The Law Offices of Sabrina Li has successfully helped another client, and we are excited to share the details of their case with you.

Our client approached us after realizing that their previous attorney had not filed their E2 investor status extension request on time. Our client had suffered severe injuries and was hospitalized, during which time the attorney did not contact her. Consequently, our client was unaware that the renewal period was imminent. As a result, she missed the deadline to extend her E-2 status, leaving her out of status.

The difficulty in the client’s case is that she had been living in the United States without lawful status for over four months. To extend non immigrant status inside of the United States, an individual must show they are in lawful status. Moreover, if her status was not successfully extended and reinstated, she would incur more time of unlawful presence in the United States, which could cause her to become subject to unlawful presence bars of inadmissibility.  

Our experienced team filed a renewal of our client’s E-2 visa nun pro tunc and requested that USCIS consider the extension request as being timely filed. We helped the client gather evidence to show that she could not file the renewal request in a timely manner and that she was the victim of her prior attorney’s ineffective assistance. Because of her hospitalization, we also requested that she be allowed to extend her status inside the United States due to the COVID pandemic and the risks it posed to our client.

Our diligent efforts were rewarded when one month later, our client’s extension request was not only approved, but backdated to show that it was timely filed so that our client did not incur any unlawful presence.  

Nunc pro tunc is a discretionary remedy by which USCIS may approve a late-filed request. Specifically, USCIS has the discretion to approve a nunc pro tunc request if:  

1. The late filing is the result of extraordinary circumstances beyond the control of the applicant;

2. The delay in filing is commensurate with the circumstances;  

3. The foreign national has not otherwise violated her/his nonimmigrant status;  

4. The foreign national remains a bonafide nonimmigrant; and  

5. The foreign national is not subject to deportation or removal proceedings.

If you or someone you know has encountered a similar issue and needs the assistance of qualified professionals, please do not hesitate to contact our office. We are here to help!