CASE: Marriage-Based Adjustment of Status

CLIENT: Ghanaian

LOCATION: Cleveland, OH

Our client came to the United States in September 2001 with an A-2 visa (The A-2 diplomatic visa is a nonimmigrant visa which allows foreign accredited officials, not in the diplomatic category, to enter into the U.S. to engage in official activities of their government) from Ghana. Since then, she has maintained her A-2 status, finished her school, and she is currently working as a nurse in the United States.

She married a U.S. Citizen in July 2013 and retained our office on October 25, 2013 for her adjustment of status application. They were not living together but based on our conversation, the marriage was bona fide. The US Citizen lived in Ohio, the beneficiary lived in Maryland.

Our firm prepared and filed the I-130 Petition and I-485 Adjustment of Status Application on November 8, 2013.  Everything went smoothly and the receipt notices, fingerprint appointment, and work permits all came on time. We also requested that the interview be held in Cleveland Ohio.

Prior to the interview, we thoroughly prepared our clients through conference calls. On June 9, 2014, our client was interviewed at the Cleveland, Ohio USCIS.  Attorney Sung Hee (Glen) Yu from our office also accompanied our client as well. On June 23, 2014, her green card application was approved.

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CASE: I-751

APPLICANT: Surinamese

LOCATION: Cleveland, OH

Our client contacted our office in January of 2014 regarding her I-751 application.

She is from Suriname and she married a U.S. citizen in 2011. Through her marriage, she obtained a 2-year conditional green card in May of 2012.  Her conditional residency terminated in May 2014.

To comply with immigration requirements, our client and her husband had to file an I-751 Joint Petition to Remove Conditions on her permanent residency. She retained our office on January 20, 2014 and our office prepared and filed an I-751 application with bona fide marriage evidence.

On February 4, 2014, our office filed an I-751 application to the USCIS with multiple affidavits from her friends and family members, joint insurance policies, joint tax records, joint property ownership document, and photos of our client and her husband to demonstrate the bona fideness of their marriage.

There was no RFE or interview request for our client’s I-751 application. As a result, on June 19, 2014, the USCIS approved our client’s I-751 application and our client received her 10-year green card.

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CASE: Change of Status from H-1B to F-2

CLIENT: Korean

LOCATION: Akron, Ohio

Our client was a part-time instructor who has taught in the University in Akron under an H-1B status. His wife was studying at a local community college under an F-1 status. Before he contacted our office, he and his employer decided not to renew his contract. Our client, thus, would like to change his status from H-1B to F-2 once his H-1B is expired.

Our firm was retained on April 24, 2014, and on May 6, 2014, we filed our client’s I-539 with all supporting documents to the USCIS. We included our client’s bank statements, joint tax records, and other relevant financial documentations of our client and his wife to show that they have enough financial ability to finish our client’s wife’s degree program and support their daily life in the United States until her degree is completed.

After the change of status application was filed, there were no requests for evidence. On June 17, 2014, the Change of Status was approved. Our client is now on F-2 and can stay in the United States with his wife until the duration of his wife’s F-1 status.

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CASE: I-751

APPLICANT: Italian

LOCATION: Cleveland, OH

Our client contacted our office in February of 2014 regarding her I-751 application.

She is from Italy and she married a U.S. citizen in 2011. Through her marriage, she obtained a 2-year conditional green card in May of 2012.  Her conditional residency terminated in May 2014.

To comply with immigration requirements, our client and her husband had to file an I-751 Joint Petition to Remove Conditions on her permanent residency. She retained our office on February 27, 2014 and our office prepared an I-751 application with bona fide marriage evidence.

On March 6, 2014, our office filed an I-751 application to the USCIS with multiple affidavits from her friends and family members, joint bank statements, joint tax records, utility bills, joint lease, and photos of our client and her husband to demonstrate the bona fideness of their marriage.

There was no RFE or interview request for our client’s I-751 application. As a result, on June 11, 2014, the USCIS approved our client’s I-751 application and our client received her 10-year green card.

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CASE: I-751

APPLICANT: Korean

LOCATION: Columbus, OH

Our client contacted our office in January of 2014 regarding her I-751 application.

She is from South Korea and she married a U.S. citizen in 2011. Through her marriage, she obtained a 2-year conditional green card in April of 2012.  Her conditional residency terminated in April 2014.

To comply with immigration requirements, our client and her husband had to file an I-751 Joint Petition to Remove Conditions on her permanent residency. She retained our office on January 30, 2014 and our office prepared an I-751 application with bona fide marriage evidence.

On March 7, 2014, our office filed an I-751 application to the USCIS with multiple affidavits from her friends and family members, joint bank statements, joint tax records, utility bills, joint lease, and photos of our client and her husband to demonstrate the bona fideness of their marriage.

There was no RFE or interview request for our client’s I-751 application. As a result, on June 10, 2014, the USCIS approved our client’s I-751 application and our client received her 10-year green card.

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CASE: Adjustment of Status based on I-130 petition for minor step-son of US Citizen

CLIENT: US Citizen Petitioner; Mongolian Beneficiary

LOCATION: Cleveland, OH

Our clients are a U.S. citizen husband and his Mongolian wife in Cleveland, OH.  Our client has a son from her previous marriage. Her son came to the United States with B-2 visitor’s visa from Mongolia in September 2013 and has lived with them in Cleveland, Ohio.

Her U.S. citizen husband decided to petition for his step-son for an I-130 petition and the step-son wanted to file an adjustment of status application.

They contacted our office in January 2014 and retained our office to help them for the I-130 and I-485 for their step-son. Our firm prepared and filed the I-130 Petition and Adjustment of Status Application on February 13, 2014.  Everything went smoothly and the receipt notices, fingerprint appointment, and work permits all came on time.

Eventually, on June 5, 2014, the USCIS approved both the I-130 petition and I-485 adjustment of status application without an interview. Now, our client’s minor step-son is a green card holder.

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CASE: Motion to Remand / Reopen based on Pending I-130 Petition
CLIENT: Moldovan
LOCATION: Cleveland, OH

Our client came to the United States with a valid J-1 visa from Romania in June 2007. He remained in the United States for a time longer than permitted. Later, he was placed in deportation proceedings due to his overstay and a Notice to Appear was issued. His asylum relief was denied by the Immigration Judge in April 2012, but an appeal was timely filed.  The BIA appeal was pending when our client contacted our office in March 2014.

While the BIA appeal was pending, our client married his U.S. citizen wife in February 2013. His wife filed an I-130 petition for our client on March 7, 2013.  He contacted our office for legal assistance for a Motion to Remand and possible adjustment of status if the Motion is granted.  We explained to him that the Motion to Remand procedure and he retained our office on April 8, 2014. On April 17, 2014, we prepared and filed a Motion to Remand for Adjustment of Status Based on a Pending I-130 on behalf our client. You typically want the I-130 to be approved prior to filing the Motion to Remand, but by submitting the actual I-130 application itself and its supporting documents attached to the Motion, you can show that it is approvable.

In Matter of Coelho, 20 I&N Dec. 464, 473 (BIA 1992), the BIA found that a motion to remand must conform to the same standards as a motion to reopen, where the respondent presents new evidence which would likely change the result of the case. In a Motion to Reopen before the BIA, the Applicant must show that the evidence is material, unavailable at time of original hearing, and could not have been discovered or presented at the original hearing. 8 C.F.R. § 1003.2(c)(1). In this case, adjustment of status relief was not available for our client at his previous hearing since he was not married his U.S. Citizen wife.

Our office filed a Motion to Remand for Adjustment of Status based on a pending I-130 to the BIA on April 17, 2014. We argued that our client will be eligible for adjustment of status once the I-130 is approved since he had a legal entry to the U.S., has no criminal records, and has no other grounds of inadmissibility. We also attached a lot of bona fide marital evidence between our client and his U.S. citizen wife to demonstrate that  the I-130 petition is approvable.

While his motion was pending before the BIA, he and his wife appeared for the I-130 interview on May 5, 2014. Prior to the interview, we thoroughly prepared our client at our office.  On the day of our client’s I-130 interview, our attorney accompanied them at the Cleveland, OH USCIS. The interview went well, and the I-130 petition was approved.

On June 6, 2014, the BIA granted our motion, reopened our client’s case, and the record was remanded for further proceedings.

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CASE: I-751

APPLICANT: Ghanaian

LOCATION: Columbus, OH

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

He is from Ghana and he married a U.S. citizen in 2011. Through his marriage, he obtained a 2-year conditional green card in April of 2012.  His conditional residency terminated in April 2014.

To comply with immigration requirements, our client and his wife had to file an I-751 Joint Petition to Remove Conditions on his permanent residency. He retained our office on January 29, 2014 and our office prepared an I-751 application with bona fide marriage evidence.

On February 6, 2014, our office filed an I-751 application to the USCIS with multiple affidavits from his friends and family members, joint bank statements, joint tax records, utility bills, joint lease, and photos of our client and his wife to demonstrate the bona fideness of their marriage.

There was no RFE or interview request for our client’s I-751 application. As a result, on June 2, 2014, the USCIS approved our client’s I-751 application and our client received his 10-year green card.

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CASE: I-485 based on Approved I-140 (EB-3)

 APPLICANT: Korean

 LOCATION: Cleveland, OH

Our client is a chemist from South Korea, who is currently working at a large chemical company which was willing to petition her for a third-preference petition (I-140).  Our client has a Bachelor of Science degree and has worked for this company since she completed her undergraduate program. She has maintained her status as an H-1B visa holder in the United States.  She had an approved I-140 petition which was filed by her current employer and this I-140 petition’s priority date was August 9, 2012.

In March of this year, her priority date became current. She contacted our office and retained us for her I-485 adjustment of status application. Our office filed an I-485 adjustment of status application for our client on March 17, 2014. Everything went smoothly and the receipt notices and fingerprint appointment came on time.

Eventually, on May 27, 2014, the USCIS Nebraska Service Center approved our client’s adjustment of status application. She is now a green card holder.

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CASE: H-1B Visa Petition

PETITIONER:  Beauty Supply Distributing / Retail Company

BENEFICIARY: Korean Product Safety / Quality Assurance Director

Our client is a large beauty supply material distributer / retailer in Cleveland, Ohio. They contacted our office in February of this year to seek legal assistance from our office for their foreign employee.

The beneficiary obtained his Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering in South Korea and is pursuing his Associate’s degree in Accounting in the United States.  The proffered position for the Beneficiary is a Product Safety / Quality Assurance Director. We had to argue that this qualifies as a specialty occupation. We had to show that this position is a “specialty occupation” because the minimum requirements for this position are a Bachelor’s Degree in Chemical or Industrial Engineering or its equivalent.

Once retained, our office filed the H-1B visa petition with various supporting documents on March 31, 2014 via regular processing service. This H-1B petition was selected after the lottery and was thus processed.

Eventually, our client’s H-1B application was approved on May 16, 2014 without any Request for Evidence.  Starting October 1, 2014, he can work for his employer on an H-1B status for the next three years.

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