California Service Center: The New Regime
December 9, 2013
In keeping with an INS directive earlier this year to improve productivity at the four INS regional processing centers, the California Service Center announced some rather sweeping reforms. The Service Center has been plagued with delay problems, such as I-140 Petitions for Immigrant Workers taking as long as 15 months to adjudicate. The recent announcement […]
Asylum: Exception to 'Unlawful Presence'
December 9, 2013
The immigrant communities of the United States have been stirring ever since Congress created the dreaded "3 and 10 year bar" to reentry in 1996. The INS still has not promulgated regulations regarding the law, which has added to everyone's confusion and caused public speculation as to what the law really means. With so many […]
April 5, 2000 - Burden of Proof Modified in Denaturalization Cases
December 9, 2013
Last year, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in Gorbach v. Reno reversed the ruling of a Washington District Court Judge, which had held that the INS' "administrative denaturalization" rules were unauthorized, and enjoined the INS from proceeding against any individual. The INS rule, which was originally published in 1996, purported to implement a change […]
April 30, 2001: Final Deadline for 245(i)
December 9, 2013
On December 21, 2000 President Clinton signed the Legal Immigration and Family Equity Act ("LIFE") into law. LIFE extends the "grandfathering deadline" of Section 245(i) of the Immigration & Nationality Act ("INA") until April 30, 2001. Section 245(i), which allowed many otherwise ineligible applicants for adjustment of status to apply for and receive green cards […]
Appeals Processing From Immigration Court Decisions
December 9, 2013
Each year, I consult with hundreds of individuals who have been ordered to leave the US by Immigration Judges. In the vast majority of these cases, the person had applied for some form of relief from removal, such as asylum, and the Immigration Judge denied the claim and either granted the person voluntary departure or […]
Administrative Denaturalization: A Grim Reality
December 9, 2013
The Ninth Circuit court of Appeals in Gorbach v. Reno recently dealt a serious blow to thousands of individuals who may have obtained their Naturalization certificate by mistake or misrepresentation. The Ninth Circuit reversed the ruling of a Washington District Court Judge, which had held that the INS' "administrative denaturalization" rules were unauthorized, and enjoined […]
