Case: I-130/I-485
Potential Issue: Response to Notice of Intent to Deny
Client: Filipina
Location: Cleveland, Ohio
Our client entered the United States in May 2005 from the Philippines with a B-2 visitor visa. She overstayed and married a U.S. citizen in December 2014. She retained our office on January 5, 2015 for her adjustment of status application.
Our office prepared and filed the I-130 Petition and I-485 Adjustment of Status Application on January 16, 2015. Everything went smoothly and the receipt notices, fingerprint appointment, and work permits all came on time. Prior to the interview, our office thoroughly prepared our clients at our office for their USCIS adjustment of status interview.
On April 13, 2015, our client and her husband appeared at the Cleveland, Ohio USCIS office for her adjustment interview. Attorney Sung Hee (Glen) Yu from our office accompanied our client and her husband at their interview. The interview was extensive and at the end of the interview, the officer claimed that he was suspicious regarding the bona fideness of our client’s marriage.
On August 21, 2015, the USCIS issued a Notice of Intent to Deny (NOID). The NOID claimed that there was substantial and probative evidence that the marital union between the Petitioner and Beneficiary was not bona fide. Moreover, the NOID pointed out that the submitted documentation of Petitioner and Beneficiary does not establish a bona fide marriage.
In response to the USCIS’s NOID, our office included multiple supporting documents including, joint bank account statements, a joint car purchase agreement, joint utility bills, joint insurance, and several pictures of our client and his wife in several occasions with different people. Several legal authorities were cited based on particular issues discussed, and on September 16, 2015, we filed the Response to NOID prior to the 30-day deadline.
Finally, on October 9, 2015, the USCIS approved our client’s case. Both the I-130 Petition and I-485 Green Card Application were approved. Our client is now a green card holder.