CASE: PERM Labor Certification

 EMPLOYER: Hospital

 BENEFICIARY: Thai Hospitalist

 LOCATION: Tennessee

Our client is a hospitalist (physician) from Thailand, who is currently working at a hospital which was willing to petition him for a second-preference petition (I-140).  Our client has an M.D. degree and is a licensed physician in the state of Tennessee. 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 potential employer can petition him as a Hospitalist. Based on our client’s educational, professional and working background, our office determined that he is clearly eligible for 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 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 foreign degree evaluation report, our office filed the job order on September 6, 2013.  On January 9, 2014, we promptly filed PERM.  Eventually, on June 23, 2014, the PERM Labor Certification was approved – an EB2 position for the Thai Hospitalist beneficiary. Now our client can file the I-140 Petition and I-485 green card application simultaneously since his priority date is current.

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CASE: Marriage-Based Adjustment of Status

CLIENT: Ghanaian

LOCATION: Cleveland, OH

Our client came to the United States in September 2001 with an A-2 visa (The A-2 diplomatic visa is a nonimmigrant visa which allows foreign accredited officials, not in the diplomatic category, to enter into the U.S. to engage in official activities of their government) from Ghana. Since then, she has maintained her A-2 status, finished her school, and she is currently working as a nurse in the United States.

She married a U.S. Citizen in July 2013 and retained our office on October 25, 2013 for her adjustment of status application. They were not living together but based on our conversation, the marriage was bona fide. The US Citizen lived in Ohio, the beneficiary lived in Maryland.

Our firm prepared and filed the I-130 Petition and I-485 Adjustment of Status Application on November 8, 2013.  Everything went smoothly and the receipt notices, fingerprint appointment, and work permits all came on time. We also requested that the interview be held in Cleveland Ohio.

Prior to the interview, we thoroughly prepared our clients through conference calls. On June 9, 2014, our client was interviewed at the Cleveland, Ohio USCIS.  Attorney Sung Hee (Glen) Yu from our office also accompanied our client as well. On June 23, 2014, her green card application was approved.

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CASE: PERM Labor Certification

EMPLOYER: Radio Broadcasting Company

BENEFICIARY: Zambian Business Operating Manager

LOCATION: Texas

Our client is a business operating manager from Zambia, who used to work at a radio broadcasting company in Texas under his OPT program. While he was working there, the company was willing to do an immigration petition for him, second-preference. Our client has a Master’s degree in Business Administration and has worked for this company for a year under the OPT program. Currently, our client is in F-2 status.

After talking to our client, our firm concluded that his potential employer can petition him as a Business Operating Manager. Based on our client’s educational, professional and working background as an engineer and management analyst, our office determined that he is eligible for EB-2 classification.

Prior to filing the 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.

Within a week from our retention, the prevailing wage request was filed.  On January 9, 2014, we filed the PERM labor certification application.  Eventually, on June 23, 2014, the PERM labor certification was approved – an EB2 position for the Zambian Business Operating Manager. Now our client can file the I-140 Petition and the I-485 green card application since his priority date is current.

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CASE: I-751

APPLICANT: Surinamese

LOCATION: Cleveland, OH

Our client contacted our office in January of 2014 regarding her I-751 application.

She is from Suriname and she married a U.S. citizen in 2011. Through her marriage, she obtained a 2-year conditional green card in May of 2012.  Her conditional residency terminated in May 2014.

To comply with immigration requirements, our client and her husband had to file an I-751 Joint Petition to Remove Conditions on her permanent residency. She retained our office on January 20, 2014 and our office prepared and filed an I-751 application with bona fide marriage evidence.

On February 4, 2014, our office filed an I-751 application to the USCIS with multiple affidavits from her friends and family members, joint insurance policies, joint tax records, joint property ownership document, and photos of our client and her husband to demonstrate the bona fideness of their marriage.

There was no RFE or interview request for our client’s I-751 application. As a result, on June 19, 2014, the USCIS approved our client’s I-751 application and our client received her 10-year green card.

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CASE: Change of Status from H-1B to F-2

CLIENT: Korean

LOCATION: Akron, Ohio

Our client was a part-time instructor who has taught in the University in Akron under an H-1B status. His wife was studying at a local community college under an F-1 status. Before he contacted our office, he and his employer decided not to renew his contract. Our client, thus, would like to change his status from H-1B to F-2 once his H-1B is expired.

Our firm was retained on April 24, 2014, and on May 6, 2014, we filed our client’s I-539 with all supporting documents to the USCIS. We included our client’s bank statements, joint tax records, and other relevant financial documentations of our client and his wife to show that they have enough financial ability to finish our client’s wife’s degree program and support their daily life in the United States until her degree is completed.

After the change of status application was filed, there were no requests for evidence. On June 17, 2014, the Change of Status was approved. Our client is now on F-2 and can stay in the United States with his wife until the duration of his wife’s F-1 status.

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CASE: I-140 (EB-2 Category)

EMPLOYER: Taekwondo (Martial Arts) School

BENEFICIARY: Korean

LOCATION: Erie, PA

Our client is a prominent Taekwondo master who is working as a Taekwondo coach. He had a Taekwondo school willing to do a second-preference petition (I-140) for him.  Our client has a Bachelors and Masters degree in a related field and has coaching experience. Although he had maintained his status as an O-1 visa holder in the United States, his previous green card application (Based on the EB-11 category) was denied.

After talking to our client, our firm decided that his potential employer can petition him as a Taekwondo Head Coach.  Second preference petitions for Koreans are current, which means that if a PERM Labor Certification for a second preference position gets approved, the I-140 and I-485 could be filed simultaneously. Based on our client’s educational, professional and working background, our office determined that he is clearly eligible for EB-2 classification. Our client eventually retained us for his PERM labor certification in January 2013.

As we stated in a previous success story, his PERM Labor Certification was approved on May 13, 2014 despite the issuance of Audit request.  After the PERM approval, our client retained us again for the I-140 petition.

We then proceeded with the I-140 Petition filing. One of the main requirements for the I-140 is that the petitioning company must show that it has the ability to pay the proffered wage for the beneficiary’s position.

The adjusted gross income was not enough. The current wage of the beneficiary was not enough. The net current assets were also not enough.

Thus, we attached the tax return schedule that showed the net current assets of the Petitioner and combined it with his wage to argue that this combination establishes Petitioner’s ability to pay the prevailing wage. A combination of the net current assets and our client’s current salary was over and above the prevailing wage and the proffered wage.

We included the job offer letter, employment verification letters from our client’s previous employers, and other necessary supporting documents.  The I-140 Petition was filed on June 2, 2014 via premium processing.  Eventually, on June 17, 2014, the I-140 EB2 Petition for our Korean client was approved.

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CASE: I-751

APPLICANT: Italian

LOCATION: Cleveland, OH

Our client contacted our office in February of 2014 regarding her I-751 application.

She is from Italy and she married a U.S. citizen in 2011. Through her marriage, she obtained a 2-year conditional green card in May of 2012.  Her conditional residency terminated in May 2014.

To comply with immigration requirements, our client and her husband had to file an I-751 Joint Petition to Remove Conditions on her permanent residency. She retained our office on February 27, 2014 and our office prepared an I-751 application with bona fide marriage evidence.

On March 6, 2014, our office filed an I-751 application to the USCIS with multiple affidavits from her friends and family members, joint bank statements, joint tax records, utility bills, joint lease, and photos of our client and her husband to demonstrate the bona fideness of their marriage.

There was no RFE or interview request for our client’s I-751 application. As a result, on June 11, 2014, the USCIS approved our client’s I-751 application and our client received her 10-year green card.

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CASE: Marriage-Based Adjustment of Status

CLIENT: Filipina

LOCATION: Honolulu, HI

Our client came to the United States in 2008 with an H-4 visa from the Philippines. In December 2012, she changed her status from H-4 to F-1 to pursue her Bachelor’s degree in the United States.  She married a U.S. Citizen in December 2013 and retained our office on January 21, 2014 for her adjustment of status application.  Our firm prepared and filed the I-130 Petition and I-485 Adjustment of Status Application on February 11, 2014.  Everything went smoothly and the receipt notices, fingerprint appointment, and work permits all came on time.

The interview was scheduled. However, our client’s U.S. Citizen husband left the U.S. deployment in Afghanistan. Our office submitted an interview rescheduling request to the USCIS Honolulu Field Office, asking for an interview at a later time. However, the USCIS Honolulu Field Office contacted our office and told us that they still want the beneficiary to appear for the interview even without the Petitioner.

Prior to the interview, we thoroughly prepared our client via conference calls. We made sure bona fides are shown at the interview as well as documentation as to why her husband was abroad (U.S. Army Service)

On June 5, 2014, our client was interviewed at the Honolulu, HI USCIS.  On June 6, 2014, her green card application was approved.

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CASE: I-751

APPLICANT: Korean

LOCATION: Columbus, OH

Our client contacted our office in January of 2014 regarding her I-751 application.

She is from South Korea and she married a U.S. citizen in 2011. Through her marriage, she obtained a 2-year conditional green card in April of 2012.  Her conditional residency terminated in April 2014.

To comply with immigration requirements, our client and her husband had to file an I-751 Joint Petition to Remove Conditions on her permanent residency. She retained our office on January 30, 2014 and our office prepared an I-751 application with bona fide marriage evidence.

On March 7, 2014, our office filed an I-751 application to the USCIS with multiple affidavits from her friends and family members, joint bank statements, joint tax records, utility bills, joint lease, and photos of our client and her husband to demonstrate the bona fideness of their marriage.

There was no RFE or interview request for our client’s I-751 application. As a result, on June 10, 2014, the USCIS approved our client’s I-751 application and our client received her 10-year green card.

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CASE: Adjustment of Status based on I-130 petition for minor step-son of US Citizen

CLIENT: US Citizen Petitioner; Mongolian Beneficiary

LOCATION: Cleveland, OH

Our clients are a U.S. citizen husband and his Mongolian wife in Cleveland, OH.  Our client has a son from her previous marriage. Her son came to the United States with B-2 visitor’s visa from Mongolia in September 2013 and has lived with them in Cleveland, Ohio.

Her U.S. citizen husband decided to petition for his step-son for an I-130 petition and the step-son wanted to file an adjustment of status application.

They contacted our office in January 2014 and retained our office to help them for the I-130 and I-485 for their step-son. Our firm prepared and filed the I-130 Petition and Adjustment of Status Application on February 13, 2014.  Everything went smoothly and the receipt notices, fingerprint appointment, and work permits all came on time.

Eventually, on June 5, 2014, the USCIS approved both the I-130 petition and I-485 adjustment of status application without an interview. Now, our client’s minor step-son is a green card holder.

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