Perez-Olano v. Holder Settlement – USCIS to Revisit Special Immigrant Juvenile Applications
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has reached a settlement with the plaintiffs in Perez-Olano v. Holder. According to a stipulation in the settlement, USCIS will adjust current procedures for Special Immigrant Juvenile (SIJ) applications and SIJ-based Adjustment of Status (AOS) requests and will revisit cases in which SIJ applications or SIJ-based AOS requests were denied because the applicant’s state court dependency order had expired at the time of filing.
In the future, USCIS will not deny, revoke, or terminate a SIJ Application or SIJ-based AOS if, at the time of filing if (1) the applicant is or was under 21 years of age, unmarried, and otherwise eligible, and (2) the applicant either is the subject of a valid dependency order or was the subject of a valid dependency order that was terminated based on age prior to filing.
Without additional fees, USCIS will reopen applications for SIJ status or SIJ-based AOS requests that were denied, revoked or terminated on or after December 15, 2010, on the ground that the class member’s valid dependency order had been terminated based on age prior to filing form I-360 with USCIS, provided that at the time of filing the class member was under 21 years of age and unmarried. Except for criminal activity that would disqualify an applicant for adjustment of status, USCIS will re-adjudicate reopened applications based on the facts, laws, and regulations extant at the time USCIS initially denied, revoked, or terminated the SIJ application or SIJ-based adjustment of status. USCIS will make “good faith efforts” to re-adjudicate reopened applications before later-filed applications.
USCIS will send letters to all persons whose SIJ applications or SIJ-based AOS applications are eligible to be re-opened. Applicants have until June 15, 2018 to request USCIS to reopen and re-adjudicate applications for SIJ classification and/or SIJ-based adjustment of status pursuant to the new stipulation.
For more information regarding the settlement and the new stipulation, visit http://www.uscis.gov/laws/legal-settlement-notices/settlement-agreement-perez-olano-et-al-v-holder-et-al-case-no-cv-05-3604-us-district-court-central-district-california.
H-2B Program Extended to May 15
The Federal District Court in the Northern District of Florida issued an order allowing the U.S. Department of Labor to continue issuing H-2B temporary labor certifications until May 15, 2015. In the March 4th ruling of Perez vs. Perez, the court vacated DOL’s H-2B regulations on the basis that DOL has no authority under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) to issue them. Following the court order, DHS suspended adjudications of H-2B petitions. While DOL continues to process H-2B requests under current regulations until May 15th, DOL and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will work to publish regulations explicitly allowing DOL the authority to grant H-2B petitions.
Premium processing requests for H-2B resumed on April 20th. The current filing fee for Form I-907, Request for Premium Processing Service is $1,225. Form I-907 may be submitted with a Form I-129, Petition for Nonimmigrant Worker or it may be filed separately to request premium processing service for a previously filed H-2B petition.
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