NY VISA LAWYER

       A Notice to Appear (“NTA”) initiates removal proceedings by informing the immigrant respondent that they must appear in Immigration Court on a specific day to answer to a charge of removeability.      An NTA is issued as a standard DHS form, Form I-862. The statutory requirements of an NTA can be found at INA § 239 & 8 USC § 1229 as well as the regulatory requirements at 8 CFR §§ 1229 and 1239.1.      Every NTA should include the respondent’s identifying information,4 the nature of the proceedings, the charges of removability and supporting factual allegations, the date and place of removal proceedings, advisals of certain rights and responsibilities, and a certificate of service. The statute and regulations require DHS to include all this information in the NTA.      The NTA will specify the nature of the proceedings in a series of three check boxes under the Respondent’s name and address. The NTA w...

 The United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency has announced an online change-of-address form for noncitizens, giving them the option to update their information online in addition to the existing options of doing so by phone or in-person. On Friday April 13, 2023, during a press conference announcing this tool an ICE Spokesperson stated, “It will enable noncitizens to comply with their immigration obligations more easily and improve the accuracy of address information reported to ICE by utilizing address autofill to ensure US Postal Service standardization,”  The immigration enforcement agency said the new tool will be deployed in a rolling release, with full availability anticipated in the coming weeks. ICE deputy director and senior official performing the duties of the director Tae D Johnson stated the following: This is another critical innovation to improve compliance with immigration obligations and increase the efficiency of the proce...

DHS Fact Sheet Implementation of the Credible Fear and Asylum Processing Interim Final Rule From DHS Website LINK , LINK On May 31, 2022, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Department of Justice (DOJ) began implementing a rule to ensure that those subject to expedited removal who are eligible for asylum are granted relief quickly, and those who are not are promptly removed. Due to existing court backlogs, the process for hearing and deciding these asylum cases currently takes several years on average. By establishing a process for the efficient and thorough review of asylum claims, implementation of the rule will help reduce existing immigration court backlogs and will shorten the process to several months. Interim Final Rule The March 2022 interim final rule (IFR) titled “Procedures for Credible Fear Screening and Consideration of Asylum, Withholding of Removal, and CAT Protection Claims by Asylum Officers” (sometimes referred to as the Asylum Officer Rule) authorize...

Immigration Judge Who Denies The Most Cases NYC The Judge with the highest percentage of asylum denials is a tie between IJ Menkin  and IJ Burns both with 83% denial rates for asylum cases. This does not include the detained docket where denial rates are usually higher for multiple reasons.  Immigration Judge Who Grants The Most Cases   NYC IJ Chew 7.1% denial rates and IJ McManus with a 7.4% denial rate on asylum cases. Surprising to me, is that IJ Bukszpan (now retired) has the third lowest asylum denials rate in New York with 10%. I only had decide one case in its merits prior to her retirement so I have no reason to be surprised.   These numbers are from TRAC ,  Syracuse University, which tracks Government agencies and provides a ridiculous amount of data to the public along with reports summarizing their findings. I cite to their cite often because they have so much information available, on several government agencies not just immigration. You should ...

  Bona Fide Marriage Exemption Non-citizens who marry U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents while in removal proceedings must show by clear and convincing evidence that the marriage was entered into in good faith. See INA § 245(e)(3) . What is commonly called, “the bona fide marriage exemption” must be requested in writing and submitted with Form I-130. See 8 C.F.R. § 204.2(a)(1)(iii)(A) . The request must state the reason for seeking the exemption and must be supported by documentary evidence establishing eligibility for the exemption. You must be prepared to address the bona fide marriage exemption early in your case. It is important that you, the couple, document your relationship thoroughly. Evidence of the relationship will be critical to the removal proceedings and to obtaining approval of the visa petition. USCIS checks social media, publicly accessible websites, and other databases during their review of the application. Please make sure that you are no...