DOS, July 15, 2024 " On June 18, 2024, the Biden-Harris Administration announced actions to more efficiently process employment-based nonimmigrant visas for those who have graduated from college...
Cyrus D. Mehta and Jessica Paszko, July 13, 2024 "Portability under Section 204(j) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) allows certain employment-based green card applicants to change jobs...
This document is scheduled to be published in the Federal Register on 07/12/2024 "The Department of State (the Department) publishes a final rule revising the Code of Federal Regulations to amend...
Visa Bulletin for August 2024
Azumah v. USCIS - Vacated and remanded by published opinion. Judge Harris wrote the opinion, in which Judge Thacker joined. Judge Richardson wrote a separate opinion concurring in part and concurring in...
"Ronel Ramos was charged with removability for committing an “aggravated felony” within the meaning of 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(2)(A)(iii) when he pled guilty to violating Georgia Code § 16-8-14, a statute that criminalizes shoplifting. An Immigration Judge sustained the charge, denied Ramos’s application for cancellation of removal, and ordered Ramos deported. Ramos appealed to the Board of Immigration Appeals. The Board dismissed his appeal, reasoning that a § 16-8-14 conviction necessarily qualifies as an aggravated felony. The Board then denied Ramos’s motion to reconsider. Ramos petitioned this court to review both of the Board’s rulings. We conclude that a § 16-8-14 conviction does not categorically qualify as an aggravated felony. We also conclude that Ramos’s record of conviction does not establish that he committed an aggravated felony. We therefore grant Ramos’s petition and reverse the Board’s rulings." - Ramos v. U.S. Attorney General, Feb. 19, 2013. [Hats way off to John Patrick Pratt!]