The Department of Justice (DOJ) published a final rule, effective January 15, 2021, making multiple changes to processing appeals to the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) and to clarify "that there is no freestanding authority of line immigration judges or BIA...
Topic: Immigration Updates
USCIS Updates Discretionary Criteria for Case-by-Case Interview Determinations of Adjustment Applications Based on Refugee or Asylee Status
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) expanded the discretionary criteria USCIS officers use to determine whether to interview applicants filing Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status, based on refugee or asylee status....
DOJ’s Asylum Final Rules Adopt Most Provisions of Interim and Proposed Rules
The Department of Justice issued two final rules on asylum and withholding of removal-related standards and procedures. Final rule on asylum eligibility and procedural modifications. This final rule, effective January 19, 2021, responds to comments received on an...
DOJ Finalizes Rule Hiking Fees for EOIR Applications, Appeals, and Motions
The Department of Justice issued a final rule effective January 19, 2021, adopting fee amounts proposed in February 2020 without change. The rule increases the fees for Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) applications, appeals, and motions subject to an...
Ninth Circuit Rejects USCIS Reasoning on H-1B Computer Programmer as ‘Specialty Occupation’
In a decision issued December 16, 2020, the Ninth Circuit ruled that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services' (USCIS) denial of a visa for a computer programmer on the basis that it was not a "specialty occupation" was arbitrary and capricious, and remanded the...
Miller Mayer’s Steve Yale-Loehr Co-Authors Article re Post-Denial Strategies for Petitions Filed with USCIS
Miller Mayer immigration attorney Steve Yale-Loehr has coauthored an article called Post-Denial Strategies: How to Get from “No” to “Yes”. The article focuses on how to overcome petitions denied by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). The article...
Miller Mayer’s Steve Yale-Loehr Quoted re Asylum, DACA, Sanctuary Cities
Miller Mayer immigration attorney Steve Yale-Loehr was quoted by the Washington Post in "A Maryland Immigrant Hoped to Delay His Deportation Until Biden Took Office. It Didn't Work." The article reports on a case in which a man who had been in the United States for 20...
TPS ‘Document Validity’ Extended for El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Nepal, Nicaragua, and Sudan
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is automatically extending the validity of temporary protected status (TPS)-related documentation for beneficiaries under the TPS designations for El Salvador, Haiti, Nicaragua, Sudan, Honduras, and Nepal for nine months from...
USCIS Issues DACA Guidance Under Court Order
Following litigation related to Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) that resulted in a U.S. district court order issued December 4, 2020, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) released guidance effective December 7, 2020. USCIS is: Accepting...
DHS, DOJ Issue Final Rule Tightening Asylum Regulations
On December 11, 2020, the Departments of Homeland Security (DHS) and Justice (DOJ) issued a final rule tightening the regulations governing asylum, withholding of removal, and protections under the Convention Against Torture. Despite more than 87,000 mostly negative...
