Federal Lawsuit Successfully Forced USCIS to Reverse a Wrongful Denial of an H-1B petition for Client That Was Previously Associated with Integra Technologies LLC (Dec 2022)

Dec 23, 2022

In December 2022, our office successfully  sued USCIS in federal court, forcing USCIS to completely reverse course, and approved our client's H-1B petition in just  ONE day after filing our lawsuit.


As an F-1 visa international student, our client participated in the  OPT program and was hired by Integra. Unbeknownst to the client, Integra appeared to be a possible shell company. Integra used elaborate means to entice mostly Indian students to pay for trainings in exchange for obtaining temporary employment to fulfill the requirements of F-1 OPT.  Integra allegedly promised to provide training services, networking opportunities, and internships perceived to be legitimate employment opportunities. Many F-1 students relied on Integra's promises and received job offers from Integra.


After NBC Bay Area's investigation exposed Integra's questionable nature, USCIS has relentlessly pursued the former students that were previously associated with Integra.  USCIS has issued Request for Evidence, Notice of Intent to Deny ("NOID"), interviews by USCIS Fraud Detection Officers, alleging misrepresentation and fraud. Many of the students and former students also received  revocation of F-1 visa and H-1B visa.

 

Our client is an established company in the San Francisco Bay Area.  Our client filed an I-129 Petition for their employee's H-1B status. USCIS issued an RFE on the issues of the employee's Maintenance of Status. Particularly, USCIS requested substantial documents regarding the employee's F-1 OPT employments. Among the previous F-1 OPT employers was Integra Technologies Inc. The employer's immigration counsel responded to the RFE with over 500 pages of supporting documents and evidence, which USCIS mostly disregarded. USCIS then arbitrarily claimed that the employee was not eligible to Change Status because his F-1 visa was already revoked, and denied the I-129 petition regardless. USCIS also completely failed to adjudicate the petition to reclassify the employee as an H-1B non-immigrant worker in a specialty occupation.


Attorney Nguyen D. Luu and our legal team took on representation to assist our clients.  The evidence presented sufficiently supported a finding that USCIS’s misapplication of the law is the sole basis of the Denial. This was a material error of law. The Denial completely ignored basic legal concepts of visa revocation and immigration status . It is well settled law that a revocation of a visa does not also revoke valid immigration status for someone already present in the US.   By making such an obvious contradiction of the black letter law in the Denial, USCIS violated its duty under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) to engage in “reasoned decision making.” Michigan v. EPA, 576 U.S. 743, 750 (2015); 5 U.S.C. § 701, et seq. Under the APA, USCIS must refrain from making decisions that are “arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, or otherwise not in accordance with law.” 5 U.S.C. § 706(2)(A) (emphasis added). Furthermore, by not addressing the substantive content of our clients' I-129 Petition and documents concerning the request for H-1B classification, USCIS’s Decision on its face was “patently unresponsive” to the administrative record.


Due to the imminent harm to our clients, our firm took an aggressive approach to protect our client's rights. We filed a lawsuit against USCIS in federal court, Northern District of California. We also pursued an emergency motion, Motion for Preliminary Injunction and Temporary Restraining Order to expedite the hearing. The firm is very pleased to learn that within just ONE day after we notified the government of our motion,  USCIS completely reversed course, and  approved our client H-1B petition. Our firm reached a complete victory for our clients.  The firm is extremely pleased with the results we have achieved.


If you were previously associated with FINDREAM, SINOCONTECH, Integra Technologies, AZTech Technologies, and Tellon Trading, Inc., Arecy, CG Max Design Corporation, XCG Design Corp in any manner or capacity, it is important to consult with an experienced attorney to immediately advise you and to identify potential problems early in your case and develop a strong case strategy before applying for any immigration benefits.


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