On November 7, 2018, now former U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions resigned at the request of President Donald Trump. Upon the resignation of Sessions, President Trump has appointed Matthew Whitaker as the acting Attorney General under the authority of 5 U.S.C. 3345(a)(3) – a provision of the Federal Vacancies Reform Act which allows the President to appoint certain employees of a federal agency to fill a vacancy in an acting capacity. In this article, we will discuss what the change means for immigration law going forward.
Submitted by Eliza Grinberg on November 5, 2018 - 10:53am
On October 25, 2018, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) published Policy Alert (PA)-2010-10, titled “SUBJECT: Use of Form G-325A.” It updates the Policy Manual and the Adjudicator's Field Manual to account for changes in the use of the Form G-325.
On October 19, 2018, the Supreme Court of the United States shuffled its circuit justice assignments with the swearing in of Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
On October 25, 2018, President Donald Trump marked the 35th anniversary of Hezbollah’s bombing the U.S. Marines barracks in Beiruit – killing 241 U.S. Marines – by signing into law stringent new sanctions against the Iran-backed Islamist terror group. The Hizballah International Financing Prevention Amendments Act of 2018 was sponsored by Senator Marco Rubio and was passed overwhelmingly by both houses of Congress.
On October 5, 2018, the U.S. Department of State published the Visa Bulletin for November 2018. The Visa Bulletin for November 2018 contains final action dates and dates for filing for the family-sponsored and employment-based preference categories. On October 12, 2018, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) determined that beneficiaries of approved immigrant visa petitions in the family- and employment-based preferences who are applying for adjustment of status must use the more favorable filing dates for determining eligibility to file for adjustment in November. In this article, we will review the relevant charts and news from the Visa Bulletin for November 2018.
Submitted by Eliza Grinberg on October 24, 2018 - 2:55pm
On October 19, 2018, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) published a news alert about its efforts in assisting with the investigation and successful prosecution of an individual for fraudulently practicing immigration law.
On September 28, 2018, the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) announced that it had completed its largest ever immigration judge investiture, swearing in 46 new members of the immigration bench. The investiture of 46 new immigration judges in the September 28, 2018 announcement followed the investiture of 23 immigration judges announced on August 16, 2018. This uptick in immigration judge hiring has brought the size of the immigration judge corps to 395. In this post, we will briefly examine the new resumes of each of the 46 new immigration judges, sorted by the immigration courts on which they will serve.
On October 16, 2018, the Execution Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) made two important changes to the Board of Immigration Appeals Practice Manual. In this post, I will discuss the changes.
Submitted by Eliza Grinberg on October 19, 2018 - 1:22am
The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) stated that it began issuing new receipt notices for certain Forms I-751, Petition to Remove Conditions, on October 16, 2018. The USCIS issued receipt notices in August of 2018 for certain pending Forms I-751 which reflected the extension of conditional permanent resident status for 18 months instead of 12. However, the USCIS has now stated that some of these August receipt notices contained incorrect information “that does not affect the extension of the [conditional permanent resident] status.” Thus, it is important to note that the USCIS error has no effect on the 18-month extension of conditional permanent resident status.
On October 15, 2018, the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) opened the Conroe Immigration Court. The Conroe Immigration Court is a detained-only Immigration Court serving the Houston, Texas, area of operations.
