CASE: I-485 Adjustment of Status based on approved EB-2 I-140 petition
EMPLOYER: Cosmetic Products Manufacturer
BENEFICIARY: Korean Controller
LOCATION: Aurora, OH
Our client is currently working as a finance manager and his current employer was willing to petition him for a second-preference petition (I-140). Our client has a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and has more than 5 years of experience as a Financial Analyst. After talking to our client, our firm concluded that his employer can petition him as a Controller. Second preference petitions for Koreans are current, which means that if a PERM Labor Certification for a second preference position gets approved, the I-140 and I-485 could be filed simultaneously. Based on our client’s educational, professional and working background, our office determined that he is clearly eligible for EB-2 classification for his I-140 petition. Our client eventually retained us in June 8, 2017.
Prior to filing PERM, our firm prepared the prevailing wage request, job order, advertisements, internal job posting, recruitment report, and all other steps which are important pre-PERM filing. Take note that the PERM application could be filed at least 60 days from the job posting date or 30 days from the last ad. Within a week from our retention, the prevailing wage request was filed. After we obtained the foreign degree evaluation report, our office filed the job order on December 8, 2017. On May 7, 2018, we promptly filed PERM.
However, on August 22, 2018, the Department of Labor issued a request for audit. The DOL requested documents from Petitioner to determine whether the recruitment process was done properly. Moreover, the DOL requested the Petitioner to submit evidence related to bona fide job opportunity which includes Petitioner’s articles of incorporation, quarterly tax, organizational chart, etc. In response to the Audit request, our office prepared the response to Audit brief along with Employer’s declaration, notice of filing, recruitment documentation, and other requested documents on September 19, 2018. Eventually, on December 13, 2018, the PERM Labor Certification was approved – an EB2 position for the Korean beneficiary.
We then proceeded with the I-140 Petition filing. We submitted the “ability to pay” letter for the I-140 petition application. We included the job offer letter, employer’s tax records, and other necessary supporting documents. The I-140 Petition was filed on January 18, 2019 via premium processing service. Eventually, on January 29, 2019, the I-140 EB2 Petition for our Korean client was approved without any Request for Evidence (RFE).
Once his I-140 petition was approved, he retained our office again and determined to file an adjustment of status application for him and his immediate family members. On February 28, 2019, our office filed I-485 adjustment of status applications for our client and his family members. Everything went smoothly and the receipt notices and fingerprint appointment came on time.
Prior to the interview, we thoroughly prepared our client via conference calls as well. On July 12, 2019, our client was interviewed at Cleveland Ohio USCIS office. Attorney Sung Hee (Glen) Yu from our office also accompanied our clients as well. Eventually, his I-485 application was approved by the USCIS on the same day of the interview.