CASE: Marriage-Based Adjustment of Status
CLIENT: India
LOCATION: Cleveland, OH
Our client came to the United States in December 2000 as an H-4 visa holder from India. Although her authorized stay in the U.S. expired in January 2004, she has stayed in the United States since then. In September 2011, she married her U.S. Citizen husband and retained our office on October 11, 2011 for her 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. On February 10, 2012, our client was interviewed at the Cleveland, OH USCIS. Our attorney accompanied them as well.
However, after the interview, the CIS office issued a Form I-72 asking for: a civil marriage certificate / abstract for our client and his previous husband, and an explanation as to why this marriage was not listed nor acknowledged during the interview. We reviewed the documents that she provided us after and realized that her previous marriage was only a religious marriage and not registered in the state of Ohio. Under immigration law, a religious marriage is considered a valid marriage for immigration purposes only if it is recognized by the sovereign in that country or state as a valid marriage. Matter of Ceballos, 16 I&N Dec. 765 (BIA 1979). Since our client’s previous religious marital ceremony was not registered in Ohio, it is not a valid marriage for immigration purposes. On May 8, 2012, our office filed a response to the Request for Evidence which included an affidavit from our client.
On May 30, 2012, our client’s I-485 adjustment of status application was approved. After 12 years in the United States, she is finally a permanent resident.
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.
For other success stories, please click here.
Also feel free to contact our office anytime for free consultations.