CASE: Marriage-Based Adjustment of Status

CLIENT: Filipina

LOCATION: Chinle, AZ

Our client came to the United States in August 2016 on a H-1B visa from the Philippines to work as a high school teacher. Later, she married a U.S. Citizen in August 2018 and retained our office for her petition and adjustment of status application. She also asked us to file her minor son’s (Petitioner’s step-son) adjustment of status application.

Once retained, our firm prepared and filed the I-130 petition and I-485 adjustment of status application on December 5, 2018. Everything went smoothly and the receipt notices, fingerprint appointment, and work permits all came on time. There were no requests for evidence.

Prior to the interview, we thoroughly prepared our clients via conference calls. On September 18, 2019, our clients were interviewed at the Phoenix Arizona USCIS office. On the same day of their interview, our client and her son’s green card applications were approved.

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CASE: J-2 Waiver of Two-Year Foreign Residency Requirement / Over 21-year-old dependent child

NATIONALITY: Chinese

LOCATION: Overland Park, KS

Our client was a citizen of China who came to the U.S. on a J-2 Visa in June 1996.  She came with her father who came on a J-1 Visa for his research program in the United States. Both were subject to the two-year foreign residency requirement, meaning they had to go back to their home country for two-years before they can apply for permanent residency or some non-immigrant visa such as the H, L, and O visas.

She turned 21 in December 2016. She would like to get a waiver because she has a U.S. citizen spouse who can file I-130 petition for her. She can file adjustment of status application along with her husband’s I-130 petition. However, because of her two-year foreign residency requirement, our client cannot adjust her status in the United States without the fulfillment of requirement or the waiver. 

Although J-2 dependents cannot independently apply for a waiver, in cases where a J-2 child reaches 21, the Waiver Review Division may consider requests for waivers on behalf of the J-2 dependent.  The Department of State’s policy allows for that process in instances where the J-2 dependent obtains a divorce form the J-1 principal, the J-1 principal dies, or in cases where the J-2 dependent turns 21, which is our client’s case. In fact, our client turned 21 in December 2016.

Our firm was retained to do her J-2 waiver, and on August 13, 2019, the J-2 Waiver application (Form DS-3035 and supporting documents) 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 reached the age of 21 and was not a dependent of a J-1 visa holder anymore.  Eventually, on September 10, 2019, the DOS recommended to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) that our client be granted a waiver. On September 20, 2019, the USCIS issued an I-612 approval notice for our client’s waiver request.

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CASE: Marriage-Based Adjustment of Status
CLIENT: Turkish
LOCATION: Parma, OH

Our client came to the United States on her F-1 student visa from Turkey.  She married a U.S. Citizen in December 2015 and retained our office on April 22, 2019 for her adjustment of status application.  Our firm prepared and filed the I-130 Petition and I-485 Adjustment of Status Application on May 30, 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. On September 19, 2019, our client was interviewed at the Cleveland, Ohio USCIS.  Attorney JP Sarmiento, Esq. accompanied them at the interview as well.  Eventually, on September 20, 2019, her green card application was approved.

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CASE: Marriage-Based Adjustment of Status

NATIONALITY: Korean

LOCATION: Chicago, IL

Our client is from South Korea who came to the U.S. on a F-1 student visa as an MBA student. In September 2018, our client married her current U.S. citizen husband.  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 March 15, 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 September 19, 2019, our client was interviewed at the Chicago Illinois USCIS office.  Eventually, on the same day of the interview, her green card application was approved.

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CASE: N-400 (Citizenship / Naturalization)

APPLICANT: Filipina

LOCATION: Columbia Station, OH

Our client contacted us in June 2019 to seek legal representation for her naturalization and citizenship N-400 application. She came to the United States from the Philippines and obtained her green card in August 2016 through her marriage to her current U.S. citizen husband. 

After retention, her N-400 application was filed on June 17, 2019 with all supporting documents. Prior to her citizenship interview, our office prepared her at our office.  On September 10, 2019, our client appeared at the Cleveland, OH USCIS office for her naturalization interview. Our client answered all questions correctly and passed her naturalization and citizenship interview. Eventually, her application was approved on September 19, 2019. Her oath taking is scheduled in which she will become a naturalized U.S. Citizen.

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CASE: J-1 Waiver of the Two-Year Foreign Residency Requirement, Extreme Hardship

 NATIONALITY: Venezuelan

 LOCATION: Lakewood, OH

Our client came from Venezuela and came to the U.S. as a J-1 researcher. Her J-1 status made her subject to the two-year foreign resident requirement. Our client would like to file her adjustment of status application along with her U.S. Citizen husband’s I-130 petition; however, due to the two-year foreign residency requirement, she had to obtain a waiver first.

Unlike our other J-1 clients, our client could not pursue his waiver under No Objection Statement or Interest Government Agency (IGA). Our client also received government funding for her studying programs which made her case pretty much impossible for the No Objection Statement or IGA waiver route. Our client, though, would like to pursue her J-1 waiver based on exceptional hardship standard. In fact, our client’s U.S. citizen husband is experiencing exceptional medical hardships. 

According to 8 C.F.R. Section 212.7(c)(5), “an alien who is subject to the foreign residence requirement and who believes that compliance therewith would impose exceptional hardship upon her spouse or child who is a citizen of the United States… may apply for a waiver on Form I-612.” 

Some of the factors in analyzing extreme hardship are as follows: age of the subject, family ties in the U.S. and abroad, length and residency in the U.S., health / medical conditions, conditions in the country of removal – economic and political, financial status – business and occupation, position in / ties to the community. Matter of Anderson, 16 I&N Dec. 596 (BIA 1978). 

After she retained our firm, we prepared and filed a waiver request through an exceptional hardship basis. On March 15, 2018, the J-1 Waiver (Form DS-3035) Application was filed to the Department of State.  Thereafter, our office prepared affidavit of our client, extensive brief in support for our client’s J-1 waiver application, and other supporting documents. Our client provided us with extensive medical documents and doctor’s reports for her U.S. citizen husband’s medical conditions.  On March 20, 2018, our office filed I-612 application to the USCIS and asked for them to issue and recommends this waiver based on the fact that our client’s husband would experience exceptional hardship if our client needs to go back to Venezuela for two years. 

Eventually, the USCIS approved his I-612 waiver on August 19, 2019. Now that our client’s two-year foreign residency requirement is waived, she can file her adjustment of status application along with her husband’s I-130 petition in the United States. 

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CASE: I-751

APPLICANT: Chinese

LOCATION: Findlay, OH

Our client contacted our office in December of 2017 regarding her I-751 application.

She is from China and she married a U.S. citizen in October 2014. Through her marriage, she obtained a 2-year conditional green card in January of 2016.  Her conditional residency terminated in January 2018.

To comply with immigration requirements, our client and her husband had to file an I-751 Joint Petition to Remove Conditions. She retained our office, and our office prepared an I-751 application for our client with other supplemental exhibits.

On January 3, 2018, our office filed an I-751 application to the USCIS with multiple affidavits from her friends and family members, joint bank statements, joint taxes, utility bills, insurance policies, and photos of our client and her husband to demonstrate the bona fideness of their marriage.

Once the application was filed, the fingerprint notice was issued two weeks later. However, the USCIS issued the Request for Evidence (RFE) to demonstrate the bona fideness of our client’s marriage with her husband. We filed an extensive Response to RFE to the USCIS with more bona fide marital documents on August 12, 2019.  

As a result, on September 9, 2019, the USCIS approved our client’s I-751 application and our client received her 10-year green card which removed the conditions.

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CASE: I-140 / National Interest Waiver

CLIENT: Korean

LOCATION: Port Jefferson, NY

Our client contacted us in November 2018 about the possibility of doing a National Interest Waiver self-petition. He is a Ph.D. student from South Korea and has a Master’s Degree in Chemistry. Though he is a Ph.D. student, he is already considered as an exceptional researcher and scientist in the field of synthetic organic chemistry and pharmaceutical research. 

Our client’s significant contributions have placed him at the pinnacle of his field. He has made important contributions to the work on syntheses of chalcone-based small molecules and its biological data.  His research work is very important to the field of Parkinson’s disease therapy. Moreover, our client synthesized more than 100 small molecules targeting Receptor Interacting Protein Kinase (RIPK) enzyme for the treatment of dry Age-related Macular Degeneration (dry AMD).  Because of his innovative experimental research, our client’s research works 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 definitely 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. While we prepared his case, the AAO set the new standards for NIW cases in Matter of Dhanasar, 26 I&N Dec. 884 (AAO 2016). Under the new standard, the petitioner must demonstrate that the foreign national’s proposed endeavor has both substantial merit and national importance. Next, it must be shown that he or she is well positioned to advance the proposed endeavor. Finally, the petitioner seeking the waiver needs to demonstrate that, on balance, it would be beneficial to the United States to waive the job offer and labor certification requirements. Id. 

Our office prepared a 22-page brief for our client’s NIW filing. Our client also obtained 7 letters of recommendation from his colleagues and internationally-recognized researchers. Our office also included his publication records, presentation records, and conference materials in the NIW application. We demonstrated that our client is one of the few elite researchers who have made significant and substantial contributions to his field of endeavor, that he is well positioned to advance the proposed endeavor, and it would be beneficial to the United States to waive the requirements of a job offer and thus of a labor certification for our client. 

Our office filed his I-140(NIW) petition to the USCIS Nebraska Service Center on March 20, 2019. Eventually, on September 6, 2019, the USCIS approved his I-140 petition without any Requests for Evidence.  Now, he can file his adjustment of status application.

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CASE: EB-3 I-140

EMPLOYER: Public School District

BENEFICIARY: Filipina High School Math Teacher

LOCATION: Holyoke, CO

Our client has a current employer that was willing to petition her for a third-preference petition (I-140).  Our client has a Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics, a valid Colorado Teaching license, and has worked for her current employer since November 2014. Based on our client’s education and work background, our office determined that she clearly eligible for EB-3 classification for her I-140 petition.  Our client eventually retained us in April 2018.

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 PW determination, our office filed the job order on August 14, 2018. On December 13, 2018, we promptly filed PERM. 

However, on April 19, 2019, 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 April 24, 2019.  

Eventually, on July 15, 2019, the PERM Labor Certification was approved – an EB3 position for the Filipina beneficiary. 

We then proceeded with the I-140 Petition filing. We submitted the “ability to pay” letter for the I-140 petition application. We included the job offer letter, employee’s most recent W-2 record, and other necessary supporting documents.

The I-140 Petition was filed on July 30, 2019 via regular processing service. Eventually, on September 12, 2019, the I-140 EB3 Petition for our Filipina client was approved.

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CASE: Marriage-Based Adjustment of Status
CLIENT: Ukrainian
LOCATION: Sandusky, OH

Our client came to the United States in May 2015 on a J-1 exchange visitor visa from Ukraine.  She married a U.S. Citizen in February 2019 and retained our office on February 12, 2019 for her adjustment of status application.  Our firm prepared and filed the I-130 Petition and I-485 Adjustment of Status Application on April 11, 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. On September 9, 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 September 11, 2019, her green card application was approved.

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