CASE: I-140 (EB-3 Category) / Schedule A

EMPLOYER: Nursing / Rehabilitation Center

BENEFICIARY: Filipina

LOCATION: Houston, TX

Our client’s beneficiary is a registered nurse from the Philippines licensed in the state of Texas. She is still in the Philippines and her prospective employer was willing to petition her for a third-preference employment immigrant visa petition (I-140).

Since she is a registered nurse, she is eligible for “Schedule A” classification. The Department of Labor (DOL) maintains a schedule of occupations in its regulations, Schedule A included, for which the individual permanent labor certification procedure is not required. The schedule of pre-certified occupations is referred to as Schedule A, and is included in DOL regulations at 20 CFR 656.10. Based on an occupation’s inclusion on Schedule A, an employer may file an immigrant visa petition (I-140) directly with the (USCIS) without first going to the DOL for a labor certification. Usually, prior to filing I-140 petitions (EB-2 or EB-3 category), the employer must file a Labor Certification to the Department of Labor. However, for Schedule A cases, the employer does not have to go through the labor certification process. The position of Professional Nurses is included in Schedule A.

Our client has a nursing degree and has a registered nursing license in the state of Texas. Our firm told her that her prospective employer can petition her as a Registered Nurse under the schedule A category. Our office was retained on April 6, 2015 and started on her Prevailing Wage Request.

We filed the I-140 application on August 25, 2015 via premium processing. We included the job offer letter, the notice of filing, and other necessary supporting documents.  However, on September 9, 2015, the USCIS Texas Service Center issued the Request for Evidence (RFE). According to the RFE, the USCIS requested our client to submit her degree evaluation report. Our office filed the Response to RFE with our client’s degree evaluation report on September 15, 2015. Eventually, on September 24, 2015, the I-140 was approved.

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CASE: I-140 (EB-2 Category) / Schedule A / Premium Processing

EMPLOYER: Nursing Care Facility

BENEFICIARY: Filipina

LOCATION: Beneficiary: Philippines / Petitioner: Houston, TX

Our client came from the Philippines. Her prospective employer-sponsor is willing to petition her for a second-preference employment immigrant visa petition (I-140). Since she has a registered nurse license and the proffered position for her is a nurse manager at the nursing care facility, the petition wanted to try going for a “Schedule A” classification. They also wanted to do EB2 (requiring at least a Masters degree or Bachelors degree + 5 yrs experience).

The Department of Labor (DOL) maintains a schedule of occupations in its regulations, Schedule A included, for which the individual permanent labor certification procedure is not required. The schedule of pre-certified occupations is referred to as Schedule A, and is included in DOL regulations at 20 CFR 656.10. Based on an occupation’s inclusion on Schedule A, an employer may file an immigrant visa petition (I-140) directly with the (USCIS) without having to file a Labor Certification with the Department of Labor. Usually, prior to filing I-140 petitions (EB-2 or EB-3 category), the employer must file a Labor Certification to the Department of Labor. However, for Schedule A cases, the employer does not have to go through the labor certification process. We argued that the position of Health Services Manager should be classified under Schedule A. We argued that it falls under the broad spectrum of “professional nurse” occupations. We also argued that the job description has excerpts that fall under “professional nurse” and that the description justifies the requirements also of Bachelor’s degree in nursing and five years of related experiences.

Our client has a Bachelor’s degree in nursing and 5 years of experience as a staff nurse. She also has a registered nursing license in the state of Texas. Our office was retained and we started on the Prevailing Wage Determination filing and other related matters.

Once the prevailing wage was determined, we filed the I-140 application on July 30, 2015 via premium processing. We included a job offer letter, the notice of filing, employment letter, and other necessary supporting documents. In our cover brief, we included the “ability to pay” argument and why the nurse manager position falls under a Schedule A and EB2 designation.

However, on August 7, 2015, the USCIS Texas Service Center issued the Request for Evidence (RFE) for our client’s I-140 petition. In RFE letter, the USCIS requested our client to demonstrate her past experience and Petitioner’s new tax records. In response to RFE, our office prepared and filed the Response to RFE on August 25, 2015 including our client’s past experience letter from the Philippines and the Petitioner’s tax documents.

Eventually, on August 31, 2015, the USCIS Texas Service Center approved her EB-2 I-140 petition. Now, with the approved EB-2 I-140 petition (priority date for EB2 Philippines nationals is current), she can file her adjustment of status application.

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CASE: N-400 (Citizenship / Naturalization)

APPLICANT: Filipina

LOCATION: Cleveland, OH

Our client contacted us in June 2015 to seek legal representation for her naturalization and citizenship N-400 application. She came to the United States from the Philippines and obtained her green card in May 2011 through marriage to her U.S. Citizen husband. She retained our office on June 3, 2015.

The N-400 application was filed on June 9, 2015 with all supporting documents. Prior to her citizenship interview, our office prepared her in our office. On August 20, 2015, our client appeared at the Cleveland, OH USCIS office for her naturalization interview. Attorney Sung Hee (Glen) Yu from our office accompanied our client. Our client answered all questions correctly and passed her naturalization and citizenship interview. Eventually, her application was approved on August 27, 2015. Her oath taking is scheduled in which she will become a naturalized U.S. Citizen.

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CASE: J-1 Waiver (No Objection Statement)

NATIONALITY: Philippines

LOCATION: South Carolina

Our client came from the Philippines on a J-1 in July 2008 to work as a teacher. According to her DS-2019, she was subject to the two-year foreign residency requirement. After her authorized stay period expired, she remained in the United States.

In April 2011, she got married to her U.S. citizen husband and later on consulted with our firm for her J-1 visa waiver prior to applying for adjustment of status. If someone is subject to the two-year foreign residency requirement, he or she cannot get a green card in the United States until he or she fulfills the requirement or obtains a waiver.

Upon retention, our office promptly prepared a waiver request through a No Objection Statement (NOS) from the Philippine Embassy in the United States and eventually the EVP in the Philippines.

On September 21, the J-1 Waiver Application (Form DS-3035) was filed to the Department of State.  We also sent a request to the South Carolina State Government to get authentication for the necessary documents.  Later, these authenticated documents and No Objection Application (for the Philippine Government) were sent to the Philippine Embassy in D.C. for further authentication.  On November 20, 2012, our office sent our client’s materials to the Waiver Review Committee in Manila, Philippines.  Then, the Waiver Review Committee forwarded the materials and favorable recommendation to the Philippine Embassy in D.C. who eventually issued a No Objection Statement.

On June 29, 2015, the Waiver Review Division issued a favorable recommendation based on the No Objection statement.  Eventually, on August 12, 2015, the USCIS issued an I-612 approval notice for the waiver. Now, our client can file for her I-485 adjustment status application along with her U.S. Citizen husband’s I-130 petition for her.

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CASE: Derivative Adjustment of Status  (I-485) / Same-Sex Marriage

CLIENT: Filipino

LOCATION: Oregon

Our client came to the United States in November 2013 with a valid B-2 visitor’s visa from the Philippines. Later, in March 2014, he married his same-sex spouse in Washington where the same-sex couple’s marriage is legally recognized. His spouse is an H-1B visa holder.

As a family dependent of an H-1B visa holder, our client can change his status from B1 / B2 to H-4. Our firm was retained and on April 14, 2014, we filed our client’s I-539 with all supporting documents to the USCIS. There were no requests for evidence. On July 2, 2014, the Change of Status was approved.

In January 2015, our client contacted our office again for his I-485 adjustment of status application. His spouse had an approved EB-2 I-140 petition and filed his adjustment of status application. Thus, as a derivative beneficiary, our client would like to get legal assistance from us for his adjustment of status application.

Upon retention, our firm prepared and filed the I-485 Adjustment of Status Application on January 14, 2015.  Everything went smoothly and the receipt notices, fingerprint appointment, and work permits all came on time.

However, on May 5, 2015, the USCIS Nebraska Service Center issued a Request for Evidence for our client’s I-485 application and requested bona fide marriage documents from our client. On May 21, 2015, our office filed the Response to RFE with multiple documents showing the bona fide nature of his marriage to his spouse.

Eventually, on August 10, 2015, the USCIS approved our client’s adjustment of status application. Now, he is a green card holder.

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CASE:  I-601 Hardship Waiver of Inadmissibility

APPLICANT / BENEFICIARY: Filipino

LOCATION: Chicago, IL

Our client entered the U.S. in 1993.  Later, he married his U.S. citizen wife and his wife filed an I-130 petition for him and he concurrently filed an I-485 adjustment of status application.  Our client also filed an I-601 wavier application with his adjustment application with the help of his previous immigration lawyer.  He needed to file I-601 waiver because he was found inadmissible due to his previous immigration law violation.

In 1997, our client went back to his father who was critically ill. After he visited his father, our client re-applied for his visitor’s visa to come back to the United States. However, he claimed himself as a single rather than “married” on his visitor’s visa application in order to get his visitor’s visa easily. He got his visa and came back to the United States. Nonetheless, when he applied for his permanent residency in the United States, the USCIS found that he misrepresented a material fact to get his B-2 visitor’s visa. As a result of his actions, he was found to be inadmissible to the United States pursuant to Section 212(a)(6)(C)(i) of the INA.  (Any alien who, by fraud or willfully misrepresenting a material fact, seeks to procure a visa, other documentation, or admission into the United States or other benefit provided under this Act is inadmissible). 

As mentioned above, his green card application was denied, as well as the I-601 waiver application. He had multiple tries, but none of them were successful.

Our client contacted our office in November 2011 to pursue an I-601 waiver once again. Our firm thoroughly analyzed why his previous I-601 waiver applications were denied.  Based on his story and surrounding circumstances (hardship to his U.S. citizen wife if he is deported), our office determined that he had a good chance to win I-601 application. He retained our office on November 21, 2011.

If someone is found to be inadmissible under Section 212(a)(6)(C)(i) of the INA, INA Section 212(i) provides for a discretionary waiver of the fraud or misrepresentation inadmissibility ground.  To qualify for the waiver, the alien must establish that his or her USC spouse would suffer extreme hardship if the alien were denied admission.  INA Section 212(i)(l).  In addition to the equities presented, the USCIS may consider the nature of the fraud or misrepresentation. 

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 an unavailability of suitable medical care in the country to which the qualifying relative would relocate.    

Our client’s I-601 application has a good chance since our client’s U.S. Citizen wife suffers from physical pains emanating from her surgery and some incidents in the past.  Thus, in I-601 brief in support, our office included extensive medical reports of his wife. We argued that if he is removed from the United States, extreme hardship to his wife is clearly foreseeable and evident.  His wife needs consistent and continuous physical therapy to help deal with her pain. Also, it would be extremely difficult for her to get the same level of physical therapy and satisfactory access to medical services in the Philippines in case she joins our client there.

In our brief, we also contended that our client and his wife have maintained strong family ties in the United States, that his wife will have extreme difficulty to find the same level of occupation in the Philippines, that his wife will face extreme financial and emotional difficulties if she is removed.

On May 2, 2012, our client and his wife appeared at an interview at the Chicago USCIS Field Office.  Subsequently, one year later, the USCIS requested another interview for our client to appear at the USCIS Chicago Field Office. Our client appeared at the USCIS office on November 5, 2013 and on both occasions, our attorneys accompanied our client.

Eventually, his I-601 waiver application was approved on July 10, 2015. 

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CASE: L-1A petition / I-129

PETITIONER: Adventure Travel Company in the Philippines

BENEFICIARY: Filipino President/CEO in the Philippines

Our client is an adventure travel company in the Philippines.  They contacted our office in the middle of September 2014 to seek legal assistance for a possible L-1A “new office” petition to send its executive to the U.S. in order to setup a new office.

The L-1A nonimmigrant classification enables a U.S. employer to transfer an executive or manager from one of its affiliated foreign offices to one of its offices in the United States.  This classification also enables a foreign company which does not yet have an affiliated U.S. office to send an executive or manager to the United States with the purpose of establishing one.

For foreign employers seeking to send an employee to the United States as an executive or manager to establish a new office, the employer must also show that:

• The employer has secured sufficient physical premises to house the new office;
• The employee has been employed as an executive or manager for one continuous year in the three years preceding the filing of the petition; and
• The intended U.S. office will support an executive or managerial position within one year of the approval of the petition.

The beneficiary has been the President of the parent company since 2010. Physical premises, articles of incorporation, and other legal matters were established for the “new office” as well. Our office was retained to do an L-1A petition with the purpose of transferring Beneficiary to the United States to head operations and be President of the new business (U.S. subsidiary).

Upon retention, our office prepared and eventually filed the L-1A visa petition with various supporting documents. The application included a detailed employer support letter, documentation to demonstrate the qualifying corporate relationship between the parent company in the Philippines and the U.S., financial documents, past experience documents, business plan, and physical premises evidence among others. We filed the L-1A petition on October 14, 2014.

The USCIS eventually sent a Request for Evidence and requested Petitioner to submit additional evidence to establish ownership and control of the U.S. Entity, physical premises of the U.S. company, and Beneficiary’s abroad employment. The company is in the “service” industry hence we had to argue and justify the “virtual” office arrangement of the office. In response to the RFE, we gathered supporting documents to address all issued and filed the Response to RFE on January 22, 2015.

Eventually, our client’s L-1A application was approved on February 10, 2015. Thereafter, our office filed I-824 follow-to-join application on March 24, 2015 to enable Beneficiary and his wife to come to the United States under the L visa as well. The I-824 petition was approved on April 28, 2015. Eventually, the visa applications were sent and our clients were interviewed. Eventually, our clients  L visas were approved at the U.S. Embassy in Manila.

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CASE: Marriage-Based Green Card (Same Sex Marriage Case)

CLIENT: Filipina

LOCATION: New York, NY

Our client came to the United States on a B-2 visitor’s visa from the Philippines in August 2013. She had a same-sex partner who is her current spouse.

On June 26, 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court held that restricting U.S. federal interpretation of “marriage” and “spouse” to apply only to heterosexual unions, by Section 3 of the defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), is unconstitutional under the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment. United States v. Windsor, 570 U.S. ___ (2013). After Windsor decision, the USCIS implemented a new policy that the USCIS officer must review immigration via petitions filed on behalf of a same-sex spouse in the same manner as those filed on behalf of an opposite-sex spouse. As long as a same-sex couple is married in a U.S. state that recognizes same-sex marriage, their marriage shall be considered a valid marriage under the immigration law.

After DOMA was struck down, our client and her current LPR spouse, decided to get married. They married in New York, NY on September 10, 2013 where same-sex marriage is recognized. On the same day of their marriage, our client contacted our office and retained us for her I-130 petition and I-485 adjustment of status application. Our firm prepared and filed the I-130 petition and I-485 adjustment of status application, together with all necessary supporting documents, on September 16, 2013. Although the Petitioner was a green card holder, we could file the I-130/I-485 simultaneously at that time because the priority date for the F2A category was current in September 2013. 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 December 17, 2013, our client was interviewed at the New York City USCIS office. Attorney Sung Hee (Glen) Yu accompanied them as well. However, the F2A category’s priority date retrogressed before her adjustment of status application was adjudicated. Nevertheless, her priority date became current in June 2015. Eventually, on July 1, 2015, the USCIS approved our client’s green card application. 

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CASE: Registered Nurse I-140 (EB-3 Category) / Schedule A

EMPLOYER: Nursing / Rehabilitation Center

BENEFICIARY: Filipino

LOCATION: Houston, TX

Our client’s beneficiary is a registered nurse from the Philippines licensed in the state of Texas. She came to the United States and currently studies in the United States on her F-1 status. Her current employer was willing to petition him for a third-preference employment immigrant visa petition (I-140).

Since she is a registered nurse, she is eligible for “Schedule A” classification. The Department of Labor (DOL) maintains a schedule of occupations in its regulations, Schedule A included, for which the individual permanent labor certification procedure is not required. The schedule of pre-certified occupations is referred to as Schedule A, and is included in DOL regulations at 20 CFR 656.10. Based on an occupation’s inclusion on Schedule A, an employer may file an immigrant visa petition (I-140) directly with the (USCIS) without first going to the DOL for a labor certification. Usually, prior to filing I-140 petitions (EB-2 or EB-3 category), the employer must file a Labor Certification to the Department of Labor. However, for Schedule A cases, the employer does not have to go through the labor certification process. The position of Professional Nurses is included in Schedule A.

Our client has a nursing degree and has worked for the sponsor-employer. Our firm told her that her employer can petition her as a Registered Nurse under the schedule A category. Our office was retained on July 24, 2014 and started on her Prevailing Wage Request.

We filed the I-140 application on November 7, 2014 via regular processing. We included the job offer letter, the notice of filing, and other necessary supporting documents.  Eventually, on June 24, 2015, the I-140 was approved without any RFE.  Our client can file an I-485 adjustment of status application once her priority date becomes current provided she maintains status throughout. 

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CASE: Marriage-Based Adjustment of Status

CLIENT: Filipino

LOCATION: Cleveland, OH

Our Filipino client came to the United States on a B-2 visitor’s visa in June 2011. He married a U.S. Citizen in January 2015 and retained our office on February 5, 2015 for his green card application.  Our firm prepared and filed the I-130 Petition and I-485 Adjustment of Status Application on March 11, 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 May 21, 2015, our client was interviewed at Cleveland, Ohio USCIS office. Attorney Sung Hee (Glen) Yu from our office accompanied our clients as well. Eventually, on June 4, his green card application was approved.CASE: Marriage-Based Adjustment of Status

CLIENT: Filipino

LOCATION: Cleveland, OH

Our Filipino client came to the United States on a B-2 visitor’s visa in June 2011. He married a U.S. Citizen in January 2015 and retained our office on February 5, 2015 for his green card application.  Our firm prepared and filed the I-130 Petition and I-485 Adjustment of Status Application on March 11, 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 May 21, 2015, our client was interviewed at Cleveland, Ohio USCIS office. Attorney Sung Hee (Glen) Yu from our office accompanied our clients as well. Eventually, on June 4, his green card application was approved.

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