About 70 Koreans who were doing business in the Seattle area with E2 visa status and seeking permanent residency through employment immigration were at risk of being deprived of their permanent residency due to false applications.
According to a Korean-American lawyer in Seattle, all of these cases were cases where they applied for permanent residency through a Chinese law firm in Chicago, which was introduced through a local Korean-run K accounting firm. It was discovered by the Immigration Service that they falsely stated the details of their work when they applied for permanent residence. This is because they did not actually work at the workplace indicated in the application form.
It is said that the immigration officer is canceling the employment immigration petition (I-140) after calling the employer and the applicant separately and confirming that they did not work for the place specified in the application. According to a Korean-American lawyer, the applications for permanent residence cards that have already been issued or those currently in progress are being canceled one after another, and the extension of the E-2 visa is sometimes denied due to this fact.
The Korean-American lawyer said he visited the immigration office with a client who received a Notice of Intent to Revoke at the beginning of the year. According to the lawyer, Korean-American Mr. A received permanent residency through such an application in 2017, but suddenly received an interview notice from the immigration office earlier this year. Immigration officers said she “was guilty of immigration fraud because she didn’t want to work in the first place.” In the end, Mr. A received a notice from the Immigration Bureau last month that he would revoke his permanent residence, and appointed a lawyer, and is preparing for the deportation trial.
A Korean lawyer emphasized, “You must never believe the broker’s words that you do not have to work because immigration is a condition that you must work.”