Law Offices of Brian D. Lerner
Deportation Lawyers & Immigration Attorneys Helping Families Nationwide
BALCA affirmed the Certifying Officer’s denial of certification, finding that the employer’s failure to advertise the option of free housing, despite the employer’s argument that the benefit was normal to the occupation and could have been assumed, was an omission of a material aspect of employment that would influence whether or not a U.S. worker …
The Fifth Circuit vacated the Board of Immigration Appeals’ decision and remanded, finding that the petitioner’s misdemeanor conviction for the possession of marijuana within 1,000 feet of his high school (a “drug-free zone”) under Texas law satisfied the personal-use exception under INA §237(a)(2)(B)(i). https://cbocalbos.wordpress.com/tag/possession-crime/ https://cbocalbos.wordpress.com/tag/drug-charge/ https://cbocalbos.wordpress.com/tag/drug-crime/ https://californiaimmigration.us/drug-offense-removability-uphelod/
USCIS issued a notice that certain H-1B and L-1 petitions filed on or after October 1, 2015, should not include the additional filing fees of $2,000 or $2,250, often called “border security fees,” that were previously required by Public Law 111-230. The additional fees expired on September 30, 2015. All other H-1B and L-1 fees, …
The Ninth Circuit dismissed the petition for review, holding that, pursuant to the jurisdiction-stripping provisions of INA §242(a)(2)(A), the court lacked jurisdiction to review the Immigration Judge’s affirmance of the asylum officer’s negative credible fear determination in the petitioner’s expedited removal proceedings. The court rejected the petitioner’s argument that the jurisdiction-stripping provisions unconstitutionally deprived the …
The State Department released the Visa Bulletin for November 2015, including the availability of immigrant numbers for “Application Final Action Dates” (indicating when DOS or USCIS can make a decision on the applications) and “Dates for Filing Applications” (indicating when immigrant visa applicants should be notified to submit required documentation). There was no forward movement …
The Ninth Circuit upheld the Board of Immigration Appeals, holding that the failure of a Notice to Appear (NTA) to specify the date and location of a removal hearing has no effect on the stop-time rule. Accordingly, the court found that the petitioner, who had not accrued the requisite period of continuous physical presence by …
Today, CBP released statistics on the number of use of force incidents that occurred between FY2011 and FY2015, broken down by fiscal year. The data, which reflects the application of the use of force by U.S. Border Patrol agents, CBP officers, and air interdiction agents, indicates that there were 768 use of force incidents in …
The Eighth Circuit denied the petition for review, finding that the petitioner forfeited his right to a merits hearing on the charge of falsely representing himself as a U.S. citizen in violation of INA §237(a)(3)(D) when he failed to make a timely assertion of that right. As such, the court held that the petitioner’s arguments …
BALCA affirmed the denial of certification where the employer listed the name of the president of the company, but not name of the employer, on the Notice of Filing (NOF). Rejecting the employer’s harmless error argument, BALCA stated that, without the employer’s name in the NOF, “a person attempting to provide information to the Certifying …
USCIS announced that, approximately one week after DOS releases the Visa Bulletin each month, it will post an announcement on its website to inform adjustment of status applicants whether they can rely on the “filing dates” chart or the “final action dates” chart in the Visa Bulletin to determine when they can file their applications. …
The First Circuit upheld the Board of Immigration Appeals, finding that the petitioner was not eligible for cancellation of removal, because he had failed to meet his burden of proving by a preponderance of the evidence that his 2006 assault conviction was not a “crime of domestic violence.” https://cbocalbos.wordpress.com/tag/cancellation-of-removal/ https://cbocalbos.wordpress.com/tag/special-cancellation-of-removal/ https://cbocalbos.wordpress.com/tag/cancellation-for-removal/ https://californiaimmigration.us/removal/
Today, DOL published in the Federal Register a final rule on the temporary agricultural employment of H–2A foreign workers in the field of herding and production of livestock on the range. The rule is effective on November 16, 2015, and implements a new wage methodology with a two-year transition period during 2016 and 2017, and …
DHS is proposing to amend its F-1 nonimmigrant student visa regulations on optional practical training (OPT) to allow certain F-1 STEM students who have elected to pursue 12 months of OPT in the United States to extend the OPT period by 24 months. An advance copy of the proposed rule is now available. The proposed …
USCIS advised that it has suspended final adjudication of employment-based Form I-485 applications as of today, because the Department of State indicated that the statutory cap has been reached for the employment-based preference categories through the remainder of FY2015, which concludes on September 30, 2015. USCIS stated that it will continue to accept adjustment of …
The First Circuit upheld the Board of Immigration Appeals, holding that the plain language of INA §101(a)(43) compels the conclusion that a predicate conviction under federal or state law can constitute an aggravated felony even if the petitioner served no term of imprisonment for that crime.