CASE: I-751

APPLICANT: Italian

LOCATION: Cleveland, OH

Our client contacted our office in February of 2014 regarding her I-751 application.

She is from Italy and she married a U.S. citizen in 2011. Through her marriage, she obtained a 2-year conditional green card in May of 2012.  Her conditional residency terminated in May 2014.

To comply with immigration requirements, our client and her husband had to file an I-751 Joint Petition to Remove Conditions on her permanent residency. She retained our office on February 27, 2014 and our office prepared an I-751 application with bona fide marriage evidence.

On March 6, 2014, our office filed an I-751 application to the USCIS with multiple affidavits from her friends and family members, joint bank statements, joint tax records, utility bills, joint lease, and photos of our client and her husband to demonstrate the bona fideness of their marriage.

There was no RFE or interview request for our client’s I-751 application. As a result, on June 11, 2014, the USCIS approved our client’s I-751 application and our client received her 10-year green card.

{ 0 comments }

CASE: Marriage-Based Adjustment of Status

CLIENT: Italian

LOCATION: Long Island, NY

Our client came to the United States in 2010 with a J-1 exchange visitor visa from Italy as a post-doctorate researcher in the United States. His J-1 program did not subject him to the INA Section 212(e), two-year foreign residency requirement. Since then, he has maintained his status as a J-1 and H-1B holder.

He married a U.S. Citizen in December 2013 and retained our office on December 17, 2013 for his adjustment of status application.

Our firm prepared and filed the I-130 Petition and Adjustment of Status Application on December 27, 2013.  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 through conference calls. On May 5, 2014, our client was interviewed at the Holtsville, NY USCIS office.  The interview went well, and on the same day, his green card application was approved.

{ 0 comments }

Case: I-130/I-485
Issue: Visa Waiver Entry
Applicant/Beneficiary – Italian
Location: Cleveland, Ohio

Our client entered the United States from Italy in January 2012 under the visa waiver program. As a Visa Waiver Entrant, she was only authorized to remain in the United States for 90 days. However, she has remained in the United States ever since.

Our client is a doctor, and she mentioned that she came on a J-1 visa before. So even though old visas and passports were not required, we asked her to show us those, together with her old DS-2019, so that we could check if she was subject to the 2-year foreign residency requirement. Our first inclination was that she was subject, as most J-1 entrants who are physicians are. When we saw the J-1 documents, we found out that she indeed was not subject. And so we proceeded with the adjustment of status case.

She married her U.S. Citizen spouse in September 2011 in Italy and her U.S. citizen husband filed an I-130 petition on October 4, 2011.  One main issue in her green card application through marriage was the fact that she came to the United States under the visa waiver program. As our office wrote in a previous success story with a similar issue, under the visa waiver program, citizens of certain countries can enter the U.S. for 90 days without a visa with the condition that the visitor waives his or her right to contest removal (other than on the basis of asylum). The “no-contest” provision of the Visa Waiver Program is fundamental; if someone could enter under the VWP and then contest removability; it would defeat the whole purpose of the Program which is to make it easy for certain nationals to come to the United States to visit and then leave without all the red-tape involved in visa issuance.

Our office filed the I-485 Adjustment of Status Application on March 5, 2012. Our office requested the CIS to exercise favorable discretion in granting adjustment of status despite her visa waiver entry.  Everything went smoothly and the receipt notices, 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 May 15, 2012, our client was interviewed at the Cleveland, Ohio USCIS Field Office. We accompanied them at the interview as well. Despite the visa waiver entry and subsequent adjustment of status issue, the USCIS officer approved her green card application on the same day. Now, our client is a green card holder.

FREE CONSULTATIONS

If you have any questions, please fill out the free consultation form below, and we will respond as soon as possible privately. 

For other visa waiver success stories, please click here.

For other marriage-based green card success stories, please click here.

For other success stories, please click here.

Also feel free to contact our office anytime for free consultations.

{ 0 comments }