ABIL-Immigration-Updates
FOLLOW ABIL
  • U.S. Blog
  • Global Blog
  • ABIL Home
  • ABIL Lawyers
  • News & Articles
  • More Immigration Blogs
    • ABIL Lawyers' Blogs
    • Immigration Blog Aggregator
  • Contact Us

What Does The New USCIS Unlawful Presence Guidance Mean To YOU?

8/28/2018

0 Comments

 
By: Erin Williams, Associate Attorney of Kirby Gamblin Joseph, ABIL Attorney
​Joseph Law Firm Immigration Blog

Are you a Student (F), Vocational Student (M) or Exchange Visitor (J) Principal or Family Member Nonimmigrant Visa Holder?  What does the new USCIS Unlawful Presence Guidance Mean to YOU?

With the creation of USCIS, many of the predecessor agency’s (INS) policies and procedures were maintained and continued.  Beginning in 1997, an INS policy found that individuals admitted to the United States in student (F nonimmigrant), exchange visitor (J nonimmigrant), or vocational student (M nonimmigrant) statuses for “duration of status” began accruing unlawful presence only after INS found a violation of nonimmigrant status or when the individual were ordered excluded, deported, or removed. Further, those in these categories admitted with a date certain expiration began accruing unlawful presence the day after the expiration date annotated on the entry document (Form I-94). This longstanding policy remained until an announcement this spring of change this month.

On May 10, 2018 USCIS posted a policy memorandum changing the way the agency calculates unlawful presence for those who were in student (F nonimmigrant), exchange visitor (J nonimmigrant), or vocational student (M nonimmigrant) status.  The new policy memo created questions and fear for those currently or previously in F, J, or M status and their derivative family members.
Under the new policy, which went into effect on August 9, 2018, nonimmigrants in F, J, or M status and their derivative family members were subjected to the following changes:

Failure to maintain F, J, or M status as a principal or derivative
  • An individual who has failed to maintain their F, J, or M status (and their derivative family) before August 9, 2018 will begin accruing unlawful presence on that day. There is no need for any formal finding by USCIS or an Immigration Judge.  If an individual is no longer pursuing the course of study or authorized activity, has completed the course of study or authorized activity (including any grace period) or engaged in unauthorized activity, as of August 9, 2018, unlawful presence is accruing.
  • An individual who fails to maintain F, J, or M status (and their derivative family) on OR after August 9, 2018 will begin accruing unlawful presence on: the day after the individual is no longer pursuing the course of study or authorized activity, has completed the course of study or authorized activity (including any grace period), engages in unauthorized activity, or has a formal finding by USCIS or an Immigration Judge.
  • Family members in derivative status will be out of status with any of the above at the same time of the principal F, J, or M status holder – with or without explicit knowledge of the principal nonimmigrant visa holder’s violation of status.
USCIS posted a revised policy memorandum on August 9, 2018 regarding the unlawful presence calculations for these categories. This revision did not change the above, but provided additional guidance on calculating unlawful presence for those who timely file a request for a reinstatement with the appropriate adjudicating body and the effect of an approval or denial on the calculations. See https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/USCIS/Laws/Memoranda/2018/2018-08-09-PM-602-1060.1-Accrual-of-Unlawful-Presence-and-F-J-and-M-Nonimmigrants.pdf
​
Unlawful presence can have life altering effects on individuals and their families.  An individual present in the U.S. for more than 180 days (accrued 181+ days of unlawful presence) will trigger a 3 year bar to returning to the U.S. at their departure.  The outcome is even more detrimental if an individual remains longer than 1 year and departs.  That departure will trigger a 10 year bar to return to the United States.
0 Comments

Assisted Reproductive Technology and Transmission of American Citizenship: Is There Any Need For A Biological Link After Jaen v. Sessions?

8/27/2018

0 Comments

 
By: Cyrus D. Mehta, ABIL Lawyer
The Insightful Immigration Blog
When a child is born abroad to a US citizen parent, the Department of State (DOS) and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has always insisted on a biological relationship with a US citizen parent in order to acquire U.S. citizenship from that parent. This has always meant a genetic relationship, but with the advancement of Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART), the DOS and USCIS have made an exception for a gestational mother who is recognized as the child’s legal parent who used a donor egg but still carried and gave birth to the child.

While including the gestational mother who may not have a genetic relationship to the child is a worthwhile exception, it deprives the mother who may neither be the gestational mother nor have a genetic relationship with the child from passing US citizenship. For instance, when a US citizen mother is medically unable to bear a child and needs to use a surrogate mother overseas to carry the child to birth, and the egg is not hers and the sperm is from a non-US citizen father, US citizenship cannot be passed onto the child. It is acknowledged that commercial surrogacy has generated controversy as a result of instances of unethical and exploitative practices, and is banned in many countries.  India, until recently, was the hub of commercial surrogacy, but is also proposing a law to completely ban it. In the interim, foreign nationals have not been allowed to enter India for surrogacy arrangements on medical visas as of November 3, 2015 and they are also not allowed to take the child out of India after its birth. Still, countries such as Georgia and Ukraine are emerging as new international surrogacy hubs, and even if other countries have banned commercial surrogacy, altruistic surrogacy exceptions exist.  Thus, under current US policy, such a mother who for medical reasons is unable to establish a biological link to her child, and also cannot serve as the gestational mother herself, is unable to transmit US citizenship to her child. This is unfair for such mothers.

Fortunately, federal courts are adopting a broader view of who a parent can be in order to transmit US citizenship. The Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in Jaen v. Sessions  recently held that a U.S. citizen who is a parent of a child as a result of marriage can also pass along U.S. citizenship to that child notwithstanding the prevalent DOS and USCIS policy that insists on a biological or genetic relationship for passage of US citizenship.  David Isaacson’s blog, Jaen v. Sessions: The Government Reminds Us That Government Manuals Aren’t Always Right, correctly points out that US government policy or guidance may not actually be the law, and federal courts need to step in to point this out. “But this will only happen if attorneys, and their clients, ask the federal courts to do so,” he adds.

In Jaen v. Sessions, Levy Alberto Jaen was born in Panama in 1972 to a non-U.S.-citizen mother, Leticia Rogers Boreland, who was then married to a naturalized U.S. citizen named Jorge Boreland.  But Jaen’s Panamanian birth certificate indicated that his father was another man named Liberato Jaen. Jaen moved to the US at the age of 15 as a nonimmigrant in 1988 and lived with the Boreland family. In 2008, Jaen was placed in removal proceedings based on controlled substance violations and he moved to terminate proceedings on the ground that he was a US citizen. The Immigration Judge denied the motion, and the Board of Immigration Appeals affirmed. The Second Circuit reversed.

David Isaacson’s blog nicely summarizes the Second Circuit’s reasoning in finding that Jaen was a US citizen even if there was no biological link with his US citizen parent:
The government had sought to interpret this language as referring only to biological “parents”.  As the Second Circuit pointed out, however, the historic common-law definition of the term “parent” included a common-law presumption of legitimacy that held a married man to be the father of a child to whom his wife gave birth.  As it was put in Blackstone’s Commentaries, “Pater est quem nuptiae demonstrant”—the nuptials show who is the father.  Jaen, slip op. at 13 & n. 5.  This common-law definition of parent, the Second Circuit held, would be sufficient to render Jorge Boreland the parent of Levy Jaen for citizenship purposes even if it were not also the case, as it was, that he would have been recognized as Levy Jaen’s father under New York law.

The government urged the Court of Appeals to follow the guidance in the DOS Foreign Affairs Manual (FAM) and USCIS Policy Manual, which required biological parenthood to qualify as a “parent”.  But as the Second Circuit noted in a footnote, those internal guidance manuals are not entitled to Chevron deference.  Jaen, slip op. at 11-12 n.4.  Nor did the Second Circuit evidently find them persuasive.

As the Second Circuit observed, it was not the first Court of Appeals to hold that the father by marriage of a child need not have a biological link to that child in order to transmit U.S. citizenship to that child.  The Ninth Circuit had held to the same effect in Scales v. INS, 232 F.3d 1159, 1161 (9th Cir. 2000).  Indeed, the Ninth Circuit in Solis-Espinoza v. Gonzales, 401 F.3d 1090 (9th Cir. 2005), extended this holding to cover a man whose U.S. citizen mother was not his biological mother but had been married to his biological father at the time of his birth.  (It remains to be seen whether the Second Circuit’s holding in Jaen will be extended in the same way, as the Second Circuit did not have occasion to address this fact pattern.)
The reasoning in Jaen v. Sessions can be extended to a US citizen mother who uses a surrogacy arrangement as she is unable to bear her own child, and where the sperm donor spouse is not a US citizen. Although Jaen dealt with the term “parent” in old INA 301(a)(7), it is virtually identical to current INA 301(a)(g) other than requiring different periods of physical presence by the US citizen parent prior to the birth of the child.  The US citizen mother could potentially be considered a “parent” under INA 301(g), if she is married to the non-US citizen parent, notwithstanding the lack of a biological connection in the same way that there was no biological connection between Jaen and his US citizen father.  Indeed, the facts in Solis-Espinoza v. Gonzales, supra,  are more analogous to the example of a surrogacy arrangement as they involved a US citizen mother with no biological connection to the child. Though born in Mexico, Solis-Espinoza claimed citizenship by virtue of the U.S. citizenship of the woman he knew as his mother whose name was Stella Cruz-Dominguez.   Cruz-Dominguez, who was married to Solis-Espinoza’s biological father, a Mexican national, at the time of his birth, acknowledged Solis-Espinoza from his infancy as a member of her family and raised him as his mother, though he did not in fact have a biological connection with Cruz-Dominguez.  His biological mother, a Mexican citizen, had abandoned him. The Ninth Circuit nevertheless held that Solis-Espinoza had acquired US citizenship through Cruz-Dominguez, his US citizen mother, even though there was no biological connection with her, as she was married to his father, and both had accepted Solis-Espinoza into their family. The Ninth Circuit quite correctly observed that “[i]n every practical sense, Cruz-Dominguez was [Solis-Espinoza’s] mother and he was her son.  There is no good reason to treat [Solis-Espinoza] otherwise.   Public policy supports recognition and maintenance of a family unit.   The Immigration and Nationality Act (“INA”) was intended to keep families together.   It should be construed in favor of family units and the acceptance of responsibility by family members.”

Notwithstanding these decisions in the Second and Ninth Circuits, the DOS will likely still adhere to its existing policy. If the US citizen is unable to show a biological link to the child, and she was also not the gestational mother, the DOS will most likely deny an application for Consular Report of Birth Abroad of a Citizen of the United States of America (CRBA). In such a situation, if there is a biological link with the child’s non-US citizen father as the sperm donor, the US citizen mother may file an I-130 petition for the child as her step child for permanent residence. If the step child wishes to become a US citizen after the grant of permanent residence, the parent would have to adopt the child or the child would need to naturalize upon reaching the age of 18. However, this will be more time consuming than obtaining a CRBA in the child’s name In the event that there is also no biological link with the other parent, such as where the father is not the sperm donor, or the other parent is also female (and assuming her egg was not used), then even an I-130 petition cannot be filed unless the child is adopted. This may entail spending 2 years with the child abroad to get around the restrictions in the Hague Convention, if the child is born in a country that is a party to the Convention. Moreover, even a same sex marriage between two males will result in the same sort of problem if they resort to a surrogate arrangement, and the US citizen cannot use his sperm with the donor egg that is implanted in the surrogate overseas who would also not be a US citizen.

A direct challenge to a consular officer’s determination in federal court seeking a declaratory judgment can be attempted. Although in Rusk v. Cort, the Supreme Court allowed a native born US citizen whose citizenship had been revoked while living overseas to directly challenge the revocation in federal court, a recent 2018 Fifth Circuit decision, Hinojosa v. Horn, a three judge (2-1) panel  held that a person claiming US citizenship while outside the US must first apply for a certificate of identity under 8 USC 1503(b) in order to come to the US to seek entry as a US citizen. If the application is denied, then the child may be permitted to challenge the denial in federal court.” No other circuit thus far has issued a decision similar to Hinojosa that negates a direct challenge under Rusk v. Cort.

While there might be many cumbersome and circuitous ways to ultimately bring a child denied a CRBA into the US, it would be far simpler for the DOS and the USCIS to modify it policy so that it would be in line with Scales, Solis-Espinoza and Jaen. The DOS as recently in 2014 made an exception for a gestational mother to transmit US citizenship to a child born abroad, even though there was no biological link. It would not be a stretch for DOS to issue a new policy that would allow transmission of citizenship by a US citizen parent, without any reference to any genetic or biological link, based on a common law definition of “parent” through marriage. Such a definition would not only be consistent with the common law meaning of “parent” in the INA, especially INA 301(g), but it would also be in keeping with public policy that supports the recognition and maintenance of a family unit.

0 Comments

Current Events in Immigration Law: Judge Orders Return of Two Asylum-Seekers to U.S. and Threatens to Hold Attorney General Sessions in Contempt of Court

8/23/2018

0 Comments

 
By: Charles Kuck, Past ABIL President
​Musings on Immigration
Picture

U.S. immigration law and policy is notoriously complicated and is characterized by frequent changes. Since President Trump took office in January 2017, there’s been an emphatic uptick in changes to immigration law and policy. It seems that every week brings another, if not several, changing developments to the U.S. immigration law landscape. At the immigration law firm of Kuck | Baxter Immigration Partners, we painstakingly keep up with all these twists and turns in order to provide timely and knowledgeable legal services to our clients.

Here’s one of the latest, newsworthy events in U.S. immigration law:

On Tuesday, August 7, 2018, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a lawsuit on behalf of multiple plaintiffs over efforts to keep immigrants from obtaining asylum due to domestic violence and gang violence in their home country. U.S. District Court Judge Emmet G. Sullivan was presiding over the case. The lawsuit was seeking to invalidate Attorney General Sessions’ June 11, 2018 decision in Matter of A-B-, which restricted the types of cases that would qualify an immigrant for asylum.

On Wednesday, August 9, 2018, head attorney for the ACLU, Jennifer Chang Newell, said at a Wednesday, August 9, 2018 hearing that the administration promised that no one would be deported until midnight on Thursday, August 10, 2018. However, during a recess during court on that Thursday, she received an email from attorneys on the ground in Texas that her client and two of the plaintiffs in the case, Carmen (a pseudonym) and her daughter, had been taken from their Texas detention center that morning and deported back to their home country of El Salvador. Newell then informed the government attorneys and Judge Sullivan what had happened.

Upon learning about Carmen and her daughter’s deportation, an irate Judge Sullivan said, “Oh, I want those people brought back forthwith. … I’m not asking, I’m ordering.” Judge Sullivan then threatened to hold Sessions in contempt of court if Carmen and her daughter were not returned to the U.S. Sullivan said in court, “This is pretty outrageous, that someone seeking justice in U.S. court is spirited away while her attorneys are arguing for justice for her.”

The Department of Homeland Security complied with the judge’s order. On Thursday, August 9, 2018, Carmen and her daughter’s plane landed in El Salvador but they did not disembark. But rather, DHS flew them back to the United States.

0 Comments

Jaen v. Sessions: The Second Circuit Reminds Us That Government Manuals Aren’t Always Right

8/21/2018

0 Comments

 
By: David Isaacson, Partner of Cyrus D. Mehta, ABIL Lawyer
The Insightful Immigration Blog
For many years, the policy guidance of the Department of State (DOS) and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has required that a child show a biological relationship with a U.S. citizen parent in order to acquire U.S. citizenship from that parent.  Initially, this meant a genetic relationship; recently, an exception was made for gestational mothers who were recognized as the legal mothers of the children to whom they gave birth even if they had used a donor egg to do so, but the government continued to insist that some biological relationship was required in order for a child to acquire citizenship at birth from a parent recognized as such by applicable local law.  The Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, in its decision issued last week in Jaen v. Sessions, has now become the second Court of Appeals to point out that this policy has no basis in the Immigration and Nationality Act.  Rather, under the law, a U.S. citizen who is a parent of a child as a result of marriage can also pass along U.S. citizenship to that child.

Levy Alberto Jaen was born in Panama in 1972 to a non-U.S.-citizen mother, Leticia Rogers Boreland, who was then married to a naturalized U.S. citizen named Jorge Boreland.  According to Levy Jaen’s Panamanian birth certificate, however, his father was another man named Liberato Jaen.  Levy Jaen was initially raised by his grandparents in Panama, but then came to the United States on a nonimmigrant visa at age 15, in 1988, and lived here with the Boreland family.

After Levy Jaen was convicted of controlled substance violations in 2008 and 2014, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) sought to remove him from the United States.  He moved to terminate the proceedings in 2016 on the basis that he was a U.S. citizen, but the Immigration Judge (IJ) in his case denied the motion and the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) affirmed.  He remained detained as a purported non-citizen until April 13, 2018, when the Second Circuit granted his petition, ordered his release, and indicated that an opinion would follow.

In its opinion, the Second Circuit held that Jaen had acquired U.S. citizenship at birth from Jorge Boreland, his U.S. citizen parent, under former INA § 301(a)(7), 8 U.S.C. § 1401(a)(7).  That provision is similar to current INA § 301(g), except that it required a different period of physical presence in the United States prior to the birth by the U.S. citizen parent (then ten years, at least five of which had to be after the age of fourteen, as opposed to the current requirement of five years, at least two of which have to be after the age of fourteen).  Like current INA § 301(g), former 301(a)(7) referred to one “born outside the geographical limits of the United States and its outlying possessions of parents one of whom is an alien, and the other a citizen of the United States”.

The government had sought to interpret this language as referring only to biological “parents”.  As the Second Circuit pointed out, however, the historic common-law definition of the term “parent” included a common-law presumption of legitimacy that held a married man to be the father of a child to whom his wife gave birth.  As it was put in Blackstone’s Commentaries, “Pater est quem nuptiae demonstrant”—the nuptials show who is the father.  Jaen, slip op. at 13 & n. 5.  This common-law definition of parent, the Second Circuit held, would be sufficient to render Jorge Boreland the parent of Levy Jaen for citizenship purposes even if it were not also the case, as it was, that he would have been recognized as Levy Jaen’s father under New York law.

The government urged the Court of Appeals to follow the guidance in the DOS Foreign Affairs Manual (FAM) and USCIS Policy Manual, which required biological parenthood to qualify as a “parent”.  But as the Second Circuit noted in a footnote, those internal guidance manuals are not entitled to Chevron deference.  Jaen, slip op. at 11-12 n.4.  Nor did the Second Circuit evidently find them persuasive.

As the Second Circuit observed, it was not the first Court of Appeals to hold that the father by marriage of a child need not have a biological link to that child in order to transmit U.S. citizenship to that child.  The Ninth Circuit had held to the same effect in Scales v. INS, 232 F.3d 1159, 1161 (9th Cir. 2000).  Indeed, the Ninth Circuit in Solis-Espinoza v. Gonzales, 401 F.3d 1090 (9th Cir. 2005), extended this holding to cover a man whose U.S. citizen mother was not his biological mother but had been married to his biological father at the time of his birth.  (It remains to be seen whether the Second Circuit’s holding in Jaen will be extended in the same way, as the Second Circuit did not have occasion to address this fact pattern.)

Although the Second Circuit’s decision did not “break . . . new ground” in finding Jaen to be a citizen through his U.S. citizen parent Jorge Boreland, Jaen, slip op. at 19, the government had nonetheless detained Jaen for nearly two years while the proceedings were ongoing.  Judge Pooler filed a separate concurring opinion in which she noted that she was troubled by this, as well as by the government’s decision to seek summary affirmance of the IJ’s erroneous decision that Jaen was not a U.S. citizen.  It appears that the government may have been blind to the possibility that its internal manuals were legally incorrect.

In a world where USCIS and DOS decisions often cite to the USCIS Policy Manual, the USCIS Adjudicator’s Field Manual (now gradually being replaced by the Policy Manual), or the  DOS Foreign Affairs Manual, it can be easy to forget that those guidance manuals are not the law.  While it can be appropriate to hold the agencies to the terms of their published manuals when those terms are advantageous, it is not appropriate to assume that an adverse statement of the law in an agency manual is necessarily accurate.  When USCIS or DOS get the law wrong in their manuals, federal courts can and will step in to correct them.  But this will only happen if attorneys, and their clients, ask the federal courts to do so.

0 Comments

How Acquiring Dual Citizenship By Investment Can Be An Important Part Of A Successful U.S. Immigration Strategy

8/14/2018

0 Comments

 
By: H. Ronald Klasko, Partner of William A. Stock, ABIL Lawyer
Klasko Immigration Law Partners, LLP

A number of years ago, our office was chosen as the North American regional representative office of the Geneva-based Investment Migration Council. Subsequently, I was selected to be on the Governing Board of that organization. I did not know at that time that investment to acquire citizenship in other countries would become an important part of my U.S. immigration practice. It has. Here is why:

Fact: Acquiring citizenship by investment in Grenada (and soon a second country) can enable nationals of countries that do not have a bilateral investment treaty with the U.S. to obtain the coveted 5-year renewable E-2 treaty investor visa. Since the spouse of the E-2 investor can work anywhere without sponsorship, having an employee’s spouse be the principal investor can be an immigration strategy for an existing or prospective employee.

Fact: The Trump Administration’s Muslim travel ban does not apply to dual citizens of a banned country and another country. Obtaining dual citizenship by investment in any of ten countries can enable nationals of such banned countries who are in the U.S. studying; working at our companies, universities and hospitals; applying for EB-5 immigrant status; and otherwise lawfully residing in the U.S. to be able to travel, which they are presently unable to do. It also enables such individuals who are presently outside of the U.S. to enter the U.S.

Fact: Many foreign nationals in the U.S. running businesses, employed in companies, teaching, doing research or providing medical services at our universities and hospitals, and even U.S. citizens, are burdened by having passports that do not allow for visa free travel to many countries around the world. Obtaining citizenship by investment may greatly expand the ability of such foreign nationals and U.S. citizens to travel the globe visa free.

Fact: Recent developments in the U.S. have created a degree of discomfort among certain groups of U.S. citizens and permanent residents who feel increasingly uncomfortable or unwanted in the U.S. because of their race, religion, ethnic background, immigrant background or political views. Some of such individuals are exploring having an alternative country of citizenship or residence through investment; so that they can relocate on short notice if their concerns heighten in the coming months or years.


We are presently advising and representing clients in each of these categories. In advising our clients, we have to evaluate multiple third country citizenship options and sometimes third country residence options based on investment. In performing these analyses, we have to consider at least the following criteria, all of which vary country by country and each of which has a priority that differs for each client:
  • ​Does the country offer citizenship or just residency?
  • What is the minimum investment amount? (The range is from $100,000 to in excess of $2 million)
  • What type of investment is required? Is the investment a donation with no expectation of return? Is the investment in a residence? Is the investment in a government bond? Is the investment in commercial property?
  • What is the processing time required to obtain the benefit? (The range is between a few months and periods in excess of one year)
  • What are the residence requirements? (In some countries there are no residence requirements; in other countries there are lengthy residence requirements)
  • What are the tax benefits or obligations?
  • Does the passport offer visa free travel to many countries? (Many third country passports offer visa free travel to in excess of 120 countries, including many countries for which U.S. citizens do not have visa free travel opportunities)
  • What family members are included? (This varies by country and sometimes includes even adult children and parents of the applicant)
  • How extensive are the due diligence, source of funds and security clearance issues?
  • Does the country have a bilateral investment treaty with the U.S.? (Presently only one citizenship by investment country – – Grenada – – has such a treaty, although one or more countries with treaties will be added to that list in the near future).
0 Comments

USCIS Finalizes Unlawful Presence Policy Putting F, J And M Nonimmigrants In Great Jeopardy

8/13/2018

0 Comments

 
By: Cyrus D. Mehta, ABIL Lawyer
The Insightful Immigration Blog

The USCIS finalized its unlawful presence policy for F, J and M nonimmigrants on August 9, 2018. The final policy makes no significant changes from the draft policy of May 10, 2018. My earlier blog noted the flaws in the draft policy, which persist in the final policy. The final policy incorrectly breaks down the distinction between violating status and being unlawfully present in the US. As of August 9, 2018, F, J and M nonimmigrants who have failed to maintain nonimmigrant status will start accruing unlawful presence.

Individuals who have accrued more than 180 days of unlawful presence during a single stay, and then depart, may be subject to 3-year or 10-year bars to admission, depending on how much unlawful presence they accrued before they departed the United States. See INA § 212(a)(9)(B)(i)(I) & (II).  Individuals who have accrued a total period of more than one year of unlawful presence, whether in a single stay or during multiple stays in the United States, and who then reenter or attempt to reenter the United States without being admitted or paroled, are permanently inadmissible. See INA § 212(a)(9)(C)(i)(1).

Prior to August 9, 2018,  foreign students (F nonimmigrants) and exchange visitors (J nonimmigrants) who were admitted for, or present in the United States in, Duration of Status started accruing unlawful presence on the day after USCIS formally found a nonimmigrant status violation while adjudicating a request for another immigrant benefit or on the day after an immigration judge ordered the applicant excluded, deported, or removed (whether or not the decision was appealed), whichever came first. F and J nonimmigrants, and foreign vocational students (M nonimmigrants), who were admitted until a specific date certain accrued unlawful presence on the day after their Form I-94 expired, on the day after USCIS formally found a nonimmigrant status violation while adjudicating a request for another immigration benefit, or on the day after an immigration judge ordered the applicant excluded, deported, or removed (whether or not the decision was appealed), whichever came first.

This will no longer be the case. Under the new policy effective August 9, 2018, any status violation will start the accrual of unlawful presence. The nonimmigrant will not be provided with any formal notice of a status violation, and any violation from the past that has been discovered would have already started the accrual of unlawful presence. According to the policy memo, the USCIS officer should consider information relating to the alien’s immigration history, including but not limited to:

  • Information contained in the systems available to USCIS;
  • Information contained in the alien’s record; and
  • Information obtained through a Request for Evidence (RFE) or Notice of Intent to Deny, if any.
The final policy purports to make one concession from the draft policy, which is that if a nonimmigrant in F, J or M nonimmigrant classification makes a timely filing for reinstatement of status, then unlawful presence will not accrue during the pendency of this request. In the case of students in F-1 status, a reinstatement application will be considered timely filed if the applicant has not been out of status for more than 5 months at the time of filing for a request for reinstatement under 8 CFR § 214.2(f)(16).  If the reinstatement request is approved, then the period of time an F-1 nonimmigrant was out of status prior to filing the application, along with the period of time during the pendency of the request, will not be counted as unlawful presence. If the reinstatement application is denied, the accrual of unlawful presence resumes on the day after the denial. Whether or not the application for reinstatement is timely filed, USCIS said, an F, J, or M nonimmigrant “whose application for reinstatement is ultimately approved will generally not accrue unlawful presence while out of status.”

USCIS also noted that the Department of State (DOS) administers the J-1 exchange visitor program, to include reinstatement requests. If DOS approves the reinstatement application of a J nonimmigrant, “the individual will generally not accrue unlawful presence from the time the J nonimmigrant fell out of status from the time he or she was reinstated,” USCIS said.

Unfortunately, most students may never know that they fell out of status until it is too late and they may never have an opportunity to file for reinstatement. Students will also likely be found to have violated status if they pursued practical training that is perceived as not being consistent with the regulations.

Esteemed colleague and immigration law expert Stephen Yale-Loehr has compiled a list of 50 examples how an international student might inadvertently or unknowingly fall out of status and start to accrue unlawful presence under the new guidance. Many of these examples arise from mistakes by the school.  For instance, a designated school officer (DSO) may mistakenly complete a record, which will indicate to a USCIS officer that the student has remained in the United States beyond the end date of the program, and may have also worked on campus in violation of F-1 status. Status violations can also result from inadvertent miscommunications between school officials. An undergraduate student receives permission from an academic advisor (but not the DSO) to drop a course. The student is now registered for 11 rather than 12 semester credit hours. Later, the USCIS deems her to be in violation of status and accruing unlawful presence.

The USCIS has already begun to lay traps in order to nab students who may have unwittingly violated status. Recent RFEs issued after the filing of a change of status request from F-1 to H-1B require a student to meticulously demonstrate that he or she maintained status during post-completion practical training, including proving that the student was not unemployed for more than the requisite amount of time. The student must also prove that the employment, including an unpaid internship, was related to the major field of study.  Here is one example inquiring whether a student maintained status during a routine period of optional practical training:

F-1 OPT: Students engaging in initial F-1 post-completion Optional Practical Training (OPT) may not accrue an aggregate of more than 90 days off unemployment during the initial post-completion OPT period. Students granted the 17-month OPT extension may not accrue an aggregate of more than 120 days of unemployment during the total OPT period including any initial OPT and the 17-month OPT extension. Students granted the 24-month OPT extension may not accrue an aggregate of more than 150 days of unemployment during the total OPT period including any initial OPT and the 24-month OPT extension. Further, students engaging in F-1 post-completion must engage in at least 20 hours or more per week of employment that is directly related to the student’s U.S. major of study. Lastly, unpaid internships may meet the OPT employment requirements if the internship is directly related to the student’s U.S. major of study and the internship complies with all labor laws. Please provide evidence that the beneficiary maintained the beneficiary’s F-1 status during post-completion OPT. Evidence may include but is not limited to the following:

-A list of all employers the beneficiary has worked for under post-completion OPT and the periods the beneficiary worked for those employers;

-Copies of all pay records/stubs for the beneficiary from the starting date of post-completion OPT to the present time; and

-Evidence that the beneficiary worked at least 20 hours or more per week in a position is directly related to the beneficiary’s U.S. major of study.

Similarly, maintaining status through Curricular Practical Training (CPT) is frequently challenged in RFEs by asking for evidence that the CPT was an integral part of the beneficiary’s degree program. The regulation at 8 CFR § 214.2(f)(1)(i) leaves undefined “curricular practical training program that is an integral part of an established curriculum” thus leaving it open for a subjective interpretation.  Also, where the CPT commenced immediately upon the student’s enrolment in the program, the USCIS questions whether immediate participation in CPT was required for the beneficiary’s studies.

A student can also be found to have violated status due to an ambiguity in the rules providing for the maximum amount of time in practical training. 8 CFR § 214.2(f)(10) provides that a student may be authorized a total of 12 months of practical training, and becomes eligible for another 12 months when the student changes to a higher educational level. 8 CFR § 214.2(f)(10)(i) further provides that “students who have received one year or more of full time curricular practical training are ineligible for post-completion academic training.” This could be interpreted to mean that a student can receive more than one year of CPT, and such CPT is routinely granted by DSOs through the SEVIS system that is administered by ICE. But USCIS is now interpreting this to mean that the total time that a student is entitled in any sort of practical training is 12 months even though ICE, its sister agency, authorized more than 12 months of CPT. USCIS is disregarding the suggestion in 8 CFR § 214.2(f)(10)(i) that a student may be entitled to more than 12 months of CPT.

Upon receiving such an RFE, it is important to submit evidence to overcome USCIS’s doubts. Still, it may be difficult to challenge USCIS’s interpretation that the regulation at 8 CFR § 214.2(f)(10) only authorizes a total of 12 months of practical training, even though 8 CFR § 214.2(f)(10)(i) appears to suggest that CPT can be granted in excess of 1 year. It may also be difficult to demonstrate to the USCIS’s satisfaction that the CPT was an integral part of an established curriculum. If the request for a change of status is not granted, the F-1 nonimmigrant would have started accruing unlawful presence as of August 9, 2018. In the event of the student departing later than February 5, 2020, he or she will be barred from entering the US for 3 years. After February 5, 2020, there will be no such grace period, and prior status violations that were in excess of 180 days will result in 3 year or 10 year bars to reentry upon the student departing the United States. The student may not be able to change or adjust status in the United States, and thus will be caught in a federally imposed Catch-22 situation.

The unlawful presence policy compounds the plight of the nonimmigrant who may also receive a Notice to Appear and be placed in removal proceedings under yet another USCIS policy designed to make life more difficult for law abiding nonimmigrants. Some are deciding to withdraw the request for change of status, upon receiving difficult to overcome RFEs, and leave the United States, prior to February 5, 2020, so that they can process their H-1B visas at a US consulate abroad. While such a strategy may allow the applicant to escape being issued a Notice to Appear, it could cause issues at the US consulate where a consul may still want the applicant to justify whether the CPT program was bona fide. On the other hand, if the applicant is placed in removal proceedings, and if voluntary departure is issued by an Immigration Judge prior to the accrual of unlawful presence of one year or more, then there is an escape hatch pursuant to INA § 212(a)(9)(B)(i)(I). The 3 year bar does not apply to those who departed after the commencement of proceedings and before the accrual of 1 year of unlawful presence (as there is explicit language to this effect in the provision). If the voluntary departure order is issued after 1 year of unlawful presence,  then the ten-year bar would trigger under INA § 212(a)(9)(B)(i)(II) would apply. There is no escape hatch to the 10 year bar as there is to the 3 year bar whilst in removal proceedings. Further ethical and strategic considerations regarding representing beneficiaries of denied requests in removal proceedings can be found in my blog here.

The final policy will not just cause havoc to nonimmigrants snared with technical or perceived violations of status, but schools will also face liability for errors by DSOs. Challenging the policy in federal court is indeed the need of the hour, and there is an urgent need for universities, hospitals and research institutions to come forward as plaintiffs! The 3 and 10 year bars, or the permanent bar under INA § 212(a)(9)C), are extremely draconian and should only be triggered when the nonimmigrant goes beyond a date certain expiration date. This is consistent with the statutory definition of unlawful presence under INA § 212(a)(9)(B)(ii), which provides:

“…an alien is deemed to be unlawfully present in the United States if the alien is present in the United States if the alien is present in the United States after the expiration of the period of stay authorized by the Attorney General or is present in the United States without being admitted or paroled.”

The new policy blurs the difference between being out of status and unlawfully present, and thus violates INA § 212(a)(9)(B)(ii). If the USCIS wanted to so radically change its prior interpretation of unlawful presence for F, J and M nonimmigrants, it ought to have promulgated a rule through a more formal notice and comment under the Administrative Procedure Act. Finally, the policy violates the due process rights of these nonimmigrants as it imposes draconian penalties, 3 and 10 year bars, for status violations for which they never received formal warning and notice. All these are ripe grounds, among many others, for a successful challenge to this flawed policy in federal court!


0 Comments

7 New Things to Know about EB-5 Visa Waiting Lines

8/8/2018

0 Comments

 
By: Bernard P. Wolfsdorf, ABIL Lawyer
​Wolfsdorf Immigration Blog
Picture

On April 23, 2018, Mr. Charlie Oppenheim, Chief, Immigrant Visa Control and Reporting, Department of State (“DOS”) spoke at an EB-5 Industry Conference regarding visa waiting lines for EB-5 investors.  He indicated that applicants chargeable to mainland China and Vietnam now face visa backlogs for the foreseeable future, and that visa backlogs for nationals of India, Brazil, South Korea, and Taiwan are expected by the summer of 2019.

Mr. Oppenheim’s estimates, as he always carefully indicates, are based on the “best available information.”  He also bases his estimates on “known facts” and not what could happen in the future.  When predicting beyond what is clearly visible, Mr. Oppenheim cannot and does not speculate based on legislative, administrative, or other factors and variables which often impact the waiting lines. For this reason, Mr. Oppenheim must frequently revise these estimates. Therefore, this information, while helpful for some planning, cannot be quoted as fact unless published in the Visa Bulletin.  Additionally, these estimates do not consider other factors such as the big four “D’s” – denial, dropout, death and divorce –  which affect waiting lines.

Confusion over the detailed aspects of this technical area of U.S. immigration law is common.  Numerous variables influence the length of EB-5 visa waiting lines, and attorneys should be sure the investor client understands that many variables are involved making predictions impossible. Nevertheless, it is important immigration attorneys attempt to keep themselves up-to-date in this highly complex area.   It is also critical to plan ahead regarding the interaction between non-immigrant visa status and the EB-5 application to ensure complications do not occur.

                                               Here are seven new things to know about EB-5 visa waiting lines:
​
1. Mainland China. Oppenheim stated that cases filed in April 2018 could take “about 15 years” before a visa would become available for a mainland Chinese born applicant. The USCIS Ombudsman estimated in its 2017 Annual Report that an EB-5 investor from China may need to wait 10 years to obtain a visa to enter the U.S., though reform to the EB-5 program can and hopefully will modify this.

Mr. Oppenheim explained, “that if a China applicant were to file a new EB-5 petition that day [i.e. April 23, 2018] the applicant would have a 15 year wait before their priority date would be reached for visa issuance.” Mr. Oppenheim indicated, however, that there “might [be] a different way to calculate the wait time for a newly filed petition.” Furthermore, he emphasized, “[t]he important thing for applicants to remember is that if they already have an approved/filed petition, their wait time could be much less than either of our estimates.”

Accordingly, the fuller context of Mr. Oppenheim’s remarks shows that the referenced 15-year wait might apply to cases filed in April 2018 but not apply to cases filed before that time.  Indeed, the wait time could be much less for approved cases. Furthermore, Mr. Oppenheim indicated that his estimate assumes that only 2,000 EB-5 visas would be issued to Chinese nationals in a fiscal year. Data for the first three quarters of FY2018 (October 2017-June 2018) shows over 4,049 EB-5 visas were issued to Mainland Chinese nationals this year, taking a bigger bite out of the visa wait line for Chinese applicants than estimated.

Nevertheless, as demand for EB-5 visas from outside China – the rest of the world (“ROW”) – grows, every visa issued to a ROW applicant (excluding those nationals with their own EB-5 visa backlogs, like Vietnam right now) is one less visa that can be issued to a Chinese applicant.  Mr. Oppenheim estimates that the number of visas issued to Chinese applicants will gradually decrease to a maximum of 3,500 EB-5 visas in FY 2019, and 3,000 EB-5 visas in FY2020.  It’s possible that Mr. Oppenheim’s estimates regarding the Mainland Chinese EB-5 waiting line will increase as additional data about ROW EB-5 applicants comes to light.

As a result, the anticipated China EB-5 Final Action Date in October 2018 will be, “August 8 or 15, 2014.”

2. Vietnam. Oppenheim confirmed that the EB-5 Final Action Date for Vietnam will advance to January 1, 2016 when FY 2019 begins on October 1, 2018.  However, Mr. Oppenheim anticipates that the entire 7% of EB-5 visas allocated to Vietnamese nationals will be allocated by the spring of 2019, likely earlier in the year than May, when the cap was reached in 2018.  At this point, the Final Action Date for Vietnam EB-5 applicants will match that of Mainland China EB-5 applicants, as occurred in May 2018.  Industry data suggests that Q2 of FY 2018 is the first time in which Vietnamese EB-5 investment outpaced Chinese EB-5 investment, and the industry will likely continue to see high demand from Vietnam.

3. India. 375 EB-5 visas have been issued to Indian nationals from October 2017 to June 2018. Yet industry data and anecdotal evidence confirms that Indian EB-5 investment has increased significantly over the past year. India should end the year using approximately 520 EB-5 numbers, versus 174 during FY-2017. Moreover, demand from Indian nationals in EB-5 remains high because of the extremely long visa backlogs for other employment-based categories like EB-2 and EB-3. Oppenheim anticipates a final action date for India EB-5 “no later than June 2019” and likely earlier.

4. South Korea. 423 EB-5 visas have been issued to South Korean nationals from October 2017 to June 2018. As a result, “[a]t some point during the summer of 2019” it may be necessary to establish a Final Action Date and that will likely be the same as the China Final Action Date.

5. Taiwan. 335 EB-5 visas have been issued to Taiwanese nationals from October 2017 to June 2018. Mr. Oppenheim predicts that “possibly” Taiwan may have a Final Action Date, “[a]t some point during the summer of 2019.”

6. Brazil. In addition to the above-mentioned countries, currently Brazil “is the only other one where number use raises availability concerns for FY-2019” and may also see a Final Action Date at some point during the summer of 2019.  Although Hong Kong was previously on the list of countries to possibly have a backlog, it appears there is no imminent danger of a Final Action Date being established. All other countries are expected to remain current.

7. Self-Fulfilling Prophecy? Oppenheim predicted a China Final Action Date “during the summer of 2015” which became reality in May 2015.  For Vietnam he predicted a Final Action Date starting in April 2018, which became reality in May 2018.  Because Mr. Oppenheim has pointed out that his public comments are “likely to guarantee that they will occur, and most likely earlier than expected,” countries with high EB-5 demand should expect a Final Action Date sooner rather than later.  Additionally, EB-5 investors and their legal counsel must now factor in both long adjudication and visa waiting lines. These factors increase the risk of the investment term being much longer than anticipated, and the possibility of age-out and family separation become real.



0 Comments

California Can Revive the Immigrant Worker Protection Act by Challenging the Authority of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ “FDNS” Enforcement Officers

8/7/2018

0 Comments

 
By: Angelo A. Paparelli, Past ABIL President
Nation of Immigrators
The State of California won and lost bigly last July 4th. But what if the state’s biggest loss could be salvaged because the primary federal immigration enforcement agency performing worksite visits – the Fraud Detection and National Security Directorate (FDNS) in U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) – has never been lawfully authorized to conduct such investigations.

Three Clear Victories for California
Picture
In the wins column, as I recently reported, Federal Judge John A. Mendez in U.S. v. California refused to enjoin two California laws and part of another — all enacted by the state to inhibit cooperation with U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions and the Justice Department in their mission to apprehend and deport thousands of undocumented California residents.

​Still in full force and effect are:
Senate Bill (SB) 54, which prohibits California law enforcement authorities from sharing with federal immigration authorities a wide variety of information on all but the most dangerous or felonious noncitizens in state custody (including the detainee’s release date), and
​
AB 103 which directs the California Attorney General to review county, local, or private locked detention facilities housing noncitizens who are held within the state for civil violations of federal immigration laws, and report on the conditions of confinement at each facility, the due process and care accorded to detainees, and the circumstances leading to their apprehension and placement in the facility to the California legislature, Governor and the public by March 1, 2019.
Part of AB 450,  the “Immigrant Worker Protection Act” (IWPA), also escaped the federal court’s preliminary injunction, viz., those involving required employee-notification provisions. IWPA requires employers served with a Notice of Inspection (NOI) of Forms I-9 (Employment Eligibility Verifications):
(A) to disclose in writing, within 72 hours, to each current employee at the worksite and any labor union representing members there that U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement  (ICE) will be conducting I-9 inspection, and

(B) to follow-up any affected employee or authorized union rep – also within 72 hours of receiving any subsequent immigration enforcement agent’s notices –  “of the obligations of the employer and the affected employee arising from the results of the inspection of I-9 . . . forms or other employment records”

​A Partial California Loss?
​
California appeared, however, to have suffered bigly with the Federal Court’s preliminary injunction barring much of IWPA. The temporarily stricken portions reflect the state’s attempt to make California workplaces mandatory safe zones, free of federal immigration intrusions, except where judicial warrants authorize entry to nonpublic worksite areas, or judicial or administrative subpoenas mandate access to employee records.

Unless the injunction is lifted, IWPA may no longer operate to bar employers in California from:
  • reverifying the employment eligibility of any current employee (unless required by federal law); and
  • voluntarily (a) granting immigration enforcement agents entry to any non-public areas of a worksite (unless the agents present a judicial warrant), or (b) allowing the agents to access, review, or obtain any employee records (unless the agents present an NOI, an administrative or judicial subpoena, or a judicial warrant requiring compliance)(the no-voluntary-access provisions).
Practical Effects on Employers in California. In real-world practice, however, IWPA’s enjoined sections have had little impact on federal immigration enforcement activities – except for one immigration enforcement agency, FDNS, whose unlawful provenance and frequent misbehavior have been little reported.

IWPA’s Reverification Ban. The ban on employer reverification of a current employee’s right to work in the U.S. could never have operated as the state intended because the exception (unless required by federal law) always

Federal Law Requires Reverification. The only practical and lawful reasons why an employer might be required or motivated to reverify employment eligibility would be if:

  • the employee had time-limited work permission which was about to expire, and the employer needed to complete Section 3 of the I-9 requiring reverification in order to confirm that the individual continue to be authorized for employment,
  • the employer decided to conduct a lawful, nondiscriminatory I-9 compliance audit,
  • an employer had constructive knowledge of suspicious circumstances that must be investigated in order to see whether or not a current employee in fact was authorized to work, or,
  • the employer lost, failed to fully complete, or never completed an I-9 for that worker.

​Reverifying the employment eligibility of current employees is a continuing legal obligation.  This duty stems from Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) § 274A which imposes on employers the ongoing, affirmative obligation to refrain from continuing to employ a worker if the employer has “knowledge” (which by USCIS regulation may be actual or constructive knowledge) that the employee is not authorized to work in the United States. This continuing duty can only be fulfilled if the employer makes sure that it has a fully executed, and undoubtedly correct I-9 for the worker:

  • A fully executed I-9 requires the worker to declare his or her status (U.S. citizen, national, permanent resident [etc.], or a noncitizen holding temporary work authorization) in Section 1 of the I-9, and to select from the I-9 Lists of Acceptable Documents and present to the employer an original document or set of documents verifying identity and employment eligibility ; it also requires the employer examine the original(s) in the presence of the worker and then certify in Section 2 that the document(s) appear(s) to be genuine and relate to the employee. As long as the I-9 cannot be located, was never completed initially, or remains partially incomplete, it is not undoubtedly correct.
  • An undoubtedly correct I-9 is one as to which the employer has not become aware of any credible facts calling into question the right of a current employee to work in the United States.​
​
​The Injunction Barring IWPA’s No-Voluntary-Access Provisions Helps Only FDNS
​
The preliminary injunction prohibiting enforcement of IWPA’s no-voluntary-access provisions will have little practical consequence in most cases. Save for FDNS – a unit of USCIS, the immigration benefits-granting agency in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) – federal immigration enforcement agencies (except in legally permissible situations) have mostly refrained from conduct likely to disturb, or intrude on, the rights of employees at California worksites. None of them but FDNS makes surprise visits and demands access to nonpublic areas of an employer’s worksite or to any employee records without first presenting a judicial order or other source of legal authority.

The primary federal immigration enforcement agencies – the Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) unit in ICE, the Justice Department’s Immigrant and Employee Rights section (IER), and the Labor Department’s immigration enforcers, the Wage and Hour Division (WHD) and the Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC) – routinely provide written notice in advance and cite to binding legal authority authorizing them to inspect records, and, in some cases, interview employees (although often such interviews are conducted away from the business).

Therefore, the Judge Mendez’s preliminary injunction, for all practical purposes, leaves only FDNS’s investigators free to disrupt California worksites without benefit of legal formality. If the purpose of the IWPA is to avoid federal immigration intrusions at California worksites, and provide protection to undocumented workers in the state, then surely FDNS’ surprise workplace swoops cause disruptions, and frighten and intimidate both documented and undocumented workers on the premises.

In California (and for that matter, throughout the United States), FDNS officers always appear unannounced at businesses and demand that employers provide them with access to nonpublic worksite areas and access to specific employees, while proffering nothing more “official” than the enforcement agent’s business card.  As countless employers can confirm, FDNS agents claim they are there merely for a “site visit” in order to confirm the accuracy of statements made in an immigration form submitted to USCIS by an employer petitioning USCIS for an employment-based immigration benefit, such as a work visa or, an employment-based green card.  FDNS investigators have substantial leverage to induce an employer’s cooperation.  Failure to cooperate would ordinarily lead to a negative report by the investigator to and immigration service officer within USCIS.  That officer has the power to reopen a previously approved petition issue a notice of intention to revoke an approved work-visa petition, and notwithstanding any written evidence submitted by the employer, issue a revocation notice.  The revocation has the effect of requiring the employer to terminate the employment of the sponsored employee.  It also causes the employee and immediate family members to lose lawful immigration status, and be obliged to depart the United States unless an avenue exists to obtain a new authorization to remain.

FDNS’ innocuously-sounding “site visits” at employer locations in the United States, as the Ombudsman of USCIS recently confirmed in her 2018 Annual Report to Congress (p. 9), are of two types, “administrative site visits,” which have occurred continuously since 2004 (when what would become FDNS was initially known as the Fraud Detection and National Security Office), and “targeted” worksite visits under the new “Targeted Site Visit and Verification Program,” established in 2017.  (Both the Ombudsman’s 2018 report, and DHS in its December 16, 2014 Privacy Impact Assessment for FDNS (FDNS PIA) provide a wealth of additional data on the internal and external machinations of FDNS.)

FDNS – The Unauthorized Immigration Enforcers
​
Although it may shock the reader, FDNS officers have no legal authority to engage in immigration-related investigation and enforcement activities.  Their actions, and those of FDNS itself, clearly violate the express terms of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (HSA), the statute that abolished the former Justice Department agency, the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), and established in newly-created DHS three immigration agencies, now known as ICE, USCIS, and U.S. Customs & Border Protection (CBP), each with distinct and separate statutory responsibilities.

This division of immigration authority resulted from a prior history of INS dysfunctions.  Long before the HSA came into effect, many INS critics had assailed its schizophrenic and contradictory missions, i.e., on one hand, to protect the border and deport unauthorized noncitizens, and on the other, in the same agency, to adjudicate (approve or deny) requests for immigration and naturalization “benefits.”  These benefits are wide-ranging – from the power to grant, change, or extend nonimmigrant visa status, award asylum status, or declare individuals as U.S. lawful permanent residents (green card holders), to the authority over determinations of U.S. citizenship through the naturalization process.

Contemporary criticisms of INS in the years leading to enactment of the HSA included Demetrios G. Papademetriou, T. Alexander Aleinikoff, & Deborah Waller Meyers, Reorganizing the U.S. Immigration Function: Toward a New Framework for Accountability (1998) (describing the need for a demarcation between immigration enforcement and immigration services), and “Reconcilable Differences? An Evaluation of Current INS Restructuring Proposals,” Demetrios G. Papademetriou and Deborah Waller Meyers, Migration Policy Institute, Policy Brief (June 2002) (analyzing two legislative and two Executive Branch INS-restructuring proposals proposals).

Given these several restructuring proposals, it is not surprising that the Senate report on S. 2452, a bill that would ultimately be meshed into the HSA, acknowledged that the bill’s proposed statutory “division of INS programs into ‘enforcement’ and ‘service’ components tracks an administrative reorganization plan that is already underway.”

In ultimately enacting the HSA, however, Congress deviated from S.  2452 by creating a new Department of Homeland Security to house the enforcement and service components of the former INS rather than follow the plan envisioned in the Senate bill (“the law enforcement pieces transferred from INS . . . would necessarily need to maintain close coordination with the service programs that would remain in the Justice Department”).  Nonetheless, the HSA maintains this clear separation of immigration enforcement and benefits functions.  (For a discussion of the further administrative restructuring that occurred after the HSA’s enactment, including the formation of USCIS, ICE, and CBP, see, David A. Martin, “Immigration Policy and the Homeland Security Act Reorganization: An Early Agenda for Practical Improvements,” Migration Policy Institute, Insight, April, 2003, No. 1.)

A review of the HSA reveals the clear intention of Congress to separate into distinct agencies the inconsistent demands that had been placed on INS.

Specifically, HSA § 451(b) (“Transfer of Functions from [INS] Commissioner”) “transferred from the [INS] Commissioner to the Director of the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services [now known as USCIS] the following functions . . .
“(1) Adjudications of immigrant visa petitions.

“(2) Adjudications of naturalization petitions.

“(3) Adjudications of asylum and refugee applications.

“(4) Adjudications performed at service centers.
​
“(5) All other adjudications performed by the [INS] immediately before the effective date specified in [the HSA].”  (Emphasis added.)

Another provision in the HSA, § 441, created two new DHS law enforcement agencies – now known as ICE and U.S. Customs & Border Protection (CBP) – and transferred to them the former INS authority over:
“(1) The Border Patrol program.

“(2) The detention and removal program.

“(3) The intelligence program.

“(4) The investigations program.

“(5) The inspections program.” (Emphasis added.)
​Although HSA § 1502 granted the President the authority to reorganize the new DHS by submitting to Congress a plan of reorganization which “shall contain, consistent with this Act(emphasis added), such elements as the President deems appropriate,” another provision, HSA § 471, now codified at 6 USC § 291(b), expressly limited the president’s power to restructure DHS. It enacted the following “PROHIBITION [capitalization in original] [:]”
​
​The authority provided by [HSA §] 1502 [codified at 6 USC § 542] may be used to reorganize functions or organizational units within the Bureau of Border Security or the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services, but may not be used to recombine the two bureaus into a single agency or otherwise to combine, join, or consolidate functions or organizational units of the two bureaus with each other.  (Emphasis added.)

​Despite the allocation of exclusive authority conferred on ICE and CBP over “investigations” in HSA § 441(1), and the prohibition in HSA § 471 against combining, joining, or consolidating functions, the first Secretary of DHS, Thomas Ridge, soon violated this prohibition. On June 5, 2003, he issued Department of Homeland Security Delegation Number: 0150.1, “Delegation to The Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services [BCIS], (Delegation)” in which he delegated to BCIS (now USCIS) the following power:
​
Authority to investigate alleged civil and criminal violations of the

immigration laws, including but not limited to alleged fraud with respect to

applications or determinations within the BCIS and make recommendations for

prosecutions, or other appropriate action when deemed advisable.  (Delegation § II-I; emphasis added).
​The 2014 FDNS PIA, seeming to reflect conscious awareness of this HSA violation, tried to paper over the statutorily-prohibited authority over investigations and wordsmith a meaningless, hair-splitting distinction at footnote 3 (“USCIS [through FDNS] conducts administrative inquiries, ICE conducts criminal investigations”). USCIS is more candid and forthright, however, in its job announcements which place emphasis on the duties of investigation, prosecution and law enforcement as clearly as the image from a Blu-ray disc in this FDNS job description, Fraud Detection & National Security Directorate, District 13:
​

Responsibilities
  • . . .
  • Identify, articulate, and pursue suspected immigration benefit fraud, public safety, and national security concerns.
  • Conduct administrative investigations and site visits to obtain documents, conduct interviews, perform system checks, and make determinations regarding potential administrative and/or criminal violations.
  • Serve as a liaison to law enforcement and intelligence agencies and participate in inter-agency task forces and partner-agency investigations to combat fraud and deter and detect national security and public safety threats. . . .
  • Serve as an expert witness and represent USCIS in related court proceedings. (Emphasis added.)
USCIS obviously understands the difference between investigations and its normal bread-and-butter work of adjudications. Just compare the foregoing FDNS job announcement (which closes on October 8, 2018) with a contemporaneous USCIS Immigration Services Officer job description: 

Responsibilities
​
  • . . .
  • Grant or deny complex and highly sensitive applications and petitions for immigration benefits based on electronic or paper applications/petitions.
  • Research, interpret and apply appropriate statutes, regulations, and precedent decisions to make adjudicative decisions.
  • Interview applicants and petitioners to elicit statements, assess credibility, and analyze information to identify facts that form the basis for a decision concerning eligibility for immigration benefits.
  • Conduct security checks and provide assistance to Federal law enforcement agencies to identify individuals who are ineligible for immigration benefits due to national security, public safety, or other legal grounds.
  • Use electronic systems to provide verification of any number of established data points to make adjudicative decisions, determine appropriate level of adjudicative review, and update databases with appropriate information and decisions. (Emphasis added.)
Common dictionary definitions also make plain the distinction between investigations and adjudications:
​
The Cambridge Dictionary:

investigate

​. . . to examine a crime, problem, statement, etc. carefully, especially to discover the truth:

Police are investigating allegations of corruption involving senior executives.

We are of course investigating how an error like this could have occurred. 

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary:

investigate. . .

: to observe or study by close examination and systematic inquiry

: to make a systematic examination; especially: to conduct an official inquiry

The Cambridge Dictionary:

adjudicate
. . .

​: to act as judge in a competition or argument, or to make a formal decision about something:

He was asked to adjudicate on the dispute.

He was called in to adjudicate a local land dispute.

The game was adjudicated a win for Black.

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary:

adjudicate
. . .

: to make an official decision about who is right in (a dispute): to settle judicially.

The school board will adjudicate claims made against teachers.
. . .

: to act as judge

The court can adjudicate on this dispute.
Despite the dictionary consensus, two colleagues, one, an FDNS officer at USCIS headquarters, and another, a former counsel to the Senate Judiciary Committee, have tried to suggest to me that this obvious HSA violation has been remedied by later congressional action. They point to a Conference Report to accompany H.R. 4567 [Report 108-774], “Making Appropriations for the Department of Homeland Security for the Fiscal Year Ending September 30, 2005” (Conference Report), which states:
​
BENEFIT FRAUD The conferees have agreed to the Administration’s request to increase the resources available for benefit fraud enforcement by decreasing the funds available to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) from the examinations fee account, and leaving those resources available to [USCIS], as proposed in the House report. These resources are to fund the Office of Fraud Detection and National Security (FDNS) Unit, as called for by the Government Accountability Office. The FDNS unit is responsible for developing, implementing, directing, and overseeing the joint [USCIS]-ICE antifraud initiative, and conducting law enforcement/background checks on every applicant, beneficiary, and petitioner prior to granting any immigration benefits. [USCIS] is to report by July 1, 2005, to the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations on the progress in implementing the joint anti-fraud initiative.  (Emphasis added.)
​
The simple retort to their argument is that no subsequent Congress can appropriate funds to a federal agency or component (here, FDNS) that has not been lawfully constituted by pre-existing or contemporaneous legislation, and whose very existence expressly contravenes the agency’s foundational enabling statute. See Congressional Research Service reports, “Overview of the Authorization [/] Appropriations Process,” by Bill Heniff, Jr., Analyst on Congress and the Legislative Process, November 26, 2012 (No. RS20371) (“Authorizing legislation  . . .  authorizes, implicitly or explicitly, the enactment of appropriations for an agency or program. . . . An appropriations measure provides budget authority to an agency for specified purposes.”), and “Authorization of Appropriations: Procedural and Legal Issues,” by James V. Saturno, Specialist on Congress and the Legislative Process, and Brian T. Yeh, Legislative Attorney, November 30, 2016 (No. R42098)(“ Under congressional rules, when making decisions about the funding of individual items or programs, . . . Congress may be constrained by the terms of previously enacted legislation” [emphasis added]).

Moreover, if FDNS already existed through authorizing legislation, why then would Rep. Bob Goodlatte, Chair of the House Judiciary, Homeland Security Education and the Workforce Committee – a former immigration lawyer before his election to Congress – have any reason or need to propose a bill, H. R. 2407, dubbed the “United States Citizenship and Immigration Services Authorization Act,” containing a seemingly superfluous Section 2 which would amend the HSA to include a new provision, HSA § 451(g)(“There is established within United States Citizenship and Immigration Services a Fraud Detection and National Security Directorate”)?

One can only infer that the chairman belatedly realized that FDNS had never been duly authorized (or this author can wistfully imagine that perhaps a supporter of FDNS directed Rep. Goodlatte to “A Cancer within the Immigration Agency,” in which I first assailed the unauthorized status of FDNS back in 2011).

​
 What’s in It for California?


Even if FDNS was never lawfully established, and indeed, if its existence as an immigration investigation and enforcement unit in USCIS violates HSA § 471 (the prohibition against combining, joining, or consolidating functions of the old INS), how does this help California resurrect IWPA’s no-voluntary-access provisions?

As I explained in a prior piece (“AB 450: California’s Law of Unintended Immigration Consequences”), the IWPA does not define the term “immigration enforcement agent.”

USCIS, however, clearly offers a broad regulatory definition (8 CFR § 1.2) of agency employees designated as “immigration officer[s].”  The definition includes immigration officials sporting these titles: “immigration enforcement agent, . . .  immigration agent (investigations), immigration enforcement agent, . . . investigator, . . . investigative assistant, and special agent.” (emphasis added).

Recall that in U.S. v. California, Judge Mendez declined to rule that the principle of federal primacy over immigration preempted IWPA’s no-voluntary-access provisions, ruling (at pp. 23-24) that the preemption cases cited by the DOJ did not “establish that Congress has expressly or impliedly” “authorized immigration officers to enter places of labor on employer consent  . . . [or authorized] immigration enforcement officers to wield authority coextensive with the Fourth Amendment.” Rather, the Court issued a preliminary injunction barring California’s enforcement of the no-voluntary-access sections of the IWPA because it determined that the federal government “is likely to succeed on its Supremacy Clause claim under the intergovernmental immunity doctrine.” Finding California’s arguments unpersuasive, the Court held (at p. 26):

Given that immigration enforcement is the province of the Federal Government, it demands no stretch of reason to see that [IWPA’s no-voluntary-access provisions], in effect, target the operations of federal immigration enforcement. The Court finds that a law which imposes monetary penalties on an employer solely because that employer voluntarily consents to federal immigration enforcement’s entry into nonpublic areas of their place of business or access to their employment records impermissibly discriminates against those who choose to deal with the Federal Government. The law and facts clearly support [the Justice Department’s] claim as to these [provisions] and [the DOJ] is likely to succeed on the merits.

Implicit in the Court’s ruling, however, is the premise that in every case federal immigration enforcement authority is lawful, i.e., duly established by statute or regulation. As has been shown, this premise falls flat when evaluated in the context of an administrative or targeted worksite investigation by FDNS. To the contrary, FDNS’s purported authority violates the express prohibition in HSA § 471 against combining, joining, or consolidating the immigration enforcement and services functions of the former INS.

Thus, even though USCIS characterizes FDNS investigators as “immigration officers,” its regulations define this phrase to include immigration enforcement agents and immigration agents (investigations), and its job postings make abundantly clear that FDNS officers “[conduct] administrative investigations and site visits” in order to “make determinations regarding potential administrative and/or criminal violations (emphasis added).”

Therefore, as proceedings in U.S. v. California continue, consider whether the Federal Court’s interpretation of the term “immigration enforcement agent” in IWPA’s no-voluntary-access provisions might view the imposition on employers of a ban on FDNS access to nonpublic business premises and employee records in the absence of a subpoena as a proper exercise of the California legislature’s traditional police powers. After all, the Court recognized that “[when] Congress legislates in a field which the States have traditionally occupied, [Federal Courts] start with the assumption that the historic police powers of the States were not to be superseded by the Federal Act unless that was the clear and manifest purpose of Congress [citing Arizona v. United States, 567 U.S. 387, 400 (2012), which quoted Rice v. Santa Fe Elevator Corp., 331 U.S. 218, 230 (1947)(internal quotations omitted, and emphasis added)].”

The “clear and manifest purpose of Congress” in enacting HSA § 471 (a statute prohibiting any future re-amalgamation of the investigation and enforcement authority of legacy INS with that agency’s service and adjudicative functions) leads to no other conclusion than that FDNS is an unlawfully constituted investigative and enforcement arm of the benefits-adjudication agency, USCIS.  In addition, USCIS holds FDNS out in its job postings as an immigration investigations agency whose work product can lead to criminal prosecution of employers and employees.  For purposes of IWPA’s no-voluntary-access provisions, therefore, FDNS officers conducting site visits in California should be viewed as a “immigration enforcement agents.”  Accordingly, this writer urges the California Attorney General to file a motion for reconsideration of the Federal Court’s preliminary injunction and seek an order allowing IWPA’s no-voluntary-access provisions to continue in effect during the pendency of U.S. v. California.

What Might Happen Next?
​
Were the Court to release IWPA’s no-voluntary-access provisions from the constraints of the preliminary injunction, FDNS may or may not continue its site visit program without change.  USCIS, however, fearing that FDNS might be forever stripped of its fig leaf of apparent legal authority, may decide to revisit the agency’s admittedly-reasonable concern for benefits-program integrity.

No one can say how USCIS might respond.  Conceivably, the agency could:

  • Use its existing regulatory authority to conduct at its field offices in-person interviews of employer representatives and individual beneficiaries of immigration-benefits requests,
  • Propose to amend its regulations in compliance with the notice-and-comment procedures of the Administrative Procedure Act in order to create a procedural structure and approved protocols for site visits, that also comply with the HSA, perhaps modeled after its existing regulation on site visits to religious organizations under the R-1 nonimmigrant religious worker category, 8 CFR § 214.2(16)(describing the site visit as an “on-site inspection of the petitioning [religious] organization,” which “may include a tour of the organization’s facilities . . .”).
  • Modify its current approaches for gathering data and documentation through the issuance of requests for additional evidence, and the grant of opportunities to respond to USCIS notices of intention to deny a pending petition or to revoke an approved petition.
  • Decide to refrain from seeking a judicial subpoena or judicial enforcement of an administrative subpoena for access to nonpublic business premises or records until new authorizing legislation amending the HSA is enacted.
In addition, ICE, in conformity with the spirit and letter of the HSA, might at last see itself as obliged to take the laboring oar on immigration investigation and enforcement activities, and thereby essentially put FDNS out of the investigations and enforcement business.

It remains an open question, however, at a time when the hue and cry of “abolish ICE” is heard on the streets and in social-medialand, whether Congress will at last do its job and fix this dysfunctional mess of draconian and contradictory immigration laws by enacting common-sense, workable, and humanitarian immigration reforms that protect our borders, strengthen our economy, assure procedural due process, and promote our historic exceptionalism as a nation of immigrants.
0 Comments

DACA Updates, And A Caveat: D.C. Federal Judge Orders Full Restoration Of DACA, With 20-Day Delay

8/7/2018

0 Comments

 
By: Jennifer Howard, Associate Attorney of Kirby Gamblin Joseph, ABIL Lawyer
Joseph Law Firm Immigration Blog

This week marks eleven months since the Trump administration announced the cancellation of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. However, the fate of DREAMers remains just as uncertain as that day in September when the program benefitting an estimated 800,000 was rescinded.

Just this past Friday, August 3, 2018, a U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., reaffirmed its April 24th decision in NAACP v. Trump and ordered the full restoration of the DACA program, giving the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) 20 days to appeal the decision and seek a stay pending appeal.

The D.C. court held previously, on April 24, 2018, that DHS’s September 2017 decision to end the DACA program was “arbitrary and capricious” and gave the government 90 days to issue a new memo terminating DACA or to explain coherently its decision to end DACA, else the DACA program be reinstated fully. Although the court is now giving the government yet another 20 days to come up with a “coherent explanation of its legal opinion” or to “reissue[e] its decision for bona fide policy reasons that would preclude judicial review,” the court has made it clear in this last decision that DHS will not be given another chance to “remedy these deficiencies.”

At present, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is only accepting applications for persons who had DACA prior to DHS’s September 5, 2017, rescission of the program. (Huge thanks to the multiple lawsuits filed against the government across the country which have challenged the termination of DACA and led to the partial restoration of DACA for the time being.)

What Friday’s decision means is that, if the government fails to provide a sound basis for the termination of the DACA program by August 23, 2018, then USCIS will again be required to accept all DACA applications for consideration – initial and renewal – from eligible applicants.

On the other hand, if the government does appeal this August 3rd decision and puts forth a “coherent explanation of its legal opinion,” or if the government issues a new DACA-rescission memo “for bona fide policy reasons,” either of these actions could, in effect, cancel out the D.C. District Judge’s decision to restore DACA in full. In this scenario, USCIS would not be required to resume accepting DACA applications from first-time applicants. Nevertheless, in either scenario, USCIS would still be required to accept and process DACA renewal applications until an appellate court determines otherwise or until the issue makes its way to the eyes and ears of the U.S. Supreme Court. (Another huge thanks to the nationwide injunctions issued in the Northern District of California and the Eastern District of New York earlier this year.)

Besides these cases challenging the termination of the DACA program, there is another case pending in the Southern District of Texas, Texas v. Nielsen, which was filed in opposition to the 2012 creation of the DACA program and the lawfulness of the program itself. The Texas case is set for a preliminary injunction hearing on Wednesday, August 8, of this week; and a decision by the Texas court to order USCIS to stop accepting DACA applications altogether could possibly, eventually result in USCIS not accepting any DACA applications, even for renewals.

Because the fate of the DACA program remains uncertain, and because any number of scenarios and timeframes are possible, all persons eligible for DACA are encouraged to consult with an experienced immigration attorney and submit their renewal applications as soon as possible.

As a reminder, to be eligible for DACA, an applicant must:

  • Have been under the age of 31 as of June 15, 2012;
  • Have come to the United States before the age of 16;
  • Have continuously resided in the United States since June 15, 2007, to the present time;
  • Have been physically present in the United States on June 15, 2012, as well as at the time of applying for DACA;
  • Have had no lawful status in the United States on June 15, 2012;
  • Be currently enrolled in school, have graduated or obtained a certificate of completion for high school, have obtained a general education development (GED) certificate, or have been honorably discharged from the Coast Guard or Armed Forces of the United States; and
  • Have not been convicted of a felony, significant misdemeanor, or three or more misdemeanors, and not otherwise prose a threat to national security or public safety.

0 Comments

7 Things New Zealanders Need to Know About the New KIWI Act

8/6/2018

0 Comments

 
By: Bernard P. Wolfsdorf, ABIL Lawyer and Richard Yemm, Partner
​Wolfsdorf Immigration Blog
​
Picture

​Entrepreneurs, businesses and New Zealand companies with a global focus rejoice. While Australian investors and traders have been able to benefit from the E-1/E-2 visa for almost three decades (since December 1991), New Zealanders have been left out, until now. On August 3rd, 2018, President Trump signed the aptly named KIWI Act (the Knowledgeable Innovators and Worthy Investors Act) into law allowing eligible New Zealand nationals to join the 80+ countries that benefit from the American E-1/E-2 Treaty Trader/Investment visas.  The U.S. still has the largest economy in the world and opening the door to more trade and business with the U.S., is a huge step forward.
But what does this mean for New Zealanders? Here are seven things to know about the new KIWI Act:
  1. The E-1 visa specifically reduces the barriers for trading companies looking to establish in the United States to import and/or export goods between the two countries, thus helping ensure New Zealand businesses have success in the growing U.S. economy. This is long overdue. For example, the U.S. is currently New Zealand’s second biggest trade partner and the largest market for beef;
  2. The E-2 visa is an excellent option for individual investors who want to be buy or open a business in the U.S. It allows entrepreneurs who qualify to manage their investment in the United States and it allows multinational New Zealand companies looking to expand operations to the United States to do so quickly and effectively and it even allows New Zealand citizen employees in an executive or supervisory position or staff who possesses skills essential to the firm’s operations in the United States to be transferred to the U.S.
  3. Also while there is no statutory minimum investment amount nor is there a requirement to create a certain number of jobs, as a practical matter a stronger case will include a higher investment amount and proof that jobs are created or will be created for U.S. workers. In practice depending on the business this usually means about $150,000-$200,000 must be invested, although it may be possible to show a substantial investment if the business is not capital intensive and likely to succeed. The business plan is critical.
  4. In the past, we have discussed the increasingly restrictive steps being taken by USCIS to clamp down on many of the visa categories. As an alternative to USCIS based petitions, the E-1/E-2 visa options, which can be applied for directly with the U.S. embassy or consulate abroad, have been an increasingly welcome relief for entrepreneurs and businesses looking to invest in setting up a new company/office in the United States;
  5. Once a company is registered as a New Zealand E-1/E-2 treaty enterprise, it becomes much easier to transfer qualifying New Zealand national executive or managerial or specialized knowledge employees to the U.S. company. As an added benefit, spouses of E-1/E-2 visa holders can apply for unrestricted work authorization and dependent children can enroll in school. The E-1 & E-2 are one of the few visa categories that allow spouses to work anywhere;
  6. The E-1/E-2 visas is arguably the best option for nonimmigrant visa holders who wish to establish a business, or open a business in the U.S. This new law provides excellent new opportunities to New Zealand citizens and represents one of the few actions taken by this Administration to open the door to trade and investment by allies.
  7. While the E-2 is not a green card, in many instances it can be extended almost indefinitely if the bearer continues to operate the business. However, children who turn 21 will “age-out” so in some instance investors may have to look at green card possibilities for their children. We have previously discussed how certain E-1/E-2 visa holders can investigate options to convert their temporary visas into green cards.
0 Comments
<<Previous
Forward>>
    Picture

    TO SUBSCRIBE

    Click the RSS Feed below

    RSS Feed

    ABIL

    The Alliance of Business Immigration Lawyers (ABIL) provides global reach and personal touch. We all value great legal ability and provide high standards of care and concern.

    Archives

    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011

    Categories

    All
    104(c)
    106(a)
    106(b)
    10-year Bar
    1252(a)(2)(D)
    12-Step Groups
    1967 Optional Protocol
    1 Year H-1B Extension
    2011 Immigration Awards
    2012 Elections
    2012 Immigration Awards
    2012 Immigration Year In Review
    2012 Nation Of Immigrators Awards
    2013
    2013; HB-87
    2013 In Immigration
    2014 Immigration Highlights
    2017
    204(j) Portability
    20 CFR § 656.12(b)
    20 CFR 656.17(f)
    212(a)(9)
    212(f) Of Immigration And Nationality Act
    212(i) Waiver
    212(k) Waiver
    245(i)
    274B
    287(g)
    3 And 10 Year Bars
    3 And 10 Year Bars.
    3d Printing Technology
    3 Year H-1B Extension
    458
    5 C.F.R. § 2635.402
    5th Circuit
    5 U.S.C. § 706(2)(A)
    5 U.S.C. § 706(2)(E)
    60 Day Grace Period
    79 Federal Register 79
    8 C.F.R. § 1003.10(b)
    8 USC § 1324b
    8 Usc 1621
    90 Day Misrepresentation
    9/11
    A-1 Diplomatic Visa
    AAO
    AB 103
    Ab 1159
    Ab 263
    AB 450
    ABA Model Rule 1.14
    ABA Model Rule 1.2(c)
    ABA Model Rule 1.2(d)
    ABA Model Rule 1.7(b)
    ABA Model Rule 3.3
    Abandonment
    Abolition Of 90 Day EAD Rule
    AC21
    AC 21
    Ac 21 + Status + H-1B
    Accountability
    ACLU
    Acus
    Additional Recruitment Steps
    Adjudicators
    "Adjustment Of Status"
    Adjustment Of Status
    Adjustment Of Status Portability
    Adjustment Portability
    "Administrative Appeals Office"
    Administrative Appeals Office
    Administrative Closure
    Administrative Conference Of The United States
    Administrative Fixes
    Administrative Law Judge
    Administrative Procedure Act
    Administrative Procedures Act
    Administrative Reform
    Administrative Review
    Administrative Review Board
    Admissibility
    Admissibility Review Office
    Admission
    Admissions
    Admitting To A Crime
    Adopted Decision
    Adoption
    Advance Parole
    Advertisement
    Advertisements
    Affidavit Of Support
    Affluent Foreigners
    Affordable Care Act
    Affording Congress An Opportunity To Address Family Separation
    AFL-CIO
    Agency Updates
    Aggravated Felon
    Aging Population
    AG Sessions
    Ahmed V. Gonzales
    AICTE
    Aila
    Airport Screenings
    Akayed Ullah
    Alabama Anti-Immigrant Law
    Alberto Gonzales
    ALCA
    Alejandro Mayorkas
    Alerts
    Alfredo Quinones-Hinojosa
    Alien
    Aliens
    Ali Mayorkas
    Alj
    All-India Council For Technical Education
    Ameircan Competitiveness In The 21st Century Act
    Amended H-1B Petition
    Amendment
    America
    America And Immigration
    America First
    America In Decline
    American Academy Of Religion V. Napolitano
    American Citizenship
    American Competitiveness In 21st Century Act
    American Council On International Personnel
    American Exceptionalism
    American Football
    American History
    American Immigration Lawyers Association
    American Kaleidoscope
    American Role
    Angelo A. Paparelli
    Ann Coulter
    Anonymity
    Anthony Kennedy
    Antidiscrimination
    Anti-immigrant
    Anti-immigration
    Anti-Immigration Legislation
    Anti-Immigration Movements
    Anti-Immigration Rhetoric
    Anti-Trump Protestors
    Ap
    APA
    APA Violation
    Appeals Administrative Office
    Appeasement
    Appellate Bodies
    Appellate Law
    Ap Stylebook
    Arbitrary Quotas
    Arden Leave
    Area Of Intended Employment
    Arizona
    Arizona Dream Act Coalition V. Brewer
    Arizona V. United States
    Arizona V. USA
    Aro
    Arpaio V. Obama
    Arrabally
    ART
    Artificial Reproductive Technology
    Assembly Bill 103
    Assembly Bill 263
    Assembly Bill 450
    Assisted Reproductive Technology
    Associated Press
    Asylum
    Asylum Claims
    ATLANTA
    ATLANTA IMMIGRATION LAWYER AT KUCK IMMIGRATION PARTNERS
    At Risk Investment
    Attorney Advertising
    Attorney Business Account
    Attorney Fees
    Attorney General
    Attorney General Javier Becerra
    Attorney General Jeff Sessions
    Attorney General Self-referral
    Attorney General Sessions
    Attorneys
    Attorney's Role
    Attorney Trust Account
    Attrition
    Audit
    Audits
    Auer V. Robbins
    August 18 Policy
    Australia
    Automatic Conversion Provision
    Automatic Extension EAD
    Avvo
    Avvo Legal Services
    Aziz V. Trump
    B-1
    B-1 In Lieu Of H-1B
    B-1 Visa
    B-1 Visas
    B-2
    B-2 Bridge
    Backlog
    Backlogged Countries
    Backlogs
    BAHA
    BALCA
    Bally Gaming
    Ban On Travellers
    Barack Obama
    Barring Entry To Protestors
    Bautista V. Attorney General
    Beltway Visa
    Beneficiary Pays Fees
    Benefit
    Benefits Of H-1B Visa
    Benefit The US Economy
    Best Practices
    Bilateral Investment Treaties
    Binational
    Biographies
    Biography
    Birthright Citizenship
    Blog Series
    Bloomberg
    Blueseed
    Bokhari V. Holder
    Bona Fide Marriage
    Bona Fide Termination
    Border Crossings
    Border Patrol
    Border Security
    Boston Marathon
    Boston Marathon Bombings
    Bradley
    Bradley V. Attorney General
    Brain Drain
    Brain Pickings
    Brains Act
    Brand X
    Brand X.
    Brazil
    Brazil Quality Stones Inc V. Chertoff
    Brent Renison
    Brexit
    Bridges V. Wixon
    Bridge The Gap
    British Riots
    Broader Definition Of Affiliation
    Broken Promises
    Brooklyn Law Incubator Policy Clinic
    Bseoima
    Bullying Words
    Business Necessity
    Business Visitors
    Business Visitor Visas
    Buy American Hire American
    California Attorney General Javier Becerra
    California Immigrant Worker Protection Act
    "California Immigration Law"
    California Immigration Law
    "California Immigration Laws"
    California Immigration Laws
    California’s Community Oriented Policing Services
    California Service Center
    Camo Technologies
    Canada Point Assessment
    Canadian Council For Refugees
    Cancellation Of Removal
    Candor To The Tribunal
    Candor To Tribunal
    Capitalist Ideals
    Careen Shannon
    Career Progression
    Carrp
    Case Completion Quotas
    CATA V. Solis
    Cato Institute
    Cato Institute Report
    CBP
    Ccg Metamedia
    Certification Of Questions Of State Law
    Cesar Chavez
    Chaidez V. United States
    Chaidez V. U.S.
    Chain Migration
    Chamber Of Commerce V. Whiting
    Change In Worksite
    Change Of Status
    Charles Garcia
    Charles Hossein Zenderoudi
    Charles Kuck
    Chemical Weapons
    Chennai
    Chevron
    Chevron Deference
    Child
    Children
    Child Status Protection Act
    Chile
    China
    Chinese Investors
    CHIP
    Chip Rogers
    Chobani
    Chris Crane
    Chuck Grassley
    Chuck Schumer
    Cimt
    Cir
    Cis
    Cis Ombudsman Second Annual Conference
    Citizenship
    Citizenship And Nationality
    Citizenship Application
    Citizenship Status
    Citizenship Status Discrimination
    Citizens United
    Ciudad Juarez
    Civil Disobedience
    Civil Gideon
    Civil Rights
    Civil Rights To All In New York
    Civil Surgeon
    CIWPA
    Client Site
    Client With Diminished Capacity
    Columbia
    Columbus Day
    Comment
    Common Law Definition Of Parent
    Communicable Disease
    Commuting Distance
    Companies Hosting Skilled Nonimmigrant Workers
    Compelling Circumstances EAD
    Competence
    Competitive Salary
    Comprehensive Immigratin Reform
    "comprehensive Immigration Reform"
    Comprehensive Immigration Reform
    Comprehensive Immigration Reform + Tyranny Of Priority Dates
    Computer Programmer
    Concurrent Cap Subject And Cap Exempt Employment
    Confidentiality
    Conflicts Of Interest
    Conflicts Of Law
    Congress
    Congressman Darrell Issa
    Congressman Gutierrez
    "Congress On Immigration"
    Congress On Immigration
    Conrad 30
    Conservatives; GOP
    Consolidated Appropriations Act Of 2016
    Conspiracy
    Constitutional Law
    Constitutional Requirement To Be President
    Constitution And The Presidency
    Construction Workers
    Constructive Knowledge
    Consular Absolutism
    Consular Nonreviewability
    Consular Non-reviewability Doctrine
    Consular Officer; Comprehensive Immigration Reform; Grounds Of Exclusion
    "Consular Officers"
    Consular Officers
    Consular Processing
    Consular Report Of Birth Abroad
    Consulting
    Consummation
    Continuous Residence
    Controlled Application Review And Resolution Program
    Controlled Substance
    Controlled Substances
    Corporate Counsel
    Corporations Are Not People
    Corporations Are People
    Court Ruling
    Courts On Immigration Law
    Covered Employer
    Crane V. Napolitano
    Creative Classes
    Credible Testimony
    Crime Against Humanity
    Crime Involving Moral Turpitude
    Crime Rate
    Crimes Against Humanity
    Crimes Involving Moral Turpitude
    Crime Without Punishment
    Criminal Alien
    Criminal Conduct
    Criminalize
    Criminal Liability
    Criminals
    Cross Chargeability
    CSPA
    Cuban Adjustment Act
    Culturally Unique
    Curricular Practical Training
    Customs And Border Protection
    Cutcherry
    Cut Off Dates
    Cyrus Cylinder
    Cyrus Mehta V. Tucker Carlson
    Cyrus Vance
    DACA
    DACA 2012
    DACA Driver's Licenses
    Daca Obama Deferred Action Immigration Reform9e741343b2
    Dan Kowalski
    DAPA
    Data Privacy
    David Foster Wallace
    Dead Us Citizen Petitioners
    Debate Questions
    December 2015 Visa Bulletin
    Declinist
    Deconflction
    Defense Of Marriage Act
    Deference
    Deferred Action
    Deferred Action For Childhood Arrivals
    Deferred Action For Parent Accountability Program
    Deferred Action For Parents
    Definition
    Definition Of Employment
    Delays
    Delta Information Systems V. USCIS
    Democrat
    Democratic Party
    Democrats
    "Democrats On Immigration"
    Democrats On Immigration
    Denial Of Immigration Benefit Application
    De Niz Robles V. Lynch
    "Department Of Homeland Security"
    Department Of Homeland Security
    Department Of Justice
    "Department Of Labor"
    Department Of Labor
    "Department Of State"
    Department Of State
    Depends On Experience
    Deportation
    Deportation President
    Deporter In Chief
    Deporterinchief84df2adda9
    Deporting Us Citizen Child Or Children
    Derivatives
    Detainers
    Deter
    De Tocqueville
    Dhanasar
    DHS
    Dhs New Rule On Hardship
    Dhs Office Of Inspector General
    Dhs Office Of Inspector General Report On Effects Of Adjudication Procedures And Policies On Fraud
    Dick Durbin
    Dickinson V. Zurko
    Dillingham Commission
    Diminished Capacity
    Din V. Kerry
    Director Mayorkas
    Discouraging Future Immigrant Crime Victims
    Discrepancies
    Discretion In Immigration Policy
    Discrimination
    Disney
    Disruption
    Disruption Of Continuity Of Residence
    Distinction
    Diversity Immigrants
    Diversity Visa Lottery
    DOL
    DOL Investigation
    DOL Prevailing Wage Guidance
    Doma
    Donald Trump
    Dream9
    "DREAM Act"
    Dream Act
    Dream Dream Actd977e910f6
    Dreamers
    Drivers License
    Driver's Licenses
    Drones
    Drop The Iword57cb7ffa6e
    Drug Cartels
    Drugs
    D/S
    Dsk
    Dual Citizenship
    Dual Dates
    Dual Intent Rule
    Dual Nationality
    Due Process
    Due Process Violation
    Duration Of Status
    Dusty Feet Court
    Duty Of Confidentiality
    Dv Lottery
    Dzhokhar Tsarnaev
    E-2
    EAD
    Early Adjustment Of Status Application
    Early Voting
    EB-1
    EB-2
    EB-3
    EB-3 India
    EB-3 To EB-2
    EB-5
    Eb-5
    EB-5 China Retrogression
    EB-5 Green Card
    EB-5 Independent Fiduciary
    EB-5 Insurance
    EB-5 Investor Visas
    EB-5 Letter Of Credit
    EB-5 Letters Of Credit
    EB-5 Policy Memorandum
    "EB-5 Program"
    EB-5 Program
    "EB-5 Regional Center"
    EB-5 Regional Center
    EB-5 Regional Centers
    "EB-5 Visa"
    EB-5 Visa
    EB-5 Waiting Line
    EB Backlogs
    Ebola
    Economic Policy Institute
    EDGE
    Edward Snowden
    Edwards V. California
    EEOC V. Arabian American Oil Co.
    Efstathiadis V. Holder
    Egregore
    El Badwari V. USA
    E L Doctorow35aebd6002
    Election 2012
    Elections
    Electronic I-9
    Eligible Immigration Statuses
    El Salvador
    Emma Willard School
    Employability
    Employed At Institution Of Higher Education
    Employee
    Employee Complaint
    Employee's Benefit
    Employer Business Expense
    Employer-Employee Relationship
    Employer-employee Relationship
    Employer-Employee Relationship For H-1B Visas
    Employer Sanctions
    Employment Authorization
    Employment Authorization Document
    Employment Based Document
    Employment-based Fifth Preference EB-5
    Employment-based First Preference EB-1
    Employment Based Immigration
    Employment-based Immigration
    Employment-Based Immigration
    Employment-based Preferences
    Employment-based Second Preference EB-2
    Employment-based Third Preference EB-3
    "Employment-Creation Immigrant Visas"
    Employment-Creation Immigrant Visas
    Employment Eligibility Verification
    Employment Training Administration
    Encourage Global Corporate Activities
    Enforcement
    Enforcement/USICE
    Entrepreneur
    Entrepreneurial Immigrants
    Entrepreneur Parole Rule
    Entrepreneur Pathways
    Entrepreneur Pathways Portal
    Entrepreneurs
    Entrepreneurs In Residence
    Entrepreneurs In Residence Initiative
    Entry Level Position
    Entry Level Wage
    Eoir
    Epithets
    Essential Function
    Esta
    Establishment Clause
    Esther Olavarria
    Eta
    Eta 9035
    ETA 9089
    ETA Form 9089
    Et Al. V. Her Majesty The Queen
    Ethical Considerations
    Ethics
    Ethics For Immigration Lawyers
    Everfyb99de80646
    E-Verify
    Everify Lock5c940d7f14
    E Visa
    E Visas For Entrepreneurs
    "Executive Action"
    Executive Action
    "executive Authority"
    Executive Authority
    Executive Branch
    Executive Office For Immigration Review
    "executive Order"
    Executive Order
    "Executive Orders"
    Executive Orders
    Executive Power
    Exempt Employee
    Exempt Investment Advisers
    Expanded DACA
    Expanded Definition Of Public Charge
    Expedited Removal
    Expert Immigration Attorney On The Case
    Expert Opinion
    Expert Opinions
    Experts
    Expiration
    Extended DACA
    Extension Of Status
    Extraordinary Ability
    Extraordinary Ability Aliens
    Extraordinary Achievement
    Extraterritoriality Of Immigration Law
    Extreme Hardship
    Extreme Vetting
    F
    F-1
    F-1 Visa
    Fair
    Fair Criminal Trial
    Fairness
    Fairness For High Skilled Immigrants Act
    False Stereotyping
    FAM
    Familybased Preferences9c4ff7f5f7
    Family First Preference
    Family Fourth Preference
    Family Immigration
    Family Offices
    Family Second Preference 2A And 2B
    Family Unity
    Fareed Zakaria
    Farm Workers
    Faustian Bargain
    FDNS
    Fdns Site Visit
    FDNS Site Visits
    Federal Immigration Court
    Federal Immigration Unions
    Federal Judge John A. Mendez
    Federal Judge John Mendez
    Federal Judge Mendez
    Federal Law
    Federal Preemption
    Fed. Reg. Vol. 80 No. 251
    Fee Splitting
    Fiance Visa
    Fifth Circuit
    Filibuster
    Filibuster Reform
    Filing Date
    Final Acceptance Date
    Final Action Date
    Final Guidance
    Final High Skilled Worker Rule
    Final Merits Determination
    First Amendment
    Flat Fees
    Flat Organizations
    Fleuti Doctrine
    Flores V. USCIS
    Fogo De Chao V. DHS
    Forced Migration
    Foreign Affairs Manual
    Foreign Chefs
    Foreign Cooks
    Foreign Earned Income Exclusion
    Foreign Employment Law
    Foreign Entrepreneur
    Foreign Language
    Foreign Law
    Foreign Migration Agent
    Foreign National Entrepreneurs
    Foreign Policy
    Foreign Specialty Chefs
    Foreign Specialty Cooks
    Foreign Students
    Foreign Support Personnel
    Foreign Trade
    Form 2555
    Form-i130
    Form I130862b02b70d
    Form I13169350c78aa
    Form I-485
    Form I601a86f76fbc24
    Form I-601A Waiver
    Form I765wsa6c10c7761
    Form-i800
    Form I821d14be16bf36
    Form I-864
    "Form I-9"
    Form I91b22a1589f
    Form I9242eea98cb70
    Form I942333509f53
    Form I94w5e6bfb52b7
    Form I-983
    Form I-983 Training Plan
    Form-i9-compliance
    Form I9 Employmenteligibility Verification7ddbfbc6b4
    Form-n400
    Fourth Amendment
    Fragomen On Immigration
    Fraud
    Fraud Detection And National Security
    Fraud Detection & National Security (FDNS)
    Fred 26 Imports
    Free Trade
    Function Manager
    Fusion
    Future Flows
    Future Immigration
    Future Of Preemption
    Future Position
    Fy14 H1b Visa Capcf6496c9e4
    Fy2014 H1b Filingsae2c14d3f1
    FY 2015
    FY 2018 H-1B Cap
    Gang Of 8
    Gang Of Eight
    Gang Violence
    Gender Bias
    Genocide
    Georgia
    Georgia Legislature
    Georgia Legislature Antiimmigration Legislation Everify8d746ab340
    Georgia Legislature; Immigration; Anti-Immigration Legislation; Immigration Reform
    Georgia Legistlature
    Georgia Restaurants
    Gideon V Wainwrightba979e7bac
    Giovanni Peri
    Gladysz V. Donovan
    Global Cities
    Global Detroit
    Global Entrepreneur In Residence
    Globalization
    Global Michigan
    Global Mobility
    Global Sourcing
    Global Trade
    Godot
    Golick
    Gonzales-Marquez V. Holder
    Good Faith
    Good Moral Character
    Good Old Days
    GOP
    "GOP On Immigration"
    Gop On Immigration
    Government Data Collection
    Government Employee Discipline
    Governor Brewer
    Grassley-Durbin Bill
    Greencard
    Green Card
    Green Card Lottery
    Green Cards
    Green Card Stories
    Grounds Of Inadmissibility
    Growing Up
    Guest Columns
    Guest Workers
    H-1B
    H-1b
    H-1B1 Visas
    H1b And L1 Visa Provisions984af42aac
    H-1B Auction
    H-1B Cap
    H-1B Cap Exempt Employer
    H-1B Cap Exemption
    H1b Cap H1b Visas Increased Visa Numbers1210555f7b
    H-1B Denial
    H-1B Denials
    H-1B Dependent Employer
    H-1B Entrerpreneur
    H-1B Extensions
    H-1B FY 2018 Cap
    H1b H1b Fraud Grassley Foia Training Memo Fdns Vibe Csce504cf6c27
    H-1B Lottery
    H-1B Lottery Illegal
    H-1B Portability
    H-1B Premium Processing
    H-1B Reform
    H1b Skilled Worker Dependent Employer7361d653a8
    H-1B Spouse
    H-1B Visa
    H-1B Visa Cap
    H-1B Visa Denials
    H-1B Visa Extension By Spouse
    H-1B Visa For Entrepreneurs
    "H-1B Visas"
    H-1B Visas
    H1b Visasfb0ea78c4c
    H1b Visas For Entrepreneurs And Owners3399e25691
    H-1B Wage
    H-1B Worksite
    H2b Visas79f843cb2c
    H-4
    H-4 And Work Authorization
    H56
    Hack
    Hague-adoption-convention
    Haiti
    Halt Act
    Hamilton Project
    Hana V Gonzales75adc25254
    Happy-lawyers
    Happy New Year
    Hardship Waivers
    Harry Reid
    Haruki Murakami
    Hateful Rhetoric Against Immigrants
    Hate Speech
    Hb 87
    HCL America
    Head Of State
    Healthamerica
    Helen Chavez
    Herman Cain
    Higher Wages
    High Skilled Worker Rule
    Hillary Clinton
    Hinojosa V. Horn
    Hispanic Immigrants
    Historic Exercise Of Discretion
    "homeland Security"
    Homeland Security
    Home Office
    Homosexual
    Honduras
    Hot Questions
    House Gop
    House On Immigration Reform
    Hr 3012
    Hr 3012c279c52631
    HR 4038
    Hr 4970
    Humane-treatment
    Humanitarian Parole
    Humetis
    Hurricane Sandy
    Hybrid
    I130-petition
    I130 Petition2b14f0b880
    I-140 EAD Rule
    I-140 Petition
    I-485 Supplement J
    I5268d5986011e
    I-539
    I601a46afd40326
    I601 Waiversa737e3d6da
    I-9
    I9-compliance
    I9 Compliance725c781af2
    I9 Compliance Checklist3909ef569e
    I9-errors
    I9-fines
    I9 Paperwork Violations24d1cb2cb9
    Ibrahim El- Salahi
    ICE
    ICE Arrests
    ICE Detainers
    ICE Notice Of Inspection
    ICE Notice Of Suspect Documents
    Ice Union
    Identity Theft
    IIRIRA
    Illegal
    Illegal Alien
    Illegal Aliens
    Illegal Conduct
    Illegal Immigrant
    Illegal Immigration
    Illegal Immigration; Immigration Reform; ESTA; Visas
    Illegals
    Immi Awards
    Immigrant
    Immigrant Achievement
    Immigrant Detention
    Immigrant Investor
    Immigrant Investor Program
    "Immigrant Investors"
    Immigrant Investors
    Immigrant Investor Visa
    Immigrant Rape Victims
    Immigrant Rights
    Immigrants
    Immigrant Visas
    Immigrant Worker Protection Act
    Immigration
    Immigration Abandonment
    Immigration Accountability
    Immigration Accountability Executive Actions
    Immigration Act Of 1990
    Immigration Adjudications
    Immigration Agencies
    Immigration Agency
    Immigration Agency Expertise
    Immigration-and-demography
    Immigration And Identity Theft
    Immigration And Nationality Act
    Immigration And Privacy
    Immigration And Terrorism
    Immigration And The Arts
    IMMIGRATION ATTORNEY
    Immigration Attorneys
    Immigration Auction
    Immigration Awards
    Immigration Benefits
    Immigration Bureaucracy
    Immigration Bureaucrats
    Immigration Cases
    Immigration Chain Of Command
    Immigration-compliance
    Immigration Court Backlog
    Immigration Courts
    Immigration Data Collection
    Immigration Decentralization
    Immigration Devolution
    Immigration Discretion
    Immigration Discrimination
    Immigration Enforcement
    Immigration Entrepreneurship
    Immigration Fantasies
    Immigration Forgiveness
    Immigration Forms
    Immigration Gamesmanship
    Immigration Gender Bias
    Immigration Inconsistency
    Immigration In Film
    Immigration Innovation Act Of 2015
    Immigration Inspections
    Immigration Inspectors
    Immigration Instructions
    Immigration Insubordination
    Immigration Interviews
    Immigration Intrigue
    Immigration Judges
    Immigration Judge Tabaddor
    Immigration Justice
    Immigration Justice System
    Immigration Language
    Immigration Law
    Immigration Law Absurdity
    Immigration Law Careers
    "Immigration Law Complexity"
    Immigration Law Complexity
    Immigration Law Extraterritoriality
    Immigration Law Humor
    Immigration Law Practice
    IMMIGRATION LAWYER
    Immigration Lawyer Atlanta Immigration Lawyer Immigration Reform Belief Believing704942b6fd
    Immigration Lawyers
    Immigration Legal Representation
    Immigration Legal Services
    Immigration Legal Services Delivery
    Immigration Lessons
    Immigration Memes
    Immigration Officers
    Immigration Officials
    Immigration On Tv
    Immigration Policies
    Immigration Policy
    Immigration Politics
    Immigration Portfolio Management
    Immigration Power
    Immigration Practice
    Immigration Profiling
    Immigration Protectionism
    Immigration Quotas
    "immigration Reform"
    Immigration Reform
    Immigration Reform Act Services
    Immigration Regulations
    Immigration Reporters
    Immigration Reporting
    Immigration Simplicity
    Immigration Status
    Immigration Terminology
    Immigration Themes
    Immigration Transition Team
    Immigration Transparency
    Immigration Truths
    Immigration Untruths
    Immigration Writing
    "Immigration Year In Review"
    Immigration Year In Review
    Immis
    Imperfect Immigration Past
    Impermissible Fee Splitting
    Improper Payments
    Imputed Intent
    INA 203(d)
    INA 203(h)(3)
    INA 204(j)
    INA 208(a)(2)(A)
    INA 212(f)
    INA 214(i)(1)
    INA 217(b)(12)
    INA § 240(b)(4)(B)
    INA 244(f)(4)
    INA 245(a)
    INA 245(k)
    INA 274(a)(1)(A)(iv)
    INA 274A(h)(3)
    INA § 274B
    INA 275
    INA § 301(g)
    Inadmissibility
    Ina Section 101a350fbc5520b3
    Ina Section 203d40da1fbde2
    Ina Section 204l15b30a9fb6
    INA Section 212(a)(2)(G)
    INA Section 301(g)
    INA Section 322
    Inc.
    Inclusive Speech
    INc. V. DHS
    Inc. V. USCIS
    Independent Contractor
    Independent Fiduciary
    India
    India And China
    India Inc.
    India IT
    Indian Citizens
    Indian IT Firms Or Companies
    Indian Prime Minister
    Indian Supreme Court
    Individualized Determinations
    Individual Shared Responsibility Provision
    Indonesian Christians
    Indophobia
    Ineffective-assistance-of-counsel
    Infected
    Infosys
    Infosys Immigration Settlement
    Infosys Settlement
    Infosys Visa Rules
    Inherent Skill
    Inhouse Counsel51701e4a40
    Innovation
    Insightful Immigration Blog
    Intending Immigrant
    Interior Immigration Enforcement
    International Criminal Court
    International Entrepreneur Parole
    International Entrepreneurs
    International Union Of Bricklayers And Allied Craftsmen V. Meese
    Internet Marriages
    Internment
    Interview
    Intracompany Transferee Visas
    Investigations
    Investment
    Investors
    Investor Visa
    Iran
    Iraq
    Iraqis
    Irca
    IRS
    Irs Form 2555
    Irs Publication 519
    I-Squared Act
    Italian Immigrants
    IT Consulting
    It Consulting Companies
    IWPA
    J1 Waiver3fd1477d5d
    J1 Waivers6f3dd388e8
    Jaen V. Sessions
    James McHenry
    Jan Brewer
    J And M Nonimmigrants
    Janet Napolitano
    Japanese American Internment
    Jared Kushner
    Javier Becerra
    Jeff Sessions
    Job Advertisements
    Job Creation
    Job Flexibility
    Job Portability
    Job Shops
    Joe Arpaio
    John A. Mendez
    John Doe Et Al. V. Canada
    John Mccain
    John Roberts
    Johnson V. United States
    John Yoo
    Joint-representation
    Jordan V. DeGeorge
    Jose Ines Garcia Zarate
    Josh Mckoon
    Journalism And Immigration
    Judge Hanen
    Judicial Deference
    Judicial Review
    Julia Preston
    July 1
    July 2007 Visa Bulletin
    Jus Soli
    Justice
    Justice Brandeis
    Justice Department
    Justice For Immigrants
    Justice Sotomayor Dissenting Opinion
    K-1 Visa
    K3 Visa37acf4a9cf
    Kansas
    Kate Steinle
    Kauffman Foundation
    Kazarian
    Kazarian V. USCIS
    Kellogg Language
    Kellogg Magic Language
    Kenneth Palinkas
    Kerry V. Din
    Khaled V Holder982a962865
    King V. Burwell
    Kleindienst V. Mandel
    Known Or Suspected Terrorist
    Know Nothing
    Kobach
    Korematsu V. United States
    Kovacs-v-united-states
    Kris Kobach
    Kris Koback
    Kst
    Kurupati V. USCIS
    L-1
    L-1A
    L-1A Visa
    L1a Visas537fc94d3f
    L-1B
    "L-1B Visa"
    L-1B Visa
    L1b Visaffc1d0a913
    "L-1B Visas"
    L1b Visas705e041a79
    L-1 Visa
    L1 Visa8e59dfe5b4
    L-1 Visa For Entrepreneurs
    L1-visa-intracompany-transferee-visa-intracompany-transfer-l1a
    L1 Visas291f967a4b
    Laboratories Of Democracy
    Labor Certification
    Labor Certification And Balca
    Labor Condition Application
    Labor Condition Applications
    "Labor Department"
    Labor Department
    Labor Market Testing
    Labor Shortages
    Labor Unions
    Lack Of Experience
    Lamar Smith
    Lameduck Congress2bd365b0dc
    Laos
    Lateef V Holder04525394c8
    Latino
    Law
    Lawfully Present
    Lawful Permanent Resident
    Lawful Permanent Resident Status
    Lawful Rejection
    Lawrence Fuchs
    Lawrence H Fuchs8538bb8495
    Lawsuit Against Daca
    Lawsuit Against Immigration Executive Actions
    Lawyers
    Lawyers Arguing
    Lawyers Debating
    Lawyer-suicide
    Layoffs
    LCA
    LCA Audit
    LCA/Labor Condition Application
    Leave Of Absence
    Ledbetter V. Goodyear Tire
    Legal Analysis
    Legal Ethics
    Legal Immigration
    Legalization
    Legal Limbo
    Legalnet
    Legal-status
    Legislative Updates
    Leon Rodriguez
    Less Flexibility
    Level 1 Or Entry Level Wage
    Level 1 Wage
    Level 1 Wages
    Lexmark Int’l Inc. V. Static Control Components Inc.
    Lexmark Int’l V. Static Control Components
    Lgbt
    Liberty
    Libya
    License
    Limited Representation
    Lindsey Graham
    List All Requirements
    Litigation
    Li V Renaudd8a40b72af
    Loan Model
    Loretta Lynch
    Loss Of Revenue
    Low Income Non-citizens
    Low Priority And Discretion
    Low Priority For Removal
    Lpr
    Lugo V. Holder
    Luis Gutierrez
    Lujan V. Defenders Of Wildlife
    Luna Torres V. Holder
    L Visa
    M274f95947aeb8
    Mad Men
    Maintenance Of Status
    Managerial Capacity
    Managerial Duties
    Mandamus Actions
    Mantena V. Johnson
    March 4
    Marco Rubio
    Maria Popova
    Marijuana Activities
    Mario Diazbalarta47ad78f9c
    Mario Rubio
    Marketbased Immigration Reformsac2c6c563f
    Marketing Fee
    Martinez-de Ryan V. Sessions
    Mary Yahya
    Massachusetts
    Master
    Matter New York State Department Of Transportation
    Matter Of AB
    Matter Of A-B
    Matter Of Acosta
    Matter Of Alyazji
    Matter Of ARCG
    Matter Of Arrabally And Yerrabelly
    Matter Of Avetisyan
    Matter Of B-C- Inc.
    Matter Of Cantu
    Matter Of Castro-Tum
    Matter Of Cognizant Technology Solutions
    Matter Of Credit Suisse Securities
    Matter Of Douglas
    Matter Of Ecosecurities
    Matter Of Emma Willard School
    Matter Of E.W. Rodriguez
    Matter Of Fpr515c6b2578
    Matter Of G- Inc.
    Matter Of G-J-S-USA Inc.
    Matter Of Hashmi
    Matter Of Hira
    Matter Of Horizon Computer Services
    Matter Of Izummi
    Matter Of J-R-R-A-
    Matter Of Karl Storz Endoscopyamerica6e946ac639
    Matter Of Koljenovic
    Matter Of L-A-B-R-
    Matter Of Lovo
    Matter Of M-A-M-
    Matter Of Marcal Neto
    Matter Of MEVG
    Matter Of Mississippi Phosphate
    Matter Of O. Vasquez
    Matter Of O Vazquez0fffb5957e
    Matter Of Rajah
    Matter Of Siemens Water Technologies Corp
    Matter Of Silva-Trevino
    Matter Of Simeio Solutions
    Matter Of Simelo Solutions
    Matter Of Skirball
    Matter Of Skirball Cultural Center
    Matter Of Symantec Corporation
    Matter Of The Clariden School
    Matter Of V-S-G- Inc.
    Matter Of WGR
    Matter Of Z-A-
    Matter Of Zamora
    Matter Of Zeleniak
    Matt Ramsey
    Mccain
    Medicaid
    Mehta Declaration
    Mehta V. DOL
    Meissner Memo
    Melania Trump
    Melissa Harrisperrye735025247
    Meme
    Memorandum Of Understanding
    Mental Competency
    Meritorious Claims
    Meritsbased Systemdcb9af44f1
    Mexico
    Michelle Malkin
    Michigan
    Micron Technologies
    Middle Vendor Arrangements And H-1B Visa
    Migrant Manifesto
    Military Families
    Military Service
    Minimum Requirements
    Misclassification
    Misinform
    Misprision-of-felony
    Miss Minnesota
    Mistakes By DSO
    Mitch Mcconnell
    Mitt Romney
    Modular Container Systems
    Moin V Ashcroft3374c3ffaa
    MOMA
    Moncrieffe V Holder2a74c71b8b
    Montana Campaign Finance Law
    #MoreThanALabel
    Morton June 17 Memo
    Morton Memo
    Morton Memo On Discretion
    Motion For Continuance
    Motion For Reconsideration
    Motions For Continuance
    Mou
    Msnbc
    Museum Of Modern Art
    Muslim Ban
    Muslim Travel Ban
    NAFTA
    Narendra Modi
    Narratives
    National Citizenship And Immigration Services Council
    National Day Of Action
    National Id Card
    National Immigration And Customs Enforcement Council
    National Interest Waiver
    National Interest Waivers For Entrepreneurs
    National Interest Wavier
    National Origin
    National Security
    National Security Concern
    Nation Of Immigrators Awards
    Nativism
    Nativist
    Naturalization
    Negotiable
    Neufeld Memo
    New I9268baceca5
    New International Legal Norm
    New Office L19f5f4f35f9
    New Rule Of Professional Conduct 7.2(b)
    Newspaper Of General Circulation
    News & Politics
    New State Ice Co V. Liebmann
    New Travel Ban Executive Order
    New York Constitutional Convention
    New York Daily News Op Ed
    New York State Bar Ethics Opinion 1116
    New York State Bar Opinion 1132
    New York Times
    Next Generation Tech Inc. V. Johnson
    Nexus Requirement
    Nfl
    Nguyen V. Holder
    Nicaragua
    Nicholas Colucci
    Ninth Circuit
    NIV
    NIW
    NOI
    NOIR
    Non-citizens
    Non-compete
    Non-existent USCIS Entrepreneurs Pathway Portal
    Nonfrivolous Application
    Nonimmigrant
    Nonimmigrant Visas
    Nonimmigrant Visa Status
    Non-justiciable
    Nonknown Or Suspected Terroristd52dcd7966
    Nonkst248c8faee5
    Nonprofit Affiliated Or Related To University
    Nonprofits And H-1B Cap
    Non-refoulement
    Non-work Activities
    Nostalgia
    Not Counting Derivative Family Members
    Not Counting Family Members
    Notice Of Intent To Revoke
    Notice Of Suspect Documents
    Notice To Appear
    November 2014 Midterm Elections
    NSD
    NSEERS
    NTA Policy
    Numbersusa
    NYSDOT
    O-1
    O-1 Visa
    Oath Of Allegiance
    Obama
    "Obama Administration"
    Obama Administration
    Obama Amensty Immigration Deferred Action81e6468f69
    Obama August 18 Announcement
    Obamacare
    Occupational Outlook Handbook
    Occupy Wall Street
    Ocrcl
    October 2012 Visa Bulletin
    October 2015 Visa Bulletin
    Offered Wage
    Office Of Civil Rights And Civil Liberties
    Office Of Foreign Labor Certification
    Office Of Inspector General
    Office Of Special Counsel
    Office Of Special Counsel For Unfair Immigration-Related Employment Practices
    Oig Report
    Olivia Sanson
    Omission
    One Labor Certification
    Opposition To Corruption
    OPT
    Optional Practical Training
    OPT Optional Practical Training
    Opt Out
    Opt Practical Training
    Osama Bin Laden
    Osc
    Oscar De La Hoya
    Osorio V Mayorkas806a9e9fb4
    Outrage
    Outsourcing
    Overqualification
    Overt Act
    O Visas
    O Visas For Entrepreneurs
    Ownership And Control
    P3 Visa72357cd170
    Padilla V Kentucky200410eaa5
    Paperwork Reduction Act
    Parole
    Parole For International Entrepreneurs
    Parole In Place
    Paroleinplace3a3ddef22b
    Particular Social Group
    Parviz Tanavoli
    Pat Buchanan
    Path To Citizenship
    Paul Ryan
    Peggy Noonan
    Penalties
    PERM
    Permanent Residency Options
    Perm-audit-triggers
    Perm-faqs-round-10
    PERM Labor Certification
    Person Of Extraordinary Ability
    Persons Of Extraordinary Ability
    Phantom Visa Status
    Physical Presence In A Foreign Country
    Piepowder Court
    Piers Morgan
    Pinochet
    Plain Language
    Plain Language Of Regulation Regarding Compelling Circumstances
    Plenary Power
    Plyler V. Doe
    Points System
    Policy
    Political Correctness
    Political Opinion
    Pope Francis
    Port
    Portability
    Portfolio Management
    Porting
    Porting Off Unadjudicated I-140
    Post Graduate Diploma
    Potential Court Challenge To Unlawful Presence Memo
    Potted Plants
    Preemption
    Premium Processing
    Premption
    Preponderance Of The Evidence
    Preponderence Of Evidence Standard
    President
    Presidential Debates
    Presidential Elections
    Presidentil Proclomoation 9645
    President Obama
    President Obama Executive Actions
    President Trump
    President Tump
    Presumption Of Fraud Or Misrepresentation
    Prevailing Wage Determination
    Prevailing Wage Determination Validity Period
    Primary And Alternate Requirements
    Printz V. United States
    Priority Date
    Priority Date Retrogression
    Priority Dates
    Private Employment Firms
    Pro Bono
    Pro-bono-legal-services
    Processing Times
    Procurement
    Prodsecutorial Discretion
    Prodsecutorial Discretion Morton Memo James Madison6c95a0548c
    Professional-responsibility
    Proper Signature
    Proposed Rule
    Prosecution For Illegal Entry
    Prosecutorial Discretion
    Protect And Grow American Jobs Act
    Protectionism
    Protests
    Provisional Waiver
    Provisional Waiver Of 3 And 10 Year Bars
    Proxy Marriage
    Public Charge
    Public Health Significance
    Public Service
    Puleo Memorandum
    Puppets
    P Visas
    Qiaowai
    Qualified Candidates
    Qualified Worker
    Quota
    Racial Profiling
    Racism
    Ragbir V. Homan
    Ragbir V. Sessions
    RAISE Act
    Ramirez V. Brown
    Ramirez V. Reich
    Rand Paul
    Range Of Experience
    Raud Detection And National Security
    Raul Hinjosaojedab7c338ba6c
    Ravi Ragbir
    Real Id Act
    Record Deportations
    Recruitment
    Recruitment Report
    Recusal
    Redcarpet Immigrationecf057f251
    Reentry Permit
    Reflecting On September 11
    Refoulement
    Refugee
    Refugee Convention
    Refugees
    Regional Center
    Regional-centers
    Regulations
    Regulatory Flexibility Act
    Regulatory Reform
    Reinterpretation
    Reinterpretation Of INA
    Religion
    Religious Freedom
    Religious Freedom Ground Of Inadmissibility
    Religious Workers
    Relinquish Us Citizenship25cc75ef5e
    Removal Orders And Work Authorization
    Removal Proceeding
    Removal Proceedings
    Render Unto Caesar
    Republican
    Republican Party
    Republicans
    Republicans On Immigration
    Requests For Additional Evidence
    Requests For Evidence
    Required Wage
    Rescission Of Deference Policy
    Residential Fiance Corp V. USCIS
    Resident Vs. Non-Resident Alien
    Restaurant Immigration
    Restrictive Covenant
    Resume Review
    Retention Of Priority Date
    Retroactive Application Of Agency Decision
    Retrogression
    Return Transportation Cost Or Payment
    Retweets
    Reverse Migration
    Revocation
    Revocation Of I130 Petition29e2465d50
    Reza Derakshani
    Rfe
    Rfes
    Rights Of Defendants
    Right To Counsel In Removal Proceedings
    Right To Protect
    Risking Lives
    Rnc Immigration Resolution
    Robert Bosch
    Robert Delahunty
    Robert Zimmerman
    Rod Serling
    Role Of Lawyers
    Romney
    Rosenberg V. Fleuti
    Roving Employee
    Roxana Bacon
    Ruben Navarette
    Rule 1648282cc144
    Rule 3369c1f5dca4
    Rulemaking
    Rule Of Law
    Rules
    Ruqiang Yu V Holder112d7eccb6
    Rusk V. Cort
    Russia
    Rust Belt
    Rust Belt Economies
    S 744388557e228
    Safe Third Country Agreement
    Salary
    Salas-v-sierra-chemical-co
    Same-or-similar
    Same Sex
    Same Sex Marriage
    Samesex Marriagea1a4c1687a
    Same Sex Relationships
    San-berardino-attacks
    Sanctuary
    Sanctuary Cities
    Sanders
    San Francisco
    San Francisco V. Trump
    Saturday Night Live
    Sayfullo Saipov
    Sb 1070
    Sb 170
    Sb 458
    SB 54
    Sb6
    SB 785
    Scales V. INS
    Scialabba-v-cuellar-de-osorio
    Scope Of Representation
    Scotus
    Second Amendment
    Second Circuit
    Second Class Citizenship
    Section-245i
    Section 377 Indian Penal Code
    Section-911
    Section-k
    Security Council
    Self Employment
    Self Referral
    Sen Al Franken8d17f34572
    Senate Bill 54
    Senate-homeland-security-and-governmental-affairs-committee
    Senate Immigration Reform Proposal
    Senate Judiciary Committee
    Senator Grassley
    Senator Hatch Legal Immigration Reform07d2d1ba79
    Senator Mccain
    Senator Rubio
    Senator Schumer
    Sen-coburn
    Sen Cornynb4913b20f7
    Sen Mccain70a20820e6
    Sen Reidd251095d63
    Sen Schumered4af5bde9
    Sen-tom-coburn
    Separating Children From Parents
    Separation Of Children
    Separation Of Powers
    September 11
    Sergio Garcia
    Sessions V. Dimaya
    Settlement Agreement
    SEVP
    Shabaj V Holdercba68a701d
    Shameful Adults
    Shortage Occupations
    Short-term Placement
    Show Me Your Papers
    Shyima Hall
    Siblings
    Simeio
    Simon Winchestor
    Singapore
    Singh V Reno628d251f29
    Site Visit
    Skidmore Deference
    Skilled Immigrants
    Skilled Legal Immigrants
    Skilled Workers
    Skype
    Slavery
    Smartzip
    Soccer
    Social Distinction
    Social Media
    Social Security Administration Ssa No Match Letterf1d55fcc30
    Sole-representation
    Solis-Espinoza V. Gonzales
    Somalia
    Sophie Cruz
    Sought To Acquire
    Sought To Acquire Lawful Permanent Residency
    Southern Border Enforcement
    Special Counsel
    Special Enrollment Period
    Special Immigrants
    "Specialized Knowledge"
    Specialized Knowledge
    Specialty Occupation
    Specialty Occupations
    Spouse Of H1b153354d1c2
    Staffing Companies
    Stakeholders
    Stalin
    Standard Occupational Classification
    Standing
    Startup
    Startup Visa
    Startup Visa31494d637e
    State Bar Of California
    "State Department"
    State Department
    State Department Advisory Opinion
    State Department Visa Bulletin
    State Enforcement Of Immigration Laws
    State Immigration Law
    State Immigration Laws
    State Law
    State Legislation
    State Rights V. Federal Preemption
    States
    States Refusal
    States Rights
    Status
    Status Violations
    STEM
    STEM 24-month OPT Extension
    Stem Green Card
    Stem Immigration
    Stem Jobs Act
    STEM OPT
    STEM OPT Employer Attestations
    STEM OPT Extension
    Step By Step Day Care LLC
    Stephen Miller
    Steve King
    St. Louis Ship
    Stories
    Storytelling
    Strauss Kahn
    Strausskahn00f7a82137
    Strausskahn0c784e0777
    Strickland-test
    Students And Scholars
    Stylebook
    Subcommittee On Immigration Policy And Enforcement
    Subhan V. Ashcroft
    Substantial Presence Test
    Success Stories
    Sudan
    Summary Removal
    Sunday Ads
    Super Fee
    Supervised Recruitment
    Supporting US High Skilled Business And Workers
    Supremacy Clause
    Supreme Court
    Supreme Court Of The United States
    Suresh Kumar Koushal V Naz Foundation0c35ab381e
    Surrogate Arrangements
    Surviving Spouse Immigration Benefits
    Suspension Of Premium Processing
    Suspension Of Prevailing Wage Determination
    Swde
    Syria
    Syrian Refugees
    Tabaddor V. Holder
    Take Care Clause
    Tamerlan Tsarnaev
    Tani Cantil-Sakauye
    Tapis International V. INS
    Taxes
    Tax Return
    Tax Treaty
    Teaching
    Techorbits
    Ted Cruz
    Ted Cruzs Canadian Citizenship97b85977cd
    Ted J Chiapparid1be1c2015
    Tek Services
    Telecommuting
    Temporary Labor Certification
    Temporary Nonimmigrant Waiver
    Temporary Protected Status
    Temporary Waiver
    Tenrec
    Tenrec Inc. V. USCIS
    Tenyear Bare5cfe49a0e
    Terminatiion
    Termination Of TPS
    Terrorism
    Tesla Motors
    Texas Anti-Sanctuary Law SB 4
    Texas V. United States
    Texas V. USA
    Thanksgiving Turkey
    That Was The Week That Was
    The Iword925fa53b25
    The Philippines
    The Snake
    The Tyranny Of Priority Dates
    Third Circuit
    Third Party
    Third-Party Arrangements
    Third Party Client
    Third Party Client Site
    Thomas Jefferson
    Threeyear Barca4ce1adbf
    Three Year Indian Degree
    Three Year Old
    Thrust Upon Conflicts
    Time
    Tina Turner
    TN Visas
    Tolling
    Tom Lehrer
    Top 10 Most Viewed Posts
    Torture
    Totality Of Circumstances Test
    TPP
    TPS
    Trade In Services
    Trade Policy
    Trade With India
    Trafficking
    Trafficking; VAWA
    Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act
    Training Plan
    Training Plans
    Transparency
    Travel
    Travel Authorization
    Travel Ban
    Travel Ban Executive Order
    Travel Ban Waivers
    Trayvon Martin
    Tribunal
    Truax V. Raich
    Trump
    Trump Immigration Policies
    Trump V. Hawaii
    Tseung Chu V. Cornell
    Turner V Rogerse0e2213e28
    TVRPA
    Tweets
    Twitter
    Two Priority Dates
    Tyranny Of Priority Dates
    "U"
    Unaccompanied Children
    Unaccompanied Minor
    Unaccompanied Minors
    Unauthorized Employment
    Unauthorized Immigrants
    Uncategorized
    Uncommon H-1B Occupations
    Unconstitutional
    Undamental Fairness
    Undocumented
    Undocumented Immigrant
    Undocumented Immigrants
    Undocumented Lawyer
    Undocumented Student
    Undocumented Workers
    Unhappy-lawyers
    United States Citizenship And Immigration Services
    United States Trade
    United States V. Bean
    United States V. Texas
    United States V Windsord2b852bf02
    United States V. Wong Kim Ark
    University Of Miami Law School
    Unlawfully Present
    Unlawful Presence
    U Nonimmigrant Visa
    Unsuccessful Prosecution
    USA V. California
    USA V. Olivar
    USA V. Texas
    US-Canada Border
    Us Chamber Of Commercea7b71cf5ba
    USCIS
    USCIS California Service Center
    USCIS Deference Policy
    USCIS Director
    USCIS Director Francis Cissna
    Uscis Economists
    USCIS Guidance
    Uscis Immigration Attorney Attorney At Immigration Interview Frauda4f5dad76b
    USCIS Listening Session
    "USCIS Ombudsman"
    Uscis Ombudsman
    "USCIS Policy Memorandum"
    Uscis Policy Memorandum
    U.S. Citizen Parent
    U.S. Citizenship
    Us Constitution
    Us Consulate
    Us Consulate081a8a95d6
    Us Consulates64f4af575b
    Us Customs And Border Protectione83df9ce06
    U S Immigration And Customs Enforcementca915606c7
    U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement
    Us Immigration Policy18cc81545d
    Us Tax Guide For Aliens
    Us V Arizonaa89601cba1
    U.S. V. California
    US Worker
    US Workers
    Us Workersbab035371d
    Utah
    U Visa
    U Visa Category
    U Visa Eligibility
    U Visa Status
    "U" Visa; U Visa
    Vartelas V Holdera1ea23ce84
    Vawa
    Velasquez-Garcia V.Holder
    Velasquez-Garcia V. Holder
    Vendor Management
    Vendor Relations
    Vera
    Vera V Attorney Generalaf3a90412f
    Vermont Service Center
    Viability
    Viability Of Fleuti
    Victims Of Abuse
    Victims Of Crime
    Victims Of Domestic Abuse Or Sex Crimes
    Victims Of Domestic Violence
    Villas At Parkside Partners V. Farmers Branch
    Vinayagam V. Cronous Solutions
    Violation Of Status
    Violence Against Women Act
    Vip Immigration
    Visa Application
    Visa Availability
    Visa Ban
    Visa Bulletin
    Visa Denials
    Visagate2015
    Visa Modernization
    Visa Revocation
    Visas
    Visa Voidance
    Visa Voidance 3year Bara99b8dc197
    Visa Waiver Admission
    Visa Waiver Program
    Vivek Wadhwa
    Vladimir Putin
    Void For Vagueness
    Voting
    Vwp
    Waiting In The Immigration Line
    Waiting Line
    Waiting List
    Waiver
    Waiver Of 10 Year Bar
    Waiver Of Inadmissibility
    Waivers
    Wall
    Washington Alliance Of Technology Workers
    Washington Alliance Of Technology Workers V. DHS
    Washington V. Trump
    WashTec
    Wealthy Travelers
    White House
    Work Authorization
    Work Permits
    Worksite
    Workspace
    Work Visas
    Worst Of The Worst
    Xenophobia
    Yemen
    Yerrabelly
    Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. V. Sawyer
    Youseff V Renaud
    Youth
    Zombie Precedents
    Zone Of Interest
    Zone Of Interests

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
Photo from Mrs Logic