CASE: Marriage-Based Adjustment of Status

CLIENT: Colombian

LOCATION: Cincinnati, OH

Our client came to the United States from Colombia on an F-1 student visa. She married her US citizen husband in January 2022. She retained our office on January 25, 2022 for her green card application. Our firm prepared and filed the I-130 Petition and I-485 Adjustment of Status Application on January 31, 2022. Everything went smoothly and the receipt notices and fingerprint appointment all came on time. Prior to the interview, we thoroughly prepared our clients via conference calls. On May 12, 2022, our client was interviewed at the Cincinnati Ohio USCIS office. On May 14, 2022, our client’s green card application was approved.

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CASE: Marriage-Based Adjustment of Status

NATIONALITY: Colombian                                                                                      

LOCATION: Parma, OH 

Our client is from Colombia who came to the U.S. on a F-1 student visa. In January 2021, our client married her U.S. citizen husband.  She retained our office on January 28, 2021 for her green card application.  Our firm prepared and filed the I-130 Petition and I-485 Adjustment of Status Application on February 2, 2021.  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 October 14, 2021, our client was interviewed at the Cleveland, OH USCIS office. Attorney JP Sarmiento accompanied our clients as well. On October 15, 2021, her green card application was approved.

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CASE: Marriage-Based Adjustment of Status

CLIENT: Colombian

LOCATION: Wadsworth, OH

Our client came to the United States from Colombia on a J-1 exchange visitor’s visa. He married a U.S. Citizen in May 2020 and retained our office on June 24, 2020 for his green card application. Our firm prepared and filed the I-130 Petition and I-485 Adjustment of Status Application on July 3, 2020.  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 February 4, 2021, our client was interviewed at the Cleveland, Ohio USCIS office. Attorney Sung Hee (Glen) Yu, Esq. from our office accompanied our clients. His green card application was approved on the same day.

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CASE: Marriage-Based Adjustment of Status

CLIENT: Colombian

LOCATION: Wooster, OH

Our client came to the United States from Colombia on a B-2 visitor’s visa in December 2018. She married a U.S. Citizen in February 2019 and retained our office for her green card application.  Our firm prepared and filed the I-130 Petition and I-485 Adjustment of Status Application on March 1, 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 July 1, 2019, our client was interviewed at Cleveland, Ohio USCIS office. Attorney Sung Hee (Glen) Yu from our office accompanied our clients as well. Eventually, on the same day of her interview, her green card application was approved.

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CASE: Fiancée Visa

PETITIONER: US Citizen in Ohio

BENEFICIARY: Colombian

PETITION FILED: March 4, 2015

PETITION APPROVED: April 2, 2015

K-1 VISA APPROVED: November 25, 2015

Our client, a US Citizen Petitioner, met his Colombian fiancée in Colombia in 2013. They started their relationship, and he visited Colombia. In June 2014, he proposed to her during their trip to Mexico. 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 5, 2014. We helped him and his fiancée draft letters in support of the fiancé petition, and we filed the petition on March 4, 2015.

On April 2, 2015, less than a month of the filing, the I-129F fiancée petition was approved. On November 25, 2015, our client’s fiancée appeared at the U.S. Embassy in Bogota, Colombia for her K-1 visa interview. The interview went well, and on the same day, the U.S. Embassy issued her K-1 visa.

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CASE: Fiancée Visa

PETITIONER: US Citizen in Ohio

BENEFICIARY: Colombian

PETITION FILED: March 4, 2015

PETITION APPROVED: April 2, 2015

K-1 VISA APPROVED: November 25, 2015

Our client, a US Citizen Petitioner, met his Colombian fiancée in Colombia in 2013. They started their relationship, and he visited Colombia. In June 2014, he proposed to her during their trip in Mexico. 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 5, 2014. We helped him and his fiancée draft letters in support of the fiancé petition, and we filed the petition on March 4, 2015.

On April 2, 2015, less than a month after the filing, the I-129F fiancée petition was approved. On November 25, 2015, our client’s fiancée appeared at the U.S. Embassy in Bogota, Colombia for her K-1 visa interview. The interview went well, and on the same day, the U.S. Embassy issued her K-1 visa.

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CASE: VAWA (Violence Against Women Act) Cancellation of Removal

CLIENT: Colombian

LOCATION: New York Immigration Court in New York City, NY

Our client came to the United States in 1994 with a valid J-1 visa from Colombia. After her J-1 status expired, she remained in the United States. She married her U.S. citizen husband in October 2006. However, her marriage to her ex-husband turned to be very abusive and her marriage ended in divorce in 2009.

She suffered a lot throughout her marriage due to the physical violence and mental abuse she experienced from her ex-husband. She has longstanding medical issues as well. She has low thyroid function due to an auto-immune disorder which requires regular supplementation of the thyroid hormone. Our client also has Systemic Lupus Erythematosus, a very serious auto-immune disorder which in her case has manifested as a severe and sometimes disabling inflammatory arthritis. She is also diagnosed with thyroid cancer which appeared in 2006.  She already had three surgeries for her cancer and she is taking medication and mild chemo-therapy. She was having a hard time without any valid immigration status.

She contacted our office in July 2011 when she was served a Notice to Appear (NTA) for her immigration law violation. After careful review of her case, we determined that she is eligible for VAWA cancellation relief at the immigration court.

INA Section 240A(b)(2) provides that the applicant for VAWA cancellation of removal must:

• Have been battered or suffered extreme cruelty by a spouse who is or was a USC or LPR;
• Have been present physically in the United States for three years before applying;
• Be a person of good moral character during the period of physical presence;
• Not have been convicted of an aggravated felony;
• Not be inadmissible or deportable due to certain criminal, security, or marriage fraud violations; and
• Demonstrate that removal would result in extreme hardship to the applicant.

The case originated in Buffalo, NY, but venue was later changed to New York City. Our client appeared at the New York Immigration Court on January 13, 2012 for her initial master calendar hearing. Our attorney represented her at the hearing, did pleadings and sought for VAWA cancellation relief. After the Master Calendar Hearing, the Court scheduled an individual hearing date on April 30, 2013.

Our firm worked with our client and her friends and family members for the application and supplemental documents. We gathered a lot of her documents regarding her former spouse’s abuse, medical documents and extensively worked on our client’s affidavit. We also contacted our client’s friends for supporting documents and letters of support.

In preparing our client for the Individual Hearing, Attorney Yu talked to our client through conference calls several hours each time. Our firm eventually was able to gather supporting documents and prepared supplemental evidence with multiple exhibits, and arranged them pursuant to the specific elements of VAWA Cancellation.

At the Individual Hearing on April 30, 2013, Attorney Yu represented our client at the New York Immigration Court in New York City, NY. Testimony then followed and we questioned our client extensively on the abuse and hardship factors of her case. Attorney Yu questioned her regarding her length of residence in the U.S., her medical condition, physical and mental suffering that she experienced from her previous marriage, employment history, educational history, family issues and hardships to her and her family members if she was to be deported to Colombia. Our client was prepared, was very consistent, and was honest in her answers.  After direct examination, the DHS counsel only asked a few more questions.

After the hearing, the Immigration Judge determined that he could not issue a decision due to the unavailability of the quota.  Under INA Section 240A(e)(1), Congress limited the number of cancellation applicants who may adjust status to lawful permanent residence each year to only 4,000. Thus, she had to wait until October 2013 when the annual quota resets.

In the end, the New York Immigration Court granted our client’s VAWA cancellation of removal relief on December 2, 2013. It was a tough call and our firm was very happy for our client. She has been here since 1994 and suffered a lot in the past. Nevertheless, she finally is a green card holder.

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