CASE: I-485 Adjustment of Status
EMPLOYER: Physicians’ Office
BENEFICIARY: Canadian Nurse Practitioner
LOCATION: St. Louis, MO
Our client is a certified nurse practitioner. Her prospective employer was willing to petition her for a second-preference employment immigrant visa petition (I-140). Since she is a certified nurse practitioner, she is 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 a Bachelors and Masters degree in nursing and is a Certified Nurse Practitioner. Our office was retained on August 12, 2019 and we filed the Prevailing Wage Determination immediately.
We filed the I-140 application on January 28, 2020 via premium processing. We included the job offer letter, 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 5, 2020, the USCIS Nebraska Service Center issued a Request for Evidence and requested the Petitioner to submit its business existence documents such as IRS FEIN issuance letter, articles of incorporation, and business license. Our office filed the Response to RFE on February 13, 2020. On February 25, 2020, 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 the I-485 adjustment of status applications on May 25, 2020. Everything went smoothly and the receipt notices and fingerprint appointment came on time.
Eventually, on November 6, 2020, the USCIS Nebraska Service Center approved our clients’ adjustment of status applications without an interview. They are now green card holders.