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Immigration Law Success Stories
June 15, 2010

In April 2010 we filed an H-1B extension petition on behalf of a foreign national.  The foreign national had a family emergency in India and had to depart the U.S. during while the H-1B extension petition was pending.  The H-1B extension petition was approved while the foreign national was outside the U.S.  An extension of status petition cannot be granted for someone who is outside the U.S. so the extension petition was rendered moot.  The foreign national returned to the U.S. on his existing visa and was granted H-1B status through the duration of his initial H-1B petition.  The way to resolve the problem was to file another H-1B extension of status petition upon the foreign national's return to the United States.   Our firm successfully filed the second H-1B extension of status petition.
Filed under: H-1B Specialty Occupation Visas


May 25, 2010

Our immigration law firm represents a major Hospital in Pennsylvania that employs over 10,000 individuals.  As part of our practice we assist the Hospital in sponsoring medical residents for H-1B status.  Due to certain timing issues, 5 medical residents needed a 6 day extension of H-1B status in order to complete their medical residency program with the Hospital.  Our firm filed the H-1B extension petitions which were approved significantly in advance of the expiration date of the H-1B status.  This provided the medical residents sufficient time to file another H-1B extension petition with new employers to continue their work authorized status in the United States.
Filed under: H-1B Specialty Occupation Visas



Our immigration lawyers in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania successfully processed a H-1B Cap Subject Petition for a Software Engineer working for a start-up telecommunications company in New Jersey.  The company's proprietary software enables telephone calls to be made over the Internet, including through mobile phones.  We provided extensive documentation of the bona fide non-speculative nature of the job offer by providing evidence of the Company's business operations, finances, customer contracts and invoices, and the nature of the Software Engineer position.  Whenever a H-1B Petition is being processed for a start-up company it is necessary to provide the Immigration Service proof that the company has the ability to offer the foreign national sufficient employment at the speciality occupation level.
Filed under: H-1B Specialty Occupation Visas


May 16, 2010

Our law firm has received another approval notice for an H-1B cap case that we filed on April 1, 2010 for a Secondary Market Coordinator, a position involving the analysis of mortgages, rates, and pricing for loans for the purpose of selling such mortgages into the "secondary market" to large financial institutions such as banks, pension funds, and other institutional investors.  The petitioning company is based in Pennsylvania and is a nationally recognized company that has closed billions of dollars of loans over the last decade. The beneficiary employee of this H-1B petition will be permitted to continue working pursuant to an approved program of OPT (Optional Practical Training), based on her F-1 student status, until her status converts to H-1B status on October 1, 2010 and will be authorized to continue her employment through September 2013.  Further, the petitioning employer will be permitted to extend her H-1B status for another 3 years through 2016, and then in one year increments if a PERM, or permanent labor certification case, is filed in a timely manner, more than one year prior to the expiration of the beneficiary's H-1B status.
Filed under: H-1B Specialty Occupation Visas


May 3, 2010

Getson & Schatz, P.C. received its first approval of a FY-2011 H-1B cap case that was filed on April 1, 2010 for a change of status from F-1 to H-1B effective October 1, 2010.  Based upon the approval the F-1 student will be able to obtain an extension of his F-1 Optional Practical Training Employment Authorization Document, which expires on July 1, 2010, through September 30, 2010 under the "cap-gap" regulation.   The H-1B Petition involved the position of Market Research Analyst for a newly formed insurance agency in New York.  The bona fide non-speculative nature of the proposed job offered was thoroughly documented in the H-1B Petition with evidence of the finances of the Petitioner, the business plan of the Petitioner, background information about the position of market reserach analyst, the customers of the Petitioner, the type of marketing conducted by the Petitioner, the nature of the work the Beneficiary had already performed during his F-1 Optional Practical Training, and letters from other insurance agencies describing their employment of market research analysts.
Filed under: H-1B Specialty Occupation Visas


April 22, 2010

We successfully filed an H-1B change of employer for a client for an extension of H-1B status through year 13.  The client, an Indian National, had an approved I-140 Petition with his existing employer and has a pending I-485 Adjustment of Status Application.  The client wanted to change jobs to a "same or similar" occupation with a new employer and maintain the processing of his green card application uner the AC-21 portability rules.  While the client has a valid EAD, based upon the advice of our law firm, the client had the new employer file an H-1B change of status petition and is now working for the new employer in H-1B status as opposed to using the EAD.  It is always a good idea to maintain underlying H-1B nonimmigrant status while an I-485 application for adjustment of status is pending as in the event there is a problem with the I-485 application the foreign national will remain lawfully present in the U.S. and employment authorized based upon the underlying H-1B nonimmigrant status.
Filed under: H-1B Specialty Occupation Visas


April 12, 2010

Our client held H-1B status and was suddenly and unexpectedly terminated from her employment.  Our client's husband held H-1B status in the U.S. so our Philadelphia Immigration Attorneys applied as soon as possible for a change of status from H-1B to H-4 to place our client back into lawful nonimmigrant status.  In the I-539 Application Packet we explained the circumstances surrounding her termination and requested that USCIS grant a change and extension of status.  The change of status application was approved.
Filed under: H-1B Specialty Occupation Visas


March 16, 2010

Our client is a pharmacist who was maintaining lawful H-1B employment and also had an I-485 adjustment of status application pending more than 6 months based upon an approved I-140 Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker.  The I-140 Petition was approved following certification of a labor certification application on behalf of our client.  Our client had neglected to maintain a valid employment authorization document.  Our client came to us wanting to change her employer to a different pharmacy with the goal of starting work for the new employer as soon as possible, being able to maintain her green card application, and being able to travel to her home country for her brother's wedding next month.  In order to meet our clients goals we filed an H-1B change of employer petition and utilized premium processing so that our client would have the approval notice in time to travel using the approval notice of the new H-1B Petition and the visa from her prior employer's H-1B Petition which is still valid.  Following the H-1B approval we prepared an AC-21 change of employer letter for our client to maintain her green card processing in that her new position is the "same or similar" to her prior position.  We also applied for a new employment authorization document and advance parole travel document so our client could have these documents in an emergent situation.  Strategically, whenever possible one should maintain underlying H-1B nonimmigrant status even though one may have a pending I-485 adjustment of status application.  This provides a safety net in case something happens with the pending I-485 application.
Filed under: H-1B Specialty Occupation Visas


February 9, 2010

Our Philadelphia Immigration Lawyers filed a FY-2010 H-1B cap Petition for a New Jersey Company sponsoring a foreign national for a change of status from L-2 to H-1B for part-time H-1B employment.  The position was an Operations Research Analyst for a financial services company involved in risk management and required a Bachelor's Degree or its equivalent in finance, economics, mathematics, engineering or a related field.  Our client possessed a Bachelor's Degree in Systems Engineering.  We provided USCIS with independent evidence demonstrating that engineering is a relevant field of study to qualify for an Operations Research Analyst position.
Filed under: H-1B Specialty Occupation Visas


January 12, 2010

Our immigration lawyers prepared and filed an H-1B extension petition for continuation of previously approved employment without change on behalf of a H-1B Cap-Exempt Employer that is cap exempt due to its affiliation with an Institution of Higher Education.  The Petition was filed with the cap exempt processing unit at the USCIS California Service Center.  The Petition was approved in 17 days without the use of premium processing.  When Petitions are properly prepared it significantly reduces the likelihood of a Request for Evidence and can result in faster processing times than Petitions that do not contain proper documentation.
Filed under: H-1B Specialty Occupation Visas


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