CASE: Marriage-Based Green Card (Same Sex Marriage Case)
CLIENT: Filipino
LOCATION: San Jose, CA
Our client came to the United States from the Philippines with a J-1 exchange visitor’s visa. With our firm’s legal assistance, he got his J-1 waiver for his two-year foreign residency requirement. In June 2018, he married his U.S. Citizen same-sex spouse in Idaho.
On June 26, 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court held that restricting U.S. federal interpretation of “marriage” and “spouse” to apply only to heterosexual unions, by Section 3 of the defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), is unconstitutional under the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment. United States v. Windsor, 570 U.S. ___ (2013). After Windsor decision, the USCIS implemented a new policy that the USCIS officer must review immigration via petitions filed on behalf of a same-sex spouse in the same manner as those filed on behalf of an opposite-sex spouse. As long as a same-sex couple is married in a U.S. state that recognizes same-sex marriage, their marriage shall be considered a valid marriage under the immigration law.
They married in Idaho where the same-sex marriage is recognized. Our client contacted our office and retained us in January 2019 for his I-130 petition and I-485 adjustment of status application. Our firm prepared and filed the I-130 petition and I-485 adjustment of status application, together with all necessary supporting documents, on February 1, 2019. Everything went smoothly and the receipt notices, fingerprint appointment, and work permits all came on time.
Prior to the interview, we thoroughly prepared our clients via conference calls. On January 13, 2020, our client was interviewed at the Santa Clara, California USCIS office. The interview went well and his green card application was approved on the same day.