CASE: Marriage-Based Adjustment of Status

CLIENT: Burkina Faso

LOCATION: Cleveland, OH

Our client came to the United States from Burkina Faso on an F-1 student’s visa in August 2012. He married a U.S. Citizen in September 2014 and retained our office on January 22, 2015 for his green card application.  Our firm prepared and filed the I-130 Petition and I-485 Adjustment of Status Application on March 19, 2015.  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 June 26, 2015, our client was interviewed at Cleveland, Ohio USCIS office. Attorney Sung Hee (Glen) Yu from our office accompanied our clients as well. Eventually, on the same day, his green card application was approved.

{ 0 comments }

CASE: J-1 Waiver of Two-Year Foreign Residency Requirement, IGA

NATIONALITY: Ukrainian

LOCATION: Indiana

Our client is from Ukraine who came to the U.S. on a J-1 Visa in June 2003 to pursue his research program.  He has been extending his J-1 status since then.  In 2014, our client departed to Ukraine and his prospective-employer (university) contacted him to work as a Consultant. His prospective employer plans to file an H-1B petition for our client as his research project was of interest to a federal governmental agency (Department of Defense). However, he cannot get his H-1B visa unless he gets a waiver of the 2-year foreign residency requirement. Moreover, the Ukrainian Embassy does not intend to issue a No Objection statement for our client’s possible J-1 visa waiver.

The Department of State rules have stated that the J-1 visa holder (who is subject to a 2 year foreign residency require) need not work directly for the requested interested government agency, but if the exchange visitor is working on a project that is of interest to a government agency and that agency has determined that the visitor’s departure for two years to fulfill the foreign residence requirement will be detrimental to the agency’s interest, that agency may request an interested government agency waiver.

Once retained, our office prepared a waiver request through the IGA route. On November 19, 2014, the J-1 Waiver (Form DS-3035) Application was filed to the Department of State.  We also included letters from his prospective employer to the federal governmental agency and asked them to be an interested government agency based on the research project that our client was involved in.

Eventually, on May 8, 2015, the Waiver Review Division issued a favorable recommendation based on the IGA letter. On June 5, 2015, the USCIS issued an I-612 approval notice for the waiver of our client’s two-year foreign residency requirement. Now, our client can get an H-1B visa to work on his research in the United States.

{ 0 comments }

CASE: Registered Nurse 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. She came to the United States and currently studies in the United States on her F-1 status. Her current employer was willing to petition him for a third-preference employment immigrant visa petition (I-140).

Since she is a registered nurse, she 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 her that her employer can petition her as a Registered Nurse under the schedule A category. Our office was retained on July 24, 2014 and started on her Prevailing Wage Request.

We filed the I-140 application on November 7, 2014 via regular processing. We included the job offer letter, the notice of filing, and other necessary supporting documents.  Eventually, on June 24, 2015, the I-140 was approved without any RFE.  Our client can file an I-485 adjustment of status application once her priority date becomes current provided she maintains status throughout. 

{ 0 comments }

CASE:   I-601A Provisional Unlawful Presence Hardship Waiver of Inadmissibility

APPLICANT / BENEFICIARY: Guatemalan

LOCATION: Cleveland, Ohio

Our client came to the United States from Guatemala in January 2000 without inspection and admission. He married his U.S. citizen wife in 2006. They have two U.S. citizen children together.  His U.S. Citizen wife filed an I-130 petition for him on March 4, 2009. This I-130 petition was approved on June 5, 2009.

Our client cannot file for adjustment of status application due to his ground of inadmissibility. He needs a waiver of inadmissibility to become a green card holder. Moreover, our client was placed in removal proceedings, but with our office’s assistance, his removal proceedings were administratively closed in December 2013 to file a provisional waiver application.

Under current law, immediate relatives of U.S. citizens who are not eligible to adjust status in the United States must travel abroad and obtain an immigrant visa. Individuals who have accrued more than 180 days of unlawful presence while in the United States must obtain a waiver of inadmissibility to overcome the unlawful presence bars under section 212(a)(9)(B) of the Immigration and Nationality Act before they can return to the United States.

In 2013, the USCIS announced of new policy called the provisional unlawful presence waiver. Beginning March 4, 2013, certain immigrant visa applicants who are spouses, children and parents of U.S. citizens (immediate relatives) can apply for provisional unlawful presence waivers before they leave the United States. The provisional unlawful presence waiver process allows individuals, who only need a waiver of inadmissibility for unlawful presence, to apply for a waiver in the United States.

The new process is expected to shorten the time U.S. citizens are separated from their immediate relatives while those family members are obtaining immigrant visas to become lawful permanent residents of the United States.

INA § 212(i) provides for a discretionary waiver of the entry without inspection inadmissibility ground. To qualify for the waiver, the alien must establish that his or her US Citizen spouse would suffer extreme hardship if the alien were denied admission. INA § 212(i)(1). In addition to the equities presented, the USCIS may consider the nature of the inadmissibility ground.

There is a seminal BIA case that deals with this waiver.  In Matter of Cervantes, 22 I & N Dec. 560 (BIA 1999), the BIA identified the factors to be considered in determining whether a qualifying relative would suffer extreme hardship if the alien were denied admission.  Those factors include: the presence of LPR or USC family ties both within and outside the United States; the conditions in the country to which the qualifying relative would relocate and the extent of the qualifying relative’s ties to that country; the financial impact of departure from the United States; and significant conditions of health, particularly when tied to the unavailability of suitable medical care in the country to which the qualifying relative would relocate.

Our client’s I-601A application had a good chance since our client’s U.S. Citizen wife and son suffer from a great degree of medical hardship. In the I-601A brief and supporting documents, our office included extensive medical reports of his wife and his son.  We argued that if he was removed from the United States, extreme hardship to his wife is clearly foreseeable and evident.  His wife has ongoing medical hardships and she would not be able to take care of her own needs and the bulk of their family chores, most importantly taking care of their children. Also, it would be extremely difficult for her to get the same level of therapy and satisfactory access to medical services in Guatemala in case she joins our client there.

In our brief, we also argued that our client and his wife have maintained strong family ties in the United States, that his wife will have difficulty in finding the same level of employment in Guatemala, that our client has good employment in the United States, and that his U.S. citizen child and his wife will face extreme financial and emotional difficulties if he is removed.

On March 11, 2015, we filed the I-601A waiver application which included the brief in support, his wife and son’s extensive medical examination records, and other documents that demonstrated hardship to his wife if he is removed from the United States.

However, on May 13, 2015, the USCIS issued a Request for Evidence (RFE) for our client’s case. USCIS explicitly requested our client to submit more evidence to prove extreme hardship to his U.S. citizen wife if he is forced to relocate in Guatemala. In response to this RFE, our office prepared a response brief along with more medical evidence of our client’s U.S. citizen wife. Our office filed the response to RFE on June 12, 2015.

Eventually, his I-601A waiver was approved on June 22, 2015. Now, he can file packet 3 and 4 here in the United States, and would go to Guatemala shortly to get his immigrant visa.

{ 0 comments }

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

CLIENT: Nepalese Nuclear Scientist

LOCATION: Cleveland, OH

Our client contacted us in April 2014 regarding the possibility of doing a National Interest Waiver self-petition for him. He is a post-doctorate researcher and scientist in the field of Physics and Nuclear research, and is currently working as a post-doctorate researcher in an academic institution in Kent, OH.

His significant contributions have placed him at the pinnacle of the field of physics and nuclear science. He is a leading scientist with an excellent reputation in his field of endeavor and his research work involved a very complex, simultaneous, and constrained analysis of partial-wave amplitudes for multiple channels produced in pion-nucleon scattering. His work has confirmed the state of low-lying states involving S- and P- wave amplitudes and has also predicted some new states. Overall, his research has yielded important information about excited states of nucleons thereby producing a clearer picture of the baryon spectrum.

Upon review of his credentials and qualifications, our office determined that he has a good chance of meeting 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 14-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 19 exhibits.

Our office filed his I-140(NIW) petition to the USCIS Nebraska Service Center on June 4, 2014.  However, on October 6, 2014, the USCIS issued a Request for Evidence for his I-140 petition. In response to the RFE request, our office prepared a brief which included notes from scientists in the field regarding updates of his work and the importance of his past work in nuclear and physics research. We also emphasized our client’s past accomplishments and the benefits of his work. Our Response to RFE was filed on December 5, 2014.  Eventually, on December 24, 2014, the USCIS Nebraska Service Center approved our client’s I-140 petition.

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 January 14, 2015. Everything went smoothly and the receipt notices and fingerprint appointment came on time.

Eventually, on June 26, 2015, the USCIS Nebraska Service Center approved our client’s adjustment of status application. Now, he finally is a green card holder.

{ 0 comments }

CASE:   I-601A Hardship Waiver of Inadmissibility

APPLICANT / BENEFICIARY: Guatemalan

LOCATION: Ohio

Our client came to the United States from Guatemala in February 2005 without inspection and admission. He married his U.S. citizen wife in 2012. His U.S. Citizen wife filed an I-130 petition for him on January 24, 2013. This I-130 petition was approved on March 4, 2013.

Our client cannot file for adjustment of status application due to his ground of inadmissibility. He needs a waiver of inadmissibility to become a green card holder.

Under current law, immediate relatives of U.S. citizens who are not eligible to adjust status in the United States must travel abroad and obtain an immigrant visa. Individuals who have accrued more than 180 days of unlawful presence while in the United States must obtain a waiver of inadmissibility to overcome the unlawful presence bars under section 212(a)(9)(B) of the Immigration and Nationality Act before they can return to the United States

In 2013, the USCIS announced of new policy called the provisional unlawful presence waiver. Beginning March 4, 2013, certain immigrant visa applicants who are spouses, children and parents of U.S. citizens (immediate relatives) can apply for provisional unlawful presence waivers before they leave the United States. The provisional unlawful presence waiver process allows individuals, who only need a waiver of inadmissibility for unlawful presence, to apply for a waiver in the United States.

The new process is expected to shorten the time U.S. citizens are separated from their immediate relatives while those family members are obtaining immigrant visas to become lawful permanent residents of the United States.

INA § 212(i) provides for a discretionary waiver of the entry without inspection inadmissibility ground. To qualify for the waiver, the alien must establish that his or her US Citizen spouse would suffer extreme hardship if the alien were denied admission. INA § 212(i)(1). In addition to the equities presented, the USCIS may consider the nature of the inadmissibility ground.

There is a seminal BIA case that deals with this waiver.  In Matter of Cervantes, 22 I & N Dec. 560 (BIA 1999), the BIA identified the factors to be considered in determining whether a qualifying relative would suffer extreme hardship if the alien were denied admission.  Those factors include: the presence of LPR or USC family ties both within and outside the United States; the conditions in the country to which the qualifying relative would relocate and the extent of the qualifying relative’s ties to that country; the financial impact of departure from the United States; and significant conditions of health, particularly when tied to the unavailability of suitable medical care in the country to which the qualifying relative would relocate.

Our client’s I-601A application had a good chance since our client’s U.S. Citizen wife suffers from a great degree of medical hardship. In the I-601A brief and supporting documents, our office included extensive medical reports of his wife.  We argued that if he was removed from the United States, extreme hardship to his wife is clearly foreseeable and evident.  His wife has ongoing medical hardships and she would not be able to take care of her own needs and the bulk of their family chores, most importantly taking care of their children (our client’s step-children). Also, it would be extremely difficult for her to get the same level of therapy and satisfactory access to medical services in Guatemala in case she joins our client there.

In our brief, we also argued that our client and his wife have maintained strong family ties in the United States, that his wife will have difficulty in finding the same level of employment in Guatemala, that our client has good employment in the United States, and that his U.S. citizen child and his wife will face extreme financial and emotional difficulties if he is removed.

On January 13, 2015, we filed the I-601A waiver application which included the brief in support, his wife’s extensive medical examination records, and other documents that demonstrated hardship to his wife if he is removed from the United States.

However, on March 9, 2015, the USCIS issued a Request for Evidence (RFE) for our client’s case. USCIS explicitly requested our client to submit more evidence to prove extreme hardship to his U.S. citizen wife if he is forced to relocate in Guatemala. In response to this RFE, our office prepared a response brief along with more medical evidence of our client’s U.S. citizen wife. Our office filed the response to RFE on April 7, 2015.

Eventually, his I-601A waiver was approved on June 9, 2015. Now, he can file packet 3 and 4 here in the United States, and would go to Guatemala shortly to get his immigrant visa.

{ 0 comments }

CASE: Marriage-Based Adjustment of Status

CLIENT: Filipino

LOCATION: Cleveland, OH

Our Filipino client came to the United States on a B-2 visitor’s visa in June 2011. He married a U.S. Citizen in January 2015 and retained our office on February 5, 2015 for his green card application.  Our firm prepared and filed the I-130 Petition and I-485 Adjustment of Status Application on March 11, 2015.  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 May 21, 2015, our client was interviewed at Cleveland, Ohio USCIS office. Attorney Sung Hee (Glen) Yu from our office accompanied our clients as well. Eventually, on June 4, his green card application was approved.CASE: Marriage-Based Adjustment of Status

CLIENT: Filipino

LOCATION: Cleveland, OH

Our Filipino client came to the United States on a B-2 visitor’s visa in June 2011. He married a U.S. Citizen in January 2015 and retained our office on February 5, 2015 for his green card application.  Our firm prepared and filed the I-130 Petition and I-485 Adjustment of Status Application on March 11, 2015.  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 May 21, 2015, our client was interviewed at Cleveland, Ohio USCIS office. Attorney Sung Hee (Glen) Yu from our office accompanied our clients as well. Eventually, on June 4, his green card application was approved.

{ 0 comments }

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

NATIONALITY:Kenyan                                                                                                        

LOCATION: Atlanta, GA

Our client is from Kenya who came to the U.S. on a J-1 Visa in August 1998 to pursue his master’s degree.  After he finished his J-1 program, he remained in the United States.

In October 2013, our client married his current U.S. citizen wife. However, he initially can’t adjust status unless he got a waiver for the 2-year foreign residency program.  When he came to the United States in 1998, his program was clearly subject to the 2-year foreign residency program.

Thereafter, our office prepared a waiver request through the No Objection Statement (NOS) from the Kenyan Embassy in the United States. Every country’s Embassy maintains different procedures and policies with regards to the J-1 No Objection Statement waiver.  Our office contacted the Kenyan Embassy in D.C. to pursue the waiver application for our client.  The Embassy requested several documents including a statement of reason for the waiver, the clearance letter from the J-1 program sponsor, Clearance certificate from HELB and KSCE in Kenya, and a letter of reason for obtaining J-1 waiver. 

On March 13, 2015, the J-1 Waiver (Form DS-3035) Application was filed to the Department of State.  We also sent a request to the Kenyan Embassy to issue a No Objection Statement and recommend this waiver based on the fact that our client is eligible to adjust based on his marriage to U.S. citizen spouse.

Eventually, the Kenyan Embassy issued a No Objection Statement for our client, and sent this letter to the State Department’s Waiver Review Division.  On May 13, 2015, the Waiver Review Division issued a favorable recommendation based on the No Objection statement. On June 4, 2015, the USCIS issued an I-612 approval notice for the waiver of our client’s two-year foreign residency requirement. Now, our client can file an I-485 adjustment of status application along with his wife’s I-130 petition. 

{ 0 comments }

CASE: I-751

APPLICANT: Korean

LOCATION: Cleveland, OH

Our client contacted our office in late September of 2014 regarding his I-751 application.

He is from South Korea and married a U.S. citizen in December 2011. Through his marriage, he obtained a 2-year conditional green card in November of 2012. Our office helped him with his green card application.  His conditional residency terminated in November 2014.

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 October 1, 2014 and our office prepared an I-751 application for our client with other supplemental exhibits.

On October 2, 2014, our office filed an I-751 application to the USCIS with multiple affidavits from his friends and family members, joint bank statements, 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. However, the USCIS issued a Request for Evidence (RFE) to demonstrate the bona fideness of our client’s marriage with his wife. We filed an extensive Response to RFE to the USCIS with more bona fide marital documents on April 29, 2015.

Nonetheless, the USCIS scheduled an interview for our client and his wife. On June 4, 2015, our client and his wife were requested to appear for an interview at the USCIS Cleveland Field Office.  Prior to the interview, our office prepared them thoroughly in our office and also accompanied them at the interview as well. The interview went well, and as a result, on the same day of the interview, the USCIS approved our client’s I-751 application.

{ 0 comments }

CASE: N-400 (Citizenship / Naturalization)

APPLICANT: Indian

LOCATION: Cleveland, OH

Our client contacted us in February 2015 to seek legal representation for his naturalization and citizenship N-400 application. He came to the United States from India and obtained his green card in February 2012 through marriage to his U.S. Citizen ex-wife. He retained our office on February 12, 2015.

The N-400 application was filed on February 19, 2015 with all supporting documents. Prior to his citizenship interview, our office prepared him for his naturalization interview at our office. On May 7, 2015, 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 June 4, 2015. His oath taking is scheduled in which he will become a naturalized U.S. Citizen.

{ 0 comments }