CASE: Termination of Removal Proceedings / Adjustment of Status
ISSUES: 245i; Deceased Petitioner
CLIENT: Filipino
LOCATION: Cleveland, Ohio
This case involves a situation where the beneficiaries had to wait over ten years for priority dates to be current, only to have the petitioner die prior to that happening. Our client, his wife and son, are from the Philippines and came to the U.S. on B-2 visitor’s visas back in 2002. They overstayed their tourist status and have been out of status ever since.
Prior to retaining our firm, our client’s mother filed an I-130 petition for him back in 1992. As some of you may know, the priority dates for Philippine nationals under the family-based immigration category are more retrogressed than other countries. The I-130 petition was approved by the INS in 1992. However, our client could not apply for his green card until his priority date became current. He had to wait for almost 20 years in order to even apply for his green card.
Unfortunately, his mother (I-130 Petitioner) passed away before he was eligible to apply for his green card. He and his family was placed in removal proceedings after the DHS found out about his overstay. He was under the impression that nothing could be done since his mother (the I-130) petitioner died.
Once he contacted our office, we explained that an October 2009 law can help his entire family obtain a green card. We can terminate removal proceedings and apply for adjustment of status application with a substitute sponsor – his U.S. Citizen sister. We also informed him that Section 245i would make him eligible to adjust despite his overstay.
Our office was retained in August 2010, and we later filed his I-485 Adjustment of Status application with a substitute sponsor (his US Citizen sister) and a Request to Join in a Motion to Terminate with the Department of Homeland Security before his immigration hearing. We explained this to the Judge and government attorney at the Cleveland Immigration Court.
As we explained in a previous Success Story, the regulation in 2009, Public Law 111-83 (2009), eased the high burden for beneficiaries whose petitioners died prior to their adjustment of status application. The new regulation does not require “humanitarian reinstatement” anymore. Therefore, as long as there is a qualified substitute sponsor for these beneficiaries, the beneficiaries are eligible for adjustment of status even if the original petitioners are deceased.
Our client’s US citizen sister was willing to become a substitute sponsor for our client. On September 27, 2010, our office filed a request to join in a Motion to Terminate Proceedings with the family’s I-485 applications and supporting documents. Thereafter, with the government’s agreement, the Immigration Judge terminated our client’s removal proceedings on September 28, 2010. With the Judge’s Order, our office filed our client’s I-485 Adjustment of Status applications with the USCIS on October 7, 2010. Everything went smoothly and the receipt notices, fingerprint appointment, and work permits all came on time.
On January 3, 2011, our clients had their I-485 interview at the USCIS Cleveland Office. Our lawyer accompanied our client and his family members for the interview. The Interview went smoothly, but our client could not get his green card right away due to a slight retrogression of priority dates. Fortunately, in July 2011, his priority date became current, and the USCIS immediately approved his entire family’s Adjustment of Status application. After a 19 year wait from the time our client’s mother filed an I-130 petition, to a 9 year wait from the time his family entered the United States, finally, our client’s family all have their green cards.
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