I-140 Petition for Immigrant Worker

Our client, a research technologist from Bangladesh, came to USA in 1996 as a student under an F-1 Visa. His wife came with an F-2 (as a spouse of F-1 visa holder). While he was attending the school he was allowed to work on OPT (Optional Practical Training). After the graduation he started working on H-1B with the Cleveland Clinic Foundation who agreed to sponsor his Green Card Application based on his employment. We filed Labor Certification in March 2005; and after it was approved, in December 2006, we filed his I-140 (Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker). While it was pending we needed to renew his H1B visa and H4 for his wife, so he would not lose status. The problem was it would be the 7^th year extension, but usually H-1B/H-4 are for 6 years only. Based on the "American Competitiveness in the Twenty-First Century Act" our clients were eligible to apply for H-1B/H4 extensions. This Act allows H-1B visa holders who have pending Labor Certification or I-140 for longer than one year, to obtain annual extensions of their H-1B/H4 status until the final approval of Permanent Residency. Later, in June 2007, once the quota for client and his wife was opened, we immediately filed I-485 Application (Green Card) for them. Just a couple of months after that, in October 2007, we received his I-140 approval, followed by their H-1B/H-4 extension approvals. And finally, on April 22, 2008 their I-485 was approved, and the family received their welcome notices and Green Cards.

We were hired by a Nigerian entrepreneur to help him with several consecutive cases, including his H1B visa. He had a sudden turn in his career and his personal life when he invented a security everyday garment, for which he holds the patent, and that he also registered as a trademark. He started working to develop his invention, quickly attracting investors and media attention. He needed to be able to stay in USA to be able to put his product on the market in the long term. On December 31, 2007, we were able to file an I-140 (Immigrant Petition for an Alien Worker) based on self-employment and in the first preference category, as an Alien of Exceptional Ability, due to the impact and significant contribution of his invention to the safety of businessmen and international officers. Of course the requirements in this category were higher than most of I-140 cases. We presented enough detailed and supporting evidence to meet the requirements. We were pleased to receive the approval of his I-140 on the first week of April, and have already filed his Green Card application

A Polish lady with accounting and business administration skills hired us to help her obtain a green card through an employer willing to sponsor her. She had two sons and a fiancé who were also foreign-born. We first filed the Labor Certification in 2001 and helped the employer file the I-140 immigrant petition on her behalf in July 2002. She got married the next month, so in September 2002, having the I-140 pending, we filed for Adjustment of Status (I-485) for her, her husband and the two sons. We also filed I-765 (Employment Authorization Document) for both adults. Her I-140 was erroneously denied in February 2003, so we filed a Motion to Reopen and Reconsider (MTR) in the same month. Since the I-485 applications were based in the I-140 (at the time denied and under appeal), we filed another I-140/I-485 in March 2003. The MTR was granted in August 2004, prior to the second I-140 being adjudicated, so the first I-140 was remanded and approved and the first I-485 application was reopened for our client by the USCIS. We filed a request for the CIS to sua sponte re-open the rest of the family, but CIS only sent notice of re-opening the sons' I-485 applications, and failed to send a notice pertaining to the husband. However, shortly after our request for sua sponte reopening, the I-485 interview notices for wife, husband, and sons, were issued and at the interview, the CIS officer assured us that the husband was included in the interview as a result of the MTR. At the same time, the officer insisted that we withdraw the second I-485 application since two I-485 applications were pending for the husband at that time. We agreed so that once the priority date became current, the whole family's I-485 applications would be adjudicated together. For two years, the wife and husband received work authorization cards and continued to wait for the immigrant visa number to become current. However, in late 2007, the husband's application for work authorization was denied, due to the I-485 being denied. Since no action on the I-485 had taken place and the immigrant visa remained unavailable, the firm could only deduct that the husband's initial I-485 remained denied and had never been reopened. In December 2007, we filed a MTR again just for the husband, referring to all the errors and lack of attention to his case from the administration. The Motion was quickly granted, and the I-485 case for the husband has been officially reopened. Even better, now that we have the attention of the CIS, the immigrant visa number has just become current in March 2008 and we have been assured that their case will be quickly reviewed so that the entire family's I-485 may be granted right away. Our attorney Lori Pinjuh handled the case for Margaret Wong & Associates.

In August 2007 we filed an I-140 for our client from Chile, a PhD in Electrical Engineering, as an EB-2 (Professional with an exceptional ability and advanced degree). He had been working with an H-1B (Non-Immigrant Worker) visa before. In October same year we filed his I-485 (Adjustment of Status to Permanent Resident). He was scheduled for fingerprints soon after that, but we had to reschedule because our client needed to travel and he was very busy. In mid February he received the approvals of both I-140 and I-485. He e-mailed us, very happy and thankful for all our help during the process.