December 24, 2023

Matter of M-R-M-S- Toolkit

When the BIA issued Matter of M-R-M-S- on Dec. 1, 2023 advocates were troubled. Responding to the challenge, two experts have posted these practice advisories: 1. Victoria Neilson, NIPNLG, Dec. 21, 2023 2. Jeffrey S. Chase, Dec. 24, 2023

December 22, 2023

H-2B Application Filing Timelines for 2024 Peak Filing Season

DOLETA, Dec. 22, 2023 "The Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC) reminds employers and other interested stakeholders that the filing window to submit an H-2B Application for Temporary Employment Certification (Form ETA-9142B and appendices) requesting work start dates of April 1, 2024, or later, will open on January 2, 2024, at 12:00 a.m. Eastern Time. Following OFLC's standard operating procedures...

December 22, 2023

NIV Interview Waiver Update (Dec. 21, 2023)

State Department, Dec. 21, 2023 "The Secretary of State, following consultations with the Department of Homeland Security, has determined that the following categories of interview waivers are in the national interest. Changes based on that determination are implemented by consular officers, who now have the authority and discretion to waive the in-person interview for: First time H-2 visa applicants (temporary...

December 22, 2023

DOS to Process Domestic Visa Renewals in Limited Pilot Program for Certain H-1B Applicants

State Department, Dec. 21, 2023 "For the first time in nearly two decades, the Department of State will process domestic visa renewals for certain H-1B visa applicants as part of a pilot program . Beginning the week of January 29, 2024, the Department will launch this voluntary program for approximately 20,000 eligible participants who meet the requirements listed in the Federal Register . In 2004, the Department...

December 21, 2023

Children's Cases in Immigration Court: EOIR Director's Memo (Dec. 21, 2023)

EOIR, Dec. 23, 2023 "This Director’s Memorandum (DM) provides guidance to Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) adjudicators and personnel on cases in immigration court where the lead or sole respondent, or a witness, is a child. Cases where the respondent is a child include, but are not limited to, those where the respondent has been designated as an unaccompanied child. EOIR has a specialized juvenile...

December 21, 2023

Survivors Facing Years-Long Waits For U Visa Adjudications Sue DHS

NIJC, Dec. 19, 2023 "A group of noncitizens who have waited years for an initial review of their U visa applications is suing the U.S. government for failing to properly implement congressionally mandated processes which were created to alleviate the most acute harms faced by people trapped in growing backlogs. The National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC), Michigan Immigrant Rights Center (MIRC), and Winston...

December 20, 2023

Stateside H-1B Visa Renewal Pilot Program

This document is scheduled to be published in the Federal Register on 12/21/2023 "The Department of State (the “Department”) is announcing a pilot program to resume domestic visa renewal for qualified H-1B nonimmigrant visa applicants who meet certain requirements. This notice describes the requirements for participation in the pilot and provides information on how those falling within the bounds of...

December 20, 2023

Parole Q&A: AILA/USCIS Liaison Meeting, Dec. 14, 2023

USCIS, Dec. 18, 2023 "On Dec. 14, 2023, USCIS and the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) met to discuss topics related to parole. AILA submitted the questions below, which USCIS answered. Please note that some of the questions may have been revised for clarity."

December 20, 2023

USCIS Updates Policy Guidance for International Students

USCIS, Dec. 20, 2023 "U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is issuing policy guidance regarding the F and M student nonimmigrant classifications, including the agency’s role in adjudicating applications for employment authorization, change of status, extension of stay, and reinstatement of status for these students and their dependents in the United States. This guidance consolidates existing...

December 19, 2023

Lawsuit Reveals Unaccompanied Child Manual of Procedures

NILA, VECINA, Dec. 2023 " VECINA & NILA v. Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (D. Mass.) – Lawsuit seeking records the immediate release and proactive disclosure of a full and complete copy of the Unaccompanied Child Manual of Procedures (UC MAP). Co-Counsel: Araujo & Fisher LLC Status: The complaint was filed on November 1, 2023. On December 11...

December 19, 2023

Matter of H. N. FERREIRA, 28 I&N Dec. 765 (BIA 2023)

Matter of H. N. FERREIRA, 28 I&N Dec. 765 (BIA 2023) "This case requires us to reconcile an Immigration Judge’s regulatory authority to terminate removal proceedings with a respondent’s interest in having the Immigration Judge review USCIS’ denial of a Form I-751. ... The respondent maintains that the inability of DHS to locate its file is not an enumerated ground upon which the regulations...

December 19, 2023

On the Importance of Scripps v. Jaddou

Cyrus D. Mehta and Jessica Paszko, Dec. 19, 2023 "Scripps v. Jaddou Offers Nuanced Interpretation of “Final Merits Determination” in Reversal of EB-1B Denial for Outstanding Researcher Noncitizen professors or researchers can more easily seek to obtain permanent residence as “outstanding professors and researchers” in light of the District Court of Nebraska’s recent decision in Scripps...

December 18, 2023

Schedule A: Request for Information

Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 244 / Thursday, December 21, 2023 SUMMARY: The Department of Labor’s (Department or DOL) Employment and Training Administration (ETA) is considering revisions to Schedule A of the permanent labor certification process to include occupations in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) and other non-STEM occupations and invites employers and other interested parties...

December 14, 2023

Unpub. BIA Categorical Approach (Meth Isomers) Victory

Matter of X-, Nov. 22, 2023 "The Immigration Judge found the respondent was convicted of possession of a controlled substance for sale, to wit: methamphetamine, in violation of section 11378 of the California Health and Safety Code (IJ at 3-4, Mar. 2, 2023). ... The respondent filed a motion to reconsider the Immigration Judge’s decision, arguing that geometric isomers of methamphetamine can exist and presenting...

December 13, 2023

"Outstanding" EB-1 Victory in Nebraska: Scripps College v. Jaddou

Scripps College v. Jaddou "At issue is whether the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) properly denied Plaintiff’s I-140 immigration petition by finding the beneficiary of the petition did not qualify for an employment-based first-preference visa as an “outstanding professor or researcher” pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1153(b)(1)(B). ... Scripps argues that the...

December 13, 2023

Extension of Re-Registration Periods for Extensions of the Temporary Protected Status Designations of El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Nepal, Nicaragua, and Sudan

DHS, Dec. 13, 2023 "Consistent with its September announcement, the Department of Homeland Security today published a Federal Register notice reiterating the extensions of the periods to re-register for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) under the existing designations of El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Nepal, Nicaragua, and Sudan. As previously announced, the re-registration period for each country is changing from...

December 12, 2023

USCIS Policy Alert: Family-Based Conditional Permanent Residents (Dec. 12, 2023)

USCIS, Dec. 12, 2023 "Congress enacted the Immigration Marriage Fraud Amendments of 1986 (IMFA) to discourage the use of fraudulent marriages to obtain permanent residence.2 In accordance with IMFA, a noncitizen who obtains permanent resident status based on a marriage that began less than 2 years before obtaining that status receives such permanent resident status on a conditional basis for 2 years.3 To remove...

December 12, 2023

Personal Conflicts of Interest Arising Out of the Israel-Hamas War

Cyrus D. Mehta and Kaitlyn Box, Dec. 11, 2023 "The escalating war between Israel and Hamas presents unique challenges for immigration lawyers who represent noncitizens from impacted areas. One such ethical conundrum arises when a lawyer comes to know that a current or prospective client holds views about the conflict that the lawyer strongly disagrees with or even finds repugnant. A lawyer whose family member...

December 12, 2023

Visa Bulletin for January 2024

Department of State, Dec. 4, 2023

December 11, 2023

CA6 on Mixed Motive: Sebastian-Sebastian v. Garland

Sebastian-Sebastian v. Garland "[T]he Board found that Sebastian-Sebastian failed to demonstrate a nexus between her particular social groups and the harm she faced. In its denial of CAT protection, the Board found that Sebastian-Sebastian failed to demonstrate that she is more likely than not to be tortured if removed to Guatemala. On appeal, Sebastian-Sebastian argues that the Board’s conclusions were not...

December 09, 2023

Judge Sabraw Signs Historic Order in Ms. L. v. ICE (Family Separation Lawsuit)

Maria Sacchetti, Washington Post, Dec. 8, 2023 "A federal judge in San Diego on Friday approved a settlement that prohibits U.S. officials from separating migrant families for crossing the U.S.-Mexico border illegally and offers aid to thousands of parents and children forced apart under the Trump administration. ... “It does represent, in my view, one of the most shameful chapters in the history of our country...

December 09, 2023

Employment-Based Adjustment of Status FAQs

USCIS, Dec. 8, 2023 "The employment-based (EB) annual limit for fiscal year (FY) 2024 will be higher than was typical before the pandemic, though lower than in FY 2021-2023. We are dedicated to using as many available employment-based visas as possible in FY 2024, which ends on Sept. 30, 2024. ... [more] ... "

December 08, 2023

Ms. L. Settlement Pending Judge's Signature

Elliot Spagat, Associated Press, Dec. 8, 2023 "A federal judge was poised Friday to prohibit separation of families at the border for purposes of deterring immigration for eight years, preemptively blocking resumption of a lightning-rod, Trump-era policy that the former president hasn’t ruled out if voters return him to the White House next year. U.S. District Judge Dana Sabraw tentatively approved a court...

December 07, 2023

"The Government Knew This"

In an unpublished decision dated Dec. 4, 2023 a panel of the Ninth Circuit remanded for a new hearing. The facts are stunning...unless you practice immigration law: "Because Lead Petitioner credibly stated that she did not receive the NOH, the BIA abused its discretion in declining to rescind the in absentia orders under 8 U.S.C. § 1229a(b)(5)(C). We remand for a new hearing on Petitioners’ asylum applications...

December 06, 2023

DOS Final Rule Will Eliminate 22 CFR 42.68

This document is scheduled to be published in the Federal Register on 12/07/2023 "The Department of State (“Department”) is amending its regulation governing immigrant visas by removing the section which allows a consular officer to conduct an informal evaluation of the family members of an immigrant visa applicant to identify potential grounds of ineligibility. The existing regulation was promulgated...