CASE: Marriage-Based Adjustment of Status
CLIENT: Russian
LOCATION: Cleveland, OH

Our client came to the United States from Russia on a valid J-1 visa to participate in an exchange program in June 2008.  Since then, she has remained in the United States even after her authorized stay expired.

She married a U.S. Citizen in April 2013 and retained our office on April 9, 2013 for her adjustment of status application.  Our firm prepared and filed the I-130 Petition and I-485 Adjustment of Status Application on April 22, 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 July 8, 2013, our client was interviewed at the Cleveland, OH USCIS.

Attorney JP Sarmiento from our office accompanied them as well. On the same day, her green card application was approved.

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CASE: I-360 and adjustment of status
CLIENT: Filipina
LOCATION: Connecticut

Our client’s father is a G-4 visa holder from the Philippines who is working for an international organization in the United States.  He has a daughter who came to the United States with him and sought legal assistance from our firm for his daughter’s permanent residency in the United States, based on the special immigrant provisions of the INA.

INA 101(a)(27)(I)(i) defines such an alien as “an immigrant who is the unmarried son or daughter of an officer or employee, or of a former officer or employee, of an international organization described in paragraph (15)(G)(i), and who:

(I)                While maintaining the status of a G4 nonimmigrant, has resided and been physically present in the United States for periods totaling at least one-half of the seven years before the date of application and for a period or periods aggregating at least seven years between the ages of five and 21 years

(II)             Applies for adjustment of status no later than his or her twenty-fifth birthday…

Based on this provision, we advised our client that his daughter is eligible for adjustment of status. She has been physically present in the U.S. for a period totaling at least one-half of the seven years before this date, aggregating at least seven years between the age of 5 and 21.

Our client’s father retained our office on February 1, 2013.  Our firm prepared and filed the I-360 Petition and Adjustment of Status Application on February 17, 2013.  We included the letter from her father’s international organization for verification purposes and her high school transcripts as well. Once the applications were filed, everything went smoothly and the receipt notices, fingerprint appointment, and work permits all came on time.

Eventually, on June 26, 2013, the USCIS approved both the I-360 and I-485 applications for our client’s daughter.  She now is a green card holder.

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CASE: I-130 and Consular Processing (Immigrant Visa)
CLIENT: US Citizen Petitioner Daughter; Chinese Beneficiary Parents in China
LOCATION: Petitioner: Ohio; Beneficiary: China
I-130 FILED: June 8, 2012
I-130 APPROVED: February 8, 2013
IV APPROVED: June 3, 2013

Our client retained us to bring her parents over from China. She was born and raised in China, but was naturalized in the United States.

On June 8, 2012, our firm filed the I-130 Petitions to the CIS. There were no Requests for Evidence throughout the pendency of the petition. On February 8, 2013, the I-130 Petitions were approved. We then started the immigrant visa processing phase of trying to get her parents over to the United States.

On April 9, 2013, we filed the immigrant visa packets to the National Visa Center who in turn forwarded our client’s materials to the U.S. Consulate in Guangzhou, China. An interview notice was set for our client’s parents at the U.S. Consulate in Guangzhou, and we prepared them for their interview. On June 3, 2013, the U.S. Consulate in Guangzhou, China approved and issued their immigrant visa.

With the approved immigrant visa, our client’s parents can come to the United States immediately, and they will get their green cards within two weeks of entry.

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CASE: Marriage-Based Adjustment of Status
CLIENT: Trinidad and Tobago
LOCATION: Brooklyn, NY

Our client came to the United States in August 2010 with an H-1B work visa from Trinidad and Tobago.  She married a U.S. Citizen in December 2012 and retained our office on January 23, 2013 for her adjustment of status application.  Our firm prepared and filed the I-130 Petition and Adjustment of Status Application on March 11, 2013.  Everything went smoothly and the receipt notices, fingerprint appointment, and work permit all came on time. Prior to the interview, attorney JP Sarmiento prepared the client at a time convenient for them – 8pm.

On June 26, 2013, our client was interviewed at the New York, New York CIS office.  On the same day, her green card application was approved.

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

CLIENT: Indian

LOCATION: Erie, PA

Our client has been on H-1B status for many years and has worked for Multi-national companies in the United States.

Last year, she decided to pursue her graduate studies program (MBA) in the United States and got admission.

She contacted our office in early March of this year to change of her status from H-1B to F-1.

On March 11, 2013 our firm was retained and we helped our client obtain supporting documents for the Change of Status. On March 19, 2013, we filed the I-539 Change of Status for our client with supporting documents including her I-20, SEVIS fee receipt, and her recent pay stubs from her employer.

On June 19, 2013 the Change of Status was approved. Our client is now on F-1 and can start her MBA program soon.

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CASE: Motion to Reopen
CLIENT: Cameroonian
LOCATION: Client: Houston, TX / EOIR: Cleveland, OH

Our client came to the United States from Cameroon in 2000.  He entered legally on an F-1 visa.

In 2002, he filed for asylum with the USCIS.  He was interviewed at the CIS office, but his asylum application was referred to the Immigration Court in New Orleans.  After his first master calendar hearing, he requested for a change of venue to Hartford, CT.

In 2004, our client married his U.S. citizen wife and she filed an I-130 on behalf of our client. Our client filed the I-485 adjustment of status application simultaneously with the I-130 petition even though he was in removal proceedings. He had no legal representation at that time.

However, with the help of the Immigration Judge and DHS counsel, he served copies of the I-130 and I-485 application and informed the court that he filed the adjustment of status application. When he served the copies of his I-130/I-485 application, the DHS attorney told our client that she will try to re-route the I-485 application he filed to the CIS to the court. Our client assumed that given that he had been in clear communication with the Court and the DHS attorney,  that everything will be fine with his case and both files will be merged.

Later in August 2004, our client moved to Cleveland, Ohio due to his new employment and his case venue was changed from Hartford, CT to Cleveland, OH as well.  He attended his master calendar hearings in Cleveland, and in December 2005, our client and his wife attended their green card interview at the USCIS Cleveland Field office.  After the interview, our client eventually got his conditional green card in the mail and he was under the assumption that if he was given a green card, then he must have done everything right and that the removal case had been dropped.

While he resided in the Cleveland area, he moved to different addresses and he had always promptly notified both Immigration Court and the USCIS by filing change of address forms.  In April 2006, he went to his another master calendar hearing which he got in his new address.  However, our client was told to go home and that he will get a letter in the mail with a re-scheduled master hearing date.  He never received anything else from Court since then.

As mentioned above, our client got his green card and he filed an I-751 application two years later to remove conditions on the green card. He also got this. He had foreign trips and one of his entries, the issue of his final order came up but he eventually was let go and his green card was even given back to him.

Later, he filed an N-400 naturalization application and during his N-400 interview the final order of removal in absentia which was issued in November 2006 was brought up again. He was stunned and contacted a local immigration attorney in Houston, Texas where he currently resides. However, his attorney never filed the Motion to the court.

Our client contacted our office in late April 2013 and sought legal assistance. We advised him that we can file a Motion to Reopen in absentia order of removal.

To rescind the final order, he has to get his case reopened. This is done through a Motion to Reopen filed with the Immigration Judge who gave the final order.  Based on this Motion to Reopen, the Immigration Judge can rescind the in absentia order of removal if you are able to show that you did not receive proper notice of the hearing. If the Notice to Appear or hearing notice was sent to the wrong address for example, and not the last address you provided to the immigration service, then there’s a good basis for a Motion to Reopen.

On May 9, 2013, our office filed a Motion to Reopen with the Cleveland Immigration Court. Documentation of his address at the date of the final order, a detailed affidavit regarding his addresses and his circumstances around the final order date, copies of his green card and immigration related documentation, documentation of the last address he provided to the immigration service and to the Immigration Court prior to the final order date, and other supporting documents were submitted (14 exhibits).

On June 19, 2013, the Cleveland Immigration Court granted our motion and reopened our client’s case.  Our client now does not have the final order of removal and may seek to terminate removal proceedings.

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CASE: H-1B Visa Petition
PETITIONER: Healthcare staffing firm
BENEFICIARY: Pharmacist
ISSUES: Cap-Exempt, Research Organization, Off-Site Employment

Our client is one of the leading healthcare staffing firms in Northeast Ohio, serving the general staffing needs of regional hospitals and clinics. They contacted our office in early April to seek legal assistance from our office for their foreign employee.

The beneficiary is a licensed pharmacist who obtained his Doctor of Pharmacy degree in the United States. The proffered position for the Beneficiary is a Pharmacist. We showed that this is a “specialty occupation” because the minimum requirement for this position is a Doctor of Pharmacy Degree with a registered Pharmacist license.

When our client contacted us, the numerical cap for H-1B visas for fiscal year 2014 was about to be reached. We could not process this case under the regular cap time frame given the short amount of time we had to prepare for the application. Our client was very disappointed and thought they would have to wait until April 1, 2014. Also, since the Petitioner is a staffing firm, their foreign employee will be placed at different hospitals (off-site employment issue). At that point our client thought it was impossible to file.

We told our client that we can argue that they are qualified for some of the exemption provisions of the H-1B cap. We explained that we can argue the nonprofit exemption, as well as cite some CIS memorandums regarding their eligibility despite off-site employment.

We showed that the main reason for cap-exemption is that the foreign employee will be placed at two hospitals which are non-profit research organizations as defined in 8 C.F.R. 214.2(h)(19)(iii)(C).

Our office argued that this H-1B petition is exempted from the H-1B numerical limitations (cap-exempt) because the Petitioner will employ the beneficiary to perform job duties at non-profit research organizations (two hospitals) as defined in 8 C.F.R. 214(h)(19)(iii)(C) that directly and predominately furthers the normal, primary, or essential purpose, mission, objectives, or function of the qualifying institution (nonprofit research).

We also argued that these two hospitals are clearly qualified as non-profit research organizations as defined in 8 C.F.R. 214(h)(19)(iii)(C). These two organizations are primarily engaged in basic research and/or applied research. Moreover, the beneficiary’s job duties, which will be performed on-site at qualifying non-profit research organizations, will be similar to those performed by actual employees (Pharmacists) of the two hospitals in the furtherance of the qualifying entities’ mission.

Furthermore, we explained that the Petitioner will comply with the statutory and regulatory requirements of the H-1B non-immigrant classification for the placement of the beneficiary at the two hospitals during the period of employment.  We mentioned that the beneficiary will be paid higher than the prevailing wage for the pharmacist position by the Petitioner, and Petitioner-Employer will maintain an employer-employee relationship with the beneficiary. The Petitioner has the right to control the work of the beneficiary on a day-to-day basis as well. We explained that the Petitioner has a sole right to hire, pay, and has the ability to fire the beneficiary as well.

Once retained, our office filed the H-1B visa petition with various supporting documents on April 19, 2013 via premium processing.

However, the USCIS California Service Center issued a Request for Evidence (RFE) on May 2, 2013 and requested Petitioner to demonstrate that the prospective places of employment for Beneficiary are truly non-profit organizations under the interpretation of the immigration laws for cap-exempt organizations. After we received the RFE request, our office prepared the response and argued that the prospective places of employment for Beneficiary are non-profit medical research organization and Beneficiary’s work will be similar to Pharmacists of those hospitals.  We submitted the name, address, and contact information of supervisors of each Pharmacy where Beneficiary will be placed.  We filed this Response to the RFE on June 14, 2013.

After our Response to RFE was received by the USCIS, our client’s H-1B application was approved on June 21, 2013.  She can now work for her employer for three years on an H-1B starting June 21, 2013.

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CASE: H-1B Visa Petition
PETITIONER:  Accounting Firm in Baltimore, Maryland
BENEFICIARY: Tax Accountant from Ghana

Our client is an accounting firm in Baltimore, MD.  They contacted our office in early-February to seek legal assistance from our office for their foreign employee.  The beneficiary obtained his Bachelor’s Degree in management science and accounting in 2012 in the United States.

The proffered position for the Beneficiary is tax accountant which qualifies as a specialty occupation.  We argued that this position is a “specialty occupation” because the minimum requirement for this position is a Bachelor’s Degree in accounting or its equivalent.

Once retained, our office promptly filed the H-1B visa petition with various supporting documents on April 1, 2013 via regular processing. Eventually, our client’s H-1B application was approved on June 12, 2013.  On October 1, 2013, he can work for his employer for the next three years on his H-1B status.

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CASE: H-1B Visa Petition
PETITIONER:  Accounting Firm in Baltimore, Maryland
BENEFICIARY: Staff Auditor from Trinidad and Tobago

Our client is an accounting firm in Baltimore, MD.  They contacted our office in early-February to seek legal assistance from our office for their foreign employee.  The beneficiary obtained his Bachelor’s Degree in accounting and completed his MBA program in the United States. The proffered position for the Beneficiary is staff auditor which qualifies as a specialty occupation.  We argued that this position a “specialty occupation” because the minimum requirement for this position is a Bachelor’s Degree in accounting or its equivalent.

Once retained, our office promptly filed the H-1B visa petition with various supporting documents on April 1, 2013 via regular processing.

Eventually, our client’s H-1B application was approved on June 14, 2013.

On October 1, 2013, he can work for his employer for the next three years on H-1B status.

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CASE: I-751 / Waiver of the Joint Waiver Requirement
APPLICANT: Indian
LOCATION: Kentucky

Our client contacted our office in early May of 2012 regarding his potential I-751 filing. He is from India and he married a U.S. citizen in May 2009 in India.

Through his marriage, he was able to come to the United States with an immigrant visa and obtained a 2-year conditional green card in June of 2010. Thus, his conditional residency terminated in June 2012.

Unfortunately, their marriage ended in February 2011. Our client experienced a lot of difficulties during his marriage with his ex-wife. Thus, our client could not file the I-751 application jointly with his ex-wife.

We advised that we can help him file the 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 June 20, 2012, our office filed the I-751 application with various supporting documents (over 18 exhibits and an affidavit over 3 pages) to demonstrate our client’s bona fide marriage with his ex-wife.  Since he did not have a lot of supporting documents regarding joint financial documents and joint living arrangements of him and his ex-wife, we also attached numerous notarized affidavits from our client’s friends and family members.

In May of this year, the USCIS scheduled an I-751 interview for our client. Prior to the interview, our office thoroughly prepared our client over conference calls and discussed with him potential issues at the interview.

On June 6, 2013, our client was interviewed for his I-751 application at the USCIS Louisville, KY Field Office.  Attorney Glen Sung Hee Yu from our office also accompanied our client as well.  The interview went well, and eventually, the USCIS approved his I-751 application on June 12, 2013. Now, he has his ten-year green card.

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