Updating earlier guidance, USCIS announced new guidance last week that it would now hold interviews earlier in the Form I-130 adjudication process for certain spousal petitions involving minors. Those certain petitions involve situations where:

• The petitioner or the beneficiary is less than 16 years old; or
• The petitioner or the beneficiary is 16 or 17 years old and there are 10 years or more difference between the ages of the spouses.

This new guidance will pose an additional obstacle, likely in the form of additional waiting times, for certain spousal petitions involving minors. Petitions that fall under these scenarios will also likely have a higher bar in showing the bona fides of the spousal relationship earlier in the petition process.

The guidance relates to spousal petitions in both Adjustment of Status and immigrant visa cases.

By Brandon Gillin

On July 11, 2014, USCIS published a new Interim Policy Memorandum providing guidance on the adjudication of H-1B petitions for nursing occupations.

This new guidance updates previous guidance published in 2002. USCIS indicates that this new guidance is needed "because of changes in the nursing industry."

Generally, nurses do not qualify for H-1B status because a four-year degree is not required to become a registered nurse (RN). However, USCIS notes, "the private sector is increasingly showing a preference for more highly educated nurses." To that end, certain "Advance Practice Registered Nurses" who practice in more specialized areas such as in addiction, cardiovascular, critical care, emergency room, genetics, neonatology, nephrology, oncology, pediatrics, peri-operative (operating room), and rehabilitation, may qualify for H-1B status. However, each occupation is defined by the regulatory body (state legislature and Board of Nursing), so it is important that the occupation be one that the regulatory body defines as requiring a baccalaureate or higher degree.. For example, if a state requires at least a bachelor's degree in nursing to obtain a nursing license, an RN position in that state would generally be considered a "specialty occupation" and thus meet that prong of the H-1B eligibility test. Unfortunately at this time no state requires a bachelor's degree in nursing for licensure; but certain APRN positions as noted above may qualify for H-1B if the petitioner shows by a preponderance of the evidence that the proffered position qualifies as a specialty occupation.

The interim policy memorandum can be found here.

Brandon Gillin is an immigration lawyer with Genesis Law Firm, PLLC in Everett, Washington. His practice includes filing H-1B petitions on behalf of nurses. He can be reached at (425) 212-1789, ext. 103.

By Brandon Gillin

The case, J.E.F.M. v. Holder, is a class action lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington which alleges that U.S. Federal agencies with immigration-related responsibilities failed to provide a "full and fair hearing" under the U.S. Constitution's Fifth Amendment to the influx of children migrating to the U.S. from several Central American countries.

The plaintiffs of the case are:

• A 10-year-old boy, his 13-year-old brother, and 15-year-old sister from El Salvador, whose father was murdered in front of their eyes. The father was targeted because he and the mother ran a rehabilitation center for people trying to leave gangs.
• A 14-year-old girl who had been living with her grandparents, but was forced to flee El Salvador after being threatened and then attacked by gang members.
• A 15-year-old boy who was abandoned and abused in Guatemala, and came to the United States without any family or friends.
• A 16-year-old boy born in Mexico who has lived here since he was 1 year old and has had lawful status since June 2010.
• A 16-year-old boy with limited communication skills and special education issues who escaped brutal violence exacted on his family in Honduras, and who has lived in Southern California since he was 8 years old.
• A 17-year-old boy who fled gang violence and recruitment in Guatemala and now lives with his lawful permanent resident father in Los Angeles.

Each of these plaintiffs is currently scheduled to appear before an immigration judge for a hearing on removability. None of the plaintiffs are afforded an attorney. U.S. law states that criminal defendants are afforded an attorney at the expense of the government, but that is not the case in immigration court.


"It is simply unacceptable that children are forced to stand alone before an immigration judge, pitted against trained attorneys from the federal government," said Matt Adams, legal director for Northwest Immigrant Rights Project. "Any notion of justice or fair play requires that these children be provided legal representation." (from the American Immigration Council).


Brandon Gillin is an immigration lawyer with Genesis Law Firm, PLLC in Everett, Washington.

By Brandon Gillin

Elizabeth Kennedy, a Fulbright Scholar at the American Immigration Council recently wrote a nice piece on why Central American children are arriving in droves at the southern U.S. border.

Despite claims of certain U.S. politicians, the Obama administration's August 2012 implementation of the "Consideration of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals" policy is not among the reasons for the influx of children arriving from Central America.  Instead, the reasons are: (1) organized crime, gangs, and violence in their home countries; (2) extreme poverty in rural areas; (3) no support from the governments of their home countries; and to a lesser extent, (4) family reunification in the United States.

Also noted by Kennedy is that many families who are removed from the U.S. (or who are returned via voluntary departure) to their home countries face additional threats of violence and extortion.

Immigration policies already in place, such as Temporary Protected Status, have alleviated similar concerns in the past. It is not as if remedies for this influx of children do not exist. Lawmakers simply need to recognize the need for humanitarian relief, and enact clear laws to address such need.

Brandon Gillin is an immigration lawyer with Genesis Law Firm, PLLC in Everett, Washington.

By Brandon Gillin

The Hill reports that House Speaker Boehner has hired Rebecca Tellent, a former John McCain staffer, as an immigration reform aide.  This move has many speculating that Boehner wants to pass immigration reform, which is in line with Boehner's statements from late November that immigration reform is "absolutely not" dead.

Brandon Gillin is an immigration lawyer with Genesis Law Firm, PLLC in Everett, Washington.

By Brandon Gillin

Talk Radio News Service reports that earlier this week immigration reform activists delivered 6,000 letters to 60 House Republican lawmakers from children of individuals who have been deported or face deportation from the U.S.

Last year USCIS created a program to allow young undocumented individuals the ability to request Deferred Action and two-year work authorization.  The program has seen success, but reports show that of the people who are eligible, only about half have applied.  Proponents of immigration reform home that a new law (the Senate's version is what many hope for) will enable the parents of these children to gain what may be called Provision Resident Status, which could lead to Permanent Resident Status and perhaps U.S. citizenship if certain eligibility criteria are met for a number of years.

Brandon Gillin is an immigration lawyer with Genesis Law Firm, PLLC in Everett, Washington.

By Brandon Gillin

Yesterday a group of Seattle-area immigration lawyers fasted at the Federal Buildings in Seattle and Bellingham, Washington in protest of Congress failing to make any progress on immigration reform.  Across the country other fasts related to the failure of congress to pass immigration reform have occurred and are still occurring.

The immigration lawyers each had an empty dinner plate, which symbolized Congress' empty promises on fixing a broken immigration system.  The sponsors of this event were the American Immigration Lawyers Association - Washington Chapter, and One America.

Brandon Gillin is an immigration lawyer with Genesis Law Firm, PLLC in Everett, Washington.