CASE:   Immigrant Visa / I-601A Hardship Waiver of Inadmissibility

APPLICANT / BENEFICIARY: Mexican

LOCATION: Dayton, Ohio / Ciudad Juarez, Mexico (Visa Interview)

Our client came to the United States from Mexico in April 2007 illegally without inspection and admission. He married his U.S. citizen wife in April 2016. After they got married, his U.S. Citizen wife filed an I-130 petition for him in June 2016. This I-130 petition was approved on July 29, 2016.

However, our client cannot file for adjustment of status application due to his ground of inadmissibility (entry without inspection and admission). He needs a waiver of inadmissibility to become a green card holder.

Under current law, immediate relatives of U.S. citizens who are not eligible to adjust status in the United States must travel abroad and obtain an immigrant visa. Individuals who have accrued more than 180 days of unlawful presence while in the United States must obtain a waiver of inadmissibility to overcome the unlawful presence bars under section 212(a)(9)(B) of the Immigration and Nationality Act before they can return to the United States

In 2013, the USCIS announced of new policy called the provisional unlawful presence waiver. Beginning March 4, 2013, certain immigrant visa applicants who are spouses, children and parents of U.S. citizens (immediate relatives) can apply for provisional unlawful presence waivers before they leave the United States. The provisional unlawful presence waiver process allows individuals, who only need a waiver of inadmissibility for unlawful presence, to apply for a waiver in the United States.

The new process is expected to shorten the time U.S. citizens are separated from their immediate relatives while those family members are obtaining immigrant visas to become lawful permanent residents of the United States.

INA § 212(i) provides for a discretionary waiver of the entry without inspection inadmissibility ground. To qualify for the waiver, the alien must establish that his or her US Citizen spouse would suffer extreme hardship if the alien were denied admission. INA § 212(i)(1). In addition to the equities presented, the USCIS may consider the nature of the inadmissibility ground.

There is a seminal BIA case that deals with this waiver.  In Matter of Cervantes, 22 I & N Dec. 560 (BIA 1999), the BIA identified the factors to be considered in determining whether a qualifying relative would suffer extreme hardship if the alien were denied admission.  Those factors include: the presence of LPR or USC family ties both within and outside the United States; the conditions in the country to which the qualifying relative would relocate and the extent of the qualifying relative’s ties to that country; the financial impact of departure from the United States; and significant conditions of health, particularly when tied to the unavailability of suitable medical care in the country to which the qualifying relative would relocate.

Our client’s I-601A application had a good chance since our client’s U.S. Citizen wife suffers from a great degree of medical hardship. In the I-601A brief and supporting documents, our office included extensive medical reports of his wife.  We argued that if he was removed from the United States, extreme hardship to his wife is clearly foreseeable and evident. His wife has ongoing medical hardships and she would not be able to take care of her own needs and the bulk of their family chores, most importantly taking care of their child. Also, it would be extremely difficult for her to get the same level of therapy and satisfactory access to medical services in Mexico in case she joins our client there.

In our brief, we also argued that our client and his wife have maintained strong family ties in the United States, that his wife will have difficulty in finding the same level of employment in Mexico, and that his U.S. citizen child and his wife will face extreme emotional difficulties if he is removed.

On September 19, 2017, we filed the I-601A waiver application which included the brief in support, his wife’s extensive medical examination records, and other documents that demonstrated hardship to his wife if he is removed from the United States. Eventually, his I-601A waiver was approved on May 22, 2018. 

Once his I-601A waiver was approved, he retained our office again for his immigrant visa processing. Our office prepared and filed his immigrant visa application on January 10, 2019. In January 2020, the U.S. Consulate in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico informed our office that they scheduled an immigrant visa interview for our client. Our client went back to Mexico to appear at his interview on January 21, 2020. On January 21, 2020, our client appeared at his immigrant visa interview at the Consulate, and the Consulate officer approved his immigrant visa on the same day.

Now, our client successfully came back to the United States with an approved immigrant visa and he will get his green card in a mail within two months.

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CASE: Marriage-Based Adjustment of Status

CLIENT: Burkinabe

LOCATION: Brooklyn, OH

Our client came to the United States from Burkina Faso on a F-1 student visa in January 2008. He married a U.S. Citizen in April 2019 and retained our office on May 3, 2019 for his green card application.  Our firm prepared and filed the I-130 Petition and Adjustment of Status Application on May 29, 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 30, 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: Chinese

LOCATION: Findlay, OH

Our client contacted our office in December of 2018 regarding her I-751 application.

She is from China and married a U.S. citizen in June 2016. Through her marriage, she obtained a 2-year conditional green card in April of 2017.  Her conditional residency terminated in April 2019.

To comply with immigration requirements, our client and her husband had to file an I-751 Joint Petition to Remove Conditions. She retained our office on December 17, 2018, and our office prepared an I-751 application for our client with other supplemental exhibits.

On February 4, 2019, our office filed an I-751 application to the USCIS with multiple affidavits from her friends and family members, joint bank statements, joint taxes, utility bills, insurance policies, and photos of our client and her husband 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 her husband. We filed an extensive Response to RFE to the USCIS with more bona fide marital documents on December 23, 2019.  

As a result, on January 23, 2020, the USCIS approved our client’s I-751 application and our client received her 10-year green card which removed the conditions.

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CASE: I-751

APPLICANT: Italian

LOCATION: Twinsburg, OH

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

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

On December 24, 2018, our office filed an I-751 application to the USCIS with multiple affidavits from his friends and family members, joint bank statements, utility bills, joint tax documents, birth certificate of their two daughters, and photos of our client and his wife to demonstrate the bona fideness of their marriage.

In December 2019, the USCIS scheduled an interview for our client and his wife. On January 23, 2020, our client and her husband were requested to appear for the interview at the USCIS Cleveland Field Office.  Prior to the interview, our office prepared them thoroughly via conference calls and also accompanied them at the interview as well. The interview went well, and as a result, on January 24, 2020, the USCIS approved our client’s I-751 application.

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CASE: N-400 (Citizenship / Naturalization)

APPLICANT: Korean

LOCATION: Cleveland, OH

Our client contacted us in July 2019 to seek legal representation for her naturalization and citizenship N-400 application. She came to the United States from South Korea and obtained her green card in November 2010 through her marriage to her current U.S. citizen husband. 

Once retained, her N-400 application was filed on September 4, 2019 with all supporting documents. Prior to her citizenship interview, our office prepared her at our office.  On November 18, 2019, our client appeared at the Cleveland, Ohio USCIS office for her naturalization interview. Our client answered all questions correctly and passed her naturalization and citizenship interview. Eventually, her application was approved on January 22, 2020. Her oath taking is scheduled in which she will become a naturalized U.S. Citizen.

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CASE: I-130 and Consular Processing (Immigrant Visa)

 CLIENT: US Citizen Petitioner Son; Pakistani Beneficiary Parents in Pakistan

 LOCATION: Petitioner: Ohio; Beneficiary: Pakistan

 I-130 FILED: March 9, 2018

 I-130 APPROVED: October 18, 2018

 IV APPROVED: January 13, 2020

Our client retained us to bring his parents over from Pakistan. He was born and raised in Pakistan, but was naturalized in the United States.

On March 9, 2018, our firm filed the I-130 Petitions to the CIS. There were no Requests for Evidence throughout the pendency of the petition. On October 18, 2018, the I-130 Petitions were approved. We then started the immigrant visa processing phase of trying to get his parents over to the United States.

On July 3, 2019, we filed the immigrant visa packets to the National Visa Center who in turn forwarded our client’s materials to the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan. An interview notice was set for our client’s parents at the U.S. Embassy in Pakistan, and we prepared them for their interview. On January 13, 2020, the U.S. Embassy in Pakistan approved and issued their immigrant visa.

With the approved immigrant visa, our client’s parents can come to the United States immediately, and they will get their green cards within two months of entry.

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CASE: Adjustment of Status (F-4 I-130)

CLIENT: British

LOCATION: Brentwood, CA

Our client came to the United States from the United Kingdom as a visa waiver visitor in April 2019. She came to the United States to visit her husband who got his green card based on his U.S. citizen sibling’s petition. Thus, our client was also eligible to file an adjustment of status application as a derivative beneficiary of the approved I-130 petition for her husband. 

She contacted our office for the eligibility of her adjustment status, and after the consultation, she retained our office on April 9, 2019 for her green card application.  Our firm prepared and filed the Adjustment of Status Application on April 18, 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 via conference calls. On January 17, 2020, our client was interviewed at Fresno, California USCIS office. Eventually, on the same day of the interview, her 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: Estonian

LOCATION: Girard, OH

Our client contacted our office in January of 2019 regarding his I-751 application.

He is from Estonia and he married a U.S. citizen in January 2017. Through his marriage, he obtained a 2-year conditional green card in April of 2017.  His conditional residency terminated in April 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 January 16, 2019, and our office prepared an I-751 application for our client with other supplemental exhibits.

On February 5, 2019, 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. There was no RFE issuance or interview request for our client’s I-751 application. As a result, on January 8, 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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