CASE: PERM Labor Certification

EMPLOYER: Public School District

BENEFICIARY: Filipina Elementary School Teacher

LOCATION: Mohave Valley, AZ

Our client has a current employer that as willing to petition her for a third-preference petition (I-140).  Our client has a Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education, a valid Arizona Teaching license, and has worked for her current employer since July 2014. Based on our client’s education and work background, our office determined that she is eligible for EB-3 classification for her I-140 petition.  Our client retained us in June 2020. 

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 July 20, 2020. On October 20, 2020, we filed PERM. 

Eventually, on May 11, 2021, the PERM Labor Certification was approved – an EB3 position for the Filipina beneficiary without the audit. Our client can file the I-140 petition at any time.

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CASE: PERM Labor Certification

EMPLOYER: Public School District

BENEFICIARY: Filipina High School Math Teacher

LOCATION: Casa Grande, AZ

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 Education, a valid Arizona Teaching license, and has worked for her current employer since August 2015. Based on her education and credentials, she is eligible for EB-3 classification for her I-140 petition.  Our client eventually retained us in September 2019.

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 only 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 February 10, 2020.  On April 20, 2020, we promptly filed PERM. 

On September 24, 2020, the Department of Labor issued an audit request. The DOL requested documents from the 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 October 16, 2020.   

Eventually, on March 22, 2021, the PERM Labor Certification was approved – an EB3 position for the Filipina beneficiary. Our client can file the I-140 petition at any time.

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CASE: PERM Labor Certification

EMPLOYER: Public School District

BENEFICIARY: Filipina High School Math Teacher

LOCATION: Casa Grande, AZ

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 Education, a valid Arizona Teaching license, and has worked for her current employer since August 2015. Based on her education and credentials, our office determined that she is clearly eligible for EB-3 classification for her I-140 petition.  Our client eventually retained us in September 2019.

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 only 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 February 6, 2020.  On April 13, 2020, we promptly filed PERM. 

On September 24, 2020, the Department of Labor issued a request for audit. The DOL requested documents from the 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 October 16, 2020.   

Eventually, on March 22, 2021, the PERM Labor Certification was approved – an EB3 position for the Filipina beneficiary. Our client can file the I-140 petition at any time.

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CASE: PERM Labor Certification

EMPLOYER: Public School District

BENEFICIARY: Filipina High School Science Teacher

LOCATION: Casa Grande, AZ

Our client has a current employer that was willing to petition her for a third-preference petition (I-140).  She has a Bachelor’s degree in Education, a valid Arizona Teaching license, and has worked for her current employer since September 2015. Based on her education and credentials, our office determined that she is eligible for EB-3 classification.  Our client eventually retained us in September 2019.

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. Take note that the PERM application could only 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 February 7, 2020. The ads were also done.  On April 16, 2020, we filed PERM. 

On September 24, 2020, the Department of Labor issued an audit. The DOL requested documents from the 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 October 20, 2020.   

Eventually, on March 22, 2021, the PERM Labor Certification was approved – an EB3 position for the Filipina beneficiary. Our client can now file the I-140 petition at any time.

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CASE: EB-3 I-140

EMPLOYER: Public School District

BENEFICIARY: Filipina Elementary School Teacher

LOCATION: Tucson, AZ

Our client has a current employer who was willing to petition her for a third-preference petition (I-140).  She has a Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education, a valid Arizona Teaching license, and has worked for her current employer since July 2017. Based on our client’s education and work background, she is eligible for EB-3 classification.  

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 April 8, 2019.  On August 7, 2019, we filed PERM. 

On January 7, 2020, the Department of Labor issued an 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 January 23, 2020.  Eventually, on June 16, 2020, 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, employer’s tax records, and other necessary supporting documents.

The I-140 Petition was filed on July 24, 2020, via regular processing service. We also filed her I-485 adjustment of status application simultaneously since her priority date was current. On January 22, 2021, the USCIS issued a Request for Evidence (RFE) for our client’s teaching license. Our office immediately filed the RFE response. Eventually, on March 18, 2021, the I-140 EB3 Petition for our Filipina client was approved..

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CASE: J-1 Waiver (No Objection Statement – Humanitarian)

NATIONALITY: Philippines

LOCATION: Glendale, AZ

Our client came from the Philippines on a J-1 in August 2016 to work as a teacher. She was subject to the two-year foreign residency requirement. Later, her employer wants to sponsor her green card and she 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.

Our office told our client that she can apply for a waiver under the No Objection Statement category based on the fact that her husband experiences medical hardship. Though her husband is a citizen of the Philippines, his medical condition prompted her to pursue NOS waiver under the humanitarian category. 

On February 25, 2020, the J-1 Waiver Application (Form DS-3035) was filed to the Department of State.  On March 18, 2020, our office sent our client’s materials to the Waiver Review Committee in Manila, Philippines.  The EVP Philippines approved the NOS Application!

On February 25, 2021, the Waiver Review Division issued a favorable recommendation based on the No Objection statement.  Eventually, on March 2, 2021, the USCIS issued an I-612 approval notice for the waiver.

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

 NATIONALITY: Filipina

 LOCATION: Douglas, AZ

Our client came from the Philippines as a J-1 teacher. She was subject to the two-year foreign residency requirement. She wanted to apply for a green card based on her marriage to her US citizen spouse, however she had to get a waiver first to be eligible. 

Based on 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). 

On October 7, 2019, the J-1 Waiver (Form DS-3035) Application was filed to the Department of State.  Thereafter, our office prepared an affidavit for our client, an 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 condition.  On October 16, 2019, our office filed the I-612 application to the USCIS and asked them to issue and recommend this waiver based on the fact that our client’s husband would experience exceptional hardship in the scenarios of separation and relocation. . 

On January 16, 2020, the USCIS issued a Request for Evidence (RFE) and requested our client to submit more hardship evidence. Our office prepared the response and filed an extensive Response to RFE on March 18, 2020. 

Eventually, the USCIS approved her I-612 waiver on January 22, 2021. 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: PERM Labor Certification

EMPLOYER: Public School District

BENEFICIARY: Filipina Elementary School Teacher

LOCATION: Mohave Valley, AZ

Our client has an employer that was willing to petition for a third-preference teaching position (I-140).  Our client has a Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education, a valid Arizona Teaching license, and has worked for her current employer since July 2014. Based on our client’s education and license background, she is eligible for EB-3 classification.  Our client eventually retained us in May 2019.

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 September 13, 2019.  On January 7, 2020, we promptly filed PERM. 

On July 28, 2020, the Department of Labor issued a request for audit. The DOL requested documents from the 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 August 18, 2020.   

Eventually, on December 23, 2020, the PERM Labor Certification was approved – an EB3 position for the Filipina beneficiary. Our client can file the I-140 petition at any time.

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CASE: PERM Labor Certification

EMPLOYER: Public School District

BENEFICIARY: Filipina High School Math Teacher

LOCATION: Casa Grande, AZ

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 Education, a valid Arizona Teaching license, and has worked for her current employer since August 2015. Based on our education and credentials, our office determined that she is clearly eligible for EB-3 classification for her I-140 petition.  Our client eventually retained us in September 2019.

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 only 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 February 17, 2020.  On April 26, 2020, we promptly filed PERM. 

Eventually, on September 18, 2020, the PERM Labor Certification was approved – an EB3 position for the Filipina beneficiary. Our client can file the I-140 petition at any time.

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CASE: PERM Labor Certification

EMPLOYER: Public School District

BENEFICIARY: Filipina Elementary School Teacher

LOCATION: Tucson, AZ

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 Elementary Education, a valid Arizona Teaching license, and has worked for her current employer since July 2017. Based on our client’s education and work background, our office determined that she is eligible for EB-3 classification for her I-140 petition. Our client eventually retained us in September 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, whichever is later. 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 April 8, 2019.  On August 7, 2019, we promptly filed PERM. 

However, on January 7, 2020, the Department of Labor issued a request for audit, which is random nowadays regardless of how perfect the PERM application was. 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 January 23, 2020.   

Eventually, on June 16, 2020, the PERM Labor Certification was approved – an EB3 position for the Filipina beneficiary. Our client can file the I-140 petition at any time.

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