CASE: J-1 Waiver of the Two-Year Foreign Residency Requirement, Extreme Hardship

 NATIONALITY: Yemeni

 LOCATION: Kent, OH

Our client came from Yemen as a J-1 student with the Department of State’s UGRAD program.  His J-1 status made him subject to the two-year foreign resident requirement. Our client would like to file his adjustment of status application along with his U.S. Citizen wife’s I-130 petition; however, due to the two-year foreign residency requirement, he had to obtain a waiver first.

Unlike our other J-1 clients, our client could not pursue his waiver under No Objection Statement or Interest Government Agency (IGA). Our client also received government funding (UGRAD) for his studying programs which made his case pretty much impossible for the No Objection Statement or IGA waiver route. Our client, though, would like to pursue his J-1 waiver based on exceptional hardship standard. In fact, our client’s U.S. citizen wife is experiencing exceptional medical hardships. 

According to 8 C.F.R. Section 212.7(c)(5), “an alien who is subject to the foreign residence requirement and who believes that compliance therewith would impose exceptional hardship upon her spouse or child who is a citizen of the United States… may apply for a waiver on Form I-612.” 

Some of the factors in analyzing extreme hardship are as follows: age of the subject, family ties in the U.S. and abroad, length and residency in the U.S., health / medical conditions, conditions in the country of removal – economic and political, financial status – business and occupation, position in / ties to the community. Matter of Anderson, 16 I&N Dec. 596 (BIA 1978). 

After he retained our firm, we prepared and filed a waiver request through an exceptional hardship basis. On April 23, 2018, the J-1 Waiver (Form DS-3035) Application was filed to the Department of State.  Thereafter, our office prepared affidavit of our client, extensive brief in support for our client’s J-1 waiver application, and other supporting documents. Our client provided us with extensive medical documents and doctor’s reports for his U.S. citizen wife’s medical conditions.  On April 30, 2018, our office filed I-612 application to the USCIS and asked for them to issue and recommends this waiver based on the fact that our client’s wife would experience exceptional hardship if our client needs to go back to Yemen for two years. 

Eventually, the USCIS approved his I-612 waiver on June 21, 2019. Now that our client’s two-year foreign residency requirement is waived, he can file his adjustment of status application along with his wife’s I-130 petition in the United States. 

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CASE: H-1B Visa Petition

PETITIONER:  Dental Clinic

BENEFICIARY: Korean Dentist in Bedford, OH

Our client is a dental clinic located in Cleveland, Ohio.  They contacted our office in early March of this year to seek legal assistance for a possible H-1B petition for their foreign employee.

The beneficiary obtained his Doctor of Dental Medicine in the United States. Moreover, she is a licensed dentist in the state of Ohio. The proffered position for the Beneficiary is an associate dentist which clearly qualifies as a specialty occupation.

Upon retention, our office prepared and eventually filed the H-1B visa petition with various supporting documents on March 29, 2019 via regular processing service. This H-1B petition was selected after the lottery.  Eventually, our client’s H-1B application was approved on July 24, 2019.

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CASE: Marriage-Based Adjustment of Status

CLIENT: Indian

LOCATION: Elyria, OH

Our client came to the United States from India on an F-1 student visa in 2009. He married a U.S. Citizen in April 2017 and retained our office on March 13, 2019 for his green card application.  Our firm prepared and filed the I-130 Petition and I-485 Adjustment of Status Application on April 3, 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 23, 2019, our client was interviewed at the Cleveland, Ohio USCIS office. Attorney Sung Hee (Glen) Yu from our office accompanied our clients as well. Eventually, on July 24, 2019, his green card application was approved.

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CASE: Marriage-Based Adjustment of Status

CLIENT: British

LOCATION: Parma, OH

Our client came to the United States from the United Kingdom on a B-2 visitor’s visa in 1993 when she was a minor. Since then, she has remained in the United States.  She married a U.S. Citizen in December 2007, and retained our office on February 28, 2019 for her green card application. Our firm prepared and filed the I-130 Petition and I-485 Adjustment of Status Application on March 19, 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 18, 2019, our client was interviewed at the Cleveland, Ohio USCIS office. Eventually, on the same day of the interview, her green card application was approved.

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CASE: I-751

APPLICANT: Indian

LOCATION: Aurora, OH

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

She is from India and she married a U.S. citizen. Through her marriage, she obtained a 2-year conditional green card in April of 2017. Thus, 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, and our office prepared an I-751 application for our client with other supplemental exhibits.

On February 12, 2019, our office filed an I-751 application to the USCIS with multiple affidavits from her friends and family members, joint bank statements, utility bills, joint tax documents, birth certificate of their son, and photos of our client and her husband to demonstrate the bona fideness of their marriage.

Several months later, the USCIS scheduled an interview for our client and her husband. On July 9, 2019, 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 in our office and also accompanied them at the interview as well. The interview went well, and as a result, on July 17, 2019, the USCIS approved our client’s I-751 application. 

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CASE: Marriage-Based Adjustment of Status

CLIENT: Gambian

LOCATION: Cleveland, OH

Our client came to the United States from Gambia on a B-2 visitor’s visa in September 2015. He married a U.S. Citizen in August 2017 and retained our office for his green card application.  Our firm prepared and filed the I-130 Petition and I-485 Adjustment of Status Application on November 5, 2018. 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 April 25, 2019, our client was interviewed at the Cleveland, Ohio USCIS office. Attorney JP Sarmiento from our office accompanied our clients as well. Eventually, on July 17, 2019, his green card application 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 visa in December 2017. She married a U.S. Citizen in March 2019 and retained our office on March 27, 2019 for her green card application.  Our firm prepared and filed the I-130 Petition and I-485 Adjustment of Status Application on April 22, 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 8, 2019, our client was interviewed at the Cleveland, Ohio USCIS office. Eventually, on July 17, 2019, her green card application was approved.

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CASE: I-751

APPLICANT: Ukrainian

LOCATION: Lyndhurst, OH

Our client contacted our office in December of 2017 regarding her and her son’s I-751 applications.

She is from Ukraine and married a U.S. citizen. Through her marriage, she and her son obtained a 2-year conditional green card in April of 2016. Thus, their conditional residency terminated in April 2018. 

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, and our office prepared an I-751 application for our client and her son with other supplemental exhibits.

On February 12, 2018, our office filed an I-751 application to the USCIS with multiple affidavits from her friends and family members, joint bank statements, utility bills, joint tax documents, 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 March 25, 2019. 

Nonetheless, the USCIS scheduled an interview for our client and her husband. On July 16, 2019, 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 in our office and also accompanied them at the interview as well. The interview went well, and as a result, on the same day of the interview, the USCIS approved our client’s I-751 application.

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CASE: Asylee Adjustment of Status
CLIENT: Chinese
LOCATION: Mayfield Heights, OH

Our client came to the United States from China and he was granted asylum in November 2017 at the Los Angeles Immigration Court. 

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 November 2018, one year after he got his asylee status in the United States, our client contacted our office again and sought legal assistance for his adjustment of status.  We prepared and filed his I-485 Adjustment of Status Application on January 22, 2019. Everything went smoothly and the receipt notice and fingerprint appointment all came on time.

Eventually, on July 10, 2019, the USCIS approved our client’s Adjustment of Status application without the interview. He is now a permanent resident of the United States.

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CASE: I-485 Adjustment of Status based on approved EB-2 I-140 petition

EMPLOYER: Cosmetic Products Manufacturer

BENEFICIARY: Korean Controller

LOCATION: Aurora, OH

Our client is currently working as a finance manager and his current employer was willing to petition him for a second-preference petition (I-140).  Our client has a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and has more than 5 years of experience as a Financial Analyst. After talking to our client, our firm concluded that his employer can petition him as a Controller. Second preference petitions for Koreans are current, which means that if a PERM Labor Certification for a second preference position gets approved, the I-140 and I-485 could be filed simultaneously. Based on our client’s educational, professional and working background, our office determined that he is clearly eligible for EB-2 classification for his I-140 petition.  Our client eventually retained us in June 8, 2017.

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 the PERM application could be filed at least 60 days from the job posting date or 30 days from the last ad. Within a week from our retention, the prevailing wage request was filed.  After we obtained the foreign degree evaluation report, our office filed the job order on December 8, 2017. On May 7, 2018, we promptly filed PERM. 

However, on August 22, 2018, the Department of Labor issued a request for audit. The DOL requested documents from Petitioner to determine whether the recruitment process was done properly. Moreover, the DOL requested the Petitioner to submit evidence related to bona fide job opportunity which includes Petitioner’s articles of incorporation, quarterly tax, organizational chart, etc. In response to the Audit request, our office prepared the response to Audit brief along with Employer’s declaration, notice of filing, recruitment documentation, and other requested documents on September 19, 2018.  Eventually, on December 13, 2018, the PERM Labor Certification was approved – an EB2 position for the Korean 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 January 18, 2019 via premium processing service. Eventually, on January 29, 2019, the I-140 EB2 Petition for our Korean client was approved without any Request for Evidence (RFE). 

Once his I-140 petition was approved, he retained our office again and determined to file an adjustment of status application for him and his immediate family members. On February 28, 2019, our office filed I-485 adjustment of status applications for our client and his family members. Everything went smoothly and the receipt notices and fingerprint appointment came on time.

Prior to the interview, we thoroughly prepared our client via conference calls as well. On July 12, 2019, our client was interviewed at Cleveland Ohio USCIS office. Attorney Sung Hee (Glen) Yu from our office also accompanied our clients as well. Eventually, his I-485 application was approved by the USCIS on the same day of the interview.

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