Precedents on Rule that Family-Sponsored Petition Must be Approvable When Filed

Starting with Matter of Katigbak, 14 I&N Dec. 45 (Reg. Comm. 1971) [PDF version], the former Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) issued a line of precedential decisions holding that employment-based immigrant visa petitions must be approvable at the time of the priority date in order to be approved. The principle was also applied in the nonimmigrant visa context in Matter of Michelin Tire Corporation, 17 I&N Dec. 248 (Reg. Comm. 1978) [PDF version]. The Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) would eventually adopt the same principles with regard to family-sponsored immigrant visa petitions, beginning with Matter of Bardouille, 18 I&N Dec. 114 (BIA 1981) [PDF version].

We discuss the line of cases beginning with Matter of Katigbak in a separate article [see article]. To learn about the line of cases dealing with family-sponsored petitions, please see the relevant section of that article [see article].