Our lawyers represent a large engineering firm in Philadelphia, PA in the handling of all of their immigration matters. The engineering firm had hired an F-1 student on Optional Practical Training whose work authorization expired on August 21, 2010. The engineering firm wanted to continue employing the F-1 student beyond the expiration date of his work authorization so we filed a petition for a change of status with the Immigration Service prior to the August 21, 2010 expiration date of the work authorization. The filing of the Petition prior to the expiration of the work authorization automatically extended the Optional Practical Training work authorization through September 30, 2010 under the H-1B “cap gap” regulations. The H-1B petition, which was for a bridge engineering position, was approved by the Immigration Service and the status of the employee changes from F-1 to H-1B effective October 1, 2010.

In 2008 our client was granted asylum as she had applied for asylum within one year of her entry to the United States and feared returning to her home country on account of her political opinion. In 2009, when a year had passed since her grant of asylum, we filed an I-485 application for adjustment of status on her behalf and on behalf of her daughter. The I-485 applications were approved. Our client plans to file for citizenship 4 years and 9 months after the issuance date of her green card which is backdated 1 year as is the case for all asylees.

Following receipt of certification of a PERM Labor Certification on behalf of Professor that was filed by a prestigious university in the State of Kansas, we filed an I-140 Petition for Immigrant Worker with the Nebraska Service Center. In support of the Petition we provided a letter from the University’s Vice President for Administration and Finance that the University has more than 100 employees and has the ability to pay the wage along with a copy of the Professor’s faculty appointment setting forth the salary. We also provided evidence of the Professor’s qualifications. The I-140 Petition was approved.

A client sought legal advice from our attorneys after he had filed a green card application with another lawyer on the basis of his marriage to a Untied States Citizen that was denied because the client had a criminal conviction that rendered him inadmissible to the United States and a Form I-601 filed by the other lawyer was denied for failure to establish that his wife would suffer extreme hardship if he were deported from the United States. We advised our client to inquire whether or not he may be able to receive a pardon from the Governor of his State for the criminal conviction which would remove the criminal conviction ground of inadmissibility. Our client was granted a pardon and we re-filed his green card application based upon his bona fide marriage informing the Immigration Service that he had been granted a pardon. Since the pardon had eliminated all grounds for his inadmissibility to the United States his green card application was approved.

Prior to April 30, 2001 our firm filed a sibling I-130 Petition on behalf of a client who had overstayed a visitor visa in the 1990s and was physically present in the United States on December 21, 2000 enabling the client to be grandfathered under Section 245(i) of the Immigration and Nationality Act. In 2003 we filed a Labor Certification on behalf of the client which was approved. We then filed an I-140 Petition to show that the Company that filed the Labor Certification had the ability to pay the proffered wage and that the client met the minimum requirements for the position as set forth in the Labor Certification. The I-140 Petition was approved. The I-130 Sibling Petition was also approved. The priority date on the Labor Certification became current and we filed I-485 applications for our client and her spouse, indicating to the Immigration Service that our client was eligible to apply for adjustment of status under the Labor Certification because she was grandfathered under Section 245(i) by reason of having an approvable when filed I-130 Petition filed by her sibling on her behalf prior to April 30, 2001. Under the law it is permissible to substitute the benefits of Section 245(i) from one petition or application to another. After more than 10 years of waiting, our client received her green card based upon the approved Labor Certification Application.

We had previously assisted a client in obtaining asylum from Liberia, filing for a green card and obtaining a waiver of inadmissibility to the United States (which was required at the time) since he was HIV positive. Following approval of his green card we filed I-485 applications for his derivative children. The I-485 applications for the children were approved within 2 months of filing.

Our Philadelphia Immigration Lawyers filed a FY-2011 H-1B cap case for a start-up company that develops website software for managing contact information, events and marketing data. The H-1B petition was for the position of Programmer which involved designing and building web-based applications. Start-up companies that file H-1B petitions must demonstrate to United States Citizenship and Immigration Services that there is a bona fide non-speculative job offer. In support of the petition our law firm explained the business of the employer, the need for the employer to hire a programmer, and provided evidence regarding the viability of the employer’s business and its finances. The H-1B Petition was approved.

Following approval of a PERM Labor Certification on behalf of a University Professor in the EB-2 Advanced Degree Category, we filed an I-140 Immigrant Petition on behalf of the Professor. The Professor, who is not Indian or Chinese and therefore not subject to any visa backlog, simultaneously filed an I-485 Application for Adjustment of Status. With the I-140 Petition filed by the University our law firm included evidence of the University’s ability to pay the wage set forth in the PERM labor certification and evidence that the Professor met the minimum requirements for the position as set forth in the PERM labor certification. Both the I-140 Petition and I-485 Application were simultaneously approved approximately 3 months after filing.