CASE: I-485 Adjustment of Status / I-140 (EB-2 Category) / Schedule A
APPLICANT: Filipina Physical Therapist
LOCATION: Philip, South Dakota
Our client is a physical therapist from the Philippines who is currently working for her employer on a H-1B status. Her current employer-sponsor was willing to petition her for a second-preference employment immigrant visa petition (I-140). Since she was a physical therapist, 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 Physical Therapist is included in Schedule A.
Our client has U.S. equivalent Master’s degrees in Physical Therapy and is a licensed physical therapist in the State of South Dakota. Our office was retained on September 10, 2018 and we filed the Prevailing Wage Determination immediately.
We filed the I-140 application on April 22, 2019 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. However, on April 26, 2019, the USCIS Nebraska Service Center issued Request for Evidence and requested our client to submit her marriage certificate and a letter from her employer stating the signed date of the notice of filing document. Our office filed the Response to RFE on April 29, 2019. Eventually, on May 2, 2019, the USCIS Nebraska Service Center approved her EB-2 I-140 petition.
Once her I-140 petition was approved, she retained our office again and determined to file an adjustment of status application for her and her immediate family members. On June 25, 2019, our office filed an I-485 adjustment of status application for our client and her family. Everything went smoothly and the receipt notices and fingerprint appointment came on time.
Prior to the interview, we thoroughly prepared our client via conference calls as well. On December 9, 2019, our client was interviewed at Omaha Nebraska USCIS office. The interview went well, our client and her family members’ adjustment of status applications were approved by the USCIS on the same day of the interview.