On May 31, 2019, the State Department added new questions to visa application forms, DS-160/DS-156 Nonimmigrant Visa Application and Form DS-260, Immigrant Visa Application. Visa applicants now have to disclose the social media platforms that they have used within the previous five years and provide their user names or handle for each platform. This information […]
By Cyrus D. Mehta & Patrick Matutina Current regulations generally preclude beneficiaries from participating in employment-based immigrant visa proceedings, including post-adjudication motions and appeals. The employment-based immigrant visa petition is Form I-140 that is filed by an employer on behalf of a foreign national beneficiary who is being sponsored for permanent residency under the employment-based […]
By Cyrus D. Mehta & Rebekah Kim An L-1 visa may be issued to a foreign national employee who has worked abroad for at least one continuous year within the last three years for a qualifying, related business entity (e.g., parent, subsidiary, or affiliate) in an executive, managerial, or specialized knowledge capacity, and who is […]
By Cyrus D. Mehta and Amani M. Abuhamra* In a promising development for F, J, and M nonimmigrants battling unlawful presence policy, a federal district court in North Carolina has granted a preliminary injunction preventing USCIS from enforcing its problematic August 9, 2018 policy memo. The August 2018 Policy would render students in F, J […]
In September 2017, the State Department abruptly amended the Foreign Affairs Manual to provide consular officers with broader grounds to find that foreign nationals misrepresented their intentions when they came to the United States on nonimmigrant visas. A finding of fraud or misrepresentation under INA § 212(a)(6)(C)(i) can result in a permanent ground of inadmissibility. […]
By: Sophia Genovese* The Attorney General cannot selectively choose when to apply the rule of law. Yet when it comes to immigrants, the government feels emboldened to ignore the constitutional protections that are afforded to immigrants. In his most recent self-certification, Matter of M-S-, 27 I&N Dec. 509 (A.G. 2019), the Attorney General unilaterally decided […]
USCIS posted TOP TEN WAYS USCIS is improving the Integrity of the Immigration System. Really? Is USCIS improving the integrity of the system or undermining it? The USCIS has been mandated by Congress to grant benefits. Instead, it has usurped the role of ICE to become an enforcement agency. USCIS’s policies under President Trump and […]
A US employer has to meet several requirements when filing an H-1B visa petition on behalf of the foreign national employee. One important requirement is for the employer to notify affected US workers regarding its intent to hire a foreign worker in H-1B nonimmigrant status. The notification requirement is considered to be an important protection […]
In the aftermath of the killing of 49 people who were peacefully praying in two mosques in Christchurch by a white supremacist, it is worth reflecting on Trump’s travel ban again. Trump’s travel ban, also known as the Muslim ban, and all of his other immigration policies, are based on promoting white nationalism. It is […]
In Matter of A-B–, 27 I&N Dec. 227 (A.G. 2018), former Attorney General Jeff Sessions overruled a prior Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) precedent, Matter of A-R-C-G-, 26 I&N Dec. 388 (BIA 2014), which held that victims of domestic violence can qualify for asylum based on their particular social group (PSG) of “married women in Guatemala who […]
