CASE: I-485 (Adjustment of Status) / I-140 (EB-2 Category) / Schedule A
APPLICANT: Filipina Nurse Practitioner
LOCATION: Chicago, IL
Our client is a family nurse practitioner. Her current employer was willing to petition her for a second-preference employment immigrant visa petition (I-140). Since she was a family nurse practitioner, she was eligible for “Schedule A” classification.
The Department of Labor (DOL) maintains a schedule of occupations in its regulations, Schedule A included, for which the individual permanent labor certification procedure is not required. The schedule of pre-certified occupations is referred to as Schedule A, and is included in DOL regulations at 20 CFR 656.10. Based on an occupation’s inclusion on Schedule A, an employer may file an immigrant visa petition (I-140) directly with the (USCIS) without first going to the DOL for a labor certification. Usually, prior to filing I-140 petitions (EB-2 or EB-3 category), the employer must file a Labor Certification to the Department of Labor. However, for Schedule A cases, the employer does not have to go through the labor certification process. The position of Nurse Practitioner is included in Schedule A.
Our client has Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in nursing and is a certified Nurse Practitioner. Our office was retained on October 19, 2015 and we filed the Prevailing Wage Determination immediately.
We filed the I-140 application on January 22, 2016 via premium processing. We included the job offer letter, the notice of filing, employment letter, and other necessary supporting documents.
In our cover brief, we included the “ability to pay” argument and why nurse practitioners must fall under the Schedule A designation. On February 3, 2016, without any Request for Evidence (RFE), the USCIS Nebraska Service Center approved her EB-2 I-140 petition.
Once the I-140 petition was approved, our client retained our office again for her and her husband’s I-485 adjustment of status applications. Our office filed an I-485 adjustment of status applications for our client and her husband on February 12, 2016. Everything went smoothly and the receipt notices and fingerprint appointment came on time.
However, on August 22, 2016, the USCIS issued Request for Evidence (RFE) and requested our client to submit her Visa Screen document. In response to RFE, our office filed her Visa Screen document on November 14, 2016. Eventually, on December 5, 2016, the USCIS Nebraska Service Center approved our clients’ adjustment of status applications. Now, she finally is a green card holder.