Recent Cases Represented by Our Office

An EB-5 Immigrant petition was approved for a Mexican entrepreneur who invested $500,000.00 in a USCIS pre-approved regional center “pilot project”.

Two permanent residency petitions were approved for two Venezuelan families who were selected in the annual visa lottery. The members of one family adjusted their status in the United States while the other family requested the residency at the US Consulate in Caracas, Venezuela.

A widow of a U.S. citizen was able to adjust status in the USA five (5) years after the death of her US citizen spouse.

A TN visa was approved by the US Consulate in Mexico City for a Mexican national to work as a Foreign Legal Consultant. The applicant does not work in a law firm but, interestingly, in a public relations company.

The following permanent labor certifications have been recently approved by the Department of Labor:

• “Financial Advisor” with a master’s degree in Business Administration obtained in Mexico
• “Senior Program Analyst” requiring a Master’s degree.
• “Personal Secretary” residing within the same household of the employer.
• “Licensed Surgical Assistant” with an M.D. (Doctor of Medicine) obtained in Mexico.
• “Cook in Private Home” with two (2) years of previous experience in Venezuela
• “Operations and Business Analyst” with a Bachelor’s in Business Administration obtained by a Malaysian and five (5) years of previous experience as Sales Manager
• “Cosmetologist” with two (2) years of previous experience from Mexico
• “Combustion Turbine Component Repair Specialist” with two (2) years of previous experience
• “Grind & Polish Worker” with five (5) months of previous experience
• “Assistant Professor of Marketing” for a public university with a PhD
• “Head Cook for a Mexican Restaurant” with two (2) years of experience
• “Maintenance Worker” with two (2) years of experience
• “Staff Engineer” with a Bachelor’s in Engineering and six (6) month of experience
• “Chemical Foreman (Landscaping)” with two years of experience
• “Welder – Fitter” with one (1) year of experience
• “Assembly Inspector and Tester” with (2) years of experience
• “Baker” with two (2) years of experience
• “Clinical Director” with a Bachelors in Biomedical or Biological Science
• “Environmental Science and Protection Technician” with two (2) years of experience

A student from Thailand was able to get reinstated as a student after USCIS denied her status for dropping out from school.

We arranged for a Venezuelan man to be naturalized before a federal judge in a private ceremony days after his naturalization interview, so he could petition for his son who was about to turn 21 years of age in 10 days time.

A late amnesty case has been approved by USCIS for a citizen from Pakistan who has been in the U.S. since 1981.

A VAWA (Violence Against Women Act) case has been approved for a man who was a victim of domestic violence by a US citizen. The VAWA approval allows him to adjust status and obtain a Lawful Permanent Residency in the U.S.

A 17 year old person was able to obtain a permanent resident visa at the U.S. Consulate in Cd. Juarez after entering the U.S. as a child and residing in the U.S. all her life. The child was deemed not to have triggered the 10 year bar upon leaving the United States. In addition, she immediately became eligible for U.S. citizenship upon re-entry into the U.S.

Mr. B was granted lawful permanent residency (LPR) status before the Immigration Judge on March 3, 2009 through marriage to a U.S. citizen despite the fact that Mr. B had pled guilty in 2002 to Assault Causing Bodily Injury to a Family Member, a Texas Class A Misdemeanor. The Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS) considers a Class A Misdemeanor for domestic violence as a Crime of Moral Turpitude, thereby making an alien inadmissible for permanent residency. However, in order to preempt a claim by the CIS that Mr. B committed a Crime Involving Moral Turpitude, our law office worked with a criminal attorney and had the conviction set aside, clearing the way for Mr. B to adjust his status before the Immigration Judge.

Mrs. M was granted Cancellation of Removal before the Immigration Judge on August 28, 2009 by showing exceptional and extremely unusual hardship to her LPR husband and four (4) U.S. citizen children. We presented evidence that Mrs. M was very close to her immediate family and would be unable to cope without them. Mrs. M was previously subject to the ten (10) year bar and unable to adjust status with her husband.

A challenge from USCIS has successfully been rebutted by an employer that proved the ability to pay the worker’s wage with bank statements. An immigrant petition (Form I-140) requires the employer to prove that s/he has the ability to pay the proffered wage as established in the Labor Certification. USCIS challenged the employer’s ability to pay because the employer’s tax return reported losses (negative income) during and after the period of the priority date. In addition, the beneficiary employee was not employed with the petitioning company.

A National Interest Waiver for a Norwegian Petroleum Engineer has been approved by USCIS. This individual, who works for one of the biggest oil companies in the US, obtained Lawful Permanent Residency by demonstrating that he has extraordinary abilities.

Another National Interest Waiver exemption was approved for a Medical Pediatric Researcher / Clinical Biomedical Scientist.

A thirty (30) year old was able to recently apply for adjustment of status to LPR based on the 2008 USCIS new guidelines in relation to the Child Status Protection Act (CSPA) of 2002. The legal fiction created by CSPA allowed the individual to be treated as a minor from the moment of submission of the subsequently approved relative petition (Form I-130) until the moment of his adjustment of status to that of legal permanent resident of the United States.