CASE: I-485 (Adjustment of Status) / I-140 (EB-2 Category) / Schedule A
EMPLOYER: Physician’s Office
BENEFICIARY: Kenyan Nurse Practitioner
LOCATION: Houston, TX
Our client is a certified nurse practitioner. Her prospective employer was willing to petition her for a second-preference employment immigrant visa petition (I-140). Since she was a certified nurse practitioner, she was 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 Nurse Practitioner is included in Schedule A.
Our client has a Bachelors and Masters degree in nursing and is a certified Nurse Practitioner. Our office was retained on February 23, 2017 and we filed the Prevailing Wage Determination immediately.
We filed the I-140 application on July 7, 2017 via regular processing. We included the 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 nurse practitioners must fall under the Schedule A designation. On February 27, 2018, without any Request for Evidence (RFE), the USCIS Texas Service Center approved her EB-2 I-140 petition.
When we filed her I-140, she concurrently filed her I-485 adjustment of status application. 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. On June 18, 2018, our client was interviewed at Houston Texas USCIS office. Attorney Sung Hee (Glen) Yu from our office also accompanied our client. The interview went well, and on the same day of the interview, her green card application was approved.