanese passport, and a copy of Form DS-3035.

On September 15, 2015, the J-1 Waiver (Form DS-3035) Application was filed to the Department of State.  We also sent a request to the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the U.S. to issue a No Objection Statement and recommend this waiver based on the fact that our client would have been eligible to file an adjustment of status application but for the waiver.

The Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the U.S. eventually issued a No Objection Statement for our client, and sent this letter to the State Department’s Waiver Review Division.  On February 8, 2016, 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 February 24, 2016.  Now that our client’s two-year foreign residency requirement is waived, she can file her green card application in the United States without going back to Taiwan for 2 years.

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CASE: Marriage-Based Adjustment of Status

CLIENT: Jamaican

LOCATION: Pittsburgh, PA

Our client came to the United States in November 2013 with a B-2 visitor’s visa from Jamaica. Later, she married a U.S. Citizen in May 2015 and retained our office for her petition and adjustment of status application. She also asked us to file her son’s (Petitioner’s step-son) adjustment of status application.

Once retained, our firm prepared and filed the I-130 petition and I-485 adjustment of status application on September 28, 2015. Everything went smoothly and the receipt notices, fingerprint appointment, and work permits all came on time. There were no requests for evidence.

Prior to the interview, we thoroughly prepared our clients via conference calls. On February 24, 2016, our clients were interviewed at the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania USCIS office. Attorney Sung Hee (Glen) Yu from our office accompanied them at their interview as well. After the interview, our client and her son’s green card applications were approved.

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CASE: I-751

APPLICANT: Iranian

LOCATION: Cleveland, OH

Our client contacted our office in July of 2015 regarding his I-751 application.

He is from Iran and he married a U.S. citizen in July 2013. Through his marriage, he obtained a 2-year conditional green card in October of 2013. Our office helped him with his green card. His conditional residency terminated in October 2015.

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 July 29, 2015 and our office prepared an I-751 application for our client with supporting documents.

On August 11, 2015, our office filed an I-751 application to the USCIS with multiple affidavits from his friends and family members, joint bank statements, joint tax records, utility bills, joint leasing documents, and photos of our client and his wife to demonstrate the bona fideness of their marriage.

Once the application was filed, the fingerprint notice was issued two weeks later. Everything went smoothly and eventually, on February 12, 2016, the USCIS approved our client’s I-751 application without any Request for Evidence (RFE).

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CASE: I-751

APPLICANT: Chinese

LOCATION: Cleveland, OH

Our client contacted our office in March of 2015 regarding her I-751 application.

She is from China and married a U.S. citizen in April 2012. Through her marriage, she obtained a 2-year conditional green card in June of 2013.  Her conditional residency terminated in June 2015.

To comply with immigration requirements, our client and her husband had to file an I-751 Joint Petition to Remove Conditions. She retained our office on April 1, 2015 and our office prepared an I-751 application for our client with other supplemental exhibits.

On April 13, 2015, our office filed an I-751 application to the USCIS with multiple affidavits from her friends and family members, joint bank statements, utility bills, joint leasing documents, and photos of our client and her husband to demonstrate the bona fideness of their marriage.

Once the application was filed, the fingerprint notice was issued two weeks later. However, the USCIS issued a Request for Evidence (RFE) to demonstrate the bona fideness of our client’s marriage with her husband. We filed an extensive Response to RFE to the USCIS with more bona fide marital documents on September 10, 2015.

Eventually, on October 29, 2015, the USCIS approved our client’s I-751 application.

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