Client: A Sizable Orthodox Church in Cleveland, Ohio
Client’s Country of Origin: Belarus
Case Type: I-360 Petition for Alien to be Classified as a Special Immigrant (EB-4)
Date of Application: January 14, 1998
Date of Approval: February 5, 1998

Background:
Our client, an Orthodox church in Cleveland, Ohio, retained Herman Legal Group after it decided to hire an outstanding Father on a permanent basis.

Challenge:
Should anyone wish to legally immigrate to the United States, he or she must first apply to be classified as an immigrant. For employment-based immigration, continual employment is the crux. Therefore, the employer must be legal and what it claims to be; and the prospective employee, the immigrant, must do what is claimed ahead for long run in the future.

Action:
Herman Legal Group’s experienced immigration lawyers in Cleveland, Ohio helped our client prove that:

    1. The minister had been a member of the denomination, a bona fide religious organization.
    2. The minister had been carrying out religious work continuously for at least two years before the application.
    3. The religious worker was in the U.S. solely for the purpose of acting as a minister in a professional capacity at the organization’s request.

Result:
Within a month, our client’s choice Father received an immigration status under the category of religious worker. This approval later served as a strong basis for the church’s I-485 (green card) application for the Father.