After a Decade of Waiting, Family Wins Greencard

Applicant: Ms. Li
Country/Region: China
Case Type: I-485 Adjustment of Status

BACKGROUND
• After Ms. Li filed her I-485 application with the USCIS in January 2011, it sank like a stone for nearly 10 years.
• Ms. Li spent nearly 10 years waiting, traveling back and forth between China and the United States
• Ms. Li went through a divorce during this period
• Ms. Lee did not file tax returns between 2011 and 2016

Background introduction:
About ten years ago, Ms. Li applied for EB-5 immigrant investor status and then filed an I-526 foreign investor petition, which was approved by the USCIS, and in January 2011, she filed an I-485 adjustment of status application. Everything seemed to be going smoothly …… However, it was this “one step away”, which is usually the easiest, that became a “long way off” for nearly a decade for Ms. Lee.

Ms. Li first encountered marital problems that eventually led to her divorce from her husband and has since raised her daughter independently as a single mother. While waiting for the USCIS approval on her adjustment of status application, she was forced to adjust her lifestyle and travel back and forth between the U.S. and China on a work permit. The attorney who had been helping her with her I-526 & I-485 applications abandoned her case, leaving her feeling deceived, discouraged, and isolated.

Ms. Li had invested over $500,000 in the EB-5 project, but before she could see victory, she saw her husband and wife separated, her lawyer dumped her, and her time was wasted. …… Just when Ms. Li was ready to give up and let everything in the U.S. go to waste and take her daughter back to China, a friend introduced her to Tsang & Associates. Associates to give her case one last shot.

KEYS TO SUCCESS
When we first met with Ms. Lee, we felt that she had no hope for a green card. However, after listening to her description, we believed that if she had met with a reliable legal team, the case would have been easily approved. We reassured Ms. Lee that once her case was handed over to us, we quickly started working to resolve the issues she encountered with her I-485 application and complete the green card application process.

The first hurdle we encountered was that Ms. Lee had a more complicated background, not only with some adverse records, but also with sensitive work history. Because of these bad records, USCIS conducted an extensive background check on her, an investigation that took much longer than the norm. We overcame many obstacles and
repeatedly contacted the relevant USCIS and Congressional officials to
requesting a response to Ms. Li’s I-485 application.
We even started working as Ms. Li’s attorney to sue the government.
Finally, in December 2019, USCIS responded to our request and granted Ms. Lee an interview. Soon after, in February of 2020, USCIS sent a Retroactive Filing (RFE) notice, almost ten years after she first filed her I-485 application!

During the face-to-face interview, Ms. Li felt apprehensive that she would not be able to express herself accurately in front of the immigration officer. To help her prepare fully for the interview, we gave Ms. Li
We conducted extensive training to let her know about the various issues she might encounter during the interview.
We also arranged a “mock interview rehearsal” to help her regain her confidence. When it came to
At the actual interview, our attorney accompanied her to the interview.
As a result, Ms. Lee’s confidence was boosted by the knowledge that she was not alone.

In the retroactive section, USCIS questioned Ms. Lee about her failure to file tax returns for years and whether she had abandoned her residency. While waiting for her green card to be approved (which normally takes only one year to adjust status), Ms. Lee only received a work permit that she had to keep renewing. Therefore, Ms. Lee extended her stay outside the United States and did not file tax returns for five years. We
explained Ms. Lee’s unique circumstances to USCIS.
We also explained her current earning capacity to allay any concerns that the immigration officer might have that she would be a public charge. In addition, we
prepared a tax return affidavit and submitted Ms. Li’s previous tax returns
to enhance the persuasiveness.

Case results:
After the interview and supplemental process was completed, Ms. Lee regained her hope that she could stay in the United States. After nearly a decade of suffering, Ms. Li and her daughter finally received the green cards they had been waiting for. Since then, her mother has enjoyed her career and her daughter has enjoyed her education, and they have officially started to live and work together in the United States.

Lawyer Comments:
But if the road to immigration is not straightforward and you encounter an unreliable attorney, don’t hesitate to contact Tsang & Associates at 562-924-1981.

*To protect customer privacy, customer names are pseudonyms.