I-485 Denial

[Alondra Martinez]

Need some help.

My mother was offered a skilled labor employment sponsorship back in 1993 (which my father, brother, and myself fell under too). Come 1996 at final interview case was denied. She never appealed the case and time passed. 2001 Life Act allowed me to apply for I-130 (marriage petition) and I-485 adjustment within the US in 2010. My father applied for I-130 & I-485 through US Citizen daughter in Feb 2016 and was approved too. However, mom's request for same exact reason, US Citizen daughter was denied based on previous case denial and did not allow her to qualify under Life Act, according to immigration officer last Thursday. I can't seem to make sense of this.
If my father and I both qualified to Adjust Status in the US based on Life Act from 2001, why doesn't she also qualify?
Any help is greatly appreciated! Thanks!

[newacct]

What was the reason her original petition or labor certification was denied?

It's possible the officer did not understand the law. 245(i) does not require that the original petition or labor certification be approved, but only "approvable when filed". Even if it was ultimately denied or revoked, it could still have been approvable when filed.

8 CFR 245.10(a)(3) says:

(3) Approvable when filed means that, as of the date of the filing of the qualifying immigrant visa petition under section 204 of the Act or qualifying application for labor certification, the qualifying petition or application was properly filed, meritorious in fact, and non-frivolous (“frivolous” being defined herein as patently without substance). This determination will be made based on the circumstances that existed at the time the qualifying petition or application was filed. A visa petition that was properly filed on or before April 30, 2001, and was approvable when filed, but was later withdrawn, denied, or revoked due to circumstances that have arisen after the time of filing, will preserve the alien beneficiary's grandfathered status if the alien is otherwise eligible to file an application for adjustment of status under section 245(i) of the Act.

If she believes it was approvable when filed, and this officer made a mistake, she can file a Motion to Reconsider, and if that fails, then she can argue it was incorrectly denied when she is in removal proceedings.