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

Our client came to the United States as a visitor from Canada in June 2017.  He has a U.S. citizen wife who filed an I-130 petition for him in 2017. Our client originally planned to file his immigrant visa via consular processing in Canada, but after he came to the U.S., he changed his mind.  He retained our office on September 19, 2017 for his adjustment of status application.  Our firm prepared and filed the Adjustment of Status Application on October 5, 2017.  His I-130 petition was approved in October 2017 as well. 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 in our office.  On June 14, 2018, our client was interviewed at the Cleveland, Ohio USCIS. Attorney Sung Hee (Glen) Yu accompanied them at the interview as well.  On the same day of his interview, his green card application was approved.

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CASE: Marriage-Based Adjustment of Status
CLIENT: From Suriname
LOCATION: Cleveland, OH

Our client came to the United States in October 16, 2000 with a B-2 visitor visa from Suriname.  She married a U.S. Citizen in October 2011 and retained our office on October 25, 2011 for her adjustment of status application.  Our firm prepared and filed the I-130 Petition and Adjustment of Status Application on December 21, 2011.  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 April 27, 2012, our client was interviewed at the Cleveland, Ohio USCIS office.  We accompanied them at the interview as well.  On May 7, 2012, her green card application was approved.

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Case: Termination of Proceedings / Adjustment of Status
Nationality: Chinese
Location: Cleveland, OH

Our client came to the United States in January 2002 with a valid B-1 visa. He has stayed in the United States ever since. He was placed in removal proceedings a few years later. While he was in the United States, his wife, who was a permanent resident, filed an I-130 petition for him. It was approved in June 2010. At the time of the I-130 filing, our client’s wife was a lawful permanent resident, so the priority date for our client was not current. She became a naturalized U.S. citizen on June 17, 2011.

Before our firm was retained, our client already had a scheduled asylum individual hearing in 2013. In August 2011, our client consulted with our office and sought legal assistance. We advised him that we would try to terminate his removal proceedings with the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) cooperation. Our office filed a request to join in a Motion to terminate proceedings with a copy of the I-485 application and supporting documents on November 8, 2011. The DHS counsel in Cleveland agreed to terminate our client’s removal proceedings. The Immigration Judge then granted the Motion to terminate without prejudice on December 7, 2011.

After the case got terminated, we filed the I-485 Adjustment of Status application with the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) on December 22, 2011. Everything went smoothly and the receipt notices, fingerprint appointment, and work permits all came on time. There was no Request for Evidence. Prior to the interview, we thoroughly prepared our clients. On March 22, 2012, our client was interviewed at the Cleveland USCIS. We accompanied them at the interview as well. The interview went well, and our client’s green card application was approved the same day of the interview. After ten years in the United States and being through removal proceedings, our client is finally a permanent resident.

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CASE: Marriage-Based Adjustment of Status
CLIENT: Filipina
LOCATION: Cleveland, OH

Our client came to the United States in September 2008 with an H-2 temporary work visa from the Philippines. She eventually overstayed her visa and remained in the United States. She married a U.S. Citizen in October 2011 and retained our office on November 8, 2011 for her adjustment of status application.  Our firm prepared and filed the I-130 Petition and Adjustment of Status Application on November 21, 2011.  Everything went smoothly and the receipt notices, fingerprint appointment, and work permits all came on time. There was no Request for Evidence.  Prior to the interview, we thoroughly prepared our clients. On January 26, 2012, our client was interviewed at the Cleveland, Ohio USCIS office.  We accompanied them at the interview as well.  On the same day, her green card application was approved.

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CASE: N-400 (Citizenship / Naturalization)
APPLICANT: Canadian
LOCATION: Cleveland, Ohio

Our client came to the United States from Canada when she was 14 years old as a permanent resident. She has studied and worked in the United States as a green card holder, but did not naturalize as a U.S. Citizen.  Our client contacted us in early October 2011 and she retained our office for her naturalization application.  Our client was concerned about her numerous trips to Canada for the last five years, with some almost lasting six months.  Although she went to Canada back and forth, she has never left the United States more than 180 days continuously. She also resided in the United States for a least half of the past five years. Thus, her travel record should not be a problem for her naturalization application.

Her N-400 application was filed on October 20, 2011 with all necessary supporting documents.
Our office prepared her before her interview, and also accompanied her on January 5, 2012 at the Cleveland CIS office.  Our client answered all questions correctly and passed her citizenship interview.   Eventually, her N-400 was approved on January 23, 2012. Her oath taking is scheduled soon in which she will be a U.S. Citizen.

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CASE: J-1 Waiver of Two-Year Foreign Residency Requirement, No Objection Statement
NATIONALITY: Kenyan
LOCATION: Ohio

Our client is from Kenya who came to the U.S. on a J-1 Visa in 2004.  She was later on placed in removal proceedings and she retained our office for legal representation. We filed her I-360 self-petition which was since considered prima facie approvable and is now awaiting adjudication.   However, even if she gets the approved I-360 petition, she will not be able to adjust her status unless she gets a waiver of the 2-year foreign residence requirement, which she had from her J-1 program.

Our office filed a J-1 waiver request through a No Objection Statement (NOS) from the Kenyan Embassy in the United States.  As mentioned in a previous success story, every country’s Embassy maintains different procedures and policies with regard to the J-1 No Objection Statement. Our office contacted the Kenyan Embassy in D.C. to request a no objection statement. The Embassy requested several documents including a statement of reason for the waiver, a clearance letter from the J-1 program sponsor, clearance certificate from the HELB and KSCE in Kenya, and a letter of reason for obtaining the J-1 waiver, among others.

On November 21, 2011 the J-1 Waiver (Form DS-3035) Application was filed to the Department of State.  We also sent a request to the Kenyan Embassy to issue a No Objection Statement and recommend this waiver based on the fact that our client is eligible to adjust pending approval of the I-360 petition.

On January 3, 2012 the Kenyan Embassy issued a No Objection Statement for our client, who also sent this letter to the State Department’s Waiver Review Division.  On January 23, 2012, the Waiver Review Division issued a favorable recommendation based on the No Objection statement. The CIS has receipted the fee and has issued an I-612 approval.

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CASE: Asylee Adjustment of Status
CLIENT: Chinese
LOCATION: Cleveland, OH

Our client came to the United States in October 2010 after she was granted derivative asylum status as the spouse of a person granted asylum.  Her husband was granted asylum in November 2008, and thereafter, our client came to the United States as derivative asylee.

Under the Immigration and Nationality Act, an asylee may apply for lawful permanent resident status after he or she has been physically present in the United States for a period of one year after the date he or she was granted asylum status.  Around October 2011, one year after she entered the United States, our client contacted our office and sought legal assistance for her adjustment of status.  Our office was retained on October 17, 2011, and we prepared and filed her I-485 Adjustment of Status Application on October 28, 2011.  Everything went smoothly and the receipt notice and fingerprint appointment all came on time.  On January 12, 2012, the USCIS approved our client’s Adjustment of Status application. She’s now a permanent resident of the United States.

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CASE: Marriage-Based Adjustment of Status
CLIENT: Ghanaian
LOCATION: Cleveland, OH

Our client came to the United States in March 2009 with a J-1 Exchange Visitor visa from Ghana. Although his J-1 program was completed in 2009, he stayed in the United States since then.  He got a waiver of the two- year foreign residency requirement. He married his U.S. Citizen wife in January 2011 and retained our office in the middle of September for his adjustment of status application.  Our firm prepared and filed the I-130 Petition and Adjustment of Status Application on September 21, 2011.  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 January 6, 2012, our client was interviewed at the Cleveland, Ohio USCIS.  We accompanied them at the interview as well.  On the same day, his green card application was approved.

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Case: Marriage in Detention and Custody Release / Review
Client: Chinese
Location: Cleveland Ohio

Our client, a Chinese National, was picked up by ICE in late August 2011 because of an outstanding deportation order. His relative retained our firm to represent him to work on getting his release. After an initial evaluation, we informed our client’s relative that it would be a challenge because he was single with no family ties in the United States and he had no other favorable conditions for release.

Fortunately, our client’s fiancé had applied for asylum and her asylum interview was pending. They were about to get married but our client got detained prior, and they thought they could not get married anymore unless he was released.

We informed them that a request could be made to ICE for marriage-in-detention, and that afterwards we may have an argument that he could become a derivative applicant of his fiancé’s asylum application which could be a basis for requesting his release. We informed them it was a stretch, but based on the prosecutorial memo released last year, it was worth a shot.

Despite the fact that our client was in detention, our firm made arrangements for his fiancé to obtain a marriage license and also contacted ICE for permission for them to get married at the detention facility. Subsequently, we arranged for a minister to conduct the wedding ceremony in jail for our client and his fiancé. We filed the request and after a few days, the Detroit Regional Immigration and Customs Enforcement office approved it.

After their marriage, we immediately filed a “Motion to Stay  Removal” for the client with ICE. Prior to our client’s detention reaching 90 days, we filed a “Request for Release on 90-Day Custody Review”, but unfortunately, ICE issued a decision continuing detention. We negotiated further with ICE and even personally went to their office at the Federal Building. Soon, we were given a chance to submit another “Request for Release – Custody Review” before jurisdiction got transferred to Washington DC. We argued that once his wife’s asylum is approved, she would be able to file an I-730 for our client, who then can file a DHS Request to Join in a Motion to Reopen or a Sua Sponte Motion to Reopen to seek derivative asylee status as the beneficiary of an approved I-730. Simultaneously, we also filed a “Deferred Action Request” pursuant to the recent John Morton memo.

On January 5, 2011, the ICE officer personally called our office to inform us that the Detroit ICE considered our second request and decided to release our client. He was released under order of supervision that same day.

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CASE: Marriage-Based Adjustment of Status
CLIENT: Moldovan
LOCATION: Cleveland, OH

Our client came to the United States in May 2009 with a J-1 Exchange Visitor visa from Moldova.  She was not subject to the two-year foreign residency requirement, so she could apply for adjustment of status in the United States without a waiver.  She married a U.S. Citizen in December 2010 and retained our office in May 2011 for her adjustment of status application.  Our firm prepared and filed the I-130 Petition and Adjustment of Status Application on June 7, 2011.  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 our clients. On September 1, 2011, our client was interviewed at the Cleveland, Ohio USCIS.  We accompanied them at the interview as well.  On September 16, 2011, her green card application was approved.

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