Form I-485 Notice of Intent to Deny (NOID)
Our client received a decision denying his request for naturalization based on allegations that he failed to continuously maintain lawful immigration status since initial entry. Specifically, Service found that the applicant worked at unauthorized locations during his employment with a Petitioner whose owner/CEO pled guilty to visa fraud. We filed an “appeal,” Request for Hearing on Naturalization, arguing that employees of the aforementioned company had no knowledge of the visa fraud scheme and were without fault.
USCIS denied our client’s Form I-485, alleging that the applicant failed to demonstrate eligibility for adjustment of status because a final disposition regarding a criminal charge under India’s Dowry Laws was not provided. We responded by clarifying to Service the particular facts of this case, and noting that mere criminal accusations without a conviction are not grounds for permanent residence eligibility.
We recently filed an application for an EAD based on compelling circumstances for a client with a serious, debilitating medical concern. The applicant was on an H-1B status. We provided a petition to USCIS outlining the applicant’s medical history and the ongoing treatment that showed the progression of his illness, which limited his ability to perform his job duties. He was initially placed on short-term disability but as the condition progressed, it was necessary for applicant to be placed on long-term disability.
We filed a Form I-140 petition for a professional cricketer in the EB1A category. This immigration preference category is for foreign nationals of extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics. After receiving an RFE questioning the applicant’s eligibility, we responded with documentation evidencing that the applicant has a level of expertise indicating that he is one of that small percentage who have risen to the very top of the field of endeavor.
Our client received a request for evidence, questioning its ability to pay all beneficiaries it petitioned for. We reviewed the company’s tax returns and other relevant financials, and demonstrated to USCIS that the unique totality of circumstances of this particular employer warranted approval. We furnished evidence, including information about the company’s background, its activities and ongoing contracts, and commentary, analyzing the entity’s cash flow metrics, in support. The case was approved after three months.
Applicant sought out our firm after receiving a misrepresentation finding against him at the consulate for visa stamping. We reviewed his file and were unable to ascertain any factual basis for the fraud/misrepresentation finding. We began directly corresponding with the consulate, and requested information from various government agencies In addition, we consulted with The Office of Visa Services (Visa Office) within the Department of State’s Bureau of Consular Affairs .
An L-1A visa can be obtained for an international manager or executive who manages other professionals or who manages an important function of the organization (“functional manager”). Historically, it has been difficult to obtain L-1A for functional managers. USCIS is more esily convinced where professional employees are being managed.
We recently filed an application for an EAD based on compelling circumstances for a client with a major medical concern. The applicant was on an H-1B status. We provided a petition to USCIS outlining the applicant’s medical history and the ongoing treatment that showed the progression of his illness, which limited his ability to perform his job duties. He was initially placed on short-term disability but as the condition progressed, it was necessary for applicant to be placed on long-term disability.
We assisted in responding to an RFE questioning the employer’s educational requirements for an E-3 (Specialty Occupation Workers from Australia) Petition filed for a software developer position. USCIS sought clarification as to how the position could be a specialty occupation where the employer required a minimum of a bachelor’s degree in business, information systems, computer science or equivalent with related experience.
We successfully assisted a new client in filing an E-2 visa extension. The applicant was a national of a treaty country and was the 100% shareholder of the U.S. enterprise. Through extensive documentation, including contracts, invoices, financial statements, and detailed explanations of the evidence, we were able to show that the U.S. enterprise was a real and operating enterprise, and that the applicant had made a substantial, qualifying investment in the enterprise and put his personal investment at risk.
We successfully assisted the client company, an online retail business, in filing an L-1A “new office” petition to enable the beneficiary to join the U.S. subsidiary temporarily as Chief Executive Officer to lead the development and formulation of the U.S. Entity’s short and long-term strategy. While in the U.S. Beneficiary will continue to setup the business’s U.S. office and a warehouse facility, hire a U.S. team and lead the development of sales and marketing strategies.
We assisted our client, a U.S. citizen, in filing an I-130, Petition for Alien Relative, for his wife. Approximately 8 months after filing the petition we received notice that the case had been transferred to another USCIS service center. Three months later we received a denial notice giving the reason for denial as no record of a response to a Request for Evidence (RFE). The denial notice stated that the RFE was issued on a date that was a few weeks prior to the notice of the case transfer.
We successfully assisted our client, a U.S. citizen, in filing an I-129F (a K-1 Petition for Alien Fiancé(e)) for his fiancée. The petitioner and beneficiary intended to marry within 90 days of the beneficiary entering the U.S. The evidence provided to prove their intent to marry, that they had met in-person, and were engaged included, but was not limited to: affidavits, copies of photographs of the couple and their families, flight tickets, hotel reservations, screenshots of videos, zoom meetings, and text messages. The petition was approved.
We assisted our client in filing an I-129F petition to bring his fiancee to the U.S. in anticipation of their upcoming marriage in the U.S. On Form I-129F the petitioner answered “yes” to the question: “Have you ever been arrested, cited, charged, indicted, convicted, fined, or imprisoned for breaking or violating any law or ordinance in any country, excluding traffic violations (unless a traffic violation was alcohol-or drug-related or involved a fine of $500 or more)?”. We included reference to that issue in the filing.
We assisted our client in filing an E-2 change of status application for treaty investor. USCIS issued an RFE requesting information to determine if petitioner met the general requirements for E-2 Treaty Investor, without specifying in the RFE which specific information was missing. The RFE also requested information about a prior filed EB-5 petition, and questioned whether the client was maintaining current nonimmigrant status.
We assisted our client, a nonprofit religious organization, in filing a nonimmigrant religious worker (R-1) petition for a new pastor. We received a Request for Evidence (RFE) in which USCIS questioned the petitioner's ability to compensate the beneficiary. We responded with additional documentation supporting Petitioner’s ability to pay and its nonprofit status, such as bank statements and a final determination letter granting tax-exempt status as issued by the IRS. The case was approved.
We were approached by an employer in the pharmaceutical manufacturing industry to respond to an RFE (Request for Evidence) for an Operations Research Analyst. The RFE indicated that the job duties were vague, and did not allow the USCIS to ascertain the minimum requirements for the position, or determine whether it constituted a specialty occupation.
We assisted in the filing of an H-1B petition for a newly established company in the healthcare industry for a computer and information systems manager. We received a request for evidence (RFE), asking for details about the employer and questioning the employee’s qualifications. Oddly, the RFE specifically questioned the credentials of the professor, who had assessed the employee’s educational background and experiential qualifications.
In this case, the petitioning green card holder filed forms I-130 and I-485 for her second husband, whom she had been married to for less than five years since obtaining her lawful permanent resident status based on her first marriage, which was to a U.S. citizen. That marriage ended in a divorce.
We responded to a Form I-485 Request for Evidence to prove that approximately a decade ago the permanent residency applicant had, in fact, attended two U.S. universities as he had claimed in previously approved petitions. Both universities had been certified by ICE under its Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) during the applicant’s attendance.
We filed an H-1B extension petition for a small software company that offers customer software and technology solutions to the local clientele. USCIS approved the classification portion of the petition, but denied the portion of the petition requesting an extension of stay. USCIS stated that beneficiary had failed to maintain his nonimmigrant status because his H-1B status had expired prior to the filing of the H-1B extension petition and he was only in an authorized period of stay because of a pending extension request from the previous employer.
We responded to a Form I-485 Request for Evidence to prove that approximately a decade ago the permanent residency applicant had, in fact, attended two U.S. universities as he had claimed in previously approved petitions. Both universities had been certified by ICE under its Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) during the applicant’s attendance.
We filed an H-1B petition for a company that provides IT related services, on behalf of the beneficiary, a software developer. An RFE was subsequently issued, responded to and then denied as failing to prove that petitioner established that sufficient speciality occupation work was available and that the position qualified as a specialty occupation. We filed an appeal with the Administrative Appeals Office, the appeal was sustained and the petition was remanded back for issuance of an approval notice.
We filed an H-1B extension petition for a software consulting and professional services firm on behalf of a software architect requesting status and work authorization for a duration of three years. The extension was, however, approved for a duration much shorter than requested and the approval notice was both dated and received after the shorter validity period had already expired, thereby destroying the legal status of the employee and causing him to accrue unlawful presence.