September 25, 2024

Age Calculation Under the Child Status Protection Act - 9-25-24 USCIS Policy Alert

USCIS, Sept. 25, 2024 "Policy Highlights • Clarifies that USCIS calculates the CSPA age of an applicant who established extraordinary circumstances and is excused from the sought to acquire requirement using the date that the immigrant visa first became available when that immigrant visa is continuously available for a 1-year period without any intervening visa unavailability. • Clarifies that under circumstances...

September 25, 2024

NILA Practice Advisory: VENUE CHALLENGES IN APA IMMIGRATION CASES

NILA, Sept. 25, 2024 "Increasingly, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and other immigration agencies are challenging venue in U.S. district court lawsuits brought by noncitizens and/or their employers under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), 5 U.S.C. § 701, et seq. There are two distinct types of venue challenges that an agency may bring. First, it could challenge venue as being wrong...

September 25, 2024

Designation of Qatar for the Visa Waiver Program (Advance Copy)

This document is scheduled to be published in the Federal Register on 09/26/2024 "Eligible citizens, nationals, and passport holders from designated Visa Waiver Program countries may apply for admission to the United States at U.S. ports of entry as nonimmigrant noncitizens for a period of ninety days or less for business or pleasure without first obtaining a nonimmigrant visa, provided that they are otherwise...

September 23, 2024

CA6 on Nexus: Mazariegos-Rodas v. Garland

Mazariegos-Rodas v. Garland "Beky Izamar Mazariegos-Rodas and Engly Yeraicy Mazariegos-Rodas (collectively, the Petitioners) are two sisters who are natives and citizens of Guatemala. The Petitioners, who were left behind in Guatemala as young children after their parents entered the United States without inspection in 2009, fled to this country in 2015 after gang members threatened to maim and kill them. They...

September 23, 2024

Making the Case of the Manager under the L-1A Visa Whose Subordinates are AI Bots

Cyrus Mehta, Sept. 23, 2024 "When the Administrative Appeals Office (AAO) designated Matter of Z-A- Inc . as an “Adopted Decision” in 2016 it was seen as a breakthrough as it recognized that a US company can rely on its resources outside the United States to produce products or provide services. Matter of Z-A -, Inc. held that an L-1A intracompany manager who primarily manages an essential function...

September 23, 2024

USCIS Announces Employment Authorization Procedures for Liberians Covered by Deferred Enforced Departure

USCIS, Sept. 23, 2024 " U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services today posted a Federal Register notice establishing procedures for Liberians covered by Deferred Enforced Departure to apply for Employment Authorization Documents that will be valid through June 30, 2026. President Joe Biden issued a memorandum on DED for Liberians on June 28, 2024, deferring through June 30, 2026, the removal of certain Liberians...

September 20, 2024

BIA on CIMT: Matter of Thakker

Matter of Thakker, 28 I&N Dec. 843 (BIA 2024) (1) The assumption in Matter of Jurado that a retail theft offense involves an intent to permanently deprive a victim of their property is inconsistent with the categorical approach as currently articulated by the Supreme Court. Matter of Jurado, 24 I&N Dec. 29 (BIA 2006), aff’d sub. nom. Jurado-Delgado v. Att’y Gen. of U.S., 498 F. App’x 107 (3d...

September 20, 2024

USCIS Reaches H-2B Cap for First Half of Fiscal Year 2025

USCIS, Sept. 19, 2024 "We have received enough petitions to reach the congressionally mandated cap on H-2B visas for temporary nonagricultural workers for the first half of fiscal year 2025. Sept. 18 was the final receipt date for new cap-subject H-2B worker petitions requesting an employment start date before April 1, 2025. We will reject new cap-subject H-2B petitions we receive after Sept. 18 that request an...

September 19, 2024

CA5 on AggFel, Due Process: Lopez Orellana v. Garland

Lopez Orellana v. Garland "The question presented here is whether the Louisiana accessory-after-the-fact statute, LA.REV. STAT. § 14:25, is a categorical match for the generic federal offense of obstruction of justice and is therefore an aggravated felony under 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(43)(S) permitting expedited removal of a noncitizen. Because the generic federal offense requires specific intent, and the...

September 18, 2024

USCIS Extends Green Card Validity Extension to 36 Months for Green Card Renewals

USCIS, Sept. 18, 2024 "Effective Sept. 10, 2024, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services automatically extended the validity of Permanent Resident Cards (also known as Green Cards) to 36 months for lawful permanent residents who file Form I-90, Application to Replace Permanent Resident Card.  Lawful permanent residents who properly file Form I-90 to renew an expiring or expired Green Card may receive this...

September 17, 2024

CA9 on In Absentia Orders: Singh v. Garland

Singh v. Garland "Petitioner Varinder Singh, a native and citizen of India, seeks rescission of a removal order entered in absentia. We previously granted Singh’s petition because the government did not provide Singh with a Notice to Appear (NTA) setting forth the time and date of removal proceedings in compliance with 8 U.S.C. § 1229(a)(1), but the Supreme Court rejected our interpretation of this statutory...

September 17, 2024

September 2024 PERM Tip #2: Correcting a 9089 After Filing

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. According to the “no modification rule” (20 CFR § 656.11(b)) that has been in effect since 2007, it...

September 13, 2024

CA2 on Unable or Unwilling to Control: Castellanos-Ventura v. Garland

Castellanos-Ventura v. Garland "Petitioner Bessy Orbelina Castellanos-Ventura, a native and citizen of Honduras, seeks review of an April 19, 2021 decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) affirming a February 26, 2019 decision of an Immigration Judge (IJ) denying her application for asylum, withholding of removal, and relief under the Convention Against Torture (CAT). In re Bessy Orbelina Castellanos...

September 13, 2024

UPDATED GUIDANCE FOR RECEIPT OF NOTICES TO APPEAR FILED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

EOIR PM 24-01 "This Policy Memorandum provides updated standards to Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) adjudicators and personnel regarding the receipt of Notices to Appear (NTAs) filed by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). This Policy Memorandum supersedes and rescinds Policy Memorandum 19-08, Acceptance of Notices to Appear and Use of the Interactive Scheduling System."

September 12, 2024

BIA Hands "Whiteout" to IJs

Jeremy McKinney, AILA Think Immigration Blog, Sept. 12, 2024 "... Last week, the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA), in Matter of R-T-P- , handed immigration judges the authority to “fix” these defective NTAs instead of requiring DHS to do their job correctly. According to the BIA’s decision, immigration judges—employees of the Department of Justice—can personally remedy a DHS violation...

September 11, 2024

H-2A News from OFLC, Sept. 10, 2024

OFLC, Sept. 10, 2024 " The Department of Labor’s Office of Foreign Labor Certification Announces Revised Transition Schedule and Technical Guidance for Implementing H-2A Job Orders and Applications Associated with the 2024 Farmworker Protection Final Rule; Compliance with District Court Order On August 26, 2024, the United States District Court for the Southern District of Georgia issued a preliminary injunction...

September 11, 2024

Visa Bulletin for October 2024

Visa Bulletin for October 2024 Notes D & E: D. SCHEDULED EXPIRATION OF THE EMPLOYMENT FOURTH PREFERENCE RELIGIOUS WORKERS (SR) CATEGORY H.R. 2882, signed on March 23, 2024, extended the Employment Fourth Preference Certain Religious Workers (SR) category until September 30, 2024. No SR visas may be issued overseas, or final action taken on adjustment of status cases, after midnight September 29, 2024. Visas...

September 10, 2024

Letter to ICE: Release the Winners

Sept. 10, 2024 "Dear Secretary Mayorkas, Director Lechleitner, and Executive Associate Director Bible: We, the undersigned immigrant and civil rights organizations, legal services organizations, and law firms write to highlight our concerns with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (“ICE”) practice of continuing to detain noncitizens after they win fear-based relief in their removal proceedings...

September 10, 2024

Annual Limit Reached in the EB-2 Category

State Department, Sept. 9, 2024 "The State Department, working in close collaboration with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, is pleased to announce the issuance of all available visas in the Employment-Based Second Preference (EB-2) category for fiscal year (FY) 2024. Maximizing these visas facilitates legitimate travel for individuals with exceptional ability and professionals holding advanced degrees...

September 09, 2024

Cameroon Asylum Materials

David L. Cleveland and the Louise Trauma Center provide documentation to assist attorneys in preparing asylum cases for clients from Cameroon here and here .

September 09, 2024

237(a)(1)(H) Waiver After Denial of Naturalization Application?

Cyrus D. Mehta, Sept. 9, 2024 "At the naturalization interview the noncitizen applicant could face a rude shock if the examiner reveals that they made a misrepresentation in a long forgotten application for an immigration benefit filed in the distant past. For example, the applicant could have been misled by an unauthorized practitioner when she first came to the US three decades back in filing a fabricated asylum...

September 06, 2024

New Employment Authorization Document (EAD) Category for T Nonimmigrant Applicants

USCIS, Aug. 29, 2024 "Effective Aug. 28, DHS is establishing a new C40 category on Form I-766, Employment Authorization Document (EAD). The C40 category is for individuals with a pending Form I-914, Application for T Nonimmigrant Status, whose application is determined to be bona fide and meets the prima facie standard, and who apply and are approved for employment authorization. T nonimmigrant status is for certain...

September 06, 2024

IJ May Amend Noncompliant NTA: Matter of R-T-P-

Matter of R-T-P- "[W]e conclude that written amendments made by an Immigration Judge, upon the motion of DHS, to the time and place of the hearing on the notice to appear may satisfy the requirements for a proper remedy to a noncompliant notice to appear."

September 06, 2024

CA9 on Categorical Approach, Crime of Violence: USA v. Gomez

USA v. Gomez "We have previously held that California Penal Code § 245(a)(1) constitutes a crime of violence, but our decisions are clearly irreconcilable with the Supreme Court’s ruling in Borden v. United States, 593 U.S. 420 (2021). In light of Borden, we hold that convictions under California Penal Code § 245(a)(1) do not qualify as crimes of violence... ."

September 05, 2024

Announcement of the Creation of a Lightering Visa Classification

State Department, Sept. 5, 2024 "Starting on September 5, 2024, the Department will begin implementing two new visa classifications for noncitizens seeking to transit the United States to join a vessel engaged in foreign trade and undertaking lightering activities for a period not to exceed 180 days. Lightering is the ship-to-ship transfer of liquid cargo. The new visa classification permitting transit to join...