- Although section 204(j) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, 8 U.S.C. § 1154(j) (2000), provides that an employment-based immigrant visa petition shall remain valid with respect to a new job if the beneficiary's application for adjustment of status has been filed and remained unadjudicated for 180 days, the petition must have been "valid" to begin with if it is to "remain valid with respect to a new job."
- To be considered "valid" in harmony with related provisions and with the statute as a whole, the petition must have been filed for an alien who is "entitled" to the requested classification and that petition must have been "approved" by a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services ("USCIS") officer pursuant to his or her authority under the Act.
- Congress specifically granted USCIS the sole authority to make eligibility determinations for immigrant visa petitions under section 204(b) of the Act.
- An unadjudicated immigrant visa petition is not made "valid" merely through the act of filing the petition with USCIS or through the passage of 180 days.
Ricky Malik, Esq.