What is a qualifying relative? Question: I have some friends who are applying for different kinds of waivers, but I don’t know if they qualify. I heard that they are supposed to have somebody that will suffer extreme hardship if they will be denied the waiver. Can you explain? Answer: First, you have to understand …

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A settlement agreement was reached in a lawsuit challenging USCIS’s policy of withholding asylum officer interview notes from FOIA responses. Under the agreement, USCIS must instruct employees involved in processing FOIA requests that asylum officer interview notes generally are to be produced. http://ow.ly/rBqBN Foia meaning Appeal foia Online Foia Foia request

The Supreme Court will heard oral argument on December 10, 2013, in the Child Status Protection Act (CSPA) case, Mayorkas v. De Osorio. The Court will consider whom Congress intended to benefit by INA §203(h)(3), a provision which allows beneficiaries of certain visa petitions to retain earlier priority dates after “aging-out” (turning 21) and losing …

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http://ow.ly/tcllC The use of prosecutorial discretion is on the rise in Los Angeles and in some other immigration courts.

http://ow.ly/tckZG Medical condition can be basis for asylum. The Fourth Circuit vacated and remanded, finding that the petitioner, who suffered severe harm in hospitals and prisons in Tanzania, qualified for asylum based on his membership in the particular social group of individuals with bipolar disorder who exhibit erratic behavior.

http://ow.ly/tckQk News on detainee rights from ICE. Under a proposed settlement of a class-action lawsuit, ICE agreed to avoid shackling detainees at the San Francisco, CA immigration court at bond or merits hearings unless they pose a safety threat or risk of escape.

http://ow.ly/ttaWa The EB-5 Visa, transferring money and international conversion rates

http://ow.ly/tckLs Movement if client was in a gang. The court reversed the BIA, and held that the particular social group of former MS-13 members who have renounced their gang membership is immutable for withholding of removal purposes.

The Sixth Circuit reversed the BIA’s holding that the petitioner was bound to the concession of removability made by his prior attorney, reversed the IJ’s finding that the petitioner was removable, and remanded for the BIA to decide whether the offense of felonious assault under Michigan law is a crime involving moral turpitude.

http://ow.ly/tckw7 More on Immigration Reform possible. According to The New York Times, the House Republican leadership’s outline of immigration principles will call for a path to legal status, but not citizenship, for many of the 11 million adult undocumented immigrants in this country. For immigrants brought to the U.S. as children, however, Republicans would offer …

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http://ow.ly/tckt9 H-2B cap almost reached. As of January 24, 2014, USCIS receipted 25,477 beneficiaries toward the 33,000 H-2B cap for the first half of FY2014. This count includes 19,253 approved and 6,224 pending beneficiaries. Information for the second half of the FY2014 H-2B cap is also included.

http://ow.ly/tckl3 Trying to get an orphan here? A recent change to the definition of “orphan,” such that both parents no longer need to travel prior to or during the adoption in order for the child to obtain automatic U.S. citizenship upon entry on an IR-3 visa.

http://ow.ly/tckgf Immigration Reform possibly coming. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said she spoke with House Speaker John Boehner about the Republican immigration principles, and she believes they are a “good faith effort to find common ground” among Republicans and Democrats.

House Republicans released their standards for immigration reform, which emphasize border enforcement while reforming the legal immigration system, and addressing the undocumented immigrant population. http://ow.ly/tcjTX

http://ow.ly/tckal Make sure if the plea gets vacated – it is done correctly. The Ninth Circuit found the BIA did not violate petitioner’s due process rights when it used the guilty plea from an overturned conviction to find petitioner removable under INA §212(a)(2)(C)(i), because the reason for overturning the conviction was unrelated to the voluntariness …

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