NY VISA LAWYER

  Matter of GARCIA , 28 I&N Dec. 693 (BIA 2023) For choice of law purposes, the controlling circuit law in Immigration Court proceedings is the law governing the geographic location of the Immigration Court where venue lies, namely where jurisdiction vests and proceedings commence upon the filing of a charging document, and will only change if an Immigration Judge subsequently grants a change of venue to another Immigration Court. Matter of R-C-R-, 28 I&N Dec. 74 (BIA 2020), clarified. Link to Decisions. 

 Pereira v. Sessions, 138 S. Ct. 2105 (2018), and Niz-Chavez v. Garland, 141 S. Ct. 1474 (2021), are inapplicable to proceedings initiated by a Notice to Applicant for Admission Detained for Hearing Before Immigration Judge (“Form I-122”) and other charging documents issued prior to the effective date of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996, Division C of Pub. L. No. 104-208, 110 Stat. 3009- 546. Matter of Arambula-Bravo, 28 I&N Dec. 388 (BIA 2021), followed. LINK TO THE DECISION

  Matter of CHEN , 28 I&N Dec. 676 (BIA 2023) ID 4057  (PDF) (1) The “stop-time” rule under section 240A(d)(1) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, 8 U.S.C. 1229b(d)(1), is not triggered by the entry of a final removal order, but rather only by service of a statutorily compliant notice to appear or the commission of specified criminal offenses, in accordance with the plain language statutory analysis provided in  Niz-Chavez v. Garland , 141 S. Ct. 1474 (2021) ( pdf ). (2) Breaks in physical presence under section 240A(d)(2) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, 8 U.S.C. 1229b(d)(2), continue to be interpreted as distinct from termination of physical presence under the stop-time rule.   Matter of Mendoza-Sandino , 22 I&N Dec. 1236 (BIA 2000)( pdf ),  followed . (3) A respondent claiming a fundamental change in law as the basis for seeking sua sponte reopening must also establish prima facie eligibility for the relief sought.   Mat...

Attorney General Merrick Garland issued a recent decision that restored immigration judges’ authority to terminate removal proceedings in Matter of Coronado Acevedo.  Matter of Coronado Acevedo , 28 I&N Dec. 648 (A.G. 2022) overruled a prior decision by then Attorney General Jeff Sessions that held that immigration judges “have no inherent authority to terminate or dismiss removal proceedings.” Matter of S-O-G- & F-D-B- , 27 I&N Dec. 462 (A.G. 2018) Id. at 463. This prior decision adversely impacted many noncitizens, particularly those with applications for collateral relief pending before U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, or USCIS, such as T and U visa applicants, DACA applicants, and Violence Against Women Act self-petitioners. In those decisions the AG relied on his own reasoning from Matter of Castro-Tum , 27 I&N Dec. 271 (A.G. 2018) (a decision he issued earlier this year that restricts IJs’ and Board of Immigration Appeals’  authority t...

  BIA Precedent Decisions From 2016 All of these decisions can be found in their full original form in the Department of Justice - EOIR Virtual Library Here.   Matter of OBEYA , 26 I&N Dec. 856 (BIA 2016) Petit larceny in violation of section 155.25 of the New York Penal Law, which requires an intent to deprive the owner of his property either permanently or under circumstances where the owner’s property rights are substantially eroded, is categorically a crime involving moral turpitude. Matter of Diaz-Lizarraga , 26 I&N Dec. 847 (BIA 2016), followed. Matter of TIMA, 26 I&N Dec. 839 (BIA 2016) A   fraud waiver under  section  237(a)(1)(H)  of  the  Immigration and  Nationality  Act,8    U.S.C.§  1227(a)(1)(H)  (2012),   cannot  waive an  alien’s removability under  section237(a)(2)(A)(i) for  having  been  convicted  of  a  crime  involving ...

  Board of Immigration Appeals BIA Precedent Decisions 2015 CALVILLO GARCIA, 26 I&N Dec. 697 (BIA 2015) A term of confinement in a substance abuse treatment facility imposed as a condition of probation pursuant to article 42.12, section 14(a) of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure constitutes a "term of confinement" under section 101(a)(48)(B) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(48)(B) (2012), for purposes of determining if an offense is a crime of violence under section 101(a)(43)(F) of the Act. CASTRO-LOPEZ, 26 I&N Dec. 693 (BIA 2015) The 10 years of continuous physical presence required by 8 C.F.R. § 1240.66(c)(2) (2015) for aliens seeking special rule cancellation of removal under section 203 of the Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central American Relief Act, Pub. L. No. 105-100, tit. II, 111 Stat. 2160, 2193, 2196 (1997), amended by Pub. L. No. 105-139, 111 Stat. 2644 (1997), should be measured from the alien’s most recently incurred ground ...