CASE: Asylum

CLIENT: From Zimbabwe

LOCATION: Austin / Houston, TX

Our client, a Zimbabwean asylum seeker from Austin, Texas retained us on April 8, 2013 for an asylum case. She is an F-1 student currently working under an OPT. She wanted to seek asylum relief.

While she was in Zimbabwe last year, she was forced to attend a political rally for the government and she was severely beaten and harassed by government militia. Persecution occurred due to her political opinion and the political affiliation of her parents and brother. She was hospitalized because of this persecution and had to leave Zimbabwe. She is scared to go back home to Zimbabwe, fearing that she will be persecuted again.

We prepared her asylum application, going over several drafts until her claim was as detailed as possible. Names, addresses, dates, and all possible issues relevant to her asylum claim were addressed. We also asked her to provide supporting documents corroborating her claim. Our firm also did some research on articles pertaining to her particular claim, and the type of persecution that members of anti-government political activists suffer in Zimbabwe.

The asylum application was filed in May 17, 2013. On June 24, 2013, the CIS issued an interview notice for her, scheduled for July 10, 2013 at the Houston, Texas USCIS Asylum Office. Prior to her interview, Attorney Sung Hee (Glen) Yu prepared her thoroughly over conference calls to make sure she was able to address any possible question the asylum officer would ask. Attorney Sung Hee (Glen) Yu also went to Houston and represented our client at her asylum interview.

On July 25, 2013, the CIS in Houston approved our client’s asylum case. She is now an asylee and will be eligible to apply for permanent resident status in one year.  She also would obtain her work permit in about two weeks.

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CASE: Termination of Removal Proceedings Based on Approved I-130 Petition

CLIENT: Russian

LOCATION OF COURT: New York, NY

LOCATION OF CLIENT: Texas

Our client is from Russia who came to the U.S. on a J-1 Exchange Visitor Visa in June 2005. She then changed her status to F-1 in November 2005, but she failed to maintain her F-1 status after that.  She was thereafter placed in removal proceedings in New York, NY. She applied for asylum.

Our client married her U.S. citizen husband in November 2011 in Brooklyn, NY. Her husband filed an I-130 petition on her behalf after they got married. Eventually, our client’s I-130 petition was approved in April 2013. She applied for adjustment of status by herself with the CIS, but this was denied due to lack of jurisdiction.

She contacted our office around May 2013 to seek legal assistance. She retained our office in May 28, 2013.

After our office was retained, we prepared and filed a request to join in a Motion to Terminate proceedings with an attached I-485 application and its supporting documents to the New York ICE-DHS office. In less than a month, the DHS counsel in New York agreed to terminate our client’s proceedings. Eventually, the Immigration Judge granted the Motion to terminate without prejudice on July 2, 2013. Now, she can file her I-485 adjustment of status application with the CIS.

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CASE: Motion to Reopen
CLIENT: Cameroonian
LOCATION: Client: Houston, TX / EOIR: Cleveland, OH

Our client came to the United States from Cameroon in 2000.  He entered legally on an F-1 visa.

In 2002, he filed for asylum with the USCIS.  He was interviewed at the CIS office, but his asylum application was referred to the Immigration Court in New Orleans.  After his first master calendar hearing, he requested for a change of venue to Hartford, CT.

In 2004, our client married his U.S. citizen wife and she filed an I-130 on behalf of our client. Our client filed the I-485 adjustment of status application simultaneously with the I-130 petition even though he was in removal proceedings. He had no legal representation at that time.

However, with the help of the Immigration Judge and DHS counsel, he served copies of the I-130 and I-485 application and informed the court that he filed the adjustment of status application. When he served the copies of his I-130/I-485 application, the DHS attorney told our client that she will try to re-route the I-485 application he filed to the CIS to the court. Our client assumed that given that he had been in clear communication with the Court and the DHS attorney,  that everything will be fine with his case and both files will be merged.

Later in August 2004, our client moved to Cleveland, Ohio due to his new employment and his case venue was changed from Hartford, CT to Cleveland, OH as well.  He attended his master calendar hearings in Cleveland, and in December 2005, our client and his wife attended their green card interview at the USCIS Cleveland Field office.  After the interview, our client eventually got his conditional green card in the mail and he was under the assumption that if he was given a green card, then he must have done everything right and that the removal case had been dropped.

While he resided in the Cleveland area, he moved to different addresses and he had always promptly notified both Immigration Court and the USCIS by filing change of address forms.  In April 2006, he went to his another master calendar hearing which he got in his new address.  However, our client was told to go home and that he will get a letter in the mail with a re-scheduled master hearing date.  He never received anything else from Court since then.

As mentioned above, our client got his green card and he filed an I-751 application two years later to remove conditions on the green card. He also got this. He had foreign trips and one of his entries, the issue of his final order came up but he eventually was let go and his green card was even given back to him.

Later, he filed an N-400 naturalization application and during his N-400 interview the final order of removal in absentia which was issued in November 2006 was brought up again. He was stunned and contacted a local immigration attorney in Houston, Texas where he currently resides. However, his attorney never filed the Motion to the court.

Our client contacted our office in late April 2013 and sought legal assistance. We advised him that we can file a Motion to Reopen in absentia order of removal.

To rescind the final order, he has to get his case reopened. This is done through a Motion to Reopen filed with the Immigration Judge who gave the final order.  Based on this Motion to Reopen, the Immigration Judge can rescind the in absentia order of removal if you are able to show that you did not receive proper notice of the hearing. If the Notice to Appear or hearing notice was sent to the wrong address for example, and not the last address you provided to the immigration service, then there’s a good basis for a Motion to Reopen.

On May 9, 2013, our office filed a Motion to Reopen with the Cleveland Immigration Court. Documentation of his address at the date of the final order, a detailed affidavit regarding his addresses and his circumstances around the final order date, copies of his green card and immigration related documentation, documentation of the last address he provided to the immigration service and to the Immigration Court prior to the final order date, and other supporting documents were submitted (14 exhibits).

On June 19, 2013, the Cleveland Immigration Court granted our motion and reopened our client’s case.  Our client now does not have the final order of removal and may seek to terminate removal proceedings.

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CASE: Asylum

 CLIENT: Zimbabwean

 LOCATION: San Antonio / Houston

Our client, a Zimbabwean asylum seeker from San Antonio Texas retained us on November 29, 2012 to help her with her asylum case. She was an F-1 student at ta US college. She wanted to seek asylum relief with the US Citizenship and Immigration Service.

While she was in Zimbabwe last summer, she was raped due to her political opinion and political affiliation of her parents. She is scared to go back home to Zimbabwe, fearing that she will be persecuted again.

We helped her prepare her asylum application, going over several drafts until her claim was as detailed as possible. Names, addresses, dates, and all possible issues relevant to her asylum claim were addressed. We also asked her to provide supporting documents corroborating her claims. Our firm also did some research on articles pertaining to her particular claim, and the type of persecution that members of anti-government political activists suffer in Zimbabwe.

We also cited several case law relevant to asylum in our brief, including several that held that rape was  a form of persecution.

The asylum application was filed in December 14, 2012. On January 9, 2013, the CIS issued an interview notice for her asylum case, scheduled for January 28, 2013 in Houston, Texas. Prior to her interview, our office prepared her thoroughly for her case, going over two practice interviews via Skype to make sure she was able to address questions the asylum officer would ask.

On March 13, 2013, the CIS in Houston approved our client’s asylum case. She is now an asylee and will be eligible to apply for permanent resident status in one year.  She also would obtain her work permit in about two weeks.

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CASE: Asylee Adjustment of Status
CLIENT: Saudi Arabian
LOCATION: Dallas, Texas

Our client came to the United States from Saudi Arabia with an F-1 visa and through our representation, he was granted asylum on September 2011 by the USCIS.

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 October 2012, 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 October 23, 2012. Everything went smoothly and the receipt notice and fingerprint appointment all came on time. On January 23, 2013, the USCIS approved our client’s Adjustment of Status application. He is now a permanent resident of the United States.

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CASE: Marriage-Based Adjustment of Status
CLIENT: Indian
LOCATION: Houston, Texas

Our client came to the United States in 2007 with an F-1 student visa from India to pursue his master’s degree in the United States.  He married a U.S. Citizen in July 2012 and retained our office on October 1, 2012 for his adjustment of status application.  Our firm prepared and filed the I-130 Petition and Adjustment of Status Application on October 17, 2012.  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 through conference calls. On January 15, 2013, our client was interviewed at the Houston, Texas USCIS.  Our attorney Sung Hee (Glen) Yu accompanied our clients as well. On the same day, his green card application was approved.

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CASE: J-2 Waiver of Two-Year Foreign Residency Requirement Post-Divorce
NATIONALITY: Kenyan
LOCATION: Texas
FILED: August 23, 2012
DOS RECOMMENDATION: September 24, 2012
APPROVED:
Our client is a citizen of Kenya who came to the U.S. on a J-2 Visa in 2002. She came with her husband who held a J-1 Visa as a graduate student. Both were subject to the two-year foreign residency requirement.

Unfortunately, their marriage did not work out and she eventually got divorced from her ex-husband. She lost her J-2 status and she was still subject to the two-year foreign residency requirement.

She remained in the United States and fell in love with who would be her current U.S. Citizen husband. They got married in July 2012.

He wanted to file an I-130 petition for her, but she could not file for adjustment of status because of the 2 year foreign residency requirement.

In August of this year, our client’s relative contacted our office. She wanted us to help our client obtain a waiver so she can eventually file for her green card.

Our firm was retained to do her J-2 waiver on August 16, 2012. On August 23, 2012 the J-2 Waiver 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.

On September 24, 2012, the DOS recommended to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) that our client be granted a waiver. On October 10, 2012, the USCIS issued the I-612 waiver approval.

Now, our client’s U.S. citizen husband can file an I-130 petition for our client and our client can file her green card application with the waiver approval.

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CASE: Marriage-Based Adjustment of Status
CLIENT: Filipino
LOCATION: Houston, TX

Our client came to the United States in October 2011 with a B-2 visitor visa from the Philippines.  He married a U.S. Citizen in April 2012 and retained our office on May 3, 2012 for his petition and adjustment of status application.  Our firm prepared and filed the I-130 petition and I-485 adjustment of status application on May 30, 2012.  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 over the phone. On August 13, 2012, our client was interviewed at the Houston, Texas USCIS office.  Attorney Sung Hee (Glen) Yu from our office accompanied our client as well.  On August 22, 2012, his green card application was approved.

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CASE: Marriage-Based Adjustment of Status
CLIENT: Costa Rican
LOCATION: Houston, Texas

Our client came to the United States in November 1993 as a B-2 visitor from Costa Rica. Although her authorized stay in the United States expired in December 1993, she has remained in the United States. Her husband was in the United States at that time, and later her husband got his green card through NACARA and eventually became a naturalized U.S. Citizen in March 2011.  Her husband filed an I-130 petition on behalf of our client in 2003 when he was a green card holder, this petition was later approved in 2006. Our client and her husband retained our office on August 18, 2011 for her adjustment of status application.  Our firm prepared and filed the Adjustment of Status Application on February 9, 2012.  Everything went smoothly and the receipt notices, fingerprint appointment, and work permit all came on time.  Prior to the interview, we thoroughly prepared our clients.  On April 25, 2012, our client was interviewed at the Houston, Texas USCIS Field Office. Attorney Sung Hee (Glen) Yu from our office accompanied them.  On the same day, her green card application was approved.

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CASE: Marriage-Based Adjustment of Status
CLIENT: Costa Rican
LOCATION: Houston, Texas

Our client came to the United States on a B-1 visa in September 1991 when he was a minor. Although his authorized stay in the U.S. expired in October 1991, he has stayed in the United States ever since. In May 2011, he married his U.S. Citizen wife and retained our office in the middle of August of 2011 for his adjustment of status application. Our firm prepared and filed the I-130 Petition and Adjustment of Status Application on October 24, 2011. Everything went smoothly and the receipt notices, fingerprint appointment, and work permit all came on time. Prior to the interview, we thoroughly prepared our clients over the conference call. On January 23, 2012, our client was interviewed at the Houston, Texas USCIS. Our attorney accompanied them as well.  On March 12, 2012, his green card application was approved.

FREE CONSULTATIONS

If you have any questions, please fill out the free consultation form below, and we will respond as soon as possible privately. 

For other marriage-based green card success stories, please click here.

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