USCIS
N-400 application for naturalization
Failure to Maintain Physical Presence
A Sudanese national consulted with me before she filed her second N-400 application with USCIS. The Service had denied her first N-400 application, finding that she did not have sufficient physical presence and cited to her failure to maintain a U.S. residence.
I advised her on whether and when to file the naturalization application again, prepared the new application and a supporting legal brief, and attended the interview with her. At the interview, her N-400 application was recommended for approval and she received a naturalization oath ceremony notice. She is now a naturalized U.S. citizen who may file an immediate relative immigrant petition for her foreign national spouse.
Failure to Pay Taxes
I represented a Mexican citizen at naturalization interview, where the USCIS officer asked him whether he still owed taxes. He said yes, but neglected to state this fact on his N-400 form. He had yet to enter a payment plan with the IRS. The USCIS officer issued a Request for Evidence because failure to pay taxes is grounds for denying an N-400 application.
I advised him on how to resolve the tax issue and submitted a full and prompt response to the RFE. His N-400 application was recommended for approval and he received a naturalization oath ceremony notice. He is now a naturalized U.S. citizen who may file an immediate relative immigrant petition for his foreign national spouse.
Conviction for Failure to Pay Taxes
A Palestinian national was convicted for failure to pay taxes several years before he filed for naturalization. Such a conviction may lead to the denial of naturalization. I wrote a legal brief explaining how he still met the good moral character requirement and advised the client on how to show that the positive factors outweighed the negative factor in his case.
USCIS recommended the naturalization application for approval and he is now a U.S. citizen.
Marriage fraud finding/I-130 spousal immigrant petition
USCIS approves second petition
A bona fide married couple appeared at their I-130 interview without an attorney. The USCIS officer interviewed the parties separately. The officer suspected their marriage was a sham based on discrepancies at the interview. A site visit by USCIS investigators also revealed that the U.S. citizen petitioner maintained an additional residence with his elderly father.
Despite my preparing and filing a thorough response to the Notice of Intent to Deny the petition, including valid reasons for the discrepancies and the additional residence, USCIS found that the marriage was a sham and denied the petition. I informed the couple that USCIS made a mistake and that I expected their petition to be ultimately approved.
In addition to filing an appeal, I advised the couple to file a second petition with more evidence of the bona fide nature of their marriage. After interviewing the couple again, USCIS approved the second petition as well as the beneficiary’s green card application.
BIA overturns marriage fraud finding
A Moroccan man was placed in removal proceedings after USCIS found that his prior marriage to a U.S. citizen was a sham and prohibited the approval of the I-130 petition that his second U.S. citizen spouse filed for him. The prior spouse was deceased. He had children with this second spouse.
I wrote the legal brief in support of the appeal from the denial of the I-130 petition before the Board of Immigration Appeals. The BIA found that there was no substantial and probative evidence of marriage fraud.
I submitted a follow-up letter to USCIS, which then promptly approved the I-130 petition. The Immigration Court next granted our motion to terminate removal proceedings against the applicant so he may seek his green card from USCIS.
USCIS grants I-130 petition upon remand
USCIS denied a US citizen’s I-130 petition for her spouse, upon finding that the marriage was a sham. I prepared the appeal before the Board of Immigration Appeals, including a legal brief rebutting the marriage fraud claims. In response, USCIS filed a motion to remand the petition to USCIS for a new decision.
After the BIA remanded the petition, USCIS issued a second notice of intent to deny the petition. I advised the spouse on the additional documents to provide in support of the response to the notice. I also prepared a full and timely response to the notice to deny the petition. A few months later, USCIS approved the petition as well as the green card application.
Hardship Waiver Application
A citizen of Nigeria accumulated more than one year of unlawful presence in the U.S. before she departed the U.S. Even though she married an American citizen and had two American children with him, she moved to Canada because she was frustrated by the U.S. immigration process.
While living in Canada with her children as a permanent resident, she contacted me to help her come back to the United States on an immigrant visa. To get the waiver of the 10-year bar, she had to prove that her husband would suffer extreme hardships if he moved to Canada to be with her and their kids.
Because the two countries are integrated socially, economically and geographically, proving extreme hardships due to relocation was a major challenge. I advised the parties on the documents and information to submit, prepared their affidavits describing the extreme hardships, and wrote a legal brief explaining how the applicant qualified for the waiver. Within a few months, USCIS approved her waiver application and she came back to the U.S. to live with her family as a lawful permanent resident.
U.S. CIRCUIT COURT OF APPEALS
Ginters v. Frazier, 614 F.3d 822 (8th Cir. 2010). (wrote legal briefs and presented oral argument).
Outcome: The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled specifically for the first time that the federal courts have jurisdiction to review the merits of an I-130 petition for alien relative. The court remanded the U.S. citizen’s I-130 petition for her foreign national spouse to the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota for a review on the merits.
Oral Argument, 12/15/2009:
Sugule v. Frazier, 639 F. 3d 406 (8th Cir. 2011) (wrote legal briefs)
Outcome: The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals found that USCIS erred by invalidating a labor certification because there was no substantial evidence that the beneficiary committed willful misrepresentation of a material fact. The court remanded the case to the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota for a reinstatement of the labor certification.
Ndonyi v. Mukasey, 541 F.3d 702 (7th Cir. 2008)(wrote legal briefs and presented oral argument)
Outcome: The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals granted the petition for review, vacated the Immigration Judge’s removal order, and remanded the case to the Immigration Court for further proceedings. The court found that the IJ and Board of Immigration Appeals erred by finding that the asylum applicant failed to prove that she suffered past persecution and has a well-founded fear of persecution in Cameroon, based on her political and religious beliefs.
NOTE: These success stories provide general information only. They are not legal advice for any individual case or situation. Each legal case is different and case examples do not constitute a prediction or guarantee of success or failure in any other case. The sharing or receipt of this information does not create an attorney-client relationship.
