CASE: I-485 Adjustment of Status based on Approved I-140 (EB-2)
BENEFICIARY: Korean Education Pastor
LOCATION: Tampa, FL
Our client’s current employer was willing to petition him for a second-preference petition (I-140). Our client has a master’s degree in divinity in the United States and currently works for a church on an R-1 visa. Based on our client’s education and work background, our office determined that he is clearly eligible for EB-2 classification for his I-140 petition. Our client eventually retained us on January 3, 2017.
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 April 5, 2017. On June 26, 2017, we promptly filed PERM.
However, on October 2, 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 October 17, 2017. Eventually, on March 7, 2018, the PERM Labor Certification was approved – an EB2 position for the Korean 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 audited balance sheet, and other necessary supporting documents.
The I-140 Petition was filed on May 8, 2018 via premium processing service. Eventually, on May 18, 2018, the I-140 EB2 Petition for our Korean client was approved without any Request for Evidence (RFE).
Once the I-140 petition was approved, our client retained our office again for the I-485 adjustment of status applications for him and his wife. Our office filed an I-485 adjustment of status application for our clients on August 1, 2018. Everything went smoothly and the receipt notices and fingerprint appointment came on time.
Prior to the interview, we thoroughly prepared our client via conference call as well. On April 29, 2019, our client was interviewed at Tampa Florida USCIS office. Eventually, on May 1, 2019, our clients’ green card applications were approved.