Practice Advisory

Answering questions about whether public charge inadmissibility applies to a client’s specific situation can be complicated. Case-specific considerations include, but are not limited to, whether the client has a legal status that is exempt from public charge inadmissibility, whether the client is seeking a form of relief that has an admissibility component, and whether the client is eligible to...

In order to qualify for naturalization, lawful permanent residents must meet several residence and physical presence requirements that are often mistaken for one another and muddled together. Traveling outside of the United States can not only affect these requirements for naturalization, but they can cause United States Citizenship and Immigration (USCIS) officials to find that a person...

People who were wrongfully admitted to the United States due to a misrepresentation—i.e., those who were in fact inadmissible at time of admission—may be eligible for a waiver of deportability under INA § 237(a)(1)(H). This lesser-known waiver is only available in removal proceedings and unlike most waiver requests, does not involve any application form or fee . This advisory explains who can...

This advisory provides an overview of basic concepts in immigration law and describes the government agencies that work in this area. It is a primer for paralegals and accredited representatives who are new to the subject.

Cancellation of removal under INA § 240A(a) is an important defense for lawful permanent residents who have become removable, due to criminal record or other reasons. The requirements for statutory eligibility are complex, and it is critical for advocates to understand the risks and strategies that arise from the Supreme Court’s decision on the “stop-time” rule, Barton v. Barr , --U.S.--, 140 S...

Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) records requests are an important tool for advocates who are representing people who were detained in ORR custody as children. This practice advisory discusses the role ORR records play in an immigration case and outlines the process for requesting them.

The domestic violence deportation ground at INA § 237(a)(2)(E) sets out four bases for deportation: conviction of a crime of domestic violence, a crime of stalking, or a crime of child abuse, neglect, or abandonment, or being the subject of a judicial finding of violation of a domestic violence stay-away order. Coming within one of these grounds also can be a bar to cancellation of removal for...

On November 1, 2019 the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced the automatic extension of employment authorization and other documentation for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) holders from El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Nepal, Nicaragua, and Sudan. Each of those TPS-designated countries was set to expire in 2020 but will now be automatically extended through January 4, 2021. This practice...

This practice alert highlights the key take-aways from three recently adopted AAO decisions and some of the most important elements of the proposed regulations for advocates to challenge through comments, and contains an Appendix with case summaries of the AAO decisions.

On October 25, 2019, Attorney General Barr issued a precedential opinion limiting when immigration authorities will give effect to a state court modification of an imposed sentence. See Matter of Thomas and Matter of Thompson , 27 I&N Dec. 674 (AG 2019), available at: https://www.justice.gov/eoir/page/file/1213201/download (“ Matter of Thomas/Thompson ”) While advocates plan to challenge this...