EB-1B Adjustment of Status Case Study: Professor Couple Approved
Fast Facts
- Matter type: Employment-based adjustment of status, based on an existing I-140 EB-1B approval
- Client profiles: Married couple; both professors and peer-reviewed researchers at a state university
- Industry: Higher education / academic research
- Location: Applying from within the United States
- Core obstacle: Both clients had entered the U.S. on J-1 visas subject to the two-year home residency requirement. Neither client knew the requirement applied to them, and no waiver had been filed.
- Strategy focus: Demonstrated that both clients had cumulatively met the two-year home residency requirement through a documented accounting of all days spent in their home country, supported by travel records, visa stamps, I-94 records, and corroborating evidence — allowing the I-485 to proceed without a waiver.
- Lead attorney: Ana Gabriela Urizar, immigration attorney
- RFE: None
- Filed date: January 28, 2026
- Approved date: March 25, 2026
Who were the clients?
The clients were a married couple, both professors at a prestigious state university. Between them they had authored books and published peer-reviewed research. At the time they reached out to Manifest Law, those credentials had already earned them an approved EB-1B petition, the immigrant category for outstanding professors and researchers, filed through their employer.
Their employer’s immigration attorney handled that petition, but the couple felt left out of the loop: They often waited weeks for a reply, and they didn’t always know what was being filed on their behalf. As a result, they wanted to hire independent legal counsel for their adjustment of status, and booked a consultation with us.
The problem: What made this a challenging case?
- A J-1 compliance issue surfaced one week before filing. Gabriela’s review of the couple’s visa stamps revealed that both were subject to the two-year home residency requirement. No waiver was filed, and neither one knew they had to clear that rule.
- A waiver wasn’t an option. Because Gabriela did not have time to pursue a waiver, she had to prove the couple had already met the two-year threshold through accumulated physical presence abroad.
Gabriela’s adjustment of status strategy
Before filing for the couple’s adjustment of status, Manifest immigration attorney Ana Gabriela Urizar vetted every document in their record, including their travel history and J-1 visa stamps the clients initially struggled to locate. She did this to independently verify they qualified for a Green Card, even if they already had an I-140 approval.
That review revealed that both were subject to the J-1 visa’s two-year home residency requirement, which neither spouse knew applied to them. And while they never filed a waiver, the math showed they had already met the condition, and Gabriela had the evidence to prove it.
Since the two years of required presence abroad do not need to be consecutive, Gabriela mapped the couple’s full travel history across 15 years. She calculated every departure and return, tallied the qualifying days, and confirmed that both clients had cleared the threshold.
For each period abroad, she assembled independent evidence to corroborate the timeline: I-94 records, visa stamps from expired passports, plane tickets, concert tickets attended in the home country, holiday photographs, and a letter from a former employer confirming that the wife had completed a multi-month assignment outside the U.S. As a result, the cumulative picture left no gaps.
Addressed dual intent and change of intent explicitly
Gabriela’s clients initially entered the U.S. on J-1 visas, which are considered single-intent under immigration law. To address their decision to adjust status, she submitted an overview of their career trajectory: they came to conduct a government-sponsored research project, completed it, and were then offered permanent academic positions.
In addition, the I-485 petition also argued that the clients’ continued presence benefited the United States, supporting it with their research contributions.
Built both Green Cards on the EB-1B approval
The couple’s path to permanent residence centered on the EB-1B, a category for outstanding professors and researchers. At the time of filing, USCIS had already approved their I-140 petition, so the adjustment of status was the last step they had to take in order to switch from H-1B workers to Green Card holders.
The couple could pursue the EB-1B due to their outstanding portfolio: they both held doctorates and taught at the university level, and each had spent years producing peer-reviewed work and authoring books. They first came to the United States for a government-sponsored research project, and that record helped them clear the EB-1B’s final merits determination.
Only one spouse was the named beneficiary on the I-140. Rather than file the other as a family-based derivative, which is a common misstep, Gabriela filed both adjustments under the same EB-1B employment category. That kept the couple tied to one approved petition and avoided a misfiling that could have caused delays.
Key evidence that supported this case
| Evidence type | Details |
|---|---|
| J-1 visa stamps and expired passports | Used to document all periods of physical presence in the home country across the clients’ full travel history. |
| I-94 arrival and departure records | Provided an official record of U.S. entry and exit dates to corroborate the physical presence calculation. |
| Plane tickets | Confirmed specific travel dates to and from the home country. |
| Concert tickets and holiday photographs | Served as corroborating evidence of physical presence in the home country on specific dates. |
| Former employer letter | Documented a multi-month work assignment that required one client to be physically present in the home country. |
| Academic diplomas | Included in the public charge section to support the inadmissibility rebuttal. |
| EB-1B I-140 approval notice | Established the underlying immigrant petition and employment-based category for both applicants. |
| H-1B approval notices and supporting documents | Provided context for the change of status history and supported the dual-intent and career trajectory narrative. |
Outcome
Both I-485 petitions were filed on January 28 and approved on March 25. Neither received a request for evidence.
Why this result mattered for the client
As Green Card holders, both clients no longer had to rely on their government sponsor to continue pursuing their academic research projects. In addition, their new status also unlocked the ability to access additional research grants, which were only available to U.S. citizens and permanent residents.
Related FAQs
What happens if a J-1 holder subject to the two-year requirement changes status to H-1B without satisfying it first?
Changing to H-1B status without satisfying the J-1 two-year requirement or obtaining a waiver can create an immigration compliance issue. This is one reason why a thorough document review — including J-1 visa stamps and prior status records — is important before filing for adjustment of status.
What evidence can be used to prove physical presence in a home country?
Evidence can include plane tickets, I-94 records, visa stamps, employer letters, and corroborating personal records such as event tickets or photographs. The stronger and more varied the documentation, the clearer the case for USCIS.
Why would a couple with an employer-sponsored I-140 hire a separate attorney for their I-485?
Hiring independent counsel for the adjustment of status allows the applicant to have an attorney who is focused exclusively on their interests, including catching issues that the employer’s attorney may not have flagged.
About Ana Gabriela Urizar, immigration attorney at Manifest
Ana Gabriela Urizar graduated from Benjamin Cardozo School of Law, where she participated in the immigration clinic. After graduating, she spent nearly a decade at Fragomen, one of the largest immigration law firms in the world, where she handled a wide range of corporate immigration matters for clients in the technology, financial services, arts, and manufacturing industries.
Disclaimer: Past results do not guarantee future outcomes.
