President Biden Extends and Expands Eligibility for Deferred Enforced Departure for Liberians

On June 20, 2022, President Biden issued a memorandum directing the secretary of Homeland Security to reinstate Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) for eligible Liberians and to provide for continued work authorization through June 30, 2022.

Liberians who are eligible and people without nationality who last habitually resided in Liberia are covered under DED as of January 10, 2021. They may remain in the United States through June 30, 2022, and USCIS will automatically extend employment authorization documents (EADs) with a March 30, 2022, or January 10, 2022, facial expiration date through June 30, 2022. A notice in the Federal Register has information on this automatic extension and instructions on how they can obtain new EADs if they so desire.

This will allow additional time for eligible Liberians to apply for adjustment of status on or before Dec. 20, 2022, under the extension of the Liberian Refugee Immigration Fairness (LRIF) provision. Liberians who apply may immediately apply for employment authorization consistent with the provision. Liberians who were denied LRIF are not covered under this DED extension.

Read more here.

USCIS Issues Policy Alert on the Effect of Returning to US During 3-or 10-Year period after departure or removal

On June 24, 2022, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued a statement updating its policy guidance regarding a noncitizen who again seeks admission to the US more than 3 or 10 years after the relevant departure or removal, is not inadmissible under INA 212(a)(9)(B) even if the noncitizen returned to the United States, with or without authorization, during the statutory 3-year or 10-year period.

Click here to read more.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Rescinds Matter of Z-R-Z-C- and has Implications for TPS Holders Who Would Like to Adjust Their Status

On July 1, 2022, USCIS announced that it was rescinding its designation of the decision of the Administrative Appeals Office (AAO) in Matter of Z-R-Z-C- as an Adopted Decision and updates its interpretation of the effects of authorized travel by Temporary Protected Status (TPS) beneficiaries, in accordance with the reasoning contained in this memorandum.

TPS beneficiaries whom DHS has inspected and admitted into TPS under the Miscellaneous and Technical Immigration and Naturalization Amendments Act of 1991 (MTINA), subsequent to that inspection and admission, will have been “inspected and admitted” and are “present in the United States pursuant to a lawful admission,” including for purposes of adjustment of status under INA 245. This is true even if the TPS beneficiary was present without admission or parole when initially granted TPS.

USCIS has concluded that:

• USCIS will no longer use the advance parole mechanism to authorize travel for TPS beneficiaries but will instead provide a new TPS travel authorization document. This document will serve as evidence of the prior consent for travel contemplated in INA 244(f)(3) and serve as evidence that the bearer may be inspected and admitted into TPS pursuant to MTINA if all other requirements are met.

• TPS beneficiaries whom DHS has inspected and admitted into TPS under MTINA, subsequent to that inspection and admission, will have been “inspected and admitted” and are “present in the United States pursuant to a lawful admission,” including for purposes of adjustment of status under INA 245. This is true even if the TPS beneficiary was present without admission or parole when initially granted TPS.

Click here to read more.

U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Resumes Cuban Family Reunification Parole (CFRP) Program and Haitian Family Reunification Parole (HFRP) Program Operations

In line with national interest, the United States have taken a series of measures to increase support for the Cuban and Haitian people. Both countries are confronting a humanitarian crisis and the U.S. is amplifying pathways that offer migrants safe and orderly alternatives to irregular migration and numerous dangers and indignities.

The policy announcement indicates that resuming the Cuban Family Reunification Program (CFRP) provides a safe, orderly pathway to the United States for certain beneficiaries and approved family-based immigrant petitions. The CFRP program allows certain eligible U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents (LPRs) to apply for parole for their family member in Cuba. If approved for parole, they may come to the U.S. before their immigrant visa priority dates become current. The CFRP Program beneficiaries may apply for work authorization while they wait to apply for lawful permanent resident status, once in the U.S. The program is set to continue at some point this summer, beginning by contacting petitioners who have a pending CFRP application, beneficiaries must complete processing and attend an interview.

The Haitian Family Reunification Parole (HFRP) Program will resume, as announced by DHS as well. The program enables family members who are approved for parole to come to the U.S. before their immigrant visa priority dates becomes current. Once in the country, beneficiaries may apply for work authorization while they wait for lawful permanent resident status. Resumption of operations will continue this fall, beginning with mailing new invitations to petitioners who appear eligible to apply for HFRP on behalf of their family members.

Click here to read more.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Announces Upcoming End to Use of Expired US Passports for Return to the US

On June 30, 2022, the U.S. CBP announced the end of a policy that previously allowed U.S. Citizens to reenter the United States from abroad with an expired passport. Due to the global pandemic, there was an extensive waiting period to renew a U.S. passport from abroad, and the limited availability of appointments at U.S. embassies and consulates made it difficult for people to receive any type of assurance to return home. In response, on May of 2021, the State Department decided to temporarily allow stranded U.S. citizens to return with an expired passport, provided their passports expired on or after January 1, 2020. A CBP press release dated June 29, 2022, advises U.S. citizens to contact their nearest U.S. embassy or consulate to apply for a renewal, stating that if a U.S. citizen presents an expired passport they will be unable to board the flight.

Click here to read more.

CDC lifts requirement for travelers to have negative COVID test before flight to the US

On June 10, 2022, The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reversed the mandate entitled “Requirement for Negative Pre-Departure COVID-19 Test Result or Documentation of Recovery from COVID-19 for All Airline or Other Aircraft Passengers Arriving in the United States from any Foreign Country.” As of June 12, all air passengers, regardless of citizenship or vaccination status, are no longer required to show a negative viral COVID-19 test result, or documentation of recovery from COVID-19.

Click here to read more from the CDC.

News at IDC!

Iandoli, Desai, & Cronin has two immediate openings for a Business Immigration Paralegal and a Practice Manager. We are dynamic eight attorney and twelve paralegal immigration law firm serving professionals, businesses, and academic institutions. Our clients are leaders in medicine, engineering, biotechnology, and academia.

Business Immigration Paralegal:

• Assist attorneys in the preparation and filing of employment-based immigrant (EB-1, EB-2, and EB-3) and nonimmigrant (H-1B, O-1, E-2, E-3, L-1 and TN) petitions and supporting documentation

• Assemble petitions and application packages

• Communicate with individual clients, HR representatives and government agencies

• Help individuals gather necessary information/documents

• Use specialized Case Management software to monitor deadlines and expirations and draft petitions and applications

• Draft support letters and other documents

• Track client communications and government correspondence

• Additional administrative duties may include answering phones, scheduling appointments, generating invoices, filing, and other ad hoc tasks.

Must have a bachelor’s degree and excellent writing, computer, interpersonal, organizational, and time management skills. Must be able to meet rigid deadlines and prioritize tasks.

NO JDs, LLBs, LLMs, or current/matriculating law students.

Please email résumé and cover letter to careers@iandoli.com

No phone calls please. Only those candidates selected for an interview will be contacted

Practice Manager:
We are seeking a experienced immigration professional to engage in the following duties:

Improve/Streamline Process Flow:

• Develop or enhance, implement, and document internal case processing and procedures.

• Review current internal paralegal workflow processes and procedures to document procedures in place.

• Develop or enhance and implement paralegal case management processes and procedures.

• Train or re-train paralegals on proper processes and procedures.

• Work with Billing to identify areas for improvement as they relate to Paralegal involvement.

Database Management & Reporting: 

• Serve as Point of Contact with our Edge/LawLogix database.

• Develop and create weekly client reports for paralegal/attorney teams.

• Coordinate with paralegals to ensure client database is updated as need.

• Develop and run weekly case reports for each paralegal/attorney team to ensure adequate staffing and fair distribution of cases amongst paralegals.

Training:

• Identify training needs and develops, implement, and manage paralegal training manual and program for onboarding and for continuing education.

• Update training materials as needed.

• Conduct hands-on paralegal training, to include substantive immigration law as well as filing procedures and internal protocols.

• Chair biweekly or monthly paralegal group meetings on “hot topics”.

Career Development and Team-Building:

• Develop in-depth understanding of professional development needs within the group and manages satisfaction and retention initiatives.

• Manage annual review process for attorneys and paralegals.

• Prepares and follows through on individual attorney and paralegal development plans.

• Develops and manages initiatives to create a cohesive team and meaningful connections within the group.

• Facilitates communication within the group, including proactively developing and managing various practice group communications.

Special Projects:

• Manage closing file/scanning process.

• Transition our fee agreements into templates and manage the process to send clients prior to engagement.

• Oversee updating and creating client materials, including approval packages, process memos or guides, etc.

• Review and billing process.

Requirements:

• 5+ years of experience in a senior level capacity at an immigration law firm

• Expert knowledge of procedural requirements for various types of nonimmigrant and immigrant visas and client processes.

• Knowledge of case management systems, preferably Edge/LawLogix.

• Experience corresponding with clients directly on case processing and other procedural matters.

• Ability to prioritize own work and team’s work and take on multiple projects.

• Excellent attention to detail.

• Excellent organizational skills

• Strong facility with case management reporting analytics.

• Exercises excellent independent judgment.

Please email résumé and cover letter to careers@iandoli.com with “Practice Manager” in the subject line. No phone calls please. Absolutely no recruiters. Only those candidates selected for an interview will be contacted.

Work exclusively from home is not feasible for either of these positions.  We are in a hybrid model allowing up to 2 days work from home.

Patel v. Garland: Federal courts lack jurisdiction to review facts found as part of any judgment relating to the granting of discretionary relief in immigration proceedings ..

In a 5-4 decision announced on Monday, May 16, 2022, the Supreme Court held in Patel v. Garland  that federal courts lack jurisdiction to review factual findings made by the executive branch during deportation proceedings. Under this ruling, noncitizens seeking certain forms of relief under immigration law could be left with no judicial review when the government denies this discretionary relief.

A summary of the ruling can be found here at scotusblog.com:

“The case involved Pankajkumar Patel, who (along with his wife) entered the United States without authorization in the 1990s. Mr. Patel applied for adjustment of status, and while his application was pending with USCIS, Mr. Patel filed an application to renew his driver’s license and marked the box “U.S. citizen” even though he was eligible for a driver’s license under Georgia law despite not being a U.S. citizen. Due to this, he was denied adjustment and later placed in deportation proceedings before an immigration judge in the Department of Justice. He again applied for adjustment of status as a defense to removal. The immigration judge denied Mr. Patel adjustment, concluding that he intentionally marked “U.S. citizen” on his application, despite Mr. Patel’s testimony that he made a mistake and did not intend to mark the U.S. citizen box. The judge determined that the misrepresentation made Mr. Patel ineligible for adjustment.    

Patel sought to have a federal court review the immigration judge’s factual finding regarding the question of whether he intentionally or mistakenly checked the citizen box. His ability to do this was impeded by the jurisdictional bar (8 U.S.C. § 1252(a)(2)(B)(i)), which bars federal courts from reviewing “any judgment regarding the granting of relief” under five specific immigration remedies, including adjustment of status. The case rose to the Supreme Court to clarify the scope of the jurisdictional bar. The majority held that federal courts lack jurisdiction to review facts found as part of adjustment-of-status proceedings and other discretionary-relief proceedings enumerated in Section 1252(a)(2)(B)(i).”  The majority held that “Federal courts have a very limited role to play in this process,” and rejected the argument that Mr. Patel’s case fell outside the jurisdictional bar to discretionary relief. Instead, the majority applied a broad reading of “any judgment regarding the granting of relief,” including factual findings. In interpreting 8 U.S.C. § 1252(a)(2)(D), the majority held that judicial review is unavailable for factual questions such as the question in Mr. Patel’s case.

The dissenting opinion criticizes the broad holding of the majority, and argues that the majority’s opinion “…permits a bureaucratic factual mistake to have life-changing consequences for an immigrant applying for legal residency and is an assertion of “raw administrative power” that neither the agency nor the Executive Branch endorses.” 

DOS Announces Reinstatement of the Cuban Family Reunification Parole Program

On May 16, 2022 the Biden Administration announced a series of measures to increase support for the Cuban people in line with the U.S.’s national security interests in light of the humanitarian crisis facing the Cuban people.

Specifically, the Administration will:

• Facilitate family reunification by reinstating the Cuban Family Reunification Parole (CFRP) Program and continuing to increase capacity for consular services. Limited immigrant visa processing resumed in Havana on May 3, 2022. Consular services will reinstate the CFRP and increase visa processing in Havana while continuing to process the majority of immigrant visa cases at the U.S. Embassy in Georgetown, Guyana.

• Strengthen family ties and facilitate educational connections for the U.S. and Cuban people by expanding authorized travel in support of the Cuban people. This will include authorized scheduled and charter flights to locations beyond Havana. Additionally, regulatory changes will be implemented to reinstate group people-to-people and other categories of group educational travel, as well as certain travel related to professional meetings and professional research, including to support expanded Internet access and remittance processing companies and to provide additional support to Cuban entrepreneurs. Individual people-to-people travel will not be reinstated at this time.

• Increase support for independent Cuban entrepreneurs.  Commercial opportunities will be encouraged outside of the state sector by authorizing access to expanded cloud technology, application programming interfaces, and e-commerce platforms. Options to expand support of additional payment options for Internet-based activities, electronic payments, and business with independent Cuban entrepreneurs will be explored. The goal of this work is to expand entrepreneurs’ access to microfinance and training. 

• Ensure that remittances flow more freely to the Cuban people while not enriching those who perpetrate human rights abuses. Specifically, the current limit on family remittances of $1,000 per quarter per sender-receiver pair will be removed, and donative (i.e., non-family) remittances will be authorized, which will support independent Cuban entrepreneurs. We will engage with electronic payment processors to encourage increased Cuban market accessibility. Entities will not be removed from the Cuba Restricted List.

According to the May 16, 2022, announcement, the Administration is working expeditiously to effectuate these changes, which will be implemented via steps taken and regulatory changes made by relevant Departments and Agencies in short order.

DOS Provides Guidance for Ukraine Nationals

The U.S. Department of State continues to offer resources and services for individuals impacted by the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. The Department of State is not offering visa services in Ukraine currently and continues to encourage U.S. citizens in need of emergency assistance in Ukraine to email KyivACS@state.gov.

The Department of State is sharing information on the subjects below to further clarify visa options and outline alternatives to visas that Ukrainians may consider.  It is important to note that a visa is not a viable way to achieve refugee resettlement in the United States.  More detailed information on the topics listed below can be found on the Department of State’s website here.  

• Uniting with Ukraine
  The Department of Homeland Security’s Uniting for Ukraine program provides a pathway for displaced Ukrainian citizens and their immediate family members who are outside the United States to come to the United States and stay temporarily for up to two years. Ukrainians participating in Uniting for Ukraine must have a supporter in the United States who agrees to provide them with financial support for the duration of their stay in the United States. For more information, visit https://www.dhs.gov/ukraine.
  

• Nonimmigrant Visas
  Nonimmigrant visas are for temporary stays in the United States.  They are not the appropriate tool to begin an immigrant, refugee, or resettlement process.  If you apply for a nonimmigrant visa but are unable to demonstrate intent to leave the United States after a defined period in order to return to a residence abroad, a consular officer will refuse your application.   More information about nonimmigrant visa processes can be found at local embassy/consular websites, and appointment wait times are provided by the U.S. State Department website. 

• Immigrant Visas

  Immigrant visas are for foreign nationals who intend to live and/or work permanently in the United States.  In most cases, a relative or employer sponsors the individual by filing a petition with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).  Further information on immigrant visas can be found here:  https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/immigrate.html.

• Adoptions

  The Department is actively working with Adoption Service Providers (ASPs) to provide guidance and answer questions during this critical time.  Please see more information at Information for U.S. Citizens In the Process of Adopting in Ukraine. This resource addresses adoptions and intended adoptions at various stages of the process and provides guidance on whom to consult and clarifications on the Department's potential role and ability to assist. Prospective adoptive parents should consult their ASP about how the crisis in Ukraine may impact their adoption plans.  Families who previously hosted a child but are not yet approved to adopt may wish to consult the hosting organization to learn what efforts are being made on behalf of the host child.

• Humanitarian Parole
  Parole is a program run by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that allows an individual, who may be inadmissible or otherwise ineligible for admission into the United States, to be in the United States for a temporary period for urgent humanitarian reasons or significant public benefit.  It is not meant to replace a visa process.  Anyone can file an application for humanitarian parole.  Further information and instructions are available here: https://www.uscis.gov/forms/explore-my-options/humanitarian-parole. Those who wish to apply for humanitarian parole should contact USCIS directly.
  

• Refugee Status
  Almost all refugee cases in countries abroad are processed by local authorities or the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR).  Ukrainians should not attempt to apply for visas to travel to the United States as refugees.  Instead, they should contact local authorities or UNHCR for refugee processing.  Additional information is available from UNHCR: https://help.unhcr.org, including information about non-governmental organizations that may be able to provide additional assistance.  Additionally, USAID’s website has information for Ukrainian refugees: https://www.usaid.gov/usaid-response-ukraine/resources-refugees-asylum-seekers.

• Local Resources
  The Department of State encourages Ukrainians to consult local government authorities in their current location to determine what might be available as you consider resettlement options.