16 Sep Approval of Section 245(i) Green Card Applications
Prior to April 30, 2001 our firm filed a sibling I-130 Petition on behalf of a client who had overstayed a visitor visa in the 1990s and was physically present in the United States on December 21, 2000 enabling the client to be grandfathered under Section 245(i) of the Immigration and Nationality Act. In 2003 we filed a Labor Certification on behalf of the client which was approved. We then filed an I-140 Petition to show that the Company that filed the Labor Certification had the ability to pay the proffered wage and that the client met the minimum requirements for the position as set forth in the Labor Certification. The I-140 Petition was approved. The I-130 Sibling Petition was also approved. The priority date on the Labor Certification became current and we filed I-485 applications for our client and her spouse, indicating to the Immigration Service that our client was eligible to apply for adjustment of status under the Labor Certification because she was grandfathered under Section 245(i) by reason of having an approvable when filed I-130 Petition filed by her sibling on her behalf prior to April 30, 2001. Under the law it is permissible to substitute the benefits of Section 245(i) from one petition or application to another. After more than 10 years of waiting, our client received her green card based upon the approved Labor Certification Application.