One of our Tustin clients was approved for naturalization recently. She obtained permanent resident status through her husband in 2012 and we represented the couple during that process. Two years later we helped her remove the conditions on her residency through the I-751 process. Earlier this year, we filed for naturalization.

Under 8 CFR §319.1(a)(3), if the alien is married to a US citizen the normal 5 year residency requirement is reduced to 3 years if: (1) the US citizen spouse is a US citizen for three years; and (2) the parties have been “living in marital union” for three years. “Living in marital union” has been interpreted to mean actually residing together.

When we filed for naturalization, we included extensive evidence that the couple had been living in marital union for the last three years including the home mortgage in both their names and evidence that the couple had tried IVF more than once, and the birth certificate of their child.

The officer found that my client qualified for naturalization, and after administering the naturalization tests, she approved the case.

If you are considering the naturalization process, contact Nelson & Nuñez to schedule a consultation. John Nelson and Jay Nuñez will personally meet with you to help you better understand the process and assess whether your case presents hurdles that would complicate naturalization.

We recently received an approval for an I-485 adjustment of status application and I-130 visa petition. We filed the adjustment packet with USCIS based on a US citizen child (over 21 years old) petitioning for her parent. The family is originally from the Philippines. The daughter gained permanent resident status through her husband and three years later naturalized to become a US citizen.

After taking the oath ceremony, the daughter filed a visa petition for her mother along with a concurrent I-485 application. The case was filed in April of 2015 and USCIS approved the green card for the mother without conducting an interview.

With adjustment of status cases, USCIS has the option to request an interview. If the case is marriage-based, USCIS will conduct an interview. If the case is a child petitioning for a parent, they typically will not call for an interview unless there is some underlying issue that complicates adjudication (e.g. criminal record or prior removal).

If you are the parent of a US citizen child that is over 21 years of age, contact Nelson & Nuñez to schedule a consultation. Jay Nuñez and John Nelson will personally meet with you to help you better understand the adjustment of status process and whether your case is eligible for adjustment of status or whether a waiver and consular processing is required.

INA 212(d)(5)(A) gives the Secretary of Homeland Security the discretion to parole for "urgent humanitarian reasons or significant public benefit" any alien applying for admission to the United States. On November 15, 2013, USCIS issued guidance to ensure the consistent adjudication of parole requests made on behalf of non-citizens who are present without admission or parole and who are spouses, children, and parents of those who are serving or have served in the US military.

We recently received an approval for an MPIP case from Las Vegas. Although USCIS is not required to interview all MPIP cases, the Las Vegas office called for an interview so John Nelson flew to Nevada to attend. The USCIS officer conducted a thorough interview which lasted over an hour in order to better understand our clients' full story. Our clients explained that they met while working together in 2004. In 2010, the husband (US citizen) joined the National Guard - part of the reserve component of the US Armed Forces. In 2013, the couple purchased a house in Las Vegas.

During the interview, John Nelson explained that the couple would experience extreme hardship if forced to process the case through the US consulate in Mexico. Under Matter of Anderson, a 1978 BIA case, the relevant factors to consider when deciding extreme hardship include: the age of the subject, length of residence in the US; family ties in the US and abroad; financial status; the qualifying relative's position in the community; the economic and political condition in the country to which the alien is returnable; and the possibility of other means of adjustment.

John referenced other BIA precedent decisions such as Matter of O-J-O while explaining the extreme hardship factors involved. Finally, the USCIS officer agreed to grant the MPIP.

If you are an alien who is currently married or otherwise related to someone who is serving or has served in the US military, contact Nelson & Nuñez to schedule a consultation. Jay Nuñez and John Nelson will personally meet with you to help you better understand your situation and the options available to you.

USCIS, in coordination with Department of State (DOS), is revising the procedures for determining visa availability for applicants waiting to file for employment-based or family-sponsored preference adjustment of status. The revised process will better align with procedures DOS uses for foreign nationals who seek to become U.S. permanent residents by applying for immigrant visas at U.S. consulates and embassies abroad.

This revised process will enhance DOS’s ability to more accurately predict overall immigrant visa demand and determine the cut-off dates for visa issuance published in the Visa Bulletin. This will help ensure that the maximum number of immigrant visas are issued annually as intended by Congress, and minimize month-to-month fluctuations in Visa Bulletin final action dates.

The Visa Bulletin revisions implement November 2014 executive actions on immigration announced by President Obama and Secretary of Homeland Security Johnson, as detailed in the White House report, Modernizing and Streamlining Our Legal Immigration System for the 21st century, issued in July 2015.

What is Changing

Two charts per visa preference category will be posted in the DOS Visa Bulletin:

     -Application Final Action Dates (dates when visas may finally be issued); and

     -Dates for Filing Applications (earliest dates when applicants may be able to apply).

Aliens eligible to file for adjustment of status may file the I-485 when the priority date is prior to the date listed in Chart B even though a visa will not be available until the priority date qualifies under Chart A.

If you believe you are eligible to file for adjustment of status or for consular processing, contact Nelson & Nuñez to schedule a consultation. We will personally meet with you during a confidential consultation to determine how this procedural change may affect your case.

We just received an approval for an I-601A waiver that we filed less than three weeks ago. The I-601A was approved by USCIS without an RFE (Request for Evidence).

The client is originally from Mexico. He entered the US in 1994 without inspection and has lived in California since that time. He was not eligible for adjustment of status under INA 245i; however, he is married to his US citizen wife and has one US citizen daughter (11 years old) and another daughter on the way. His wife was born in the United States and her whole family lives here including parents, aunts, uncles, siblings, nieces, and nephews among others. We included substantial documentation showing the family ties for the wife in the US.

Part of the husband's family is located in the US as well. In Matter of O-J-O, the BIA considered "not only the length of residence, but also the degree of integration into American society and the strength of the attachments to friends and community." We were sure to include evidence of our client's ties to the community.

We included detailed information about the couple's courtship, which began in 2002, and their marriage, which took place in 2009. We provided a lot of documentation regarding the economic situation in Mexico along with the kidnapping and drug trafficking epidemic. The packet included well over 300 pages of evidence.

The next step will be the consular processing of the visa in Ciudad Juarez. The client is excited and looks forward to finalizing the immigration process so he can live in the US with his wife and daughters.

If you are considering the I-601A waiver process, contact Nelson & Nuñez to schedule a confidential consultation. Attorneys John Nelson and Jay Nuñez will personally meet with you to assess your case and determine if you are eligible for an I-601A waiver.

We just received an approval for one of our marriage-based adjustment clients from Long Beach. The client is originally from the Philippines. He moved to the United States with his family when he was in junior high based on his mother's J-1 visa. The family lived in Indiana before moving to Southern California, where he met his future wife in high school.

The couple married in 2014 after dating for several years. We provided evidence that the couple had been romantically involved for many years and lived with the wife's parents. We also provided written statements from family members detailing their support for the couple's marriage.

The interview went forward in Los Angeles, where the USCIS officer asked questions about how the couple met, when they decided to get married and who attended the wedding among other topics. Everything went smoothly; however, the officer wanted evidence that the mother's J-1 two-year residency in her home country had been waived. We provided the proof of waiver within a few days, and today we received the approval notice for the adjustment of status.

The client will be a conditional resident for the next two years because the couple's marriage is less than two years old. They will need to file an I-751 during the ninety days immediately preceding the 2017 expiration date.

If you are married to an alien and wish to explore the adjustment of status process, contact Nelson & Nuñez, PC to schedule a consultation. Attorneys John Nelson and Jay Nuñez will personally meet with you during a confidential consultation so you can better understand how the immigration laws pertain to your situation.

We recently received a naturalization approval from the Chatsworth office. The client became a conditional permanent resident through marriage. During the two year conditional residency period, the couple separated and divorced. We represented him with the I-751 process and requested a good faith waiver. The case was approved.

After he had accumulated 5 years of residency, we filed for naturalization and his case was approved. Before filing the naturalization, we made sure to resolve all pending tax matters so his moral character would not be questioned.

The client is very happy with the result and plans to file visa petitions for his sister and parents in the near future. If you are considering the naturalization process, contact Nelson & Nuñez, PC to schedule a consultation. Attorneys John Nelson and Jay Nuñez will personally meet with you during a confidential consultation so you can better understand your options and the best course of action for you.

We recently received an approval for one of our H-1B clients in Newport Beach. The employee is a real estate analyst for a real estate investment company. She specializes in analyzing and evaluating distressed properties and her educational background prepared her for this position.

We filed the case with a job code of 13-2051 (financial analyst) and used FLC Data Center to determine the prevailing wage as a level I employee.

We received a request for evidence asking us to prove that the position was a specialty occupation and required a bachelor's degree or higher to perform the job duties. In response, we provided work samples of her work and other real estate analysts at the firm, job postings from the firm showing they always required at least a bachelor's degree, resumes/transcripts from the other real estate analysts at the firm, and job postings from other similar companies hiring real estate analysts among other evidence.

The request for evidence was extensive and required a thorough response, but within a week of filing the response, we received an approval. The clients were thrilled with the result and the employee will now be able to work in the US for the next three years in H-1B status.

If you are considering the employment-based visa process for a foreign employee, contact The Nunez Firm to schedule a consultation. Managing attorney Jay Nunez will personally meet with you to help you better understand your options.

We recently received an approval for one of our adjustment of status clients in Newport Beach. He entered the US legally using a valid visitor visa in the 1990s. However, he hired a notario to help him adjust his status many years ago. The notario took his money and all his documents and vanished when the California Attorney General began investigating him. So, my client had no proof that he entered the US legally.

My client was eligible for INA 245i relief, but we decided to file the case as a standard adjustment of status so he could avoid paying the $1000 penalty fee associated with INA 245i.

When my client's US citizen son turned 21 years old, we filed a form I-102 (for a replacement I-94) along with the I-130 visa petition and I-485 adjustment of status.

A few months later, we received a request for evidence asking us for proof that our client had entered the US legally. At that time, we had not received the I-102 approval. Luckily, we received the I-102 approval a month later. After that, the case was approved without an interview, and my client received his green card just a few days ago.

The overall processing time for the case was over one year, which is much longer than in past years. Many of our adjustment cases are taking much longer to process over the last year. It appears USCIS is short-staffed because of many of President Obama's new administrative actions - I-601A waivers and DACA - and the processing times are lengthening.

If you are the parent of a US citizen child who is 21 years old, contact Nelson & Nuñez,  P.C.to schedule a consultation. Nelson & Nuñez,  P.C. will personally meet with you to help you better understand your options and whether you are eligible to adjust status to lawful permanent resident.

One of our longstanding clients was recently approved for an immigrant visa based on her marriage to her US citizen husband. She entered the United States illegally many years ago. She married her husband four years ago. When she hired us, we originally planned to file an I-601 extreme hardship waiver case; however, while we were preparing the case, President Obama created the new I-601A provisional waiver process.

The case was approved without a request for evidence. This was one of our strongest I-601A cases - the husband has a chronic health problem that affects his nervous system and will require constant medical attention for the rest of his life. He has children from a previous marriage as well. USCIS was easily convinced that he would experience extreme hardship if his wife is not permitted to live in the United States permanently.

From my experience (and talking to many of my colleagues) USCIS has taken a very narrow interpretation regarding what constitutes "extreme hardship," but I never had a doubt that we would get this case approved. After the I-601A was approved, our client returned to Colombia with her husband to attend the consular interview. Everything went smoothly and she received her immigrant visa about a week later.

If you are considering the I-601A process, contact Nelson & Nuñez,  P.C. to discuss your situation. Nelson & Nuñez,  P.C. will personally meet with you during a confidential consultation to help you better understand the requirements, timeline and chances for success.

The daughter of one of our longtime domestic violence clients was approved for a visa at the US Consulate in Manila, Philippines. The mother received her VAWA approval and green card in 2014. Her teenage daughter still lived in the Philippines.

The daughter qualified as a derivative beneficiary on the approved VAWA case, so we filed to have a consular case opened for the daughter. It took some time to transfer the file from USCIS to the Department of State, but we recently received the good news that her visa was approved by the consulate in Manila. The mother flew to the Philippines to accompany her daughter to the interview and they just arrived in the US today. They have been separated for several years, and now they are reunited. The daughter is excited to start attending school in the US.

If you require assistance with your immigration case, contact Nelson & Nuñez, P.C.  to schedule a confidential consultation. Nelson & Nuñez, P.C. will personally meet with you to help you better understand the process, your options, and how we can help.

We recently received an approval for an H-1B case. The employer is an Irvine-based firm that hired an Applications Engineer who was already in H-1B status for a company based in the Midwest. The employee's previous position was similar to his intended position in Irvine and we documented his work experience and education carefully to show that he well-suited for the job as a specialty occupation H-1B.

Because the employer was eager to have the employee start as soon as possible and because the employee was leery about starting work for his new employer before his H-1B was approved, we filed the case using premium processing. The case was approved within 11 days and the employee started work within a few days of the approval. Everything went smoothly with no requests for evidence issued.

The employee is permitted to work on H-1B status for the next three years and during that time the employer can determine whether to pursue PERM processing so the Applications Engineer may obtain permanent residency.

If you are considering hiring an alien worker but are not sure about the process, contact Nelson & Nuñez, P.C. to schedule a consultation. Nelson & Nuñez, P.C. will help you better understand the process and which employment visa options - L-1 visa, H-1B visa, etc. - are viable for your situation.

We recently received an approval for one of our MPIP cases. The husband is a veteran Marine and his wife entered the United States many years ago without inspection.

Military parole in place has been available for active duty members of the armed forces and their undocumented spouses (and children and parents) for many years as a way to keep the armed forces families together and benefit those that serve our nation. Until November 2013, MPIP was not available to veterans.

The program acknowledged that servicemen (and women) face stress and anxiety because of the immigration status of their family members in the United States. By allowing their immediate family members to legalize their status, some of the stress and burden on these service-members can be lessened.

The new policy as of November 2013 allows veteran service members to benefit from the program as well. Under MPIP, the undocumented immediate relatives of active duty or veteran armed forces members can adjust their status without the need of an I-601A or I-601 waiver and without having to return to their home country for consular processing.

In this case, we filed for MPIP with the local Santa Ana office of USCIS and within a couple months we had an approval. Next, we will file for adjustment of status so that the wife can receive her lawful permanent resident status.

If you are married to an active duty or veteran member of the armed forces (including Selected Reserve of the Ready Reserve) contact Nelson & Nuñez, P.C.  to schedule a consultation. Nelson & Nuñez, P.C.  will personally meet with you during a confidential consultation to determine whether you are eligible for MPIP benefits.

 One of my Los Angeles clients was recently approved for naturalization. I began representing her five years ago when she was stopped at the airport and put into removal proceedings because she had two crimes involving moral turpitude from ten years prior. When she was a teenager she was convicted of writing bad checks – misdemeanors. When she tried to enter the US after a trip abroad, she was deemed inadmissible and put into removal proceedings.

We did a motion to change venue from Texas to Los Angeles. Then, for the next four years we pursued cancellation of removal, which was approved by an immigration judge earlier this year. After the deportation case was finished, we began the naturalization case. Everything went smoothly at the interview. The officer asked some questions about the prior convictions, but the general tone of the interview was cordial and friendly. My client will take her naturalization oath in the next month.

If you are considering the naturalization process, contact Nelson & Nuñez, P.C.  Especially if you have a criminal conviction, you need to consult an experienced immigration attorney before filing. Otherwise, you could end up in removal proceedings, which can take many years and cost a lot of money to defend. Nelson & Nuñez, P.C. will personally meet with you and help you understand your position and chances for success with naturalization.

Categories:  cancellation of removal, crime of moral turpitude, deportation, immigration lawyer, Los Angeles, motion to change venue, naturalization, Orange County

 We recently received an approval for a marriage-based adjustment of status for an Irvine client. She entered the US on a K-1 fiance visa earlier this year and the couple married shortly after that. We filed the adjustment of status packet with substantial evidence to prove the marriage was entered into in good faith.

The couple met through friends a few years ago. She was living in Mexico, and my client would visit her every few months. Eventually they decided to take the next step and get married. I advised that the K-1 fiance visa was the best option for them and we started the process. About eight months later, she entered the US on the fiance visa. Per regulations, the couple married within the first ninety days of her arrival.

At the interview in Santa Ana, the USCIS officer asked several questions about the couple’s relationship, past marriages, time spent together, etc. I had prepared my clients regarding what to expect at the interview, and they did a great job answering the questions. The interview went smoothly and was over within thirty minutes.

Because the marriage is less than two years old, my client will receive a conditional resident green card valid for two years. She will need to file to have the conditions removed during the ninety days immediately preceding the expiration date of the green card. I advised my clients to collect as much documentation to prove good faith marriage as possible over the next two years. I explained that if they collect enough evidence the case could be approved without an interview. If they don’t provide enough documentation, USCIS will call for an interview and question the bona fides of their marriage.

If you are considering marriage and one of you is not a US citizen or lawful permanent resident, contact Nelson & Nuñez to schedule a consultation. Nelson & Nuñez will personally meet with you to help you better understand the options available and whether any hurdles exist that could complicate the process.

Categories: adjustment of status, conditions, fiance visa, good faith marriage, I-485, I-751, immigration attorney, Irvine, k-1 visa, Mexico, Orange County, Santa Ana

I just attended an adjustment of status interview with clients from Costa Mesa. The interview was held in the Santa Ana field office of USCIS. The couple met each other while the husband, a US citizen, was vacationing in Mexico with his family. The wife was working in a restaurant and the two of them began talking. After his vacation ended, they stayed in contact and he visited her in Mexico several more times.

In the fall of 2012, they began discussing the long-term plans for the relationship. In early 2013, he proposed and their two families had an engagement party in Mexico. The husband hired us to help with the fiance visa process, which we started in Spring 2013 when we filed the I-129F. In early 2014, the K-1 visa was approved by the US consulate in Mexico, and the wife arrived in the US shortly thereafter. The couple married within the first 90 days of her arrival, and we filed the I-485 application for adjustment of status shortly thereafter.

The Santa Ana field office is processing adjustment of status cases very quickly these days. Within three months of our filing the I-485, the interview went forward. We provided the USCIS officer will substantial evidence to prove that the marriage was entered into in good faith including bank statements, travel itineraries and photos of the large wedding celebration (150 guests).

The interviewing officer asked many questions about how the couple met, started dating and decided to get married. After reviewing the evidence and interviewing both spouses, the officer was satisfied that the marriage was entered in good faith by both parties, and he approved the case. The interview lasted about 45 minutes. The wife was granted conditional resident status for a period of two years, which means that she will need to file the I-751 to have the conditions removed two years from now.

If you are married or engaged to a non-US citizen and want to help your loved one obtain permanent resident status, contact Nelson & Nuñez to schedule a consultation. Nelson & Nuñez will help you better understand the process and how we can assist you in making everything proceed smoothly. Every year we represent dozens of married or engaged couples and help them decide on which process will best accomplish their goals.

Tags: adjustment of status, Costa Mesa, fiance visa, green card, I-129F, I-485, I-751, immigration lawyer, marriage-based, Mexico, Orange County, permanent resident, Santa Ana, USCIS