CASE: I-485 based on Approved I-140 (EB-1B)

 APPLICANT: Indian

 LOCATION: Hudson, OH

Our client is an assistant professor from India who is currently teaching at a state university. She has an approved EB-1B I-140 petition with a priority date of May 2015.  Our client has a Ph.D. degree and has worked for this school since August 2014. She has maintained her status as an H-1B visa holder in the United States.  

In September 2018, she contacted our office and retained us for her and her husband’s I-485 adjustment of status applications. Our office filed an I-485 adjustment of status application for our client and her husband on October 3, 2018. Everything went smoothly and the receipt notices and fingerprint appointment came on time.

Prior to the interview, we thoroughly prepared our client via conference call as well. On September 17, 2019, our client was interviewed at the Cleveland Ohio USCIS office. Attorney Sung Hee (Glen) Yu from our office accompanied our client as well. Though their interview went well, the visa numbers were not available for their cases in September of 2019. Nevertheless, on May 15, 2020, their I-485 applications were approved by the USCIS.

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CASE: I-130 and Consular Processing (Immigrant Visa) – Marriage-Petition

Our client is a U.S. citizen who married his wife in India in October 2018.  After the marriage, he came back to the United States and retained our office for the I-130 and immigrant visa filing for his wife. He retained our office on February 4, 2019. Our office prepared and filed the I-130 petition for his wife on February 11, 2019. The I-130 petition was approved by the USCIS on May 6, 2019. 

Once the I-130 petition was approved, we filed the immigrant visa packets to the National Visa Center on June 27, 2019, who in turn forwarded our client’s materials to the U.S. Embassy in Mumbai, India. An interview notice was set for the client at the U.S. Embassy in Mumbai, and we prepared her for the interview. On December 4, 2019, the interview was conducted.  Eventually, on April 30, 2020, the U.S. Embassy in Mumbai, India approved and issued her immigrant visa.

With the approved Immigrant Visa, our client’s wife can come to the United States immediately, and she will get her green card within two months of entry.

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

 NATIONALITY:  Indian

 LOCATION: New York City, NY

Our client came from India to the U.S. as a J-1 post-doctoral scholar in 2016. His J-1 program made him subject to the two-year foreign resident requirement. Our client would like to file his adjustment of application along with his I-140 EB-1A application; however, due to the two-year foreign residency requirement, he 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 his research programs which made his case tougher for the No Objection Statement or IGA waiver route. Our client, though, would like to pursue his J-1 waiver based on exceptional hardship standard. In fact, our client’s U.S. citizen son 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 he retained our firm, we prepared and filed a waiver request through an exceptional hardship basis. On June 10, 2019, 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 his U.S. citizen daughter’s medical conditions.  On June 11, 2019, 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 daughter would experience exceptional hardship if our client needs to go back to India for two years. 

Eventually, the USCIS approved his I-612 waiver on April 29, 2020 without any Request for Evidence.

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CASE: I-751

APPLICANT: Indian

LOCATION: Winston Salem, NC

Our client contacted our office in February 2019 regarding his I-751 application.

He is from India and he married a U.S. citizen in December 2016. Through his marriage, he obtained a 2-year conditional green card in May of 2017.  His conditional residency terminated in May 2019.

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 February 19, 2019, and our office prepared an I-751 application for our client with other supplemental exhibits.

On March 12, 2019, 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. However, the USCIS issued the Request for Evidence (RFE) to demonstrate the bona fideness of our client’s marriage with his wife. We filed an extensive Response to RFE to the USCIS with more bona fide marital documents on March 2, 2020.  

As a result, on March 20, 2020, 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: H-1B Extension

PETITIONER: Waste Management Company

BENEFICIARY: Indian Chief Financial Officer

LOCATION: Hudson, MA

Our client is a wastewater treatment and management company in Hudson, MA. They contacted our office in early December 2019 to seek legal assistance from our office for their foreign employee. The beneficiary is from India and obtained her Master’s degree in Business Administration. The proffered position for the Beneficiary is a Chief Financial Officer which qualifies as a specialty occupation. This proffered position is clearly a “specialty occupation” because the minimum requirements for this position are a Master’s Degree in Business Administration or its equivalent.  

The foreign beneficiary in this case already had her H-1B visa from our client (her current employer).  She wanted to extend her H-1B status. 

Once retained, our office promptly filed the H-1B visa petition with various supporting documents on January 17, 2020. Since this petition was based on the extension, this petition was exempted from the annual cap of the H-1B.  Thus, we could file prior to the April 1. On January 30, 2020, our office sent premium processing upgrade request to the USCIS for this H-1B petition.

However, the USCIS issued Request for Evidence for our client’s H-1B case on February 14, 2020. The USCIS argued that proffered CFO position is not a “specialty occupation.” Our office filed an extensive RFE response to the USCIS on February 27, 2020.  Eventually, our client’s H-1B Petition was approved on March 12, 2020. Now the Beneficiary can work for her Petitioner-Employer as an H-1B visa holder and she can work there for next three years.

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CASE: Marriage-Based Adjustment of Status

CLIENT: Indian

LOCATION: Canal Fulton, OH

Our client came to the United States from India. Currently, he is working as a physician under an H-1B visa.  Though he married a U.S. Citizen in June 2013, he could not file his adjustment of status application due to his 2-year foreign residency requirement. He could only get his J-1 waiver in 2019.

He retained our office on August 26, 2019 for his green card application.  Our firm prepared and filed the I-130 Petition and I-485 Adjustment of Status Application on October 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 as well. On February 4, 2020, our client was interviewed at Cleveland, Ohio USCIS office. Attorney Sung Hee (Glen) Yu, Esq. from our office accompanied our clients as well. Eventually, on February 5, 2020, his green card application was approved.

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CASE: I-751

APPLICANT: Indian

LOCATION: Lancaster, SC

Our client contacted our office in May of 2019 regarding his I-751 application.

He is from India and he married a U.S. citizen in December 2016. Through his marriage, he obtained a 2-year conditional green card in June of 2017.  His conditional residency terminated in June 2019.

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 May 29, 2019, and our office prepared an I-751 application for our client with other supplemental exhibits.

On May 31, 2019, 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 January 9, 2020, 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

CLIENT: Portuguese

LOCATION: Cleveland, OH

Our client came to the United States from India (citizen of Portugal) on a F-1 student’s visa. She married a U.S. Citizen in May 2019 and retained our office on August 6, 2019 for her green card application.  Our firm prepared and filed the I-130 Petition and I-485 Adjustment of Status Application on August 19, 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 December 17, 2019, our client was interviewed at the Cleveland, Ohio USCIS office. Attorney Sung Hee (Glen) Yu from our office also accompanied our clients. Eventually, on December 18, 2019, her green card application was approved.

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CASE: Marriage-Based Adjustment of Status

CLIENT: Indian

LOCATION: Bay Village, OH

Our client came to the United States from India on a F-1 student visa. He married a U.S. Citizen in July 2019 and retained our office for his green card application.  Our firm prepared and filed the I-130 Petition and I-485 Adjustment of Status Application on August 28, 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 December 9, 2019, our client was interviewed at the Cleveland, Ohio USCIS office. Attorney Sung Hee (Glen) Yu from our office accompanied our clients as well. Eventually, on the same day of the interview, his green card application was approved.

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CASE: I-751

APPLICANT: Indian

LOCATION: Greenville, OH

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

He is from India and married a U.S. citizen in February 2016. Through his marriage with, he obtained a 2-year conditional green card in October of 2016.  His conditional residency terminated in October 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 again on March 8, 2018, and our office prepared an I-751 application for our client with other supplemental exhibits.

On July 24, 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. Eventually, on November 22, 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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