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

EMPLOYER: Health Clinic

BENEFICIARY: Filipino

LOCATION: New York, NY

Our client is a certified nurse practitioner. His current employer-sponsor (on OPT) was willing to petition him for a second-preference employment immigrant visa petition (I-140). Since he is a certified nurse practitioner, he 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 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 Nurse Practitioner is included in Schedule A.

Our client has both a Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in nursing. Our office was retained on January 9, 2014 and we started the Prevailing Wage Determination filing and other related matters.

Once the prevailing wage was determined, we filed the I-140 application on April 11, 2014 via premium processing. We included the job offer letter, the notice of filing, his pay stubs, 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 April 24, 2014, the USCIS Texas Service Center issued a Request for Evidence (RFE) and requested petitioner-employer to explain recent ownership changes and further explanation on the entity arrangement. Our office prepared the response to RFE and filed it along with supplemental evidence on May 8, 2014 to the USCIS. On May 15, 2014, 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 Philippines nationals is current), he can file his adjustment of status application at any time (he could have filed it simultaneously, but beneficiary wanted to make sure the I-140 was approved first).

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CASE: PERM Labor Certification

EMPLOYER: Taekwondo (Martial Arts) School

BENEFICIARY: Korean

LOCATION: Erie, PA

Our client is a former Taekwondo athlete, who is working as a Taekwondo coach who had a Taekwondo school willing to petition him for a second-preference petition (I-140).  Our client has a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in a related field and has coaching experience.

Ever since he came to the United States, he has maintained his status as an O-1 visa holder. However, he had previously applied for a green card application (Based on the EB-11 category) which was denied by the USCIS.

After talking to our client, our firm concluded 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 eligible for EB-2 classification for his I-140 petition.  Our client eventually retained us in June 2012.

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 October 5, 2012.  On January 14, 2013, we filed PERM.

However, on June 10, 2013, 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 June 26, 2013.

Eventually, on May 13, 2014, the PERM Labor Certification was approved – an EB2 position for the Korean beneficiary. Now our client can file the I-140, I-485 green card application, and I-765 simultaneously.

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CASE: I-129F Fiancée Petition and Fiancée Visa

PETITIONER: US Citizen in Columbus, OH

BENEFICIARY: Ghanaian

PETITION FILED: April 7, 2014

PETITION APPROVED: May 5, 2014

Our client, a US Citizen Petitioner, met his Ghanaian fiancée in March 2013. They started their relationship, and he went to Ghana in November 2014 to see her. He proposed to his fiancée in February 2014. Shortly after his proposal, he retained our firm to file a fiancée petition for her.

After retention, we informed our client about the necessary supporting documents to demonstrate the bona fide nature of their relationship. Our client retained our office on March 20, 2014. We helped him and his fiancée draft letters in support of the fiancé petition, and we filed the petition on April 7, 2014.

On May 5, 2014, the I-129F fiancée petition was approved.

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CASE: I-751 / Response to RFE

APPLICANT: Vietnamese

LOCATION: Youngstown, OH

Our client contacted our office in the middle of January this year regarding a Response to RFE for her I-751 application. She is from Vietnam and got her 2-year conditional green card through her marriage to her U.S. citizen husband.  She obtained a 2-year conditional green card in November of 2011, and her conditional residency terminated in November 2013.

To comply with immigration requirements, our client and her husband filed an I-751 Joint Petition to Remove Conditions before November 2013. However, she did not have an attorney back then, and did not submit sufficient evidence to prove the bona fideness of her marriage to her U.S. citizen husband. As a result of that, on January 2, 2014, the USCIS issued a Request for Evidence (RFE) for our client’s I-751 filing.

She consulted with our office after receiving the RFE. After discussing the case with them, she retained our office on January 22, 2014.

We reviewed the CIS’ RFE letter and prepared our response.  On March 20, 2014, our office filed the Response to RFE to the USCIS with multiple affidavits from her friends and family members, joint bank statements, utility bills, credit card statements, joint tax records, joint vehicle title, insurance policies, and photos of our client and her husband to demonstrate the bona fideness of their marriage.

After this submission, our client wasn’t even interviewed. Instead, on May 2, 2014, the USCIS approved our client’s I-751 application and our client received her 10-year green card.

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CASE: H-1B Visa Petition
PETITIONER:  Consulting Company
BENEFICIARY: Bulgarian Management Analyst

Our client is a consulting company located in Cleveland, Ohio.  They contacted our office in February of this year to seek legal assistance from our office for their foreign employee.  The beneficiary obtained her Bachelor’s degree in Finance in Bulgaria and her MBA degree in the United States. The proffered position for the Beneficiary is a management analyst which qualifies as a specialty occupation.  This proffered position is clearly a “specialty occupation” because the minimum requirements for this position are a Bachelor’s Degree in Business / Finance or its equivalent.

Once retained, our office filed the H-1B visa petition with various supporting documents on March 31, 2014 via premium processing service. This H-1B petition was selected after the lottery and was processed. Our client’s H-1B application was approved on May 7, 2014.

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CASE: Marriage-Based Adjustment of Status

CLIENT: Italian

LOCATION: Long Island, NY

Our client came to the United States in 2010 with a J-1 exchange visitor visa from Italy as a post-doctorate researcher in the United States. His J-1 program did not subject him to the INA Section 212(e), two-year foreign residency requirement. Since then, he has maintained his status as a J-1 and H-1B holder.

He married a U.S. Citizen in December 2013 and retained our office on December 17, 2013 for his adjustment of status application.

Our firm prepared and filed the I-130 Petition and Adjustment of Status Application on December 27, 2013.  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 May 5, 2014, our client was interviewed at the Holtsville, NY USCIS office.  The interview went well, and on the same day, his green card application was approved.

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CASE: Asylum

CLIENT: Chinese

LOCATION: Cleveland, OH

Our client, a Chinese asylum seeker in Cleveland, OH, retained us on January 11, 2013 to help him with his asylum case. He came to the United States in September 2012 with a B-2 visitor’s visa from China. He came here with his wife and son who also came here on a B-2 visitor’s visa.  He wanted to seek asylum relief with the US Citizenship and Immigration Service.

While he was in China, he was persecuted and mistreated by the government based on his Christian faith and practice. He and his wife were also persecuted due to violation of the one child family planning policy as well. Our client was severely beaten and mistreated by the Chinese police in numerous occasions. He is scared to go back home to China, fearing that he will be persecuted again.

We helped him prepare for his asylum application, going over several drafts until his claim was as detailed as possible. Names, addresses, dates, and all possible issues relevant to his asylum claim were addressed. We also asked her to provide supporting documents corroborating his claims. Our firm also did some research on articles pertaining to his particular claim, and the type of persecution that Chinese Christians would suffer.

The asylum application was filed in March 5, 2013 which was within one year of his entry to the United States.  Thereafter, the CIS issued an interview notice for his asylum case, scheduled for December 18, 2013 at the Cleveland, OH USCIS Office. Prior to his interview, our office prepared him thoroughly for his case at our office to make sure he was able to address questions the asylum officer would ask. Attorney Sung Hee (Glen) Yu from our office also accompanied our client at his interview.

On April 30, 2014, the USCIS approved our client’s asylum case. He is now an asylee and will be eligible to apply for permanent resident status in one year.  His wife and son also became derivative asylees. He also would obtain his work permit in about two weeks.

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CASE: J-2 Waiver of Two-Year Foreign Residency Requirement Post-Divorce

NATIONALITY: Chinese

LOCATION: South Dakota

Our client is a Chinese national and a naturalized Canadian Citizen who came to the U.S. on a J-2 Visa in 1994. She came with her husband who held a J-1 Visa as a visiting scholar. Both were subject to the two-year foreign residency requirement.

Unfortunately, their marriage did not work out and she eventually got divorced from her ex-husband. She lost her J-2 status and she was still subject to the two-year foreign residency requirement. After that, she moved to Canada, pursued her education, and became a naturalized Canadian Citizen.

She came back to the United States and eventually got an I-140 EB2 approval from her employer. However, even with the approved I-140 petition, until she gets a waiver of the 2-year foreign residency requirement, she cannot file for adjustment of status.

She contacted our office, and our firm was retained to do her J-2 waiver on March 28, 2014.

Our client did not have any of her ex-husband’s IAP-66s, but we submitted several documents pertaining to information that may be helpful to the DOS. They requested more documents, and we provided them what the applicant had and an brief that included the program number, program sponsor, dates, program name, etc.

On April 7, 2014 the J-2 Waiver was filed to the Department of State. We also sent a request to the DOS to be an interested government agency and recommend this waiver based on the fact that our client was divorced from the J-1 visa holder.

On April 30, 2014, the DOS sent a recommendation to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) for our client to be granted a waiver. On May 5, 2014, the USCIS issued the I-612 waiver approval.

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CASE: H-1B Change of Employer

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 from 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 her previous employer which was in a similar industry.  She also has an approved I-140 petition which allows her to get a three year extension. Her H-1B status was not yet expired, and she wanted to extend her H-1B status on a change of employer basis.

After retention, our office filed the H-1B visa petition with various supporting documents on January 20, 2014 via premium processing.  Since this petition was based on a change of employer, this petition was exempt from the annual cap of the H-1B.  Thus, we could file prior to April 1, 2014.

However, the USCIS issued a Request for Evidence for this petition on January 30, 2014. The USCIS requested the beneficiary to submit her teaching license, employment verification with her most recent employer, and W-2 and pay stubs from her most recent employer. Our office helped the beneficiary and filed a Response to RFE to USCIS on April 25, 2014. Eventually, our client’s H-1B Petition was approved on April 28, 2014.  Now the Beneficiary can work for her Petitioner-Employer as an H-1B visa holder and she can work there for the next three years.

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

CLIENT: Korean

 LOCATION: Stanford, California

Our client contacted us in December 2012 about the possibility of doing a National Interest Waiver self-petition. He is a post-doctorate researcher and scientist in the field of Aerospace Engineering and Science, and is currently working as a post-doctorate researcher in an academic institution in Stanford, California.

Our client is an extraordinary researcher and engineer in the field of Aerospace Engineering Research; specifically, new aerospace propulsion technology such as SCRAM-JET, supersonic flow control, and plasma physics. His significant contributions have placed him at the pinnacle of the field of Aerospace engineering. Our client’s expertise is in the fields of plasma aided flow control, supersonic/hypersonic compressible flow and plasma assisted combustion. Throughout his research career, our client has provided innovative solutions for practical plasma flow control applications in supersonic and subsonic flows which were 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 19-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, 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 41 exhibits.

Our office filed his I-140(NIW) petition to the USCIS Nebraska Service Center on July 18, 2013.  Eventually, on October 24, 2013, 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 February 10, 2014. Everything went smoothly and the receipt notices and fingerprint appointment came on time.

Eventually, on April 28, 2014, the USCIS Nebraska Service Center approved our client’s adjustment of status application. Now, he finally is a green card holder.

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