Approval of EB4 Case Based on Business Closure after 9/11
Posted Oct 28, 2005
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Some unusual approvals received at The Law Office of Sheela Murthy may show MurthyDotCom and MurthyBulletin readers that the options available under U.S. immigration law are varied and require innovative use of existing laws and regulations. From time to time our attorneys will work on cases that are rather atypical and complex, requiring creative legal arguments to help our clients when there are no other options or avenues easily available. We celebrate these victories since they involve novel issues. Highlighted here is an EB4 case approval in which the reason for the approval for our client was a provision under the PATRIOT law based on the business having been adversely affected after the attacks on September 11, 2001.
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Cases Enjoy Confidentiality
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We do not provide confidential client information on MurthyDotCom, in the MurthyBulletin, or elsewhere. Each case enjoys the attorney-client privilege of confidentiality. Every person's information is kept in the strictest of confidence and, unless the person/s agree, their stories will not be repeated. This case was filed under one of the few immigration-friendly provisions of the Patriot Act, enacted in the immediate aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and required a creative use and application of those provisions. Our client recently received the "green card" approval based on this filing by our law firm and has given us permission to share his case with our readers.
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Employer Suffered Financial Hardship Post 9/11
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The case for this family started with a labor certification (LC) filed by The Law Office of Sheela Murthy prior to September 11, 2001. The company had locations in New York and New Jersey. We had filed the LC case in New Jersey for our client. The New York office was located within proximity to ground zero. By the time the labor certification was approved, post 9/11, the company had closed the NY operations and consolidated all its operations in New Jersey. The company could not move forward to file the I-140 petition for the employee as they had suffered an economic downturn following 9/11. With no employer willing to sponsor the H1B or the "green card," the individual and his family would have to return to their home country.
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Creative Option to File under the PATRIOT Act
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The lawyers at our firm had studied the provisions of the PATRIOT Act and analyzed them in our weekly discussions, as part of our effort to find ways to help our clients when new laws are passed. We turned to the Patriot Act in an attempt to save this case and our client. A section of the Patriot Act provided for immigration relief if a business had started the green card process prior to 9/11, but was not able to complete the process due to damage sustained as a direct or indirect result of the terrorist attacks. If this burden could be met, the individual and all eligible family members would be able to obtain the green card as special immigrants under the employment-based fourth preference (EB4). The particularly difficult part of the case was to establish a nexus between the New Jersey location, where the beneficiary was to work, and the damage sustained by the smaller New York location.
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Evidence Submitted to Obtain the EB4 Approval
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Our firm submitted evidence that the New York office sustained physical destruction and closure as a direct result of the terrorist activity of 9/11. We provided copy of the civil edict closing the businesses within a certain radius of the blast zone for several weeks. We also produced a Disaster Relief letter addressed to the company indicating that they were eligible for certain federal relief as a result of the harm caused to them by the 9/11 attacks. We provided an explanation from the company regarding their inability to go forward with this case. We argued the application of the Patriot Act provisions in this case. Our firm was delighted to receive the approval of the I-360 petition within just two months of filing. The case then had to wait for the interview. After two years, an interview was set on this client's I-485 Application for Adjustment of Status. An attorney from The Law Office of Sheela Murthy appeared for the interview at the local New Jersey office. The officer commented that this was the only case of this type that he had seen; his supervisor confirmed that he knew of no other such case within this local office. This did surprise us, since we assumed law firms in the New York and New Jersey area would have filed under the PATRIOT Act as many businesses there would have been affected by the events of September 11, 2001.
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Conclusion
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Although the provisions of the PATRIOT Act allowing for such filings have expired, the goal in sharing our client's success story with you is that there are sometimes options that one must consider before packing up and going home. One should be open to creative ideas that can help when the obvious course seems to evaporate! Always discuss and understand the choices available to you with a knowledgeable, experienced immigration lawyer who is there to help you.