I-140 Petition for Immigrant Worker

An Indian physician who came on H-1B (Non Immigrant Work Visa), retained our services in 2006. We started his process by filing I-140 (Petition filed by the employer for permanent employment for employee) in July 2006. Unfortunately, the application was denied in November 2006. We filed a Motion to Reopen within 30 days of receiving the I-140 denial. The MTR was granted. Our efforts were rewarded and the I-140 was approved. We then filed for H-1B extension for applicant and I-539 (extension on the status) for his wife in March 2007 and it was also granted in a short period. Our next step was to apply for green card for our client and his wife, so we filed I-485 (Green card) in August 2007. Our clients were fingerprinted in October 2007. We were very excited when we got the I-140 approval in January 2008, making our client's first step successful. Later we filed their applications for work authorization (I-765). In June 2008 the applications were approved, giving our client's wife the freedom to work in this country. We are hopeful that we would get the green card soon for them and help them in realizing their dreams.

A Turkish network administrator with a background in Computer Science came to U.S on an H-1B through some other attorneys. He was employed by an Education Center in U.S. When our client's employer expressed the desire to sponsor him permanently, he wanted to retain our services. By coordinating with the client and his employer we filed PERM (Permanent Labor Certification), which is the very first step. Within two months i.e. in January 2008 the petition was approved. Now was the time to file I-140(Petition for an alien worker to work permanently in U.S). We filed his petition in January 2008 under the EB-2 category. This category is meant for Professionals with Advanced Degree or people with exceptional abilities. In April 2008 we filed application for I-485, I-765 and I-131(green card, work authorization and documents for travel respectively) for applicant and his family. In June the family went for their fingerprints and also received work authorization and approved parole to re-enter U.S whenever they plan to travel. Our dedicated paralegal Mr. Jackie Tong worked on the application and in July 2008 we received approval for I-140 petition. Our continuous hard work has again brought happiness to another family.

A client from India retained us to do his labor certification and green card process. He is a pathologist, and with the help of our firm, had already received a waiver of his two year home residency requirement. We filed for the labor certification on January 11, 2008 and it was certified in one month. On February 21, 208 we filed his I-140 petition (Immigrant Work Visa) and we received the approval on July 7, 2008. Since our client is from India, there is no current visa numbers for him, but we will follow up his case to make sure he files for his green card as soon as a visa number is available, according to his priority date. In the meantime we will keep him on status by filing and renewing H1B visas.

I-140 ( Perm Based): A Chinese national, with a Ph.D. Electrical Engineering background, hired us to file his I-140 (Immigrant petition for alien worker), which we did in December 2007. In June 2008, USCIS requested evidence for employer to show ability to pay the proffered wage. We responded the Request for Evidence in July, and the I-140 was approved in a week after that.

In 2001 our Indian client came on an F-1 (student) Visa to follow her Master Degree in Exercise Physiology, which she completed in 2003. She later took job with a Medical Office in Florida. She was on her H-1B (Non Immigrant Worker visa) when she approached us in September of 2007. Since her employer was willing to sponsor her application for I-140 (Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker) we collected all the supporting documentation and filed the application in January 2008. The fact that she lived in Florida, and we worked her case from another state, made her a little concerned about the results. When in July 2008 her I-140 was approved in only six months, she was very satisfied with our services. As usual we help all our clients, no matter how far they live, and we take a lot of pride from our teamwork. The case was handled by our paralegals Jackie Tong and Brian Marek.

Our client came on F-1(Student) visa in 2001 to follow his Master Degree in Business Administration. He was offered a job in 2004, which he accepted, working under an H-1B (Non Immigrant Worker visa). He decided to hire our services in 2006 when he changed his job, so we applied for another H-1B visa with the new employer. We also filed I-539 (to extend his stay) and H-4 Visa for his wife, as Spouse of H1B holder. Later, employer and client retained us to file for an I-140 (Immigrant Worker visa, which we started by filing his PERM in April 2008. PERM is a permanent labor certification issued by the Department of Labor (DOL) allowing an employer to hire a foreign worker to work permanently in the United States. The PERM was approved, and we are currently working in the next step, which is the filing of the I-140. Once it is approved, our client may be eligible to file for a green card.

This married couple came from Iran in May 2005 with an H1B (temporary work visa) for the husband, a clinical researcher, and an H4 visa for the wife as an immediate relative of an H-1B holder. They settled in Texas where the husband's Fellowship was to take place. The wife, a smart Metallurgic Engineer, started to look for a job and found a company in Cleveland, Ohio that offered her not only a job, but also the chance to sponsor her later for an Immigrant work visa (I-140). Because of his background as a medical researcher, the husband thought he would be able to get a job in the same city, and so he did, so the couple relocated in Ohio. We filed an H1B visa for her in May 2006 and it was approved in September. She started working for her employer in October. A few months later, in January 2007, we started her PERM (Labor Certification) and it was approved in February. The following month we filed the I-140 with her employer as petitioner, together with I-485 (green card petition). The I-140 was approved in less than a month. We continued the green card case and both she and her husband received their green cards in May 2008. They were very happy when they stopped by at our office and we handed them their green cards. Later they sent a thank you note and made compliments to our staff, especially to Brian Marek and Jackie Tong, who handled their case.

We filed an I-140 (Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker) for our client, a restaurant chef from China in July 2007. Because the position required two years' experience, we filed the I-140 with EB-3 classification, which is used for skilled workers. We received a Request for Evidence in March 2008, and filed a response that same month. The I-140 was subsequently approved in May 2008. Brian Marek worked on this case.

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.