CASE: Adjustment of Status Based on Marriage
NATIONALITY: Filipino
LOCATION: Ohio
Our client is a Filipino national who came to the U.S. on an tourist visa back in 2002 and overstayed. On August 2003 he married a permanent resident. A petition was filed for her however since he was not a citizen yet, she could not apply for her green card. In the meantime to support herself she did various work, from hair and beauty to cleaning. Eventually her husband became a U.S. Citizen and she retained our office for her adjustment of status. One of her issues was that she was caught speeding and beating the red light on separate occasions, which led to Driving Without a License arrests and charges. She did not have the records nor any recollection of the disposition on those cases, nor did she know how many she had. An immigration provision may make her ineligible for a green card with 3 Driving Without a License convictions. However, “Traffic Violations” do not make a green card applicant inadmissible. So our office obtained the court documents for our client, making phone calls and going all the municipal courts that adjudicated her case. Upon reviewing the documents, we deemed these were indeed traffic violations that should not prevent her from obtaining a green card. She also only had one conviction for the no license charge as the others were dismissed. The green card application was filed in February 18, 2010. To avoid delays and potential Requests for Evidence, we included the traffic records with a notation that they were only traffic records which should not be an issue and that the others were dismissed. The case indeed did not have any delays nor Requests for Evidence, and our client was scheduled for her interview in May 27, 2010. Prior to the interview, despite the marriage petition already approved, our office prepared both the client and her US Citizen husband in case both are interviewed. Note that the I-485 interview notice did not stipulate that the husband would also be interviewed. At the interview in Cleveland, the officer actually interviewed both the husband and the wife, and asked them questions on separate occasions regarding the validity of the marriage. It was a good thing they were both prepared. The interview thus went smoothly. On June 7, 2010, 10 days after the interview, and 8 years after she first arrived in the United States, our client finally received her green card.
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