January 19, 2023

Visa Bulletin for February 2023

Visa Bulletin For February 2023 D.     FAMILY-SPONSORED SECOND PREFERENCE VISA AVAILABILITY Number use in the F2A category has remained steady throughout FY-2023 and it may be necessary to establish an F2A final action date as early as March to keep number use within the annual limit. This situation is being continually monitored and any necessary adjustments will be made accordingly. E.   RETROGRESSION IN THE WORLDWIDE...

January 19, 2023

Unpub. CA5 Equitable Tolling Victory: Lara Canales v. Garland

Lara Canales v. Garland "This appeal arises from the Board of Immigration Appeals’ (BIA) denial of Karla Yadira Lara Canales’s motion to reopen her removal proceedings. The BIA denied her motion to reopen as untimely, leaving the order of removal in place. We now VACATE the BIA’s denial of Lara Canales’s motion to reopen and REMAND so that the BIA may properly consider whether Lara Canales is entitled to equitable...

January 19, 2023

Massive ($350K) I-9 Settlement: Masterson Staffing

Justice Department, Jan. 19, 2023 "The Justice Department announced today that it has reached a settlement agreement with Corp IV Holdings Inc., doing business as Masterson Staffing Solutions (Masterson Staffing), a staffing company based in Minnesota. The agreement resolves the department’s determination that Masterson Staffing violated the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) by routinely discriminating against...

January 19, 2023

2023 Poverty Guidelines (Eff. Jan. 17, 2023 for USCIS)

Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 12 / Thursday, January 19, 2023 "This notice provides an update of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) poverty guidelines to account for last calendar year’s increase in prices as measured by the Consumer Price Index. DATES: January 12, 2023 unless an office administering a program using the guidelines specifies a different effective date for that particular program...

January 19, 2023

Thanking Anne "Shabby Law" Pilsbury

Hon. Jeffrey S. Chase, Jan. 18, 2023 "“Those of us who care about people on the wrong side of history just have to help case by case, person by person.” - Anne Pilsbury, quoted in Francisco Goldman, “Escape to New York, ” The New Yorker , Aug. 9, 2016. Anne Pilsbury is well; she continues to work at Central American Legal Assistance (“CALA”), the organization she founded almost four decades ago. She was recently...

January 18, 2023

Supreme Court Consolidates Two Immigration Case for Oral Argument

Amy L. Howe, Jan. 13, 2023 " Pugin v. Garland  and  Garland v. Cordero-Garcia In a pair of immigration cases that have been consolidated for oral argument, the justices agreed to decide whether a criminal offense that does not interfere with an existing investigation or judicial proceeding qualifies as an “offense relating to obstruction of justice,” a serious crime that can result in deportation and additional...

January 17, 2023

Supreme Court Oral Argument Audio & Transcript: Santos-Zacaria v. Garland

Santos-Zacaria v. Garland, Att'y Gen. Docket Number:  21-1436 Date Argued:   01/17/23 Play Audio:   Media Formats:   MP3 Download  Transcript (PDF) View       To download file: From Windows - Right click the "Download" link and select "Save Target As..." or "Save Link As..." From Mac - Press Ctrl key while clicking the "Download"...

January 17, 2023

TPS Employment Authorization Lawsuit Filed: Szomstein v. Jaddou

Ira Kurzban writes: "My firm filed the attached complaint and thought it would be of interest to Bender’s readers. We are challenging the failure of USCIS to provide employment authorization to all TPS applicants upon filing the application. Under the INA 244(a)(4)(B) applicants for TPS “shall” receive employment authorization upon establishing a prima facie case. USCIS, as a practical matter, never...

January 13, 2023

Matter of Fernandes Update (Jan. 11, 2023)

Via email, attorney Todd Pomerleau reports: "We vacated Fernandes’ drug conviction (which formed the basis for his putative NTA) due to newly discovered evidence of police misconduct. We are seeking termination at the Board on this additional basis." Stay tuned!

January 13, 2023

CBP One Mobile App Now Live

DHS, Jan. 12, 2023 "The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced today that the new scheduling function in the  CBP One  mobile application is now live. President Biden  announced  the new functionality last week as part of a number of additional border enforcement measures the Administration is taking to expand pathways for legal immigration, limit illegal immigration, and increase security. Effective January...

January 13, 2023

DHS Extends and Redesignates Somalia for Temporary Protected Status for 18 Months

DHS, Jan. 12, 2023 "Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro N. Mayorkas today announced the extension of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Somalia for an additional 18 months, from March 18, 2023, through September 17, 2024. He also redesignated Somalia for TPS, allowing Somali nationals residing in the United States as of January 11, 2023 to apply for TPS, so long as they meet all eligibility requirements...

January 13, 2023

USCIS Announces Final Phase of Premium Processing Expansion for EB-1 and EB-2 Form I-140 Petitions and Future Expansion for F-1 Students Seeking OPT and Certain Student and Exchange Visitors

USCIS, Jan. 12, 2023 "U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services is implementing the final phase of the premium processing expansion for  Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Workers , under the EB-1 and EB-2 classifications. Unlike previous phases of the expansion, this phase applies to new (initial) petitions, in addition to all previously filed Form I-140 petitions under an E13 multinational executive and...

January 12, 2023

Matter of Chen, 28 I&N Dec. 676 (BIA 2023)

Matter of Chen, 28 I&N Dec. 676 (BIA 2023) (1) The “stop-time” rule under section 240A(d)(1) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, 8 U.S.C. 1229b(d)(1), is not triggered by the entry of a final removal order, but rather only by service of a statutorily compliant notice to appear or the commission of specified criminal offenses, in accordance with the plain language statutory analysis provided in Niz-Chavez v....

January 11, 2023

AAO U Visa Remand - Perjury by Disbarred Attorney

Attorney Michael M. Shabani obtained this Dec. 16, 2022 AAO victory for his U visa client based on being the victim of the crime of perjury by disbarred attorney Douglas Howard Cooner.  See , Cooner v. State , 272 So. 3d 206 (Ala. Crim. App. 2018) . - Michael M. Shabani

January 10, 2023

EB-5 Mandamus Victory: Lyons v. USCIS

Dustin Saldarriaga writes: "Earlier today we received a favorable decision from Judge Koeltl (SDNY) denying the government’s motion to dismiss where our client (a national of Canada) had been waiting more than three years for a decision on his I-526 petition. ... Judge Koeltl cited to various cases ... from  Velegapudi  and  Lammers  to  Keller Wurtz  and  Liu v. Mayorkas . In summary, Judge Koeltl found that none...

January 10, 2023

OFLC Publishes List of Randomized H-2B Applications Submitted January 1-3 for Employers Seeking H-2B Workers Starting April 1, 2023

OFLC, Jan. 9, 2023 "To keep the public informed regarding the submission and assignment of H-2B applications for review, the Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC) published the assignment group(s) for 8,693 H-2B applications covering 142,796 worker positions with the start date of work of April 1, 2023. Following the  randomization procedures  published in the Federal Register on March 4, 2019, OFLC completed...

January 09, 2023

Notice re USCIS Moratorium on Denials of CARRP Naturalization and Adjustment Applications (Wagafe v. Biden)

From ACLU Southern California: " USCIS has agreed to maintain a   moratorium on the denials of I-485 and N-400 applications that are subject to CARRP —USCIS’s secretive policy for handling cases alleged to have “national security concerns.” The initial moratorium began on February 1, 2022 and was negotiated through the ongoing litigation challenging CARRP:  Wagafe v. Biden , 17-cv-00094 LK (W.D. Wash.). The moratorium...

January 06, 2023

DHS Implements New Processes for Cubans, Haitians, and Nicaraguans and Eliminates Cap for Venezuelans

USCIS, Jan. 6, 2023 "On Jan. 5, 2023, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced a safe and lawful way for qualifying Cubans, Haitians, and Nicaraguans with U.S.-based supporters to travel by air to and temporarily reside in the United States. Individuals arriving under this new process may also apply for work authorization. DHS also announced elimination of the numerical cap for a similar process for...

January 05, 2023

Parole Process Notices: Venezuela, Haiti, Nicaragua, Cuba

These changes will take effect January 6, 2023. Implementation of Changes to the Parole Process for Venezuelans Implementation of a Parole Process for Haitians Implementation of a Parole Process for Nicaraguans Implementation of a Parole Process for Cubans

January 05, 2023

H-2B Visa Demand Far Exceeds Supply...Again

OFLC, Jan. 4, 2023 "OFLC Conducts Randomization Process on H-2B Applications Submitted Requesting an April 1, 2023, Work Start Date The Office of Foreign Labor Certification has completed the  randomization process  to randomly assign all H-2B applications submitted during the initial three-day filing window, January 1-3, 2023, requesting an April 1, 2023, work start date for the second half of the Fiscal Year...

January 04, 2023

Extension and Redesignation of Yemen for Temporary Protected Status

Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 1 / Tuesday, January 3, 2023 "Through this notice, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announces that the Secretary of Homeland Security (Secretary) is extending the designation of Yemen for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for 18 months, beginning on March 4, 2023, through September 3, 2024. This extension allows existing TPS beneficiaries to retain TPS through September 3...

January 03, 2023

H-2A FAQ Round 4 (Dec. 30, 2022)

OFLC, Dec. 30, 2022 U.S. Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration OFFICE OF FOREIGN LABOR CERTIFICATION 2022 H-2A Final Rule FAQs Round 4 H-2A Application Filing and Processing December 30, 2022

January 03, 2023

USCIS Proposed Fee Schedule - Advance Copy

This document is scheduled to be published in the Federal Register on 01/04/2023 "The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) proposes to adjust certain immigration and naturalization benefit request fees charged by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). USCIS conducted a comprehensive biennial fee review and determined that its costs have increased considerably since its previous fee adjustment due to...

January 03, 2023

Employment Authorization for Yemeni F–1 Nonimmigrant Students Experiencing Severe Economic Hardship as a Direct Result of the Crisis in Yemen

Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 1 / Tuesday, January 3, 2023 "This notice announces that the Secretary of Homeland Security (Secretary) is suspending certain regulatory requirements for F–1 nonimmigrant students whose country of citizenship is Yemen, regardless of country of birth (or individuals having no nationality who last habitually resided in Yemen), and who are experiencing severe economic hardship...

December 31, 2022

CA9 on Notice, In Absentia, Motion to Reopen, Abuse of Discretion: Perez-Portillo v. Garland

Perez-Portillo v. Garland "Petitioners Idania Yamileth Perez-Portillo and her minor daughter, Stefani Abigail Arevalo-Perez, 1 seek review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ (BIA) dismissal of Perez-Portillo’s appeal from an Immigration Judge’s (IJ) denial of her motion to reopen her immigration proceedings. Perez-Portillo failed to appear at her hearing, which had been moved up two months from its original date...