CASE: Immigrant Visa / I-140 (EB-2)
EMPLOYER: Public Schools District in Kansas
APPLICANT: Filipina Speech Language Pathologist
LOCATION: Manila, Philippines
Our client has a current employer that was willing to petition her for a third-preference petition (I-140). Our client has a Master’s degree in speech language pathology, and a valid Kansas speech language pathologist license. Based on our client’s education and work background, our office determined that she is eligible for EB-2 classification for her I-140 petition. Our client eventually retained us in November 2016.
Prior to filing PERM, our firm prepared the prevailing wage request, job order, advertisements, internal job posting, recruitment report, and all other steps which are important pre-PERM filing. Take note that the PERM application could be filed at least 60 days from the job posting date or 30 days from the last ad. Within a week from our retention, the prevailing wage request was filed. After we obtained the PW determination, our office filed the job order on March 21, 2017. On July 17, 2017, we filed PERM.
However, on December 18, 2017, the Department of Labor issued a request for audit. The DOL requested documents from Petitioner to determine whether the recruitment process was done properly. In response to the Audit request, our office prepared the response to Audit brief along with Employer’s declaration, notice of filing, and recruitment documentation on December 28, 2017. Eventually, on March 19, 2018, the PERM Labor Certification was approved – an EB2 position for the Filipina beneficiary.
We then proceeded with the I-140 Petition filing. We submitted the “ability to pay” letter for the I-140 petition application. We included the job offer letter, employer’s tax records, and other necessary supporting documents.
The I-140 Petition was filed on May 14, 2018 via premium processing service. Eventually, on May 25, 2018, the I-140 EB2 Petition for our Filipina client was approved without any Request for Evidence (RFE).
After the approval of the I-140 petition, our client retained us again for her immigrant visa processing. Once we were retained, our office filed the immigrant visa packets to the National Visa Center on September 10, 2018, who in turn forwarded the client’s materials to the U.S. Embassy in Manila, Philippines. An interview notice was set for the client at the U.S. Embassy in Philippines. On December 12, 2018, our client appeared at the U.S. Embassy in Manila, Philippines. Eventually, after the interview, the Immigrant Visa was issued for our client.
With the approved Immigrant Visa, our client can come to the United States immediately, and she will get her green card within two months of entry.