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Daniel M. Kowalski
3 months ago
Immigration Law
Inside News
Credible Fear Procedures Manual
Thanks to a FOIA request by David Cleveland , we now have the May 10, 2023 revision of the USCIS Credible Fear Procedures Manual available to us.
Daniel M. Kowalski
3 months ago
Immigration Law
Outside News
Judge to Review Prince Harry's Immigration Papers
Daniel Bates, Daily Mail, March 8, 2024 "A judge has ordered the Department of Homeland Security to hand over sensitive material about Prince Harry’s immigration papers for him to review while he decides whether to make them public. Judge...
Daniel M. Kowalski
9 months ago
Immigration Law
Outside News
Did You Know...?
...that USCIS has an Electronic Reading Room ? "The USCIS Electronic Reading Room provides access to information identified under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). We will update the Electronic Reading Room when documents are requested 3 or...
Daniel M. Kowalski
over 1 year ago
Immigration Law
Outside News
IRAP Shares Documents from FOIA
Training and Guidance Documents Related to Afghan Refugee, Asylum, SIV and Parole Processing - "Through the Freedom of Information Act and other litigation, IRAP has obtained thousands of pages of training and guidance documents from the Department...
Daniel M. Kowalski
over 1 year ago
Immigration Law
Outside News
IRAP Shares an Extensive Collection of Refugee Processing Documents Obtained Through FOIA
IRAP, Aug. 2022 "Through the Freedom of Information Act, IRAP has obtained an extensive collection of documents related to the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program . Together, these documents shine a light on the generally opaque U.S. refugee processing...
Daniel M. Kowalski
over 4 years ago
Immigration Law
Outside News
Documents Reveal USCIS Policies to Restrict Visas
Stuart Anderson, Forbes, Sept. 19, 2019 "New government documents reveal the increase in denials and Requests for Evidence for H-1B petitions are part of an effort by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to achieve desired results...
Daniel M. Kowalski
over 4 years ago
Immigration Law
Outside News
Lawsuit Challenges Systemic USCIS and ICE FOIA Delays
AIC, June 19, 2019 "Under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), individuals must receive a determination on requests for information within a maximum of 30 days. However, individuals and attorneys who file FOIAs with the United States Citizenship...
Daniel M. Kowalski
over 5 years ago
Immigration Law
Outside News
Immigration Agencies Communicated Prior to Arrest of Sanctuary Leader
Tina Vasquez, Rewire.News, Mar. 25, 2019 "Documents obtained by Rewire.News through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request show that immigration enforcement officials reached out to the federal agency tasked with naturalizations and immigration...
Daniel M. Kowalski
over 11 years ago
Immigration Law
Outside News
Federal Judge Orders USCIS to Release Records on Access to Counsel
"This week, a federal district court issued an opinion highly critical of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ (USCIS) handling of a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request submitted by the American Immigration Council (AIC) for records...
Daniel M. Kowalski
over 4 years ago
Immigration Law
Inside News
Class Certified in A-File FOIA Lawsuit: Nightingale v. USCIS
AIC, Oct. 15, 2019 "Today, a federal court in San Francisco certified two nationwide classes of immigrants and attorneys claiming that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement have a systemic pattern...
Daniel M. Kowalski
over 5 years ago
Immigration Law
Inside News
Pro Se Attorneys Ineligible for Fee Awards Under FOIA - Gahagan v. USCIS (CA5)
Gahagan v. USCIS - "The question presented is whether attorneys appearing pro se can recover fees under the Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”). The district court held no. We affirm."
Daniel M. Kowalski
over 7 years ago
Immigration Law
Inside News
FOIA Backlog Skyrockets at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
TRAC, May 8, 2017 - "The backlog of unprocessed FOIA requests to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) continues to climb. In just a two-year period, the backlog of unanswered FOIA requests has tripled, climbing from 17,998 at the...
Daniel M. Kowalski
over 7 years ago
Immigration Law
Inside News
FOIA-ing the FOIA Manual! The Inside Scoop on USCIS and DHS Data Entry and Databases
Prof. Jacqueline Stevens, Aug. 30, 2016 - " A couple months ago, fed up with the randomness of Freedom of Information Act rote rejection letters from certain agencies - the State Department is the worst and USCIS had just lost a remand responsive...
Daniel M. Kowalski
over 8 years ago
Immigration Law
Inside News
CA7 on FOIA, H-1B Stats: Rubman v. USCIS
"H-1B visas allow U.S. companies to hire noncitizen workers with specialized skills. The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“CIS”), an agency within the Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”), is responsible for their issuance....
Daniel M. Kowalski
over 9 years ago
Immigration Law
Inside News
USCIS Agrees To Pay NY Atty $47K In Fees To End FOIA Fight
Law360, May 29, 2015 - "U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has agreed to pay a New York immigration attorney more than $47,000 in attorneys' fees , ending a yearslong fight over Freedom of Information Act requests, according to a court...
Daniel M. Kowalski
over 9 years ago
Immigration Law
Inside News
USCIS FOIA Stakeholder Meeting Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2014,1:30 to 3:30 p.m. (Eastern)
"U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) invites you to participate in a stakeholder engagement on Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2014, from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. (Eastern) to discuss the agency’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) program. During...
Daniel M. Kowalski
over 10 years ago
Immigration Law
Inside News
USCIS SOPs from Gluckman FOIA
David E. Gluckman writes: "I filed a FOIA with USCIS for updated SOPs on various application forms. I received the response , which includes updated SOPs on I-485, I-90, and I-765 processing. Lots of interesting stuff, including several mentions...
Daniel M. Kowalski
over 10 years ago
Immigration Law
Inside News
USCIS FOIA/PA Processing Guide (Internal) - Released!
Seattle attorney Jay Gairson writes: " MuckRock News has received and publicly released the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Freedom of Information Act / Privacy Act Processing Guide. This is the USCIS reference guide for processing...
Daniel M. Kowalski
over 10 years ago
Immigration Law
Inside News
USCIS Mailroom Procedures
Jay Gairson writes: " If you are interested in USCIS Mailroom Procedures, I just received a response on my FOIA request: https://muckrock.s3.amazonaws.com/foia_files/COW2013000633_FOIA_Response.pdf Why did I request this? I had a case recently...
Daniel M. Kowalski
over 10 years ago
Immigration Law
Inside News
Asylum FOIA Victory in SF: Martins v. USCIS
"Immigration officials must hand over notes asylum officers take, a federal judge ruled , finding the documents essential to quality representation in immigration proceedings. San Francisco-based immigration attorney Jeffrey Martins sued the U...
Daniel M. Kowalski
over 12 years ago
Immigration Law
Inside News
Major FOIA Victory: Hajro & Mayock v. USCIS
"Plaintiffs argue that the unlawful withholding of information underlying USCIS’s denial of Hajro’s naturalization application violated his fundamental due process rights to a fair hearing. Specifically, Plaintiffs contend that Hajro has a constitutional...