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This category includes articles written by CLINIC staff.

Question Corner - Marta's Choice (April 2015)

Marta is an LPR who is married with three children.  She is eligible to naturalize, but wants to know whether to proceed. She filed an I-130 petition for her husband, Pablo, and named their three children as derivatives.  The I-130 was filed on November 12, 2010 and was approved on April 13, 2011.  The F-2A priority date became current in September 2013, and everyone filed for an immigrant visa within one year. The eldest child, Diana, was born on November 24, 1992.

10th Circuit Joins the Crowd: Another Rejection of the BIA’s 212(h) Aggravated Felony Bar

Carlos Jovany Medina-Rosales is an LPR who obtained his residency through adjustment of status in 2001.  Twelve years later, in 2013, he was convicted of grand larceny and was placed in removal proceedings in Tulsa, OK, charged with deportability for an aggravated felony offense.   Conceding the charge, Mr. Medina-Rosales sought to re-adjust, and to waive his inadmissibility under INA § 212(h). The immigration judge, however, found him ineligible for relief based on the Board's decision in In re Rodriguez, 25 I&N Dec.

No Marriage Fraud Without a Marriage

By Susan Schreiber

When you read the words "marriage fraud,” you probably think of a marriage entered into for purposes of obtaining an immigration benefit.  Such marriages, among other things, trigger  INA § 204(c) consequences,  i.e. a bar against petition approval where the  beneficiary has previously sought status  based on a fraudulent marriage or "has attempted  or conspired to enter into a marriage for the purpose of evading immigration laws."

Children under 15 Too Young to Commit Fraud

The DOS has amended the Foreign Affairs Manual to clarify that children under the age of 15 cannot act “willfully” and therefore cannot be found inadmissible for committing fraud or misrepresentation pursuant to INA § 212(a)(6)(C)(i). 9 FAM 40.63 N5.3 Minors. For aliens between the ages of 15 to 16, the consular officer will need to determine if the child was acting at the direction of an adult or whether the child was acting on their own. Aliens aged 17 and over are presumed to act willfully unless they can establish a lack of knowledge or capacity.

New Pilot Program Assessment Letter for CDJ

The DOS has recently announced that it will start a pilot program involving persons applying for an immigrant visa at the U.S. consulates in Cd. Juarez, Mexico (CDJ) and Montreal, Canada.  The National Visa Center will be conducting its standard review of the forms and documents submitted by the applicant, including a review of the affidavit of support, civil documents, and police certificates.  If a case file is incomplete or lacks proper documentation, the NVC will send a checklist to the petitioner or designated agent indicating what changes are needed.

Update on CSPA’s One-Year Filing Requirement

The Department of State (DOS) recently confirmed that it will accept payment of the immigrant visa fee as satisfying the one-year filing requirement under the Child Status Protection Act.  In order for a child in the preference category to retain the “under 21” age status, and thus remain in the F-2A or derivative category, he or she must has “sought to acquire the status of an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence within one year of such availability.”  INA § 203(h)(1)(A).  The USCIS and DOS have consistently held that this could only be satisfied by filing one of three forms: an

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