CASE: H-1B Extension

PETITIONER: Advertising Media Company

BENEFICIARY: Albanian Graphic Designer

LOCATION: California

Our client is a Graphic Designer from Albania who currently works at an Advertising Media Company in the greater Los Angeles area. She is on a valid H-1B visa. Her H-1B status was about to expire in September 2013.  Our client sought legal assistance from us for her H-1B 3-year extension and retained our office on March 14, 2013.

Upon retention, our office prepared her H-1B extension application.  The Labor Condition Application was filed and approved and eventually our office filed the H-1B extension application on May 17, 2013 to the USCIS California Service Center. We made sure there were sufficient arguments and documents to support the case that a “graphic designer” in this instance is a “specialty occupation.” There was no Request for Evidence with the filing and the Petitioner did not opt for premium processing. The case was approved on September 11, 2013. The H-1B is good from October 1, 2013 to September 30, 2016.

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CASE: I-129F Fiancée Petition and Fiancée Visa

PETITIONER: US Citizen in Washington, D.C.

BENEFICIARY: Spanish

PETITION FILED: December 28, 2012

PETITION APPROVED: August 16, 2013

Our client, a US Citizen Petitioner, met his Spanish fiancée in Washington D.C. in July 2011. They started their relationship, and he went to Spain in April 2012 after his fiancée went back. He proposed when he visited his fiancée in April 2012. Months 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 November 20, 2012. We helped him and his fiancée draft letters in support of the fiancé petition, and we filed the petition on December 28, 2012.

On August 16, 2013, the I-129F fiancée petition was approved.

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CASE: H-1B Visa Petition (Change of Employer)
PETITIONER:  Hotel-Chain Company
BENEFICIARY: Hotel General Manager

Our client is the fastest-growing extended hotel stay chain company in Ohio. They contacted our office in early April to seek legal assistance from our office for their foreign employee.  The beneficiary is from Pakistan and has extensive work history in the United States as a General Manager in one of the leading brand hotels for 15 years.

The issue was whether this position is a “specialty occupation”. We had to argue that the minimum requirement for this position is at least a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration / Hotel Management or equivalent.

The foreign beneficiary in this case already had his H-1B visa from his previous employer in a similar industry.  However, his H-1B visa was not expired yet, and he wanted to extend his H-1B status based on a change in employer.

After retention, our office filed the H-1B visa petition with various supporting documents on April 15, 2013 via regular processing.  Since this petition was based on a change in employer, this petition was exempted from the annual H-1B cap.

Eventually, without any request for evidence (RFE), our client’s H-1B Petition was approved on August 15, 2013.  Moreover, Beneficiary’s wife and minor son’s H-4 status was properly changed as well.

Now the Beneficiary can work for his Petitioner-Employer as an H-1B visa holder and he can work there until 2016.

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CASE: J-1 No Objection Statement Waiver
NATIONALITY: Indian
LOCATION: Austin, TX

Our Indian client came to the U.S. on a J-1 Visa in December 2006.  He came to the U.S. for business training, and his J-1 visa made him subject to the two-year foreign resident requirement.

After his J-1, he changed status to H-1B and maintained his status in the United States.

In April 2013, our client got engaged with his U.S. citizen fiancée and they planned to get married in October 2013. His fiancée eventually will file an I-130 petition for our client and our client will simultaneously file an I-485 adjustment of status application. But due to the two-year foreign residency requirement, he had to obtain a waiver first.

After he retained our firm, we prepared and filed a waiver request through a No Objection Statement (NOS) from the Indian Embassy in the United States.  Our office made sure we knew all the requirements needed for their office to issue a no objection statement.

On June 3, 2013 the J-1 Waiver (Form DS-3035) Application was filed to the Department of State.  We also sent a request to the Indian Embassy to issue a No Objection Statement and recommend this waiver based on the fact that our client would be eligible to file a marriage based adjustment of status application but for the waiver.

The Indian Embassy eventually issued a No Objection Statement for our client, and sent this letter to the State Department’s Waiver Review Division.  On August 6, 2013, the Waiver Review Division issued a favorable recommendation based on the No Objection statement. The CIS then issued a receipt and an I-612 approval notice on August 13, 2013.  Now that our client’s two-year foreign residency requirement is waived, he can file an adjustment of status application with his wife’s I-130 petition once they get married.

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CASE: I-129F Fiancé Petition and Fiancé Visa
PETITIONER: US Citizen in St. Louis, MO
BENEFICIARY: Filipino
PETITION FILED: November 8, 2012
PETITION APPROVED: June 3, 2013
VISA APPROVED: July 31, 2013

Our client, a US Citizen Petitioner, met her Filipino fiancé in the Philippines in 2008 and 2010. Her fiancé also visited our client in the United States in 2010 and 2012. When he visited our client in May 2012, he proposed to our client. Months after his proposal, our client retained retained our firm to file a fiancé petition for him.

After retention, we told our client about the necessary supporting documents to demonstrate the bona fide nature of their relationship. Our client retained our office on September 26, 2012. We helped her and her fiancé draft letters in support of the fiancé petition, and we filed the petition on November 8, 2012.

There were no requests for evidence, and eventually, on June 3, 2013, the I-129F fiancé petition was approved. On July 31, 2013, the beneficiary appeared at the U.S. Embassy in Manila, Philippines for her fiancé visa interview.  The interview went well, and her fiancé (K-1) visa was approved on the same day. She will come to the United States and will marry to her fiancé within 90 days of her entry to the United States.

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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: 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-129F Fiancé Petition and Fiancé Visa

PETITIONER: US Citizen in St. Louis, MO

BENEFICIARY: Filipino

PETITION FILED: November 8, 2012

PETITION APPROVED: June 3, 2013

Our client, a US Citizen Petitioner, met her Filipino fiancé in the Philippines in 2008 and 2010. Her fiancé also visited our client in the United States in 2010 and 2012. When he visited our client in May 2012, he proposed to our client. Months after his proposal, our client retained our firm to file a fiancé petition for him.

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 September 26, 2012. We helped her and her fiancé draft letters in support of the fiancé petition, and we filed the petition on November 8, 2012.

On June 3, 2013, the I-129F fiancé petition was approved.

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