NIJC Practice Advisory: The U Visa Inadmissibility Waiver After L.D.G. v. Holder

NIJC, Jan. 2016 - "Until recently, U visa applicants in removal proceedings who were subject to one or more grounds of inadmissibility relied on U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) alone to determine whether those inadmissibility grounds would be waived. When USCIS denied a waiver application, the U visa applicant had little recourse. This scheme changed significantly in the Seventh Circuit with the issuance of L.D.G. v. Holder on March 12, 2014.  In L.D.G., the Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit held that the Attorney General and her delegates – immigration judges (IJs) and the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) – have concurrent jurisdiction over inadmissibility waivers sought in conjunction with U visa applications under INA § 212(d)(3)(A).  This practice advisory provides guidance to practitioners representing U visa applicants in removal proceedings who may request IJ or BIA adjudication of their waivers of admissibility."