CASE: Marriage-Based Adjustment of Status

CLIENT: Ghanaian

LOCATION: Cleveland Ohio

Our client came to the United States in July 2011 with a J-1 visa from Ghana. Later, she married a U.S. Citizen in February 2015 and retained our office for her petition and adjustment of status application.

She also asked us to file her daughter’s (Petitioner’s step-daughter) adjustment of status application.

Once retained, our firm prepared and filed the I-130 petition and I-485 adjustment of status application on September 25, 2015. Everything went smoothly and the receipt notices, fingerprint appointment, and work permits all came on time. There were no requests for evidence.

Prior to the interview, we thoroughly prepared our clients at our office. On December 3, 2015, our clients were interviewed at the Cleveland, Ohio USCIS office. Attorney Sung Hee (Glen) Yu from our office accompanied them at their interview as well. On December 11, 2015, our client and her daughter’s green card applications were approved.

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CASE: I-485 adjustment of status / I-140 / EB-11 (Alien of Extraordinary Ability)

CLIENT: Chinese

LOCATION: Cleveland, Ohio

Our client contacted us in May 2014 about the possibility of getting an immigrant visa through the EB-11 category. He is an internationally known Pianist and is currently working as a pianist in the Cleveland area.  Our client has received multiple international awards and has appeared in numerous recitals in several cities in the world.  Also, has performed at the Carnegie Hall in New York City, and has been published in publications such as the Plain Dealer. Upon review of his credentials and qualifications, our office determined that he was qualified for the EB-11 category, an alien of extraordinary ability.

According to INA Section 203(b):

(1)   Priority workers – visas shall first be made available… to qualified immigrants who are aliens described in any of the following sub-paragraphs (A) through (C):

(A) Aliens with extraordinary – an alien is described in this sub-paragraph if-

(i)                The alien has extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education, business, or athletes which has been demonstrated by sustained national or international acclaim and whose achievements have been recognized in the field through extensive documentation,

(ii)               The alien seeks to enter the United States to continue work in the area of extraordinary ability, and

(iii)             The alien’s entry into the United States will substantially benefit prospectively the United States.

USCIS has consistently recognized that Congress intended to set a very high standard for individuals seeking immigrant visas as aliens of extraordinary ability.  See H.R. 723 101st Cong.2d Sess. 59 (1990); 56 Fed. Reg. 60897, 60898-99 (Nov. 29, 1991).  The term “extraordinary ability” refers only to those individuals in that small percentage who have risen to the very top of the field of endeavor. Id. And 8 C.F.R. § 204.5(h)(2).

The regulation at 8 C.F.R. § 204.5(h)(3) requires that an alien demonstrate his or her sustained acclaim and the recognition of his or her achievements in the field.  Such acclaim and achievements must be established either through evidence of a one-time achievement (that is, a major international recognized award) or through meeting at least three of the following ten categories of evidence:

(i)                 Documentation of the alien’s receipt of lesser nationally or internationally recognized prizes or awards for excellence in the field of endeavor;

(ii)               Documentation of the alien’s membership in associations in the field for which classification is sought, which require outstanding achievements of their members, as judged by recognized national or international experts in their disciplines or fields;

(iii)             Published material about the alien in professional or major trade publications or other major media, relating to the alien’s work in the field for which classification is sought.  Such evidence shall include the title, date, and author of the material, and any necessary translation;

(iv)             Evidence of the alien’s participation, either individually or on a panel, as a judge of the work of others in the same or an allied field of specialization for which classification is sought;

(v)               Evidence of the alien’s original scientific, scholarly, artistic, athletic, or business-related contributions of major significance in the field;

(vi)             Evidence of the alien’s authorship of scholarly articles in the field, in professional or major trade publications or other major media;

(vii)           Evidence of the display of the alien’s work in the field at an artistic exhibitions or showcases;

(viii)         Evidence that the alien has performed in a leading or critical role for organizations or establishments that have a distinguished reputation;

(ix)             Evidence that the alien has commanded a high salary or other significantly high remuneration for services, in relation to others in the field; or

(x)               Evidence of commercial successes in the performing arts, as shown by box office receipts or record, cassette, compact disk, or video sales.

After review of our client’s credentials and qualifications, we determined that our client can meet 4 of the 10 categories, which is more than 3 required as an alien of extraordinary ability. Our client has been awarded numerous national and international awards for his piano performance; has made an original contribution in the musical field of piano performance; has participated in a judging panel in numerous prestigious national and international piano competition events; and his distinguished achievements and success in piano performance were published in professional and major media.

Our office prepared a 19-page brief for our client’s EB-11 filing. Our client also obtained 8 letters of recommendation from internationally well-known piano professors and players. Our office also included his performance coverage, awards, media coverage, medals, recital records, and other materials to show that he is an alien of extraordinary ability in piano performance. His EB-11 I-140 application contained 55 exhibits.

Our office filed his I-140 (EB-11) petition to the USCIS Nebraska Service Center via regular processing on October 31, 2014.

However, on April 13, 2015, the USCIS issued a Request for Evidence (RFE). In the RFE, the USCIS claimed that our client only met 2 of the 10 requisite statutory categories of EB-11. In the response brief, our office demonstrated that our client indeed met more categories and provided more letters of recommendations, media coverage documents, recent performance records, and leadership positions.  Our office filed the response to RFE on June 19, 2015.  Eventually, on July 7, 2015, the USCIS Nebraska Service Center approved his I-140 self-petition.

Once his I-140 was approved, our client retained our office again for his I-485 adjustment of status application. Our office filed an I-485 adjustment of status application for our client on August 6, 2015. Everything went smoothly and the receipt notices and fingerprint appointment came on time. However, on October 9, 2015, the USCIS Nebraska Service Center issued a Request for Evidence (RFE) for his adjustment of status application. In the RFE, the USCIS claimed that our client did not comply immigration law while he was in OPT status. They also claimed he worked illegally while volunteering to provide piano lessons in Church. In response, we argued that his volunteer work was part of Church activities. He was not compensated for it, and it’s volunteer and charitable work that does not displace American workers.

 Eventually, on December 8, 2015, the USCIS Nebraska Service Center approved our client’s adjustment of status application. Now, he finally is a green card holder.

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CASE: I-751

APPLICANT: Hungarian

LOCATION: Cleveland, OH

Our client contacted our office in late July of 2014 regarding his I-751 application.

He is from Hungary and he married a U.S. citizen in January 2012. Through his marriage, he obtained a 2-year conditional green card in September of 2012. Our office helped him with his green card application.  His conditional residency terminated in September 2014.

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 6, 2014 and our office prepared an I-751 application for our client with other supplemental exhibits.

On August 29, 2014, our office filed an I-751 application to the USCIS with multiple affidavits from his friends and family members, joint bank statements, utility bills, 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. The USCIS issued a 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 January 15, 2015.

The USCIS then scheduled an interview for our client and his wife. On July 2, 2015, our client and his wife were requested to appear for an 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. Eventually, on December 7, 2015, the USCIS approved our client’s I-751 application.

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CASE: Fiancée Visa

PETITIONER: US Citizen in Ohio

BENEFICIARY: Colombian

PETITION FILED: March 4, 2015

PETITION APPROVED: April 2, 2015

K-1 VISA APPROVED: November 25, 2015

Our client, a US Citizen Petitioner, met his Colombian fiancée in Colombia in 2013. They started their relationship, and he visited Colombia. In June 2014, he proposed to her during their trip in Mexico. After his proposal, he retained our firm to file a fiancée petition for her.

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 5, 2014. We helped him and his fiancée draft letters in support of the fiancé petition, and we filed the petition on March 4, 2015.

On April 2, 2015, less than a month after the filing, the I-129F fiancée petition was approved. On November 25, 2015, our client’s fiancée appeared at the U.S. Embassy in Bogota, Colombia for her K-1 visa interview. The interview went well, and on the same day, the U.S. Embassy issued her K-1 visa.

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CASE:   I-601A Hardship Waiver of Inadmissibility

APPLICANT / BENEFICIARY: Mexican

LOCATION: Ohio

Our client came to the United States from Mexico in 1999 without inspection and admission. He married his U.S. citizen wife in 2003. With our firm’s legal assistance, his U.S. Citizen wife filed an I-130 petition for him in 2013. This I-130 petition was approved on January 17, 2014.

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 July 13, 2015, 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 November 23, 2015. Now, he can file packet 3 and 4 here in the United States, and would go to Mexico shortly to get his immigrant visa.

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CASE: Marriage-Based Adjustment of Status

CLIENT: Zambian

LOCATION: Cleveland, Ohio

Our client came to the United States from Zambia on a B-2 Visitor’s visa in May 2010. After his authorization of stay period expired, he remained in the United States.  He married a U.S. Citizen in July 2015 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 August 14, 2015.  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 in our office. On October 27, 2015, 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 November 23, 2015, his green card application was approved.

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CASE: Marriage-Based Adjustment of Status

CLIENT: Chinese

LOCATION: Cleveland, OH

Our client came to the United States from China on a F-1 student’s visa in August 2010. She married a U.S. Citizen in August 2015 and retained our office on August 5, 2015 for her green card application.  Our firm prepared and filed the I-130 Petition and I-485 Adjustment of Status Application on September 3, 2015.  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 November 23, 2015, 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 the same day of the interview, her green card application was approved.

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

 NATIONALITY:  Iraqi

 LOCATION: Ohio

Our client came to the U.S. on a J-1 Visa in August 2012 from Iraq.  He came to the U.S. for his Ph.D. program, and his J-1 visa made him subject to the two-year foreign residency requirement. Our client would like to an I-140 self-petition under the National Interest Waiver Category and adjustment of status application.  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 a No Objection Statement or Interest Government Agency (IGA). Moreover, our client could not pursue his J-1 waiver based on the exceptional hardship standard. Nonetheless, our client could pursue a J-1 waiver under the persecution category since he believes he will be persecuted based on his religion (Shiite Muslim).

A person can file a J-1 waiver under the persecution basis if the person believes that he or she will be persecuted based on his/her race, religion, or political opinion among others, if he or she returns to his or her home country.. The Waiver Review Division will proceed with the waiver recommendation under this basis only if USCIS makes a finding of persecution.

Our client believed that he would be persecuted if he goes back to Iraq by ISIS based on his belief. His opinions, beliefs, and religious practice as a Muslim Shiite basically go against the beliefs and objectives of ISIS.  After he retained our firm, we prepared and filed a waiver request through the persecution basis. On May 27, 2015 the J-1 Waiver (Form DS-3035) Application was filed to the Department of State.  Thereafter, our office prepared an affidavit for our client, an extensive brief in support for our client’s J-1 waiver application, and other supporting documents to show that he will be persecuted in Iraq if he goes back. On June 3, 2015, our office filed the I-612 application to the USCIS and asked for them to issue and recommend this waiver based on the fact that our client will be persecuted if our client needs to go back to Iraq for two years.

Eventually, the Department of State recommended a waiver for our client on November 2. 2015. Subsequently, the USCIS approved his I-612 waiver on November 4, 2015.

If you have questions, feel free to call Attorney JP Sarmiento at (216) 573-3712 or email us at jp@sarmientoimmigration.com for free consultations.

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CASE: Marriage-Based I-130 and I-485

CLIENT: Mexican

LOCATION: Cleveland, Ohio

Our client came to the United States from Mexico on a TN visa in June 2015. He has been working for his company in the United States as a TN visa holder for the last several years. He married a U.S. Citizen in July 2015 and retained our office in July 14, 2015 for his green card application.  Our firm prepared and filed the I-130 Petition and Adjustment of Status Application on August 4, 2015.  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 October 27, 2015, our client was interviewed at Cleveland, Ohio USCIS office. Attorney Sung Hee (Glen) Yu, Esq. from our office accompanied our clients as well. Eventually, on November 6, 2015, his green card application was approved.

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CASE: N-400 (Citizenship / Naturalization)

APPLICANT: Argentinian

LOCATION: Ohio

Our client contacted us in April 2014 to seek legal representation for his naturalization and citizenship N-400 application. He came to the United States from Argentina and obtained his green card in March 1995. He retained our office for his naturalization and citizenship N-400 application. He was concerned about his multiple DUI convictions and traffic violations. Moreover, our client has health concerns and wanted to include an N-648 medical exemption application (medical certification for disability exceptions).

The naturalization and citizenship N-400 application was filed on July 22, 2015 with all supporting documents. Our office prepared him before his naturalization interview, and also accompanied him on September 29, 2015 at the Cleveland CIS office. Though he has a lot of DUIs in the past, most were before 2008. We argued that he had the requisite good moral character for the statutory 5-year period preceding the N-400 application.

Our client’s history test was waived since his N-648 was granted by the office. Our client passed his English test and did his N-400 interview. The USCIS officer asked our client to submit a certified copy of a criminal record that was previously expunged. We filed the RFE response to the Cleveland USCIS Field Office on October 8, 2015.

Eventually, his naturalization application was approved on October 30, 2015. His oath taking is scheduled in which he will become a naturalized U.S. Citizen.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact our office for free consultations with Attorney JP Sarmiento at jp@sarmientoimmigration.com or (216) 573-3712.

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