By Cyrus D. Mehta and Kaitlyn Box* On January 31, 2024, the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) issued a decision in Matter of Aguilar Hernandez. Mr. Aguilar Hernandez, a noncitizen from Mexico, had been served a Notice to Appear (NTA) in 2019 that did not list the date and time of his individual hearing. He […]
By Cyrus D. Mehta and Kaitlyn Box The Supreme Court on January 17, 2024 heard arguments in two cases – Relentless, Inc. v. Department of Commerce and Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo – that may determine whether courts will continue to give deference to a federal agency’s interpretation of an ambiguous federal statute as held in Chevron […]
By Cyrus D. Mehta On February 14, 2023, the USCIS recognized that the age of the child gets protected under the Child Status Protection Act when the Date for Filing (DFF) in the Department of State (“DOS” or “State Department”) Visa Bulletin becomes current. Since October 2015, the State Department Visa Bulletin two different charts […]
By Cyrus D. Mehta and Kaitlyn Box* On December 20, 2023, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued updated policy guidance in the USCIS Policy Manual pertaining to nonimmigrant students in F and M status. An F-1 visa allows a nonimmigrant student to enter the U.S. to student at a college or university, while nonimmigrants […]
By Cyrus D. Mehta & Jessica Paszko* Thank you for reading and supporting The Insightful Immigration Blog in 2023 as we covered several major themes. Though we finally said goodbye to the COVID-19 public health emergency in the spring, Title 42, which was instituted due to the pandemic, still hung around for part of the […]
December 22, 2023 Submitted via www.regulations.gov DHS Docket ID No. USCIS-2023-0005 Department of Homeland Security U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Office of Policy and Strategy 5900 Capital Gateway Dr. Camp Springs, MD 20588-0009 Attn: Charles L. Nimick Chief, Business and Foreign Workers Division Re: Regulatory Proposal for Modernizing H–1B Requirements, Providing Flexibility in the […]
By Cyrus D. Mehta and Jessica Paszko* Noncitizen professors or researchers can more easily seek to obtain permanent residence as “outstanding professors and researchers” in light of the District Court of Nebraska’s recent decision in Scripps v. Jaddou. Pursuant to INA § 203(b)(1), noncitizens may be eligible for permanent residency under the employment-based first preference […]
By Cyrus D. Mehta and Kaitlyn Box* The escalating war between Israel and Hamas presents unique challenges for immigration lawyers who represent noncitizens from impacted areas. One such ethical conundrum arises when a lawyer comes to know that a current or prospective client holds views about the conflict that the lawyer strongly disagrees with or […]
By Cyrus Mehta and Jessica Paszko* This is the story of our client Nadia Habib who was in immigration proceedings from 18 months till 31 years until an Immigration Judge granted her adjustment of status on November 21, 2023! Nadia Habib came to the US in 1993 from Bangladesh when she was less than 2 […]
By Cyrus D. Mehta and Kaitlyn Box* On November 9, 2023, the Department of Justice (DOJ) settled a dispute with Apple concerning allegations that Apple’s recruitment practices under the Department of Labor’s (DOL) foreign labor certification program – known as Program Electronic Review Management (PERM) – had discriminated against certain U.S. workers. Specifically, the DOJ […]
