H-1B - Specialty Occupation

We were recently retained to address a strange problem. An H-1 petition was approved, but the parties did not receive the approval notice for two years. The notice was apparently lost in the mail. They submitted an application for a duplicate approval notice, which also was issued and also lost in the mail. The employer then filed an application for an extension of status, which was granted without an I-94 attached to it.

Status
The case was approved by USCIS with the I-94 attached.

Nonimmigrant Visas

F-1 Visa

We were approached by the parents of an applicant whose application for an F-1 visa had been denied based on Section 214(b) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (possible immigrant).Normally, we would have not been able to do much.  But in this case, the visa applicant had already visited USA three times in the past and left in time.While it was true that her entire family lived in USA, the fact remained that she had never violated any US laws, despite having an opportunity to do so. We filed for reconsideration.

Status
F-1 visa granted.

Nonimmigrant Visas

B-1/B-2 Visa

We requested a reconsideration of a B-1/B-2 visa denial by a US Consulate in India. The applicant and his wife applied for visa to visit their son in the U.S. The wife was granted a 10 year multiple entry visa, but the husband's application was denied based on Section 214(b) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (possible immigrant). This obviously made no sense. Why would one of the husband-wife applicants be denied while the other one granted the visa?  We requested reconsideration, fully explaining the circumstances in his favor and providing further proof.

Status
B-1/B-2 visa granted.

Nonimmigrant Visas

Lawsuit Against Department of Labor, CIS and others

Our client's original approved labor certification was lost in the mail. We tried numerous times to get a duplicate copy of the approved labor certification from the Department of Labor (USDOL) but couldn't get it from the USDOL. USCIS attempted to obtain a copy and informed us that they were making the attempt. We saw no results.

Status
The Defendants settled the case before submitting an answer to the complaint. Accordingly, USDOL issued a duplicate labor certification in favor of the Plaintiff and Plaintiff's Immigrant Petition (Form I-140) was approved within a few weeks.

Immigration Law

Writ of Mandamus/Lawsuit Against Department of Homeland Security and others

Our client, a citizen of Taiwan had filed an employment-based adjustment of status application. The Plaintiff's adjustment of status had been pending with the USCIS California Service Center for almost three and one half years. USCIS did not adjudicate his adjustment of status application since they could not get the name check clearance from the FBI.

Status
Approximately six months after the filing of the above-mentioned lawsuit, Plaintiff received his adjustment of status (green card). Subsequently, we filed a notice of dismissal with the DC federal court to dismiss the case without prejudice.

Immigration Law

Writ of Mandamus/Lawsuit Against Department of Homeland Security and others

Our client, a citizen of China had filed an adjustment of status application on the basis of marriage to a U.S. Citizen. The Plaintiff's adjustment of status had been pending with the USCIS for almost three years. USCIS did not adjudicate her adjustment of status application since they could not get the name check clearance from the FBI.

Status
Approximately eight weeks after the filing of the above-mentioned lawsuit, Plaintiff received his adjustment of status (green card). Subsequently, we filed a notice of dismissal with the DC federal court to dismiss the case without prejudice.

Immigration Law

Lawsuit Against Department of Homeland Security and others

Our client’s derivative-based Adjustment of Status (AOS) application was denied.  USCIS stated in its denial that the applicant had been out of lawful nonimmigrant status for more than an aggregate amount of 180 days.  We filed a lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and others (Defendants) alleging, inter alia, that our client (the Plaintiff) would have been out of lawful nonimmigrant status for less than an aggregate amount of 180 days had the Defendants adjudicated Plaintiff’s earlier H-1

Status
The Defendants settled before submitting an answer to the complaint. Accordingly, Plaintiff’s AOS was approved.

Immigration Law

Lawsuit Against Department Of Homeland Security And Others

Our client retained us as legal counsel in order to compel the USCIS to grant an Employment-Based Adjustment of Status (AOS) Application. The Plaintiff's case had been on file with USCIS almost three years before he sought our assistance.

Status
Approximately three weeks after the filing of the above mentioned lawsuit, Plaintiff received his adjustment of status (green card). Subsequently, we filed a notice of dismissal with the DC federal court to dismiss the case without prejudice .

Immigration Law

H-1 Compliance: Wage Source; Exempt Employees; Posting; Starting Payroll; SSN; When to amend

1. Is it advisable or compulsory to get the prevailing wage determination from the states or Online Wage Library is enough at the time of taking LCA? Because most of the time we are taking the LCAs for the job titles like: Software Engineer, Programmer Analyst and System Analyst for which the wage determination available in the online wage library.

Ans. OES wages can be used as long as the correct job category and job level are used. Applying for prevailing wages from the govt. is time consuming, but does have the benefit of being almost beyond question in case of an audit.