By Cyrus D. Mehta and Kaitlyn Box* Individuals who are caught in the employment-based immigrant visa backlogs must navigate myriad issues that are associated with waiting for their priority dates to become current and applying for adjustment of status. Generally, it is cause for celebration when these individuals’ priority dates become current, as then are […]
By Cyrus D. Mehta and Kaitlyn Box* On May 16, 2022, the Supreme Court issued its decision in Patel v. Garland, a decision that has devastating implications for the reviewability of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ (“USCIS”) actions in federal court. Federal courts, according to the Supreme Court, will no longer be able review factual […]
By Stacy Caplow∗ There are many reasons for despair over the Supreme Court’s technocratic decision in Patel v. Garland which strikingly depends on arguments advanced by an amicus rather than the Government. The decision effectively forecloses judicial review of fact-finding by immigration courts or agencies regardless of whether the fact-finding was unreasonable and produced an incorrect […]
By Cyrus D. Mehta and Jessica Paszko* The Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) § 214(g)(4) limits the amount of time that H-1B nonimmigrant workers may extend their H-1B status to six years. Under certain situations, however, H-1B status may be extended beyond the statutory six-year maximum, namely by way of a “Lengthy Adjudication Delay Exemption” […]
By Cyrus Mehta and Kaitlyn Box* On April 3, 2022 the U.S. Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE) Office of the Principal Legal Advisor (OPLA) Kerry E. Doyle issued a memorandum (“the Doyle memo”) which empowers ICE attorneys to exercise prosecutorial discretion in handling the cases of noncitizens who are not considered enforcement priorities under the […]
By Cyrus Mehta and Kaitlyn Box* In light of the recent crises in Afghanistan and Ukraine, Temporary Protected Status (TPS) has been at the forefront of discussions around how the United States can assist individuals who are fleeing these two countries. On March 3, 2022, Ukraine was designated for TPS for an 18 month period. […]
By Cyrus D. Mehta It is well settled that noncitizens must have the requisite intent to work for their employers at the time of entry or adjustment of status under the employment second (EB-2) or employment third preferences (EB-3) unless they are exercising job portability under specific statutory provision. A noncitizen who does not have […]
I conducted a one hour presentation on immigration relief for Ukrainians under the aegis of the Practising Law Institute on March 29, 2022, and spoke about options for Ukrainians in the US as well as for those who have fled Ukraine or considering fleeing as a result of the unprovoked Russian invasion. This presentation should […]
By Cyrus D. Mehta and Kaitlyn Box* Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in late February 2022, there has rightly been much discussion of how to assist the Ukraine and its citizens. The United States’ immigration laws can plainly be employed to assist Ukrainian nationals who wish to seek refuge in the United States, including extending […]
By Cyrus D. Mehta, Kaitlyn Box*, and Jessica Paszko** The USCIS Contact Center purports to provide tools for checking case statuses online, correcting notices that contain mistakes or were never delivered, and connecting applicants to a representative for live support. However, the Contact Center is more often a source of frustration than assistance. We outline […]
