Case: I-130/I-485
Issue: Visa Waiver Entry
Applicant/Beneficiary – Italian
Location: Cleveland, Ohio

Our client entered the United States from Italy in January 2012 under the visa waiver program. As a Visa Waiver Entrant, she was only authorized to remain in the United States for 90 days. However, she has remained in the United States ever since.

Our client is a doctor, and she mentioned that she came on a J-1 visa before. So even though old visas and passports were not required, we asked her to show us those, together with her old DS-2019, so that we could check if she was subject to the 2-year foreign residency requirement. Our first inclination was that she was subject, as most J-1 entrants who are physicians are. When we saw the J-1 documents, we found out that she indeed was not subject. And so we proceeded with the adjustment of status case.

She married her U.S. Citizen spouse in September 2011 in Italy and her U.S. citizen husband filed an I-130 petition on October 4, 2011.  One main issue in her green card application through marriage was the fact that she came to the United States under the visa waiver program. As our office wrote in a previous success story with a similar issue, under the visa waiver program, citizens of certain countries can enter the U.S. for 90 days without a visa with the condition that the visitor waives his or her right to contest removal (other than on the basis of asylum). The “no-contest” provision of the Visa Waiver Program is fundamental; if someone could enter under the VWP and then contest removability; it would defeat the whole purpose of the Program which is to make it easy for certain nationals to come to the United States to visit and then leave without all the red-tape involved in visa issuance.

Our office filed the I-485 Adjustment of Status Application on March 5, 2012. Our office requested the CIS to exercise favorable discretion in granting adjustment of status despite her visa waiver entry.  Everything went smoothly and the receipt notices, fingerprint appointment, and the work permit all came on time. There was no Request for Evidence. Prior to the interview, we thoroughly prepared our clients. On May 15, 2012, our client was interviewed at the Cleveland, Ohio USCIS Field Office. We accompanied them at the interview as well. Despite the visa waiver entry and subsequent adjustment of status issue, the USCIS officer approved her green card application on the same day. Now, our client is a green card holder.

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CASE: H-1B Visa Petition
PETITIONER:  Financial Investment Management Company
BENEFICIARY: Associate Financial Analyst

Our client is a financial investment management company located in Indianapolis, IN.  They contacted our office in late March to seek legal assistance from our office for their foreign employee.  Their foreign employee was a former client of ours, and he got a J-2 waiver approval through our representation before. The beneficiary obtained his Bachelor’s degree in Business/Finance in the United States. The proffered position for the Beneficiary is an associate financial analyst.  We showed that this is a “specialty occupation” because the minimum requirement for this position is a Bachelors Degree in Business / Finance or its equivalent.

Once retained, our office filed the H-1B visa petition with various supporting documents on May 1, 2012 via premium processing. There were no Requests for Evidence during the processing of the H-1B.  Eventually, our client’s H-1B application was approved on May 12, 2012, only 11 days from the date of filing. He can now work for his employer for three years on an H-1B status starting October 1, 2012. He will continue to work there on an OPT in the meantime.

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CASE: Marriage-Based Adjustment of Status
CLIENT: From Suriname
LOCATION: Cleveland, OH

Our client came to the United States in October 16, 2000 with a B-2 visitor visa from Suriname.  She married a U.S. Citizen in October 2011 and retained our office on October 25, 2011 for her adjustment of status application.  Our firm prepared and filed the I-130 Petition and Adjustment of Status Application on December 21, 2011.  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. On April 27, 2012, our client was interviewed at the Cleveland, Ohio USCIS office.  We accompanied them at the interview as well.  On May 7, 2012, her green card application was approved.

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CASE: Marriage-Based Adjustment of Status
CLIENT: Filipina
LOCATION: Baltimore, MD

Our Filipino client came to the United States in 2003 with a G-4 visa, a non-immigrant visa which allows foreign officers or employees of international organizations of any rank to enter into the U.S. to engage in business activities and not for personal business and pleasure. She married a U.S. Citizen in March 2010 and retained our office on February 16, 2012 for her adjustment of status application.  Our firm prepared and filed the I-130 Petition and Adjustment of Status Application on February 27, 2012.  In the application, our firm also included Form I-508 (Waiver of Rights, Privileges, Exemptions and Immunities) and Form I-566 (A, G, or NATO Dependent Employment Authorization or Change/Adjustment To/From A, G, or NATO status) since our client was in G-4 status.  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. On May 2, 2012, less than three months from filing the applications, our client was interviewed at the Baltimore, Maryland USCIS office. Two days later, on May 4, 2012, her green card application was approved.

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CASE: Motion to Reopen
CLIENT: Cameroonian
LOCATION: Memphis, TN

Our client came to the United States from Cameroon without inspection in July 2001. Within a year of his entry, he filed an I-589 Application for Asylum and Withholding of Removal in March 2002 to the USCIS.  He was interviewed in April 2002, and his application was subsequently referred to the Memphis Immigration Court in May 2002.  His removal proceedings were continued, but he could not appear at his individual hearing in April 2003 due to being hospitalized. Thus, the Court found him removable and ordered him removed in absentia.

Later, in April 2011, he filed a Motion to Reopen with the assistance of his previous immigration counsel.  However, this Motion to Reopen was denied by the Court in July 2011.  Thereafter, he contacted our office to determine whether he can file a Motion to Reopen again. We explained to him that the only way the Court can reopen his case is based on changed country conditions in Cameroon. Otherwise, our client’s second Motion to Reopen will be considered untimely filed and numerically barred. Our client decided to retain our office on November 22, 2011 for a Motion to Reopen based on changes in country conditions under 8 C.F.R. § 1003.23(b)(4)(i).

We prepared the brief and helped our client with the supporting documents and on March 6, 2012, our office filed a fifteen-page Motion to Reopen with the Memphis Immigration Court, together with a total of 24 exhibits. We included a detailed affidavit regarding his involvement in a political activist group in Cameroon, and several affidavits from his fellow members who confirmed his involvement with the organization.  We claimed that the number of arrests and detentions of his political group have recently escalated since his original removal hearing in 2003 resulting in changed country conditions.  We also attached a letter from a human rights officer in which he stated that he knew about our client’s political involvement in Cameroon. Other supporting documents such as newspaper articles and a recent country report from Cameroon were submitted (24 exhibits).  On March 29, 2012, the DHS filed a Response in Opposition to our Motion.  Nevertheless, on May 2, 2012, the Memphis Immigration Court granted our motion and reopened our client’s case.  Our client now does not have a final order of removal and will proceed to seek asylum relief with the Immigration Court.

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CASE: Marriage-Based Adjustment of Status
CLIENT: From Madagascar
LOCATION: Cleveland, OH

Our client came to the United States in June 1998 with an F-1 student visa to study in the United States. She overstayed her F-1 status and remained in the United States. She married a U.S. Citizen in August 2008 and retained our office on September 14, 2011 for her adjustment of status application.  Our firm prepared and filed the I-130 Petition and I-485 Adjustment of Status Application on February 8, 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. On May 8, 2012, three months from filing the application, our client was interviewed at the Cleveland, Ohio USCIS. Attorney Sung Hee (Glen) Yu accompanied them at the interview as well.  On the same day, her green card application was approved.

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CASE: Termination of Removal Proceedings with an Approved I-130 Petition
CLIENT: Ghanaian
LOCATION: Cleveland, Ohio (EOIR) / Columbus, Ohio (USCIS)

Our client is a Ghanaian citizen who came to the U.S. on an F-1 Student Visa in August 2003 to study at a college in West Virginia.  He married his ex-wife, a U.S. Citizen, in 2007, but their marriage ended in 2011.  At the latter stage of his previous marriage, his ex-wife, a U.S. Citizen, filed an I-130 for him, but later withdrew the petition as their marriage did not work out well.  The I-130 petition was denied and after the denial, a Notice to Appear was issued and our client was placed in removal proceeding.

Our client got divorced to his first wife and then married his second U.S. Citizen wife in August 2011. He retained our office on August 29, 2011. Our office prepared and filed an I-130 Petition with bona fide marriage evidence of his two marriages on September 2, 2011. The petition also included a bona fide marriage exception letter. While the I-130 petition was pending, our client appeared at the Cleveland Immigration Court on October 19, 2011 for his initial master calendar hearing.  Attorney Sung Hee (Glen) Yu from our office represented him at the hearing, did pleadings and sought adjustment of status relief upon approval of the I-130 petition.

Our client’s I-130 interview was scheduled on March 26, 2012 at the Columbus USCIS Field Office.  Prior to the interview, our office thoroughly prepared our client and his wife for the interview. Attorney Yu also accompanied them at their interview. The interview lasted one hour, our clients were separated, but the I-130 petition was eventually approved on the same day.

After the I-130 was approved, our office filed a request to join in a Motion to Terminate proceedings with an attached I-485 application and its supporting documents. The DHS counsel in Cleveland agreed to terminate our client’s proceedings. Ultimately, the Immigration Judge granted the Motion to terminate without prejudice. He’s not in proceedings anymore. Now, he can file his I-485 adjustment of status application to the USCIS and eventually obtain his green card.

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CASE: EB-2 I-140
PETITIONER: International Trading Company
BENEFICIARY: Vietnamese
LOCATION: San Diego, CA

Our Vietnamese client from San Diego contacted our office in December 2011. She had an approved PERM Labor Certification and she would like to retain us for her I-140/I-485 application. Her current employer is located in San Diego and they wish to file an I-140 petition for her as a market research analyst. Our client had questions regarding possible issues they may face, the employer’s “ability to pay” issue in particular.

Once retained, our office prepared her I-140 petition and I-485 adjustment of status application. One of the main requirements for the I-140 is that the petitioning company must show that it has the ability to pay the proffered wage for the beneficiary’s position. Despite the negative taxable income, we provided all schedules of Petitioner’s tax return and argued that their net current assets were over and above the proffered wage. We provided the calculation on the cover letter, cited a CIS internal memo on the “ability to pay” issue, and attached the tax return schedule that showed the net current assets. We also prepared our client’s I-485 application and explained that the priority date for EB-2 Vietnam (“Other Countries”) is current.

Our office simultaneously filed the I-140 / I-485 applications on January 26, 2012 and on April 19, 2012, the I-140 petition for our client was approved with no Requests for Evidence.

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CASE: Marriage-Based Adjustment of Status
CLIENT: Filipina
LOCATION: Cleveland, OH

Our client came to the United States in January 2010 with an H-2 temporary work visa from Philippines. She married a U.S. Citizen in September 2011 and retained our office on November 8, 2011 for her adjustment of status application.  Our firm prepared and filed the I-130 Petition and Adjustment of Status Application on January 9, 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. On April 13, 2012, our client was interviewed at the Cleveland, Ohio USCIS.  We accompanied them at the interview as well.  On April 24, 2012, her green card application was approved, and our client obtained her green card a week later.

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CASE: Marriage-Based Adjustment of Status
CLIENT: Ghanaian
LOCATION: Cleveland, OH

Our client came to the United States in June 2009 with a J-1 exchange visitor visa from Ghana. He married a U.S. Citizen in September 2011 and retained our office on January 9, 2012 for his adjustment of status application.  Our firm prepared and filed the I-130 Petition and Adjustment of Status Application on February 27, 2012.  Everything went smoothly and the receipt notices, the fingerprint appointment, and the work permit all came on time.  Prior to the interview, we thoroughly prepared our clients at our office.  On April 30, 2012, our client was interviewed at the Cleveland, Ohio CIS office.  Attorney Sung Hee (Glen) Yu accompanied them at the interview as well.  On the same day, his green card application was approved.

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

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Also feel free to contact our office anytime for free consultations.