Category: Immigration

The immigration court backlog continuance used to be one of the easiest procedural asks in the whole system. A hearing date wasn’t working, so an attorney requested more time, and judges routinely granted it. That’s changed. Recent precedent has narrowed how freely judges can grant continuances, right as the underlying backlog they’re meant to manage…

The visa overstay consequences under INA § 222(g) kick in the moment someone stays past their authorized period, whether or not they knew the exact date it expired. The visa itself becomes void automatically. What follows depends heavily on how long the overstay ran and what the person does next, but none of the paths…

The I-601 waiver unlawful presence bar exists because Congress built a genuinely harsh penalty into the law. Anyone who accrues more than 180 days of unlawful presence, then leaves the U.S., faces a 3-year bar to reentry. More than a year triggers a 10-year bar. A waiver under INA § 212(a)(9)(B)(v) is the one mechanism…

The criminal conviction immigration consequences under INA § 237(a)(2) don’t track criminal sentencing the way most people expect. A conviction that results in probation, or even a suspended sentence, can still trigger deportability. The immigration system asks a different question than the criminal court did. The two systems’ definitions of the same words often don’t…

The honest answer to DACA renewal requirements right now starts with a distinction that trips people up. Existing DACA holders can still renew nationwide. First-time applicants can’t get approved at all. That split comes straight from ongoing litigation. It’s worth understanding before assuming either the best or worst version of what’s currently true. Why DACA…

The PERM labor certification process is the gate almost every employment-based green card has to pass through first. It exists to prove one specific thing: no qualified, willing, and available U.S. worker exists for the position. Hiring a foreign national shouldn’t displace American workers. 20 C.F.R. Part 656 sets the rules, per the Department of…

The U visa crime victim requirements come down to three things. INA § 101(a)(15)(U) demands that the applicant suffered substantial physical or mental abuse from a qualifying crime, has information about that crime, and has helped, is helping, or is likely to help law enforcement investigate or prosecute it. That last piece decides most cases,…

The asylum one year deadline trips up more otherwise-strong cases than any single element of asylum law. INA § 208(a)(2)(B) requires filing Form I-589 within one year of the applicant’s last arrival in the United States. Missing it doesn’t automatically end the case, but the exceptions are narrower than most people assume, and a recent…

An immigration bond hearing gives a detained person the chance to ask a judge for release while their case moves through court. Whether that chance exists at all depends on which detention category the government places someone in. That classification question has become genuinely unsettled over the past year. Federal courts across the country are…

A removal hearing immigration court proceeding starts long before anyone sits in front of a judge. It starts with a Notice to Appear, the charging document under INA § 240 that lays out why the government believes someone is removable and orders them to appear in immigration court. What happens between that notice and a…