CASE: I-751

APPLICANT: Nigerian

LOCATION: Cleveland, OH

Our client contacted our office in July 2020 regarding his I-751 RFE Response. 

He is from Nigeria and he married a U.S. citizen in January 2016. Through his marriage, he obtained a 2-year conditional green card in May 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 filed his I-751 application without an attorney.  

On July 27, 2020, the USCIS issued a Request for Evidence (RFE) to demonstrate the bona fideness of his marriage. He contacted our office and retained us for the RFE response. 

On August 7, 2020, our office filed an extensive RFE response 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.

On September 1, 2020, the USCIS approved our client’s I-751 application and he received his 10-year green card. .

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CASE: Marriage-Based Adjustment of Status

CLIENT: Nigerian

LOCATION: Euclid, OH

Our client came to the United States from Nigeria on a F-1 student’s visa. He married a U.S. Citizen in July 2019 and retained our office on August 28, 2019 for his green card application.  Our firm prepared and filed the I-130 Petition and I-485 Adjustment of Status Application on October 10, 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 August 24, 2020, our client was interviewed at the Cleveland, Ohio USCIS office. Attorney Sung Hee (Glen) Yu, Esq. from our office accompanied our clients as well. Eventually, on August 25, 2020, his green card application was approved.

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

NATIONALITY: Nigerian                                                                                                       

LOCATION: Houston, TX

Our client is from Nigeria who came to the U.S. on a J-1 Visa in June 2018 to pursue his graduate studies.  After he finished his J-1 program, he changed his status from J-1 to F-1 and he has remained in the United States. Our client plans to file an I-140 NIW petition and I-485 adjustment of status application. However, he will not be able to adjust his status unless he gets a waiver of the 2-year foreign residency requirement. When he came to the United States in 2018, his J-1 program made him subject to the 2-year foreign residency program. 

He retained our office on January 31, 2020. Thereafter, our office prepared the waiver request through a No Objection Statement (NOS) from the Nigerian Embassy in the United States. Every country’s Embassy maintains different procedures with the J-1 No Objection Statement waiver.  

On February 4, 2020, the J-1 Waiver (Form DS-3035) Application was filed to the Department of State.  We also sent a request to the Nigerian Embassy to issue a No Objection Statement and recommend this waiver based on the fact that our client is eligible to adjust based on his I-140 NIW petition. 

Eventually, the Nigerian Embassy issued a No Objection Statement for our client, and sent this letter to the State Department’s Waiver Review Division.  On June 15, 2020, the Waiver Review Division issued a favorable recommendation based on the No Objection statement. On July 16, 2020, the USCIS issued an I-612 approval notice for the waiver of our client’s two-year foreign residency requirement.

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CASE: EB-3 I-140
EMPLOYER:  Plastic Manufacturing Company in Solon, OH
BENEFICIARY: Nigerian Project Engineer

Our client is from Nigeria. His current employer is willing to do an immigration petition for him, third-preference. Our client has a Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering. After talking to our client, our firm concluded that his employer can petition him as a Project Engineer. Based on our client’s educational, professional and workbackgrounds, our office determined that he 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 PERM could be filed at least 60 days from the job posting date or 30 days from the last ad. On February 20, 2019, the prevailing wage request was filed.  After we obtained Prevailing Wage determination, our office filed the job order on June 11, 2019.  On September 3, 2019, we promptly filed PERM.  Eventually, on December 18, 2019, the PERM Labor Certification was approved – an EB3 position for the Nigerian 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 December 30, 2019 via regular processing service. However, on March 25, 2020, the USCIS issued Request for Evidence (RFE) for the I-140 petition and requested our client to submit evidence to verify beneficiary’s special skills on the PERM application. Our office prepared and filed the Response to RFE to the USCIS on April 1, 2020.  Eventually, on April 27, 2020, the I-140 EB3 Petition for our Nigerian client was approved.

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CASE: Marriage-Based Adjustment of Status

CLIENT: Nigerian

LOCATION: Cleveland, OH

Our client came to the United States from Nigeria on a F-1 student’s visa in May 2018. He married a U.S. Citizen in June 2019 and retained our office on September 5, 2019 for his green card application.  Our firm prepared and filed the I-130 Petition and I-485 Adjustment of Status Application on October 17, 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 6, 2020, our client was interviewed at the Cleveland, Ohio USCIS office. Attorney Sung Hee (Glen) Yu, Esq. 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: Marriage-Based Adjustment of Status
CLIENT: Nigerian
LOCATION: Lithonia, GA 

Our client is from Nigeria who came to the U.S. on a J-1 Visa in October 2018 to pursue his student internship in New Mexico.  After he finished his J-1 program, he remained in the United States. In April 2018, our client married his current U.S. citizen wife. However, he will not be able to adjust his status unless he gets a waiver of the 2-year foreign residency program.  When he came to the United States in 2018, his program was subject to the 2-year foreign residency program. 

Thereafter, our office promptly prepared for filing a waiver request through a No Objection Statement (NOS) from the Nigerian Embassy in the United States. Every country’s Embassy maintains different procedures and policies with regard to the J-1 No Objection Statement waiver.  Our office promptly contacted the Nigerian Embassy in D.C. to pursue the waiver for our client.  The Embassy requested several documents including a statement of reason for the waiver, the clearance letter from J-1 program sponsor, and a letter of reason for obtaining J-1 waiver.  

On April 18, 2019, the J-1 Waiver (Form DS-3035) Application was filed to the Department of State.  We also sent a request to the Nigerian Embassy to issue a No Objection Statement and recommend this waiver based on the fact that our client is eligible to adjust based on his marriage to U.S. citizen spouse. 

Eventually, the Nigerian Embassy issued a No Objection Statement for our client, and sent this letter to the State Department’s Waiver Review Division.  On June 28, 2019, the Waiver Review Division issued a favorable recommendation based on the No Objection statement. On July 30, 2019, the USCIS issued an I-612 approval notice for the waiver of our client’s two-year foreign residency requirement. 

Once his J-1 waiver was approved, he retained our office on July 31, 2019 for his adjustment of status application.  Our firm prepared and filed the I-130 Petition and Adjustment of Status Application on September 19, 2019.  Everything went smoothly and the receipt notices, the fingerprint appointment, and the work permit all came on time. Prior to the interview, we thoroughly prepared our client via conference calls. On January 21, 2020, our client was interviewed at the Atlanta, Georgia USCIS Field Office. Eventually, on January 24, 2020, his green card application was approved. 

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CASE: I-751 / Waiver of the Joint Waiver Requirement
APPLICANT: Nigerian
LOCATION: Elyria, OH

Our client contacted our office in October of 2018 regarding his potential I-751 filing. He is from Nigeria and married a U.S. citizen in February 2017. Through his marriage with a U.S. citizen spouse, he obtained a 2-year conditional green card in October of 2017. Therefore, his conditional residency terminated in October 2019.

Unfortunately, during their marriage, our client and his ex-wife went through struggles. Therefore, they lived separately and their divorce was finalized in October 2018. Thus, our client could not file I-751 application jointly with his ex-wife. After the consultation, we advised that we can help him file the I-751 application with a waiver of the joint filing requirement. We requested a waiver because our client entered into the marriage in good faith, but the marriage was terminated through divorce or annulment before they can file a joint petition.

On October 31, 2018, our office filed the I-751 application with various supporting documents to demonstrate our client’s bona fide marriage with his ex-wife. 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 ex-wife. We filed an extensive Response to RFE to the USCIS with more bona fide marital documents on November 20, 2019.  

Eventually, on January 8, 2020, the USCIS approved our request for the removal of conditions on his permanent resident status without even an interview. Now, he has his ten-year green card.

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CASE: Marriage-Based Adjustment of Status

CLIENT: Nigerian

LOCATION: Garfield Heights, OH

Our client came to the United States from Nigeria on an F-1 student’s visa in January 2015. He married a U.S. Citizen in August 2019 and retained our office on August 30, 2019 for his green card application.  Our firm prepared and filed the I-130 Petition and I-485 Adjustment of Status Application on October 7, 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 January 16, 2020, our client was interviewed at the Cleveland, Ohio USCIS office. Attorney Sung Hee (Glen) Yu, Esq. 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: Nigerian

LOCATION: Cleveland, OH

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

He is from Nigeria and he married a U.S. citizen in March 2016. Through his marriage, he obtained a 2-year conditional green card in January of 2017.  His conditional residency terminated in January 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 August 22, 2018, and our office prepared an I-751 application for our client with other supplemental exhibits.

On October 16, 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. 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 November 19, 2019.  

As a result, on January 6, 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: Nigerian

LOCATION: Cleveland, OH

Our client came to the United States from Nigeria with a F-1 student’s visa in August 2017. She married a U.S. Citizen in July 2019 and retained our office on September 6, 2019 for her green card application.  Our firm prepared and filed the I-130 Petition and I-485 Adjustment of Status Application on September 26, 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 at our office. On January 6, 2020, our client was interviewed at the Cleveland, Ohio USCIS office. Attorney JP Sarmiento from our office also accompanied our clients. Eventually, on the same day of the interview, her green card application was approved.

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