CASE: J-2 Waiver of Two-Year Foreign Residency Requirement Post-Divorce
NATIONALITY: Indian
LOCATION: Cleveland, OH

Our client is a citizen of India who came to the U.S. on a J-2 Visa in 2006.  She came with her husband who held a J-1 Visa as a researcher.  Both were subject to the two-year foreign residency requirement. While she was J-2, she changed her status to J-1 after she was employed. She obtained her I-612 (J-1 waiver) for her J-1 program when she changed her status from J-1 to H-1B later. Unfortunately, while they are residing in the United States, her marriage did not work out well. Eventually, she got divorced from her ex-husband in 2012. 

In 2015, her Eb-1 I-140 petition was approved by the USCIS. Our client filed her I-485 adjustment of status along with her approved I-140 and I-612. However, the USCIS issued Request for Evidence and asked her to submit advisory opinion for her J-2 program. She applied for the advisory opinion to the U.S. Department of State, and in November 2016, the Department informed our client that she is still subject to the two year foreign residency requirement for her J-2 time.

After she found out that she needs a J-2 waiver, our client contacted our office in December 2016. She retained our firm to do her J-2 waiver on December 13, 2016. On December 14, 2016 the J-2 Waiver (DS-3035) was filed to the Department of State. We also sent a request to the DOS to be an interested government agency and recommend this waiver based on the fact that our client was divorced from the J-1 visa holder.  Eventually, on January 23, 2017, the DOS recommended to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) that our client be granted a waiver. Finally, the USCIS issued I-612 waiver approval notice on March 30, 2017.  Now, our client can re-file an adjustment of status application (I-485) for her green card with the approved I-140 petition and I-612 waiver.

{ 0 comments }

CASE: I-130 and Consular Processing (Immigrant Visa) – Marriage-Petition
CLIENT: US Citizen Petitioner; Irish Beneficiary in Dublin Ireland
LOCATION: Petitioner: Ohio; Beneficiary: Dublin, Ireland

Our client is a U.S. citizen.  He married his wife in the United States in August 2015.  After the marriage, his wife went back to Ireland. Our client contacted our office in November 2015 and retained us to bring his wife to the States.

Our office prepared and filed the I-130 to the National Visa Center on December 9, 2015. The I-130 Petition was approved by the USCIS on October 11, 2016. After the I-130 approval, we filed the immigrant visa packets to the National Visa Center on November 30, 2016, who in turn forwarded our client’s materials to the U.S. Embassy in Dublin, Ireland. An interview notice was set for the client at the US Embassy in Dublin, Ireland and we prepared her for her interview. On April 3, 2017, our client appeared at her immigrant visa interview at the U.S. Embassy in Dublin. After the interview, the U.S. Embassy in Dublin, Ireland approved and issued her immigrant visa.

With the approved Immigrant visa, our client’s wife can come to the United States immediately, and she will get her green card within two months of entry.

{ 0 comments }

CASE: I-130 and Consular Processing (Immigrant Visa) – Marriage-Petition
CLIENT: US Citizen Petitioner; Pakistani Beneficiary in Pakistan
LOCATION: Petitioner: Ohio; Beneficiary: Islamabad Pakistan

Our client is a U.S. citizen.  She married her husband in Pakistan in March 2016.  After the marriage, she came back to the United States and contacted our office in April 2016 and retained us to bring her husband to the States.

Our office prepared and filed the I-130 to the National Visa Center on April 15, 2016. The I-130 Petition was approved by the USCIS on July 25, 2016. After the I-130 approval, we filed the immigrant visa packets to the National Visa Center on September 30, 2016, who in turn forwarded our client’s materials to the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan. An interview notice was set for the client at the US Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan and we prepared him for his interview. On January 11, 2017, our client appeared at his immigrant visa interview at the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad. On March 22, 2017, the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan approved and issued his immigrant visa.

With the approved Immigrant visa, our client’s husband can come to the United States immediately, and he will get his green card within two months of entry.

{ 0 comments }

CASE: H-1B Concurrent Employment

PETITIONER: Law Firm

BENEFICIARY: Nigerian IT Quality Assurance Project Manager

LOCATION: Cleveland, OH

Our client is a mid-sized law firm which is located in Cleveland, OH. They contacted our office in September 2016 to seek assistance from our office for their foreign employee’s H-1B based on concurrent employment category. The beneficiary is from Nigeria and he obtained his Bachelor’s degree in computer science. The proffered position for the Beneficiary is an IT Quality Assurance Project Manager which we argued qualifies as a specialty occupation. He got his H-1B status with a different petitioner-employer in 2016.

After retention, our office promptly filed the H-1B visa petition with various supporting documents on October 21, 2016 via regular processing. We also gathered supporting documents from both the Petitioner and Beneficiary and argued that beneficiary’s position is a specialty occupation as the law requires.  Eventually, our client’s H-1B application was approved on March 15, 2017.  His H-1B is good until October 2019.

{ 0 comments }

CASE: Adjustment of Status Based on Approved K-1 Visa

CLIENT: Italian

LOCATION: Cleveland, OH

Our client came to the United States in July 2016 as a K-1 visa entrant from Italy.  Our client is the beneficiary of an approved I-129F petition. He came to the United States as a K-1 Fiancé of a U.S. Citizen whom he married within 90 days of his entry. By law, if you married your petitioner-fiancé within 90 days of your K-1 visa entry, you are eligible to apply for adjustment of status (green card) in the United States.

Our client contacted our office initially in August 2016 and consulted with us for his adjustment of status application. After the retention, our firm quickly prepared and filed the I-485 Adjustment of Status Application on August 19, 2016.  Things went smoothly and the receipt notices, and the fingerprint appointment all came on time.  

It is not mandatory to have an adjustment of status interview for an applicant who entered on a K-1 visa.  However, the USCIS may require an interview to test the validity and bona fide nature of the marriage between the Petitioner and Beneficiary. The USCIS did not require an adjustment interview for our client. On March 20, 2017, his green card application was finally approved.

{ 0 comments }

CASE:   I-601A Hardship Waiver of Inadmissibility

APPLICANT / BENEFICIARY: Mexican

LOCATION: Ohio

Our client came to the United States from Mexico in 2009 without inspection and admission. He married his U.S. citizen wife in November 2011. With our firm’s legal assistance, his U.S. Citizen wife filed an I-130 petition for him in April 2016. This I-130 petition was approved on August 11, 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 October 17, 2016, 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 March 14, 2017. Now, he can file packet 3 and 4 here in the United States, and would go to Mexico shortly to get his immigrant visa.

{ 0 comments }

CASE: Fiancé Visa

PETITIONER: US Citizen in Cleveland Ohio

BENEFICIARY: Filipina

PETITION FILED: December 9, 2015

PETITION APPROVED: January 25, 2016

K-1 VISA APPROVED: March 6, 2017

Our client, a US Citizen Petitioner, met his Filipina fiancé in the Philippines in 2012. They started their relationship, and he visited the Philippines. His fiancé became pregnant and their son was born in May 2013 in the Philippines.  He proposed to her in the Philippines. After his proposal, he retained our firm to file a fiancé petition for her and immigrant visa petition for his son.

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 24, 2015. We helped him and his fiancée draft letters in support of the fiancé petition, and we filed the I-129F petition on December 9, 2015.

On January 25, 2016, after a month of the filing, the I-129F fiancée petition was approved. Our office also prepared and filed I-130 immigrant visa petition on December 23, 2015 and this I-130 petition was approved by the USCIS on June 7, 2016.

On November 17, 2016, our client’s son appeared at the U.S. Embassy in Manila, Philippines for his immigrant visa interview. After the interview, our son’s immigrant visa was issued. Later, our client’s fiancée appeared at the U.S. Embassy in Manila, Philippines for her K-1 visa interview. The interview went well, and on March 6, 2017, the U.S. Embassy issued her K-1 visa.

{ 0 comments }

CASE: I-485 Adjustment of Status based on Approved I-140 (EB-2)

APPLICANT: Kenyan Non-Profit Housewarming Project Manager

LOCATION: Cleveland, OH

Our client is currently working as a Non-Profit Housewarming Project Manager whose current employer was willing to petition him for a second-preference petition (I-140).  Our client has a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in a related field and work experience. He has been working for his current employer under an OPT status. Based on our client’s education, professional and work background, our office determined that he is clearly eligible for EB-2 classification for his I-140 petition.  Our client eventually retained us.

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. On April 2, 2015, the prevailing wage request was filed.  Once we received the Prevailing Wage determination, our office filed the job order on August 20, 2015.  On November 20, 2015, we promptly filed PERM.

However, on May 2, 2016, the Department of Labor issued a request for audit. The DOL requested documents from Petitioner to determine whether the recruitment process was done properly. In response to the Audit request, our office prepared the response to Audit brief along with Employer’s declaration, notice of filing, and recruitment documentation on May 11, 2016.  

Eventually, on July 18, 2016, the PERM Labor Certification was approved – an EB2 position for the Kenyan 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 July 28, 2016 via premium processing service. On August 8, 2016, the I-140 EB-2 Petition for our Kenyan client was approved without any Request for Evidence (RFE).

Our office filed his I-485 application along with his I-140 petition concurrently. On March 1, 2017, the USCIS approved his I-485 application as well. Now, he is a green card holder.

{ 0 comments }

CASE: I-485 Adjustment of Status based on Approved I-140 (EB-2)
EMPLOYER: Dental Group in Cleveland, OH
BENEFICIARY: Nepali Dentist

Our client is from Nepal, who is currently working in the United States as an associate dentist under an F-1 (OPT) status. Her current employer was willing to do an immigration petition for her, second-preference. Our client has a Doctor of Dental Surgery degree in the United States. After talking to our client, our firm concluded that her employer can petition her as an associate dentist. Based on our client’s education, professional and work background, our office determined that she is clearly eligible for EB-2 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 September 15, 2015, the prevailing wage request was filed.  After we obtained Prevailing Wage determination, our office filed the job order on November 30, 2015.  On February 22, 2016, we promptly filed PERM.  Eventually, on June 14, 2016, the PERM Labor Certification was approved – an EB2 position for the Nepalese 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 July 11, 2016 via premium processing service. Eventually, on July 21, 2016, the I-140 EB-2 Petition for our Nepalese client was approved without any Request for Evidence (RFE).

Our office filed his I-485 application along with his I-140 petition concurrently. However, on January 23, 2017, the USCIS Nebraska Service Center issued Request for Evidence (RFE) and requested our client to submit the updated employment letter. Our office filed the response to RFE on February 15, 2017. On March 3, 2017, the USCIS approved her I-485 application as well. Now, she is a green card holder.

{ 0 comments }

CASE: I-140 (EB-3)    
EMPLOYER: Clothing Company in Cleveland, OH
BENEFICIARY: Korean Fashion Design / Display Manager

Our client is from South Korea, who is currently in H-4 status. Her prospective employer was willing to do an immigration petition for her, third-preference. Our client has a Bachelor of Fashion Design Degree and used to work as a fashion designer in South Korea. After talking to our client, our firm concluded that her prospective employer can petition her as a Fashion Design and Display Manager. Based on our client’s educational, professional and working backgrounds, our office determined that she is clearly 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 5, 2016, the prevailing wage request was filed.  After we obtained Prevailing Wage determination, our office filed the job order on May 5, 2016.  On July 15, 2016, we promptly filed PERM.  Eventually, on October 5, 2016, the PERM Labor Certification was approved – an EB3 position for the Korean beneficiary.

We then proceeded with the I-140 Petition filing. We submitted a cover brief with the “ability to pay” argument 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 November 9, 2016. Eventually, on February 28, 2017, the I-140 EB-3 Petition for our Korean client was approved. Our client can file her I-485 adjustment application.

{ 0 comments }