Category: Case Status Update

Case Status Update, Update: Change of Status from TN to B2 to TN

Shapiro Law Firm | Case Status Update UPDATE

Change of Status to TN from B2 Approved: Yesterday, I posted the below Case Status Update for our client, (hereinafter, “X”), who changed status from a TN to a B2 Visitor. I also mentioned that since filing for the change of status at the end of last year, X received a job offer and her employer filed to change her status back to a TN Visa and that the petition was still pending.

I was very happy to find out this morning that X’s change of status back to a TN was approved! Thanks to Premium Processing, X was able to get approval for her TN Visa in just over 2 weeks and she did not have to leave the country. X can immediately begin working for her new employer.

Congratulations X and good luck at your new job!

Change of Status Approved: Earlier this week, we received approval for an application to change status. Our client, (hereinafter , “X”), is native of Pakistan and citizen of Canada. X was in the U.S. on a TN Visa. What is a TN Visa? See below for a brief explanation.

X had been in the U.S. as a TN Visa holder for less than a year when her employer, suddenly and without any prior notice, informed her that they were having financial difficulties and that they would have to let her go, effective immediately. Unfortunately, as is the case with most temporary work visas, if you lose your job you are required to immediately leave the U.S. or you will be out of status and in violation of U.S. immigration law.

This can be an extremely harsh reality for someone who is blind sighted like X was. She needed to wrap up her affairs, like finding someone to take over her apartment lease, before she could move back home. X also had previously committed to attend various events and activities, including her dance troupe’s show that for months her and her fellow troupe members had been diligently practicing for.

With all of this in mind, X immediately contacted an experienced immigration attorney at The Shapiro Law Firm to find out what her options were to remain in the U.S. until she can wrap up all of her affairs to go back home. We advised X that based on her particular circumstances, she had 2 options: (1) Leave the U.S. and re-enter with a Visa Waiver, or; (2) Immediately file an application to change status to a B2 Visitor Visa.

Although Canadians generally do not have much difficulty entering the U.S. on a visa waiver, X faced difficulty entering the country in the past when U.S. Customs & Border Patrol (CBP) doubted her nonimmigrant intent. She found that every time she attempted to re-enter the U.S., even if she just left for vacation to a third country, CBP was increasingly giving her a harder time. We were thus concerned about X being denied re-entry into the U.S., so we advised her to file for a change of status instead.

It took 4 ½ months for X’s change of status to be approved and she has been given until April 15 to leave the country.

What is next for X?

While X was wrapping up her affairs the last few months, a new employer offered her a TN Visa eligible position who filed to change X’s status back to a TN Visa. Assuming the petition is approved, X will be able to remain in the U.S. to work for her new employer with her new TN Visa.

What is a TN Visa?

A TN Visa is an employment-based temporary visa for professionals that is available to citizens of Canada and Mexico through the NAFTA Trade Agreement. TN Visas provide certain advantages over other types of temporary employment-based visas. For example, a TN Visa holder is authorized to work AND go to school in the United States without the need for any additional permission from USCIS.

Most notably, Canadians* who are outside the U.S. and who wish to enter the U.S. as a TN Visa holder are not required to have an approved nonimmigrant worker petition. Rather, a Canadian may be admitted at the border by presenting a valid Canadian Passport along with a job offer letter for a qualifying TN Visa occupation to CBP.

TN Visas are generally issued for 2 or 3 year periods and can be extended and renewed indefinitely. When a TN Visa holder changes jobs or wants to extend his or her stay, rather than having to file a petition to change status, he or she can simply return to Canada and then re-enter at the border by presenting a new job offer letter. There is no minimum amount of time that you must remain outside the U.S. before you can return.

*The process for obtaining a TN Visa is not the same for Mexicans and Canadians. Mexicans are always required to file a petition for a nonimmigrant worker. For more information, contact us today.

Sounds easy enough, is there a catch?

As with any temporary visa, an individual seeking to enter the U.S. as a TN Visa holder must have nonimmigrant intent. This means that if you try to enter the U.S. with a TN Visa and CBP does not believe that you will return to your country of citizenship or nationality when your period of authorized stay expires, then you will not be admitted into the country.

So even though there are no limits on TN Visa renewals and extensions, CBP tends to increasingly doubt your intent to temporarily remain in the U.S. each time you attempt to re-enter the U.S. with a TN Visa whether it is for the same employer or a new employer. If you are denied entry you can try again the next day or try a different Port of Entry. The other option is to file a petition for a nonimmigrant worker with USCIS and wait for an approval.

**If you need help obtaining humanitarian parole for yourself or someone who is currently outside the United States, contact an experienced immigration attorney at The Shapiro Law Firm today to get started!**

(*please note that all identification information has been removed in order to protect our clients’ privacy and in order to fully comply with attorney advertising rules and regulations*)

Case Status Update: Humanitarian Parole Granted

Humanitarian Parole Approved: Today, we received approval for a humanitarian parole travel document that will allow our Client, (hereinafter, Client “X”), to enter the United States to see her dying father.

X is a native and citizen of the Phillipines. Her father is a U.S. Citizen who lives in the United States and suffers from a fatal renal disease. X has not seen her father in over 3 years because he has been very sick and unable to travel. Knowing that her father does not have much time left, X attempted to obtain a B1/B2 Visitor Visa to enter the U.S. to see her father, but the U.S. Embassy in Manila denied her visa request, stating that they did not believe that she would return back to the Phillipines after her visit.

After the denial, X’s father retained The Shapiro Law Firm and we filed an application for a humanitarian parole travel document based on urgent humanitarian need. In order to receive humanitarian parole, you must show:

1. The circumstances regarding why you need to enter the U.S. are time-sensitive;

2. The effect of the circumstances on your welfare and well-being, and;

3. The degree of suffering that may result if parole is not authorized.

Humanitarian Parole is very difficult to obtain since the U.S. government is concerned that it will be used to circumvent the normal visa process. As a result, it is not enough to just show that you want to see a sick family member, you need to provide evidence that your family member is suffering from an life-ending illness AND that it is near the end of the life stage.

Accordingly, we presented evidence that X’s father was nearing the end of his life as per the medical diagnosis, that X’s stepmom would financially support X during her visit and that she did try to obtain a regular visitor visa recently to visit her father but was denied.

We are very happy that X will now get to say goodbye to her father in person and should be arriving in the U.S. this week.

**If you need help obtaining humanitarian parole for yourself or someone who is currently outside the United States, contact an experienced immigration attorney at The Shapiro Law Firm today to get started!**

(*please note that all identification information has been removed in order to protect our clients’ privacy and in order to fully comply with attorney advertising rules and regulations*)

Case Status Update: Work Permit & Travel Document Approved for Adjustment Applicant

Work Permits & Travel DocumentApproved: We received another work permit and travel document approval for an adjustment of status applicant. Our client, (hereinafter, Client “X”), is a native and citizen of Cote d’Ivoire. X came to us in 2014 after the Immigration Judge (IJ) denied his application for cancellation of removal and ordered him removed from the United States because X failed to establish that his U.S. Citizen daughter would suffer an extreme and unusual hardship if X was removed from the United States. After a careful review of X’s file and the IJ’s order, we realized that the IJ omitted key pieces of evidence in the decision that were crucial in determining that X was eligible for the relief sought. Since X came to us within 30 days of the order, we were able to file a Motion to Reconsider based on errors of law and fact in failing to consider the aforementioned evidence. We also filed a Stay of Removal to prevent the government from removing X from the country before his motion to reconsider was decided.

Less than 30 days later, the IJ granted X’s Motion to Reconsider, thereby vacating the order of removal and reopening his removal/deportation proceedings.

Not long after, X’s U.S. Citizen daughter turned 21 years old, so she filed an I-130, immigrant visa petition for X. Once the I-130 was approved, we file a motion to terminate X’s Removal Proceedings. That motion was granted back in September, allowing X to finally file for his Green Card with USCIS.

X was also able to file for a work permit and travel document while he waits for his Green Card application to be adjudicated. Now that X has an approved work permit and travel document, he can lawfully work in the United States and travel in and out of the country at will.

X is patiently awaiting his Green Card interview.

Form I-797, Notice of Action - I-765 Approval Notice, Page 1

Form I-797C, I-765 Approval Notice, Page 2

Form I-797C, I-131 Approval Notice

**If you need representation in Removal/ Deportation proceedings or with help filing for immigration benefits, contact an experienced immigration attorney at The Shapiro Law Firm today to get started!**

(*please note that all identification information has been removed in order to protect our clients’ privacy and in order to fully comply with attorney advertising rules and regulations*)

Case Status Update: Asylum Clock Restarted – Work Permits Approved

Asylum Clock Restarted – Work Permits Approved: Yesterday we received two more work permit approvals for a husband and wife who are natives and citizens of Indonesia, (hereinafter Clients “X” and “Y”). X and Y have never had a work permit before despite applying for asylum 10 years ago because they did not know they were eligible to apply. When X and Y applied for asylum, less than 150 days elapsed before their case was referred to the immigration court by the asylum office. An asylum applicant must wait 150 days to after submitting an asylum application before applying for a work permit. If your case is denied or the clock is stopped, you are not eligible for a work permit.

There are many different reasons that the 150 day clock can be stopped. In X and Y’s case, their asylum application was denied by the Immigration Judge before they reached 150 days (*today, it can take 3+ years to have your interview with the asylum officer so applicants are reaching 150 days well in advance of a potential denial. But keep in mind that there are other reasons your clock can be stopped, like missing your biometrics appointment).

After the Immigration Judge denied the case and entered an order of removal/ deportation against X and Y, the couple appealed the decision to the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA). X and Y won the appeal and their removal/ deportation was remanded back to the Immigration Court where it was eventually administratively closed.

X and Y came to our office after unsuccessfully applying for a work permit to see if there was anything that we could do to help them. Upon review of their file, we noticed that the time between the appeal to the BIA and the remand back to the Immigration Judge exceeded 150 days and the BIA has ruled that the asylum clock restarts upon a successful remand from the BIA and includes all the days that the case was on appeal awaiting a decision.

So, we wrote a letter to USCIS explaining that the system was not updated to reflect the correct amount of days on the clock and sent it with the application for employment authorization. In just 3 weeks, X and Y’s applications for employment authorization were granted!

Form I-797, Notice of Action - I-765 Approval Notice

Form I-797, Notice of Action - I-765 Approval Notice

**If you think that you are eligible for a work permit but you have not been able to obtain an approval, contact an experienced immigration attorney at The Shapiro Law Firm today to get started!**

(*please note that all identification information has been removed in order to protect our clients’ privacy and in order to fully comply with attorney advertising rules and regulations*)

Case Status Update: Settlement in Child Support Enforcement Case Reached; Work Permit Approval for Asylum Applicant

Settlement Reached in Child Support Enforcement Case: Last week after intense negotiations, Attorney Shaffer was able to reach a settlement agreement in a child support enforcement proceeding. Our Client, (hereinafter “X”), was sued by his ex-wife for allegedly failing to pay childcare and add-on expenses pursuant to the couple’s Divorce Decree. There were two main issues that were being contested:

(1) The percentage of childcare X should be responsible for, and;

(2) If the add-on expenses (namely, summer camp and extracurricular activities) that X’s ex-wife was seeking reimbursement for was reasonable, as she did not first seek X’s consent as was required under the agreement.

After going back and forth for hours with Petitioner’s attorney, Attorney Shaffer was able to cut the amount of arrears X owed in half by arguing that Petitioner was asking for more than she should be for the childcare (as she had a child with her new husband who was also using the nanny and her child was not yet school age) and that her failure to seek X’s consent for the add-on expenses was a violation of the Divorce Decree. Furthermore, by proving that there was a reasonable disagreement regarding the amount of arrears owed, X was not found in default of the divorce decree and thus X was not required to pay Petitioner’s attorney fees.

Work Permit Approved for Asylum Applicant: We also received a work permit approval for a client who is a native and citizen of Mali. (hereinafter, “Y”). Y received his work permit based on his status as an asylum applicant. Y is currently in Removal/ Deportation Proceedings and will go before the Immigration Judge for his first hearing in November.

Form I-797, Notice of Action - I-765 Approval Notice

**If you need help with your immigration filings, contact an experienced immigration attorney at The Shapiro Law Firm today to get started!**

(*please note that all identification information has been removed in order to protect our clients’ privacy and in order to fully comply with attorney advertising rules and regulations*)

Case Status Update: Marriage-based Green Card Approved; Work Permit & Travel Document for Adjustment Applicant Approved; Work Permit Approvals for Asylum Applicants

Marriage-Based Green Card Approved: Today Attorney Shaffer attended a marriage interview at USCIS with a client. (hereinafter, “X”), who is a native and citizen of the United Kingdom, and his U.S. Citizen wife. X entered the United States on an L-1 Visa and met his wife at work. They got married a little over a year ago and X’s wife filed a marriage petition on his behalf. X concurrently file his Green Card application. After a short interview with USCIS, the Immigration Officer informed X and his wife that the petition and application is approved! This means that X is no officially a Conditional Green Card holder! X and his wife live together with their dog in Manhattan.

Because X and his wife have been married for less than 2 years, X will have to file to Remove Conditions on his Permanent Residency to get his Permanent Resident Card (10-Year Green Card) 3 months before the 2 year anniversary of receiving his Green Card.

Work Permit & Travel Document Approved: Today we received approval notices for a work permit and travel document for our client who is a native and citizen of Mali, (hereinafter “Y”). Y received his EAD and travel document as an adjustment applicant. Y’s Green Card application is based on the marriage petition filed by his USC Wife. While Y waits for the approval notice, he can work legally in the United States with the Work Permit and leave and re-enter the country with the travel document as if he was a Green Card holder. Y and his wife should be scheduled for a Marriage Interview shortly.

Form I-797C, Notice of Action - I-131 Approval Notice

Form I-797C, Notice of Action - I-765 Approval Notice

Work Permit Approved for Asylum Applicant: We also received a work permit approval for two clients who are husband and wife and are natives and citizens of Nigeria, (hereinafter, “Z” & “A”). Z and A are both Asylum Applicants. Z, A and their son are awaiting their interview wit the Asylum Office.

Form I-797, Notice of Action - I-765 Approval Notice

Form I-797, Notice of Action - I-765 Approval Notice

**If you need help with your immigration filings, contact an experienced immigration attorney at The Shapiro Law Firm today to get started!**

(*please note that all identification information has been removed in order to protect our clients’ privacy and in order to fully comply with attorney advertising rules and regulations*)

Case Status Update: Conditions Removed- 10-Year Green Card Approved; Work Permit & Travel Document for Adjustment Applicant Approved; Work Permit Approval for Asylum Applicant

Conditions on Permanent Residence Removed, 10-Year Green Card Approved: Today we received another approval on a petition to remove conditions on permanent residence (Form I-751)! Our client. (hereinafter “X”), is a native and citizen of Myanmar. X entered the United States in 2002 as a minor on aV-2 nonimmigrant visa. X subsequently married a naturalized U.S. Citizen who was born in Burma. X’s wife filed a marriage petition on his behalf, and in February of 2014, he received his Green Card based on the marriage. Because the couple was married for less than 2 years at the time of the green card interview, X only received a 2-Year Green Card. So, X and his wife had to file a joint petition to remove conditions on his residency within 3 months of the expiration date of his Green Card. X and his wife timely filed the petition in December of 2015. X and his wife were waiting for the past year to be called in for an interview, but their marriage evidence was so strong that their case got approved last week without being called in for another marriage interview! X and his wife are happily living together in their newly purchased home in New Jersey, and because of how long the I-751 process took, X can already apply for his Citizenship!

Form I-797, Notice of Action - I-751 Approval Notice

Work Permit & Travel Document Approved: Today we received approval notices for a work permit and travel document for our client who is a native and citizen of Germany, (hereinafter “Y”). Y receive his EAD and travel document as an adjustment applicant. Y’s Green Card application is based on the marriage petition filed by his USC Wife. While Y waits for the approval notice, he can work legally in the United States with the Work Permit and leave and re-enter the country with the travel document as if he was a Green Card holder. Y and his wife should be scheduled for a Marriage Interview shortly.

Form I-797C, Notice of Action - I-131 Approval Notice

Form I-797C, Notice of Action - I-765 Approval Notice

Work Permit Approved for Asylum Applicant: We also received a work permit approval for our client who is a native and citizen of Nigeria, (hereinafter, “Z”). Z entered the United States less than a year ago and is the rider on her father’s timely filed Asylum Application. As a rider, Z is entitled to apply for a work permit as if she was the lead Applicant. Z and her family are awaiting their interview wit the Asylum Office.

Form I-797, Notice of Action - I-765 Approval Notice

**If you need help with your immigration filings, contact an experienced immigration attorney at The Shapiro Law Firm today to get started!**

(*please note that all identification information has been removed in order to protect our clients’ privacy and in order to fully comply with attorney advertising rules and regulations*)

Case Status Update: Custody/ Visitation/ Family Offense Case in Brooklyn Adjourned until April

Case Status Update

Custody/ Visitation/ Family Offense Petition Case Adjourned until April: Last week, Attorney Shaffer represented a member of the U.S. Air Force, (hereinafter, Client “X”), in Brooklyn Family Court in response to a Petition to modify custody filed by his ex-wife. X and his ex-wife have been divorced since March 2010. X has been serving overseas since 2012. He is currently serving overseas at a Permanent Duty Station in South Korea.

X is the primary custodial parent of his and his ex-wife’s 10-year-old son. X is remarried now, and he, his new wife and his son all live on the military base together. When X was divorced, he was stationed in Texas and his ex-wife was living in Florida. The divorce was entered by a Texas Court.

So what is the problem here? X’s ex-wife was never happy with the court’s decision to award primary custody of their son to X, rather than to her. In the past, X has tried different tactics to remove custody from X, including making unsubstantiated and baseless claims to Administration for Child’s Services, (ACS), refusing to return the child after exercising her visitation rights, attempting pro se filings in various courts and even repeatedly calling X’s boss and falsely claiming that he kidnapped the couple’s son. Despite the fact that X has responded to every single false accusation successfully by simply producing the divorce decree, he has faced losing his job over the constant vexing phone calls from his ex. Kidnapping a child internationally is a very serious accusation, one that the U.S. military does not take lightly. Every time his ex-wife made this claim, the military was forced to remove X from his current duties and prove that he was not in violation of his divorce decree.

Skip to last summer when X first contacted us to help him stop his ex-wife from harassing him at work, who by that time started using fake names when calling the base to continue making accusations against X when his commanding officers recognized the name and stopped responding to her. The experienced matrimonial lawyers at The Shapiro Law Firm filed a Family Offense Petition against the ex-wife, instructing her to not to contact X at work, noting that she had an independent way to contact her son, as well as X, should she need to get in touch with X about the couple’s son.

Now before we filed anything against X’s ex-wife in the court, we had to make sure that our client was not violating his divorce decree in anyway. Since the divorce decree was from Texas, the language used in the order is not the same language used in New York orders. For example, the term “primary conservator” is used instead of “custodial parent.” Some of the terms used in the Texas standard custody/visitation language can mean more than 1 thing in New York- a parent can exercise a “period of possession” when exercising visitation rights OR whenever the child is in that parent’s “physical custody.” In New York, however, the term possession is not used and only the non-custodial parent can have “visitation.”

To make matters even more confusing, the Texas divorce decree appears to have conflicting provisions governing who is slated to act as the primary custodial parent when X is on certain military assignments. The order also states that X can choose the “primary residence of the child without regard to geographic location,” which indicates that regardless of what X is doing and where he is, he can also decide where is son is going to live, even if that means outside of the United States and even if it is not with X.

The above-stated facts do not even begin to scratch the surface of the confusing issues at play in this case, but what is important here is that the divorce decree was not clear regarding key provisions governing who is entitled to have physical custody of the child at certain times. In addition, because X was sent overseas after the divorce decree was entered, the divorce decree fails to adequately address how mom would exercise her visitation rights in this situation, which for example, calls for weekend visits every other weekend (it did not help that mom stopped paying child support, which prevented her from being able to obtain a passport this whole time).

So what did we learn here? Before you sign your divorce settlement agreement, make sure that you understand exactly what it says. Your attorney should be more than happy to explain! Do you think that you can move your child anywhere in the world with out your ex-spouse’s consent? Confirm that this is the case. Do you think that your ex-spouse is supposed to pay for all travel expenses in exercising his or her right to visitation? If you do not see it in your agreement, make sure you find out. Although we cannot anticipate every event that may occur in the future, it is worth taking the time to think about the future and ask your attorney how the decree will be enforced under those circumstances.

What next? Last week, we filed motions to dismiss the petitions to modify custody/visitation with court based on a lack of jurisdiction and a failure to state a claim (X’s ex-wife failed to properly register the out-of-state divorce decree with the New York court and failed to serve the attachments referenced in the Petition on X). If the court denies the motion, X’s ex-wife will have the burden of proving to the court that there has been a substantial change in circumstances that warrants the court to modify the original custody/ visitation order. With all of the information that we have on the case thus far, we are confident that X will win the case and continue to be the primary custodial parent of his son. We will also have a final order of protection entered against his ex-wife that will direct her from refraining from contacting X’s employer or any of his co-workers.

If you need help filing for your divorce or for custody/ vistation/ child support, contact an experienced family attorney at The Shapiro Law Firm today.

(*please note that all identification information has been removed in order to protect our clients’ privacy and in order to fully comply with attorney advertising rules and regulations*)

Case Status Update: 10-Year Green Card Approved!

10-Year Green Card Approved: Today Attorney Shaffer attended a marriage-based Green Card interview with a client, (hereinafter, Client “X”), who is a citizen and national of Trinidad and Tobago and her husband. X’s husband is also from Trinidad and Tobago and became a naturalized U.S. Citizen in 2012. X and her husband met in 2011 at her husband’s Uncle annual backyard BBQ party. X’s husband saw her at the BBQ and went over to introduce himself. The couple has been together ever since and wed in 2013. Since X has been married to a U.S. Citizen for over 2 year, her approval today means that she is approved for a 10-Year Green Card and will not have to file in 2 years to remove conditions since she is a permanent resident as of today.

What is next for X?

X’s husband will be filing I-130 petitions for X’s two sons who currently still live in Trinidad & Tobago so that the whole family can finally reunite. In 3 years, X will also be able to file for her naturalization and become a U.S. Citizen. We wish you all the best of luck!