CASE: Marriage-Based Adjustment of Status
CLIENT: Canadian
LOCATION: Garrettsville, Ohio

Our client came to the United States in December 2018 as a visitor from Canada.  She married her U.S. Citizen husband in March 2019 and retained our office in April 2019 for her adjustment of status application.  Our firm prepared and filed the I-130 Petition and I-485Adjustment of Status Application on May 6, 2019.  Everything went smoothly and the receipt notices, fingerprint appointment, and work permit all came on time.  Prior to the interview, we thoroughly prepared our clients at our office.  On October 3, 2019, our client was interviewed at the Cleveland, Ohio USCIS. Attorney Sung Hee (Glen) Yu, Esq. accompanied them at the interview as well.  Eventually, on October 8, 2019, her green card application was approved.

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CASE: Marriage-Based Adjustment of Status

NATIONALITY: Kenyan

LOCATION: Huntsville, AL

Our client is from Kenya who came to the U.S. on a F-1 student visa in May 2001. In January 2014, our client married her current U.S. citizen husband.  After the marriage, they tried to file our client’s green card application by themselves; however, their applications were rejected by the USCIS due to several mistakes that our client made. Nevertheless, our client’s U.S. citizen husband filed an I-130 petition for her in May 2017 and this petition was remained pending. 

Our client retained our office for her green card application on April 10, 2019, and our firm prepared and filed the I-485 Adjustment of Status Application on April 26, 2019.  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 via conference calls. On October 3, 2019, our client was interviewed at Montgomery Alabama USCIS office.  Eventually, on the same day of the interview, her green card application was approved.

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CASE: I-751

APPLICANT: Indian

LOCATION: New Philadelphia, OH

Our client contacted our office in March of 2018 regarding his I-751 application.

He is from India and he married a U.S. citizen in June 2015. Through his marriage, he obtained a 2-year conditional green card in August of 2016.  His conditional residency terminated in August 2018.

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 March 20, 2018, and our office prepared an I-751 application for our client with other supplemental exhibits.

On July 5, 2018, our office filed an I-751 application to the USCIS with multiple affidavits from his friends and family members, joint bank statements, joint taxes, utility bills, insurance policies, 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. There was no RFE issuance or interview request for our client’s I-751 application. As a result, on October 3, 2019, the USCIS approved our client’s I-751 application and our client received his 10-year green card which removed the conditions.

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CASE: Marriage-Based Adjustment of Status

NATIONALITY: Filipina

LOCATION: Midland, TX

Our client is from the Philippines who came to the U.S. on a B-2 visitor’s visa in January 2019. She came to the U.S. to visit her husband who was a Lawful Permanent Resident (greencard holder) at the time of her last entry. They were married in California in June 2018. Her husband became a naturalized U.S. citizen in March 2019.  

She retained our office for her green card application, and our firm prepared and filed the I-130 Petition and I-485 Adjustment of Status Application on May 3, 2019.  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 via conference calls. On October 2, 2019, our client was interviewed at El Paso Texas USCIS office.  Eventually, on the same day of the interview, her green card application was approved.

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CASE: Adjustment of Status Based on Approved K-1 Visa

CLIENT: Dominican

LOCATION: Youngstown, OH

Our client came to the United States in April 2017 as a K-1 visa entrant from the Dominican Republic.  Our client is the beneficiary of an approved I-129F petition. He came to the United States as a K-1 Fiancé of a U.S. Citizen whom he married within 90 days of his entry. By law, if you married your petitioner-fiancé within 90 days of your K-1 visa entry, you are eligible to apply for adjustment of status (green card) in the United States. He married in June of 2017. 

Our client contacted our office initially and consulted with us for his adjustment of status application. He retained our office on July 31, 2018. After the retention, our firm prepared and filed the I-485 Adjustment of Status Application on April 2, 2019.  Things went smoothly and the receipt notices, and the fingerprint appointment all came on time.  

Thereafter, the USCIS scheduled an interview for our client’s adjustment of status application.  Prior to the interview, we thoroughly prepared our clients in our office. On September 6, 2019, our clients were interviewed at the Cleveland, OH USCIS office. Attorney Sung Hee (Glen) Yu, Esq. also accompanied them. Eventually, on September 25, 2019, his green card application was approved.

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CASE: Adjustment of Status Based on Approved K-1 Visa

CLIENT: Indian

LOCATION: Plano, TX

Our client came to the United States in September 2018 as a K-1 visa entrant from India.  Our client is the beneficiary of an approved I-129F petition. She came to the United States as a K-1 Fiancée of a U.S. Citizen whom she married within 90 days of her entry. By law, if you married your petitioner-fiancé within 90 days of your K-1 visa entry, you are eligible to apply for adjustment of status (green card) in the United States. She married in October of 2018. 

Our client contacted our office initially and consulted with us for her adjustment of status application. She retained our office on October 29, 2018. After the retention, our firm quickly prepared and filed the I-485 Adjustment of Status Application on October 31, 2018.  Things went smoothly and the receipt notices, and the fingerprint appointment all came on time.  

Thereafter, the USCIS scheduled an interview for our client’s adjustment of status application.  Prior to the interview, we thoroughly prepared our clients via conference calls. On September 21, 2019, our clients were interviewed at the Dallas, Texas USCIS office. Eventually, on the same day of the interview, her green card application was approved.

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CASE: J-1 Waiver (No Objection Statement)

NATIONALITY: Philippines

LOCATION: Espanola, NM

Our client came from the Philippines on a J-1 visa in September 2015 to work as a teacher. According to her DS-2019, she was subject to the two-year foreign residency requirement. 

In June 2017, she got married to her U.S. citizen husband and later on consulted with our firm for her J-1 visa waiver prior to applying for adjustment of status. If someone is subject to the two-year foreign residency requirement, he or she cannot get a green card in the United States until he or she fulfills the requirement or obtains a waiver.

Upon retention, our office promptly prepared a waiver request through a No Objection Statement (NOS) from the Philippine Embassy in the United States and eventually the EVP in the Philippines.

On December 3, 2018, the J-1 Waiver Application (Form DS-3035) was filed to the Department of State.  We also sent a request to the New Mexico State Government to get authentication for the necessary documents.  Later, these authenticated documents and No Objection Application (for the Philippines Government) were sent to the Philippines Consulate General in Houston for further authentication.  On June 12, 2019, our office sent our client’s materials to the Waiver Review Committee in Manila, Philippines. Then, the Waiver Review Committee forwarded the materials and favorable recommendation to the Philippine Embassy in D.C. who eventually issued a No Objection Statement.

On September 24, 2019, the Waiver Review Division issued a favorable recommendation based on the No Objection statement.  Eventually, on September 26, 2019, the USCIS issued an I-612 approval notice for the waiver. Now, our client can file for her adjustment status application along with her U.S. Citizen husband’s I-130 petition for her.

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Case: I-130/I-485
Applicant/Beneficiary – Dutch
Location: Medina, OH

Our client entered the United States in January 2019 from the Netherlands under the visa program. As a Visa Waiver Entrant, she was only authorized to remain in the United States only for 90 days. In December 2018, our client and his U.S. citizen girlfriend married in the Netherlands. 

In March 2019, they contacted our office and consulted with us regarding the adjustment of status. After consultation, they retained our office on March 19, 2019.  One main issue in his green card application through marriage was the fact that he came to the United States under the visa waiver program.   As our office wrote in our previous success story with a similar issue,  under the visa waiver program, citizens of certain countries can enter the U.S. for 90 days without a visa with the condition that the visitor waives his or her right to contest removal (other than on the basis of asylum).  The “no-contest” provision of the Visa Waiver Program is fundamental; if someone could enter under the VWP and then contest removability, it would defeat the whole purpose of the Program which is to make it easy for certain nationals to come to the United States to visit and then leave without all the red-tape involved in visa issuance.

Since our client resided in Medina, OH, her application had a better chance compared to states under the 9th Circuit (see Momeni v. Chertoff).  However, it was quite foreseeable that the USCIS field office will exercise its discretion to deny his application because of his visa waiver entry.  

Nevertheless, our office filed the I-130 Petition and I-485 Adjustment of Status Application on April 10, 2019.  Our office requested the CIS to exercise favorable discretion in granting adjustment of status. 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 them at our office. On September 26, 2019, our client was interviewed at the Cleveland, Ohio USCIS Field Office.  Attorney Sung Hee (Glen) Yu also accompanied our clients. Despite the visa waiver issue, the USCIS officer approved his green card application on September 27, 2019.  Now, our client becomes a green card holder.

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CASE: Marriage-Based Adjustment of Status
CLIENT: Costa Rican
LOCATION: Cypress, Texas

Our client came to the United States in September 1991 when she was a minor on a B-1 visa from Costa Rica. Although her authorized stay in the U.S. expired in October 1991, she remained in the United States since then. In February 2018, she married her U.S. Citizen husband and retained our office on May 14, 2018 for her adjustment of status application. Our firm prepared and filed the I-130 Petition and I-485 Adjustment of Status Application on June 5, 2018. Everything went smoothly and the receipt notices, fingerprint appointment, and work permit all came on time. 

Prior to the interview, we thoroughly prepared our clients over the conference call. On July 29, 2019, our client was interviewed at the Houston, Texas USCIS. Attorney Sung Hee (Glen) Yu, Esq. accompanied them as well. Though the interview went well and the I-130 petition was approved on the same day of the interview, the USCIS issued Request for Evidence on July 29, 2019 and requested our client to submit the I-601 waiver. The USCIS argued that our client came to the United States without inspection. Nevertheless, our office immediately filed the response to RFE by demonstrating that she last entered the United States with a valid B-1 visa and submitted the I-94 record. We filed the RFE response without submitting the I-601 waiver on August 6, 2019.  Eventually, on September 24, 2019, her green card application was approved.

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CASE: H-1B Visa Extension Petition
PETITIONER:  Architecture Company in Cleveland, OH
BENEFICIARY: Architectural Designer from China

Our client is a leading company in Architecture, Urban Design, Interior Design and Planning in Cleveland, OH. They contacted our office in April 2019 to seek legal assistance from our office for their foreign employee’s H-1B extension.  The beneficiary obtained his Bachelor’s Degree in Architecture. The proffered position for the Beneficiary is an Architectural Designer which qualifies as a specialty occupation. We argued that this proffered position is clearly a “specialty occupation” because the minimum requirements for this position are a Bachelor’s Degree in Architecture or its equivalent. Moreover, our office helped this employer’s I-140 case in 2018 and it was approved by the USCIS. 

Once retained, our office promptly filed the H-1B visa petition with various supporting documents on May 13, 2019 via the regular processing service. Eventually, our client’s H-1B application was approved on September 17, 2019.  His H-1B is good until September 2, 2022.

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