PHAM & CLOVES, PLLC

ASYLUM APPLICATIONS
Asylum/refugee application provides a foreign national a form of protection in the United States based on past persecution or well-grounded fear of future persecution.  The applicant must show that he or she is being persecuted on account of their race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion. Foreign nationals who meet this [...]

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New Naturalization Certificate
Director Alejandro Mayorkas announced today, October 25, 2010, that the USCIS will begin to issue redesigned Naturalization Certficates.  The new certificate has enhanced security features designed to reduce fraud, including the new citizen’s digitized photo and signature embedded into the document.  The agency expect to issue more than 600,000 new Natrualization Certificates over the [...]

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Matter of AL WAZZAN, AAO (October 20, 2010)
 
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 [...]

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INA §204(j) Allows Aliens to Adjudicate Adjustment of Status while in Removal Proceedings
In Sung v. Keisler, 505 F.3d 372 (5th Cir. 2007), the 5th Circuit held that an Immigration Judge has jurisdiction over a § 204(j) determination as part of the adjudication of an adjustment of status application. In so holding, the Fifth Circuit adopted [...]

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Section 204(j) – Portability Rule of I-140 Immigrant Petition of Alien Workers
 
Section 204(j) of the Immigration and Nationality Act provides relief for aliens who change jobs after their employment-based visa petition has been approved. 204(j) provides that:
 
“any individual whose application for adjustment of status pursuant to section 1255 of this title has been filed [...]

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