Paucar v. Garland "Petitioner Juan Pablo Paucar petitions for review of a January 22, 2021 Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”) decision (1) affirming an Immigration Judge’s denial of his application for cancellation of removal and (2)...
Cyrus Mehta, May 29, 2023 "I write this blog in fond memory of Mark Von Sternberg who passed away on May 16, 2023. Mark was a brilliant lawyer, scholar and writer who worked very hard on behalf of the most vulnerable immigrants. He was a Senior Attorney...
Perez-Trujillo v. Garland "At issue are Nestor Perez-Trujillo's petitions for review of two decisions by the Board of Immigration Appeals ("BIA"): its 2011 ruling affirming the denial of his application for asylum, withholding of removal, and...
Hats off to Alan Lee for this May 6, 2021 AAO remand regarding hardship for an I-212 waiver. Kudos!
Teleanus v. Koumans "Here, because the AAO failed to “articulate a satisfactory explanation” for why Mr. Teleanu’s departure would not constitute exceptional hardship for J.T., and provided no indication that it gave “explicit administrative consideration...
Matter of J-J-G-, 27 I&N Dec. 808 (BIA 2020) (1) The exceptional and extremely unusual hardship for cancellation of removal is based on a cumulative consideration of all hardship factors, but to the extent that a claim is based on the health of a qualifying...
Matter of A-C-D-C-, ID# 17208 (AAO Aug. 9, 2016) - "The unfavorable factors in this case are the Applicant's use of a photo-substituted passport and visa to enter the United States and his unauthorized presence and employment in the United States. The...
Matter of D-M-V-, ID# 15302 (AAO Jan. 28, 2016) - "The Applicant was found to be inadmissible to the United States pursuant to section 212(a)(2)(A)(i)(I) of the Act, 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(2)(A)(i)(I), for having been convicted of crimes involving moral turpitude...
Renowned J-1 and hardship expert Bruce Hake emailed this comment to USCIS on Nov. 19, 2015. Excerpt: "There is a legal error in footnote 1 to the draft USCIS Policy Manual: Vol. 9, Part B: Extreme Hardship (draft). Every year this error could harm hundreds...
Hats off to Michael Carlin for this Aug. 24, 2015 AAO victory!
Filing of lawsuit by Hake & Schmitt induces State Department Waiver Review Division to issue favorable recommendation in de novo filing in an I-612 hardship waiver case "The State Department Waiver Review Division (WRD) issued a not favorable recommendation...
Hats off to Cyrus D. Mehta for this pro bono publico victory: "Here we find that the record establishes that the applicant's spouse will suffer extreme hardship as a consequence of being separated from the applicant. The record shows that the spouse...
Official Headnote: For purposes of establishing an alien’s eligibility for a waiver under section 216(c)(4)(A) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, 8 U.S.C. § 1186a(c)(4)(A) (2012), the relevant period for determining whether an alien’s removal would result...
Brian Schmitt writes: "For about a 9-10 month period, the USCIS CSC was very hostile towards I-612 hardship and persecution cases. We received an RFE on almost every case we filed. We overcame just about all of the RFEs except for the one we received in...
Tarik H. Sultan writes: "Applicant, married to U.S. citizen husband with U.S. citizen children, filed adjustment with INA § 212(i) waiver to address pre-1996 false claim to citizenship. USCIS denied adjustment, finding her inadmissible for alien smuggling...