The applicant in this case was a citizen of Canada who was working in the U.S. under TN visa status as a Physicist. Our office had filed an I-129 extension of TN visa status petition for this individual in late 2008, which was approved with a validity period from 2009 to 2012.

In early 2010, the applicant’s employer decided it wanted to hire him on a permanent basis. Our office filed a PERM labor certification in March 2010, which was certified by the U.S. DOL in June 2010. In October 2010, our office prepared and filed an I-140 immigrant petition for this individual seeking permanent resident status under the employment based second preference category (EB-2) for individuals holding advanced degrees. USCIS approved this petition in January 2011.

Immigrant visa numbers were available under the EB-2 classification following approval of the I-140. After we assessed and confirmed that the applicant met all the requirements for Adjustment of Status, in March 2011 our office filed an I-485 application for Adjustment of Status along with applications for travel (I-131) and employment authorization (I-765). In June 2011, USCIS approved the individual’s I-485 application.