Blog Posts in September, 2010
Posted on Sep 30, 2010 By Ricky Malik
Germantown man who impersonated a federal immigration agent pleads guilty to fraud scheme ICE Press Release: "GREENBELT, Md. - Robert Fred Mejia, 29, of Germantown, Md., pleaded guilty to conspiring ...
Continue reading "DC Area man convicted for scamming immigrants, impersonating immigration officer" »
Posted on Sep 29, 2010 By Ricky Malik
ICE press release: "SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Three attorneys for a northern California law firm and their contract interpreter were sentenced to lengthy prison terms Friday following their conviction on ...
Continue reading "California Attorneys Sentenced to Prison for Asylum Fraud Scheme" »
Posted on Sep 28, 2010 By Ricky Malik
In Matter of Matter of Garcia, 25 I&N Dec. 332 (2010), the BIA held that "A conviction for a single crime involving moral turpitude that qualifies as a petty offense is not for an “offense ...
Continue reading "BIA: A CIMT that qualifies for the petty offense exception does not trigger stop-time rule" »
Posted on Sep 27, 2010 By Ricky Malik
On September 22, 2010, Attorney Ricky Malik attended a dinner sponsored by the American Immigration Lawyers Association hosting Charlie Oppenheim, Chief of the Immigrant Visa Control and Reporting ...
Continue reading "Attorney Ricky Malik has dinner with Visa Bulletin Chief" »
Posted on Sep 26, 2010 By Ricky Malik
United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced its new fee schedule. A Few Notable Increases: I-90 Green card replacement: $365 (up from $290) I-130 Family Petition: $420 (up ...
Continue reading "New Immigration fees starting November 23, 2010" »
Posted on Sep 22, 2010 By Ricky Malik
The Board of Alien Labor Certification Appeals (BALCA) agreed with the certifying officer that the labor certification application for the CEO of a closely held company should be denied, handing down ...
Continue reading "No Labor Certification for CEO who has 50% ownership in company" »
Posted on Sep 21, 2010 By Ricky Malik
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will allow Haitian F-1 students who were in the United States on January 12, 2010 to apply for work permits. The DHS previously issued Temporary Protected ...
Continue reading "Earthquake Relief: Haitian students affected by 2010 Earthquake may apply for Work Permits " »
Posted on Sep 20, 2010 By Ricky Malik
The Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) in Matter of Garcia-Garcia, 25 I&N Dec. 93 (BIA 2009) held that an Immigration Judge can review and consider whether to modify the conditions of release ...
Continue reading "Removing that Ankle Bracelet" »
Posted on Sep 19, 2010 By Ricky Malik
Office of Immigration Litigation publishes Immigration Consequences of Criminal Convictions in response to Supreme Court decision in Padilla vs. Kentucky. I disagree with some of their analysis on ...
Continue reading "Office of Immigration Litigation publishes Immigration Consequences of Criminal Convictions" »
Posted on Sep 18, 2010 By Ricky Malik
The BIA addressed convictions for solicitating a prositute in Matter of GONZALEZ-ZOQUIAPAN, 24 I&N Dec. 549 (BIA 2008) and found that: (1) A single act of soliciting prostitution on one's own ...
Continue reading "BIA: Single Act of Soliciting Prostitution is not removable offense under INA 212(a)(2)(D)(ii)" »
Posted on Sep 17, 2010 By Ricky Malik
H-1B Cap Count (for Fiscal Year 2011) as of September 3, 2010 Cap Type Cap Amount Cap Eligible Petitions Petition Target Date of Last Count H-1B Regular Cap 65,000 36,600 9/3/2010 H-1B Master's ...
Continue reading "H-1B Cap Count (for Fiscal Year 2011) as of September 3, 2010" »
Posted on Sep 16, 2010 By Ricky Malik
On August 13, 2010, President Obama signed into law Public Law 111-230 which contains provisions that require petitioners to pay an additional $2,000 for certain H-1B petitions and an additional ...
Continue reading "H-1B fee increase for companies who employ 50+ in the U.S. and more than 50% of the employees are in H-1B or L status" »
Posted on Sep 15, 2010 By Ricky Malik
Arrested yesterday on charges of knowingly employing and harboring illegal aliens. It sounds like he employed undocumented immigrants, yet that definition may include harboring. '"ICE aggressively ...
Continue reading "VA Restaurant Owner Arrested for Harboring Illegal Aliens" »
Posted on Sep 14, 2010 By Ricky Malik
The Board of Immigration Appeals in Matter of Fidel Antonio SANCHEZ-CORNEJO, 25 I&N Dec. 273 (BIA 2010) held that "The offense of delivery of a simulated controlled substance in violation of Texas ...
Continue reading "BIA:Simulated Controlled Substances are deportable controlled substance violations" »
Posted on Sep 13, 2010 By Ricky Malik
In Matter of CASILLAS-TOPETE, 25 I&N Dec. 317 (BIA 2010) the Board of Immigration appeals held that " An alien is removable under section 237(a)(1)(A) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, 8 ...
Continue reading "BIA on reason to believe drug trafficking" »
Posted on Sep 12, 2010 By Ricky Malik
A memo circulated entitled Administrative Alternatives to Comprehensive Immigration Reform. It is not yet official and it is unclear how it was leaked but it is indicative of the direction of some ...
Continue reading "Leaked Memo: Administrative Alternatives to Comprehensive Immigration Reform" »
Posted on Sep 12, 2010 By Ricky Malik
Visa Bulletin for October 2010. Click Here. Ricky Malik, Esq. greencard@mail.com
Continue reading "Visa Bulletin for October 2010" »
Posted on Sep 10, 2010 By Ricky Malik
The John Morton Memo of August 20, 2010 on terminating removal proceedings for aliens with pending or approved applications or petitions. A welcome directive from ICE Assistant Secretary John Morton. ...
Continue reading "ICE Boss Morton: Terminate Proceedings if Immigrant can obtain status" »
Posted on Sep 10, 2010 By Ricky Malik
In a really bad move, Virginia Governor Bob McDonnel announced that foreign nationals with legal work permits, that is people with legal status in the United States, can no longer obtain a VA driver's ...
Continue reading "Virginia DMV stops issuing driver's licenses with Work Permits (Employment Authorization)" »
Posted on Sep 9, 2010 By Ricky Malik
Now that USCIS has the uniforn denial language, we look forward to the uniform approval language memorandum which hopefully will be forthcoming. Ricky Malik, Esq.
Continue reading "USCIS Memorandum updating uniform denial language pertaining to BIA appeals" »
Posted on Sep 8, 2010 By Ricky Malik
"An alien is not independently “grandfathered” for purposes of adjustment of status under section 245(i) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, 8 U.S.C. 1255(i) (2006), simply by virtue of marriage ...
Continue reading "BIA limits 245(i) Grandfathering: Matter of Legaspi" »
Posted on Sep 7, 2010 By Ricky Malik
A small contruction company owner in Idaho admitted to employing 3 undocumented individuals for 17 months. Millions of undocumented workers seem to find employment in the United States, but those who ...
Continue reading "Construction Company owner pleads guilty to hiring 3 illegal employees" »
Posted on Sep 6, 2010 By Ricky Malik
The Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse found that the Denial Rate by Immigration Judges have dropped to a 25 year low. A large part for this according to TRAC: "[T]he total number of asylum ...
Continue reading "TRAC: Asylum Denial Rate Drops to Twenty-Five Year Low" »
Posted on Sep 5, 2010 By Ricky Malik
ICE released a defensive statement in support of its Secure Communities program in response to alleged "false claims" made by several immigration organizations and advocates. ICE claims transparency ...
Continue reading "ICE "Setting the Record Straight" Claiming Transparency" »
Posted on Sep 2, 2010 By Ricky Malik
In this difficult economy, a question I am often asked is if bankruptcy or foreclosing on a home will lead to problems with Immigration. I simply reply "Immediate Deportation. The U.S. will not allow ...
Continue reading ""I foreclosed on my house" or "I filed for bankruptcy!" Will that affect me from obtaining a Greencard or U.S. Citizenship?" »