July 9, 2008 by Bradley Maged.

The revocation of approved I-140 - Immigrant Petitions for Alien Workers by the USCIS. is occurring with relative frequency according to lawyer reports.  The I-140 is the petition that is filed by a sponsoring employer after the labor certification application has been certified.  

The USCIS has the authority to, and in fact does, revoke what they believe to be erroneously approved I-140 petitions.  The issue could be the employer’s ability to pay or that the alien does not have the requisite minimum education or experience. 

A USCIS Memo regarding the equivalency of Indian Bachelor degrees to US Bachelor degrees was issued last year.  Therefore, in a situation where the USCIS approved an I-140 petition prior to the issuance of the Memo and later revisited the file to see that the alien did not in fact have the equivalent of a US bachelor’s degree that was required for the position per the certified ETA 9089, the agency may revoke the approved petition.

What is disconcerting about this USCIS revocation power is that even if an I-485 application has been filed for an entire family, the USCIS can readjudicate the underlying I-140, revoke it and then proceed to deny all I-485 applications (principal applicant and dependents) that flowed from that I-140.   

The uncertainty, costs, effects on familes and employers and the emotional toll such actions cause are enormous.  In cases of fraud or misrepresentation by a peitioner or applicant, revocation of a previously approved petition is understandable.  However, if the USCIS approved a petition and it was their error, it seems patently unjust for the agency to then simply revoke the I-140 and let the alien suffer the consequences of its error. 

As if this were not enough, stay tuned, the DOL also has the authority to revoke certified Labor Certification Applications, although it has not exercised this power as of yet. 

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July 9, 2008 by Bradley Maged.

According to a USCIS Press Release:  “U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) today announced guidelines for a new special immigrant visa for certain Iraqi nationals who worked for, or were contractors of the United States government in Iraq for at least one year after March 20, 2003. “

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July 9, 2008 by Bradley Maged.

According to a USCIS Press Release:  “U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has issued revised instructions for USCIS Form I-131, Application for Travel Document. The instructions include changes effective March 5, 2008 that require applicants for re-entry permits and refugee travel documents to provide biometrics (e.g., fingerprints and photographs) at a USCIS Application Support Center (ASC) for background and security checks and to meet requirements for secure travel and entry documents containing biometric identifiers.”

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July 9, 2008 by Bradley Maged.

According to an interesting and balanced article on msn.com, if the US were to throw out all of the country’s undocumented workers:  “The biggest losers would be middle-class families with two working parents, living in high-immigrant states such as California, Texas, Florida or New York.”

Of course, this is a theoretical debate and one’s conclusions would likely depend on where one stands on the issue of immigration.  As the article points out, even independent organizations will reach different conclusions as to the effect of deporting all of the undocumented because the truth is, no one knows what would happen.  

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