December 10, 2024

Visa Bulletin For January 2025

Visa Bulletin For January 2025

December 10, 2024

Unpub. CA5 Remand: Platino-Bargas v. Garland (Honduras, "One Central Reason")

Platino-Bargas v. Garland (unpub.) "After reviewing the record, briefs of the parties, and previously filed joint motion of the Government and Petitioner to remand, we grant the motion to remand this case to the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) for further consideration as outlined below. ... The IJ denied Petitioner’s application for asylum in part because Petitioner failed to demonstrate that she was...

December 10, 2024

Supreme Court on Jurisdiction: Bouarfa v. Mayorkas

Bouarfa v. Mayorkas (9-0) "JUSTICE JACKSON delivered the opinion of the Court. A common feature of our Nation’s complex system of lawful immigration is mandatory statutory rules paired with discretionary exceptions. Executive Branch agencies implement both. Whether any given agency decision is mandatory or discretionary matters, because Congress has limited judicial review of many discretionary determinations...

December 10, 2024

SIV Final Rule

Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 237 / Tuesday, December 10, 2024 "This final rule makes updates to reflect a statutory change to the class of individuals who may qualify for Special Immigrant Visas (SIVs). DATES: This final rule is effective December 10, 2024."

December 10, 2024

DHS Announces Permanent Increase of the Automatic Extension Period for Certain Employment Authorization Document Renewal Applicants

USCIS, Dec. 10, 2024 "The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced a final rule that will support U.S. employers, foster economic growth, and improve access to employment authorization documents (EAD) for eligible individuals by permanently increasing the automatic extension period of employment authorization and employment authorization documentation from up to 180 days to up to 540 days for eligible noncitizens...

December 10, 2024

As “Brain Gain” Replaces “Brain Drain” State Department Removes Many Countries Including China and India from the Two-Year Home Country Requirement

Cyrus D. Mehta & Jessica Paszko, Dec. 10, 2024 "The Department of State (DOS) announced an update of the countries on the Exchange Visitors Skills List, effective December 9, 2024. This update supersedes the most recent update in 2009. DOS has removed China and India , among 34 countries, from the list. This means that J nonimmigrant exchange visitors from those countries who were subject to the two-year foreign...

December 09, 2024

CA6 on Guatemala, Nexus: Mazariegos-Rodas v. Garland

Mazariegos-Rodas v. Garland "The Petitioners’ arguments regarding due-process and the “Guatemalan female children without parental protection” PSG were not raised before the BIA and are thus unreviewable, but the BIA’s no-nexus determination with regard to “the Rodas family” PSG is inconsistent with this court’s precedents. We therefore GRANT the petition for review in...

December 09, 2024

OFLC H-2B Webinar, Dec. 18, 2024

OFLC, Dec. 7, 2024 " OFLC Announces Webinar on December 18, 2024, to Update Stakeholders on the Process for Filing H-2B Applications with a Start Date of April 1, 2025, or Later The Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC) invites stakeholders to participate in a webinar that provides best practices and helpful tips for preparing H-2B Applications for Temporary Employment Certification (Form ETA-9142B and...

December 09, 2024

CA8 Law Student Victory: Quito-Guachichulca v. Garland (Agg. Fel.; Deference)

Quito-Guachichulca v. Garland "The question in this case is whether Minnesota’s crime of third-degree criminal sexual conduct falls within the federal definition of “rape.” The answer is no, so we grant Simon Quito-Guachichulca’s petition for review. ... Our review is de novo, see Huynh v. Garland, 102 F.4th 943, 944 (8th Cir. 2024), and we no longer treat the government’s views as...

December 09, 2024

Alan Lee on Bringing Interpreters to USCIS Interviews

Alan Lee, Dec. 9, 2024 "This topic came up in the New York AILA/District Director Meeting of November 19, 2024. New York City and a number of other USCIS field offices in the past and even now have generally provided interpreters for adjustment of status and naturalization interviews. New York was unique in rejecting interpreters brought in by applicants in the past because of perceived fraud in interpreters not...

December 07, 2024

WITH FEAR, FAVOR, AND FLAWED ANALYSIS: DECISION-MAKING IN U.S. IMMIGRATION COURTS

KAREN MUSALO, ANNA O. LAW, ANNIE DAHER, KATHARINE M. DONATO, CHELSEA MEINERS, 2004 "Immigration judges (IJs), housed within the Executive Office for Immigration Review within the Department of Justice (DOJ), make decisions in asylum and withholding claims, which are life or death matters. And although their title is “judge,” IJs are DOJ attorneys who lack independence and are particularly susceptible...

December 07, 2024

State Department Revises Skills List

Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 236 / Monday, December 9, 2024 / Notices "The Department of State (‘‘Department’’) is announcing an update of the Exchange Visitors Skills List (‘‘Skills List’’). The Skills List is a list of countries designated by the Secretary of State as clearly requiring the services of persons engaged in certain fields of specialized knowledge...

December 06, 2024

CA1 on El Salvador, Evidence: Escobar Larin v. Garland

Escobar Larin v. Garland "Jose Rodolfo Escobar Larin ("Escobar"), a native and citizen of El Salvador, petitions for review of a decision by the Board of Immigration Appeals ("BIA") that affirmed the denial of his claims for asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the Convention Against Torture ("CAT"). He also petitions for review of a separate BIA ruling that denied...

December 03, 2024

December 2024 PERM Tip #1: There Are No Standards for Disqualifying Non-US Workers

BIB Daily presents bimonthly PERM practice tips from Ron Wada , member of the Editorial Board for Bender’s Immigration Bulletin and author of the 10+ year series of BALCA review articles, “Shaping the Future of PERM.” Questions or comments may be sent to Ron at ron.wada@tandslaw.com. For PERM applications involving a highly technical job opportunity it is becoming increasingly commonplace for the applicant...

December 03, 2024

New DOL Form for Extra H-2B Visas: ETA-9142-B-CAA-9

OFLC, Dec. 2, 2024 "The U.S. Departments of Labor and Homeland Security have published a temporary final rule (TFR) increasing the numerical limitation on H-2B nonimmigrant visas to authorize the issuance of no more than 64,716 additional visas for Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 positions to employers that are suffering irreparable harm or will suffer impending irreparable harm without the ability to employ all of the H...

December 03, 2024

USCIS Now Requires Report of Immigration Medical Examination and Vaccination Record to be Submitted with Form I-485 for Certain Applicants

USCIS, Dec. 2, 2024 "We now require certain applicants filing Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status , to submit Form I-693, Report of Immigration Medical Examination and Vaccination Record , with their Form I-485 or the Form I-485 may otherwise be rejected. Applicants for adjustment of status generally must complete an immigration medical examination and all required vaccinations...

December 03, 2024

USCIS Reaches Fiscal Year 2025 H-1B Cap

USCIS, Dec. 2, 2024 "USCIS has received enough petitions to reach the congressionally mandated 65,000 H-1B visa regular cap and the 20,000 H-1B visa U.S. advanced degree exemption, known as the master’s cap, for fiscal year (FY) 2025. We will send non-selection notices to registrants through their online accounts over the next few days. When we finish sending these non-selection notifications, the status...

December 02, 2024

Ethical Obligations of the Attorney to Safeguard Information About a Client’s Whereabouts with a Removal Order Under Trump 2.0

Cyrus D. Mehta, Kaitlyn Box, Dec. 1, 2024 "The recent reelection of Donald Trump is likely to usher in a new era of enhanced immigration scrutiny and enforcement. This shift raises a number of ethical questions and concerns for immigration lawyers. One such issue is whether immigration lawyers would be required to provide law enforcement or a government entity with the contact information, such as last known address...

November 28, 2024

CA5 (2-1) on Texas Concertina Wire, Sovereign Immunity

Texas v. DHS Majority: "We address whether United States Border Patrol agents can legally cut a concertina wire (“c-wire” or “wire”) fence the State of Texas has placed along part of the border with Mexico. ... We now rule that Texas is entitled to a preliminary injunction. ... Accordingly, we ... GRANT Texas’s request for a preliminary injunction. Based on the district court’s...

November 27, 2024

DHS, DOL Make Nearly 65,000 Additional H-2B Visas Available for Fiscal Year 2025

USCIS, Nov. 27, 2024 "The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Department of Labor (DOL) issued a temporary final rule (TFR) making available an additional 64,716 H-2B temporary nonagricultural worker visas for fiscal year (FY) 2025. These supplemental visas are aimed at helping U.S. employers who are unable to find U.S. workers who are available, willing, and qualified to do the temporary work in industries...

November 26, 2024

J.O.P. v. DHS Settlement Agreement Approved and Now In Effect

Michelle N. Méndez, Director of Legal Resources and Training, National Immigration Project reports: "On November 25, 2024, the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland granted final approval of the settlement agreement in J.O.P. v. DHS , No. 8:19-CV-01944-SAG (D. Md.), which means that the settlement agreement is now in effect and the preliminary injunction has been dissolved. Now that the settlement...

November 26, 2024

DHS Publishes Federal Register Notice Designating Lebanon for Temporary Protected Status

USCIS, Nov. 26, 2024 "The Department of Homeland Security today posted a Federal Register notice designating Lebanon for Temporary Protected Status for 18 months. Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro N. Mayorkas announced on Oct. 17, 2024, the designation of Lebanon for TPS. The corresponding FRN provides information about how to register for TPS under this designation. The designation of Lebanon for TPS...

November 25, 2024

Asylum Success Still Varies Widely Among Immigration Judges: TRAC

TRAC, Nov. 25, 2024 "Wide differences in Immigration Judge asylum denial rates are evident across many Courts in the latest release of TRAC’s Immigration Judge report series. These new reports update each judge’s asylum decisions over the past six years through September 2024. The series includes 823 individual judge reports covering each of the 66 current Immigration Courts. [1] Where these judges...

November 25, 2024

OFLC: Legacy Permanent Online System Decommissioning Warning

OFLC, Nov. 25, 2024 "The Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC) is making this public service announcement to alert employers and other interested stakeholders the legacy Permanent Online System, which provides public access to permanent labor certification applications and final determinations, will be fully decommissioned on December 1, 2024. As part of the Department's technology modernization initiative...

November 25, 2024

Unpub. BIA Remand: Honduras, PSG

Matter of D-M-R-, Nov. 15, 2024 Hats off to Dr. Alicia Triche !