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info@getsonschatz.com
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Immigration Law Success Stories
August 26, 2010
Our client, an H-1B visa holder, applied for adjustment of status based upon a bona fide marriage to a United States Citizen. We prepared and filed the green card application on behalf of our client and attended the marriage interview at the Philadelphia Immigration Office. Our client received the green card within 1 week after the interview.
August 18, 2010
A client came to our office who had been married to a United States Citizen for 20 years and had an I-130 Petition approved for 12 years but had never received the green card because he had filed the paperwork by himself and his application had been denied because he had been unable to prove his lawful entry to the United States. He had not bothered to follow-up on his application until he needed proof of work authorization all those years later. We immediately filed Form I-102 to obtain a duplicate copy of his I-94 card and upon receipt of same we filed his green card application. After more than a decade our client finally has a green card.
An important aspect of our legal representation of clients involves attending adjustment of status interviews in connection with an I-485 application filed simultaneously with a marriage based I-130 Petition. During a recent interview, the couple was separated, most likely due to a difference in age between the husband and wife and prior marital history. In response to the questions asked, the husband and wife had minor discrepancies in their testimony, the type of which would be expected of any married couple and which is often provided due to the nature of the questioning as opposed to the marriage not being bona fide. The lawyer from our firm who attended the interview took detailed notes of the testimony. USCIS issued a Notice of Intent to Deny the I-130 Petition citing discrepancies in the testimony between husband and wife. Our law firm responded to the Notice of Intent to Deny on behalf of the Petitioning Spouse, explaining the minor discrepancies in testimony and the reasons for such discrepancies. Following our response to the Notice of Intent to Deny USCIS approved both the I-130 Petition and I-485 green card application.
August 9, 2010
Our Philadelphia Immigration Attorneys successfully represented a U.S. Citizen in sponsoring her husband who lived overseas for permanent resident status. The husband in wife were married in Jamaica and we filed an I-130 Petition for Alien Relative and thereafter filed an I-129F Petition for K-3 status. The husband was granted a K-3 visa which he used to enter the United States. After his entry to the United States we filed an adjustment of status application on his behalf so that he could obtain a green card. Following an interview at the Philadelphia District Office the adjustment of status application was approved.
July 31, 2010
Our client, a United States Citizen, had filed I-130 Petitions on behalf of both of her parents with the Vermont Service Center requesting consular processing. The Petitions were approved but following the approval the files were lost by the Immigration Service during the time period they were supposed to be transferred to the National Visa Center. Our law firm helped resolve the situation for our client by reconstructing the file with the Vermont Service Center and eliciting the assistance of the immigration liaison of a Philadelphia Congresswoman's office. We were able to successfully get the Vermont Service Center to issue new approvals and forward the files to the National Visa Center.
July 21, 2010
Our Philadelphia Immigration law firm represented a foreign national in the joint filing with her husband of an I-751 Petition to Remove Conditions on Residence. The spouses were not living together because the husband had a job in New York that required him to be a live-in caretaker of a disabled individual. The marriage was bona fide at its inception and remained a strong, viable marriage despite the unusual living/employment arrangements. Full disclosure of the circumstances was made to USCIS and following an interview at the USCIS Philadelphia District Office the I-751 Petition was approved.
July 8, 2010
Our firm filed an I-751 Petition to Remove the Conditions on Residence for a Conditional Permanent Resident whose children had immigrated to the United States more than 6 months after she obtained her green card. The children had immigrated within 2 years of the mother's marriage so they also received conditional green cards valid for 2 years. The children could not be included with their mother's I-751 petition because they had entered the U.S. more than 6 months after their mother received the green card. The mother's I-751 Petition was approved and we then filed separate petitions for the children within the 90 day period prior to the expiration date of their green cards. We included evidence of the bona fide marriage of their mother and step-father. The I-751 Petitions for the children were approved by USCIS.
In 2009 one of our clients became a United States Citizen and we filed an I-130 Relative Petition on behalf of her sibling. We received the approval notice for the Petition in less than 1 year which is expeditious for this type of Petition. When the priority date for the Petition becomes current our law firm will assist with the Immigrant Visa Process.
June 22, 2010
Our client applied for a green card based upon a marriage to a United States Citizen. He was previously divorced in the Dominican Republic and even though his Dominican Divorce Decree was valid, the Philadelphia Immigration Office issued a Notice of Intent to Deny the I-130 Petition requiring proof of the validity of his divorce decree because he had been in the United States at the time of the divorce. The Philadelphia Immigration Office also requested U.S. Embassy authentication of the Dominican Divorce Decree which was a legally inappropriate request under the terms of the 1961 Hague Convention. In response to the Notice of Intent to Deny, we submitted the record of the Dominican Divorce Court proceedings showing that all of the legal requirements for a divorce in the Dominican Republic were met and a letter from the Court stating that the divorce was valid under Dominican Law. We also pointed out the legal insufficiency of the request that the Dominican Divorce Decree be authenticated by the U.S. Embassy in Santo Domingo. Following our response to the Notice of Intent to Deny the I-130 Petition was approved and our client was granted United States Permanent Resident status.
June 15, 2010
Our client received a conditional green card based on her bona fide marriage to a U.S. Citizen. Within the 2 year conditional resident status period our client's husband passed away. Our client filed an I-751 Petition to Remove Conditions on Residence on the basis that she was widowed. Our client was scheduled for an interview at the USCIS Philadelphia District Office. We presented the Immigration Services Officer who conducted the interview with substantial evidence that our client's marriage was bona fide at its inception. Following a detailed interview, our client's I-751 petition was approved and she was given a new green card with a 10 year expiration date.
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Categories
Asylum Applications (2)
Deportation Defense & Immigration Court Appeals (9)
Extraordinary Ability Aliens (5)
H-1B Specialty Occupation Visas (21)
K-1 Fiance(e) Visas (1)
L-1 Intracompany Transfer Visas (1)
Marriage & Family Sponsored Green Card Applications (30)
National Interest Waiver Petitions (6)
Naturalization/Citizenship (6)
Outstanding Researchers & Professors (7)
PERM Labor Certification (11)
TN Status under the NAFTA (1)
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