CASE: J-2 Waiver of Two-Year Foreign Residency Requirement Post-Divorce
NATIONALITY: Chinese
LOCATION: Philadelphia, PA

Our client is a citizen of China who came to the U.S. on a J-2 Visa in 1996.  She came with her husband who held a J-1 Visa as a doctor.  Both were subject to the two-year foreign residency requirement.

Unfortunately, their marriage did not work out well and she got divorced from her ex-husband.  She lost her J-2 status in the United States and she was still subject to the two-year foreign residency requirement.  She could not change her status to other non-immigrant visas because of the requirement.

In August of this year, our client’s U.S. citizen son contacted our office.  He wanted us to help his mother obtain a waiver so that he can petition our client for a green card. Our firm was retained to do her J-2 waiver on August 12, 2011. On August 17, 2011 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 August 24, 2011, the DOS recommended to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) that our client be granted a waiver. The USCIS issued the I-612 waiver approval notice on September 16, 2011, less than a month from the date we filed the waiver.

Finally, after 15 years in the United States, our client can apply for her green card. Our client’s son can file an I-130 petition for our client and she can file an adjustment of status application (I-485) as well.

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

Our client came to the United States in March 2011 with a B-2 tourist visa from the Philippines. She married a U.S. Citizen in June 2011 and retained our office around the same time for her adjustment of status application.  Our firm prepared and filed the I-130 Petition and Adjustment of Status Application on July 18, 2011.  Everything went smoothly and the receipt notices, the fingerprint appointment, and the work permit all came on time. There was no Request for Evidence.  Prior to the interview, we thoroughly prepared our clients. On September 19, 2011, our client was interviewed at the Cleveland, Ohio USCIS. Attorney Sung Hee Yu accompanied them at the interview as well.  On the same day, her green card application was approved.

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CASE: Bond Redetermination Hearing
APPLICANT: Chinese
LOCATION: Florence, AZ

A family relative of a Chinese individual detained in Florence, Arizona contacted our office at the end of August.  This Chinese client tried to enter the United States without valid documents and was incarcerated by immigration officers. He was given a credible fear interview which he eventually passed.

Prior to retention, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement already set a very high bond amount. Our client wished to have that reduced so we filed a motion for bond redetermination with the Florence, Arizona Immigration Court.  Despite being in jail in Florence, we communicated with him and gathered as much information regarding his relief, equities, criminal record, family ties, and financial ability to post bond. We contacted our client’s several relatives and friends in Atlanta, Georgia. We also gathered supporting documents from those relatives, from proof of their status and residence, to bank statements and tax returns.

On September 1, 2011, we represented our client for his Florence Arizona Immigration Court bond hearing. At oral arguments, we explained that our client was eligible for asylum relief, passed his credible fear interview, was not a flight risk, had established his residence upon release, had established his financial ability to post bond, and that he had ample family ties in the United States who submitted proof of their residence and immigration status.  Our office contended that his lack of criminal record, designated address with contact information from his relative in the United States, ability to post bond, and eligibility for asylum relief clearly demonstrate that the bond should be reduced.  The Judge took our arguments and evidence into consideration and reduced the bond amount in half. Our client’s relative has thereafter posted bond and he is now out of detention to pursue his asylum claim.

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CASE: Asylum
CLIENT: Saudi Arabian
LOCATION: Dallas / Houston

Our client retained us on June 2011 to help him with his asylum case. He is from Saudi Arabia living in Dallas Texas. He is scared to go back home to Saudi Arabia, fearing that he will be persecuted on account of his social group.

We helped him prepare 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 him to provide supporting documents corroborating his claim, some of which were letters from Saudi Arabia and friends from other states who were part of his social group. Our firm also did some research on articles pertaining to his particular claim, and the type of persecution that members of his social group suffer in Saudi Arabia.

The asylum application was filed in August 5, 2011. On August 7, 2011, the CIS issued an interview notice for his asylum case, scheduled for August 29, 2011 in Houston, Texas. Prior to his interview, our office prepared him thoroughly for his case, going over practice interviews by phone to make sure he is able to address questions the asylum officer would ask. On August 29, 2011, we accompanied our client at his interview in Houston Texas. The interview went well and our client was able to answer all questions accordingly. There were no requests for evidence prior to nor after the interview. Everything went smoothly.

On September 8, 2011, the CIS in Houston approved our client’s asylum case. He is now an asylee and will be eligible to apply for permanent resident status in one year. He also would obtain his work permit in about two weeks.

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CASE: I-140 / National Interest Waiver
CLIENT: Korean
LOCATION: Cleveland, OH

Our client contacted us in March 2011 about the possibility of doing a National Interest Waiver. He is a researcher and scientist in the field of Macromolecular Science and Engineering, a professor in Korea, and is currently working as a visiting professor in an academic institution in Cleveland, Ohio.  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 one would not need an employer nor family member to petition for them for green card purposes. You’d be eligible for a self-petition and unless you are from China or India, in which 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 15-page brief for our client’s NIW filing. We asked our client to obtain 10 or more letters of recommendation.  Our office also included his publication records, patents, 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 67 exhibits (Exhibit A to OOO).

Our office filed his I-140(NIW) petition to the USCIS Texas Service Center on May 2, 2011.  On August 19, 2011, the USCIS approved his I-140 petition without any Requests for Evidence.

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

Our client came to the United States in November 2010 with a B-2 tourist visa from Brazil. She married a U.S. Citizen in March 2011 and retained our office around the same time for her adjustment of status application.  Our firm prepared and filed the I-130 Petition and Adjustment of Status Application on May 18, 2011.  Everything went smoothly and the receipt notices, fingerprint appointment, and work permits all came on time. There was no Request for Evidence.  Prior to the interview, we thoroughly prepared our clients. On August 4, 2011, our client was interviewed at the Cleveland, Ohio USCIS.  We accompanied them at the interview as well.  On May 10, 2011, her green card application was approved.

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CASE: B-2 Visa Extension / I-539
NATIONALITY: Korean
LOCATION: Cleveland, Ohio

Our client is a Korean national who came to the U.S. on a B-2 visitor visa. She wanted to visit her daughter who is studying in the United States. She consulted with our firm a few weeks before the expiration of her B-2 status. She wanted to extend her visit for six months to visit her sister and be with her daughter for a longer time.  We explained that the CIS has been more stringent on visitor status extensions.

Upon retention, we went into detail with her reasons for requesting extension. Her daughter was entering her senior year in high school, and our client wanted to be there as her daughter chooses a college and prepares for applications. We made sure all addresses, contact information, and dates on her statements were complete and accurate. We made sure all her plans were supported by corroborating evidence as exhibits to the application to avoid a possible Request for Evidence from the CIS.  Our office submitted letters from family members in the United States, an employment verification letter for her husband in South Korea, as well as financial documents from Korea. We filed the I-539 Extension Application on July 26, 2011 and her B-2 status extension was approved on August 11, 2011 with no Requests for Evidence.

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CASE: Marriage-Based Adjustment of Status
CLIENT: Albanian
LOCATION: Chicago / Washington DC
ISSUES: J-1 2-Year Foreign Residency Requirement

Our client came to the United States in February 2001 with a J-1 visa. He was only 16 years old at that time. He was on an exchange visitor program and lived with his host parents in New Hampshire. As he went to college, he was able to switch to an F-1 visa. He moved to Chicago and later on met her future wife while in college. They got married in December 2009.

He had spoken to several lawyers to pursue adjustment of status, but was turned back to due to the tough policy of Albania when it came to no objection statements. Upon consulting with us, we told him we can try obtaining the no objection statement, and in case that does not work, go for the interested government agency route. He retained our firm on January 2010.

We initially filed the waiver through the no objection statement. We were in contact with the Albanian Embassy in DC. The officer claimed that they’re policy in the Embassy was to not issue no objection statements, and that the only way was through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Albania. The officer stated that they have not issued no objection statements since 2006.

We thus tried the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Albania. After several months waiting for their decision, they too stated that they do not issue no objection statements.

And so we filed another waiver, requesting the Department of State to be an interested government agency. We explained in detail our client’s history, the fact that he came here when he was only 16, and that he was able to change status to F-1 in April 2002. We pointed out that the change of status was approved despite his submission of his I-94 and visa page copy which both indicated that he was subject to the 2-year foreign residency requirement. We explained that it would be unfair to have the couple be separated for something that was not his fault. If he did not waive his 2-year requirement and the change of status was still approved, he should not be penalized later on now that he is married to his spouse.

On February 2011, the Department of State issued a finding that the applicant was not subject to the two-year foreign residency requirement (despite the IAP-66 and Visa indicating he was) and that it was not necessary to process a waiver for his case anymore.

After filing the applications and accompanying our client to their interview in Chicago for the I-130 (Petition) and I-485 (Green Card Application), the CIS finally approved his green card on August 13, 2011. He had to wait a few more months because they moved to Washington D.C., but finally they got it.

10 years since our client entered the U.S. on a J-1 Visa with a 2-year foreign residency requirement as a 16-year old exchange student, after having to go through the tough policy by the Albanian Embassy regarding their non-issuance of no objection statements, our client finally has his green card. He had been waiting to go back home to visit his family. He had been telling us that his mom was sick and he wanted to visit her. But prior to the green card issuance, even if an advance parole travel document, we could not let him leave as he might be subject to a bar and not be able to come back. After 10 years of not being able to visit his family, he finally is able to come back.

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CASE: Marriage-Based Adjustment of Status
CLIENT: Korean
LOCATION: Columbus, OH

Our client came to the United States in August 2010 with an F-1 student visa from Korea. While on F-1 status, she married her U.S. citizen spouse in March, 2011.  (They have known each other for 4 years while they were in Korea).  They then retained our office in April 2011 for her green card.

Our firm prepared and filed the I-130 Petition and Adjustment of Status Application on April 28, 2011.  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-call.  On July 28, 2011, our client was interviewed at the Columbus Ohio CIS office. Attorney Sung Hee (Glen) Yu  accompanied them at the interview as well.  At the interview, the USCIS officer approved her application and our client obtained her green card.

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CASE: PERM and EB-2 I-140
PETITIONER: Professional Services Staffing Company
BENEFICIARY: Pakistani
LOCATION: Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Our Pakistani client contacted our office in December 2010. He called from Houston Texas. A potential employer headquartered in Sacramento California wanted to hire him as an Operations Research Analyst for their office in Baton Rouge Louisiana. Our had questions regarding may possible issues they may face, including the headquarters being in a different location and the fact that their 2010 tax return shows more than a negative $300,000 taxable income. Prior to the company retaining our office, we made sure the case was winnable and asked them to fax us some documentation to assess the feasibility of the I-140, especially the “ability to pay” issue. We reviewed the documents (still part of the free consultation) and told them it could be done. The company thus retained us to do an EB-2 Labor Certification (PERM) and I-140 for our client.

All the pre-PERM filing steps were executed quickly, from the prevailing wage request, job order, advertisements, and internal job posting. Specific rules pertaining to these steps in Louisiana were also reviewed thoroughly prior to execution. We then filed the Labor Certification on March 7, 2011 and on May 2, 2011, the application was certified and approved.

We then proceeded with the I-140. 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. Despite the negative taxable income, we provided all schedules of Petitioner’s tax return and argued that their net current assets are over and above the proffered wage. We provided the calculation on the cover letter, cited a CIS internal memo on the “ability to pay” issue, and attached the tax return schedule that showed the net current assets. The I-140 was filed on June 16, 2011 and on July 27, 2011, the I-140 was approved.

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