Practice Advisories
Top Ten Things Domestic Violence/Sexual Assault Advocates Should Know About Immigrant Survivors
ASISTA’s Top Ten List for domestic violence & sexual assault advocates aims to inform advocates about key concepts and barriers impacting immigrant survivors of gender-based violence, while providing resources to help overcome them. (Original, Dec. 2023; Re-designed: Sept. 2024) This project was supported by Grant No. 15JOVW-21-GK-02240-MUMU & 15JOVW-23-GK-05161-MUMU awarded by the Office on Violence Against…
Read MoreASISTA Practice Pointer: Age-Out Protections in U Nonimmigrant Status (Aug. 2024)
ASISTA is pleased to release this Practice Pointer on the age-out protections for U Nonimmigrants. The age-out statute provides critical protections to U principals and derivatives, but the protections are limited in scope and often misunderstood. This Practice Pointer clarifies the scope of these age-out protections and provides practice tips for practitioners to avoid age-out for clients…
Read MoreASISTA Practice Alert: New DOJ Regs. and Immigrant Survivors (Aug. 19, 2024)
This Practice Alert reviews the EOIR regulations effective July 29, 2024, and the potential impact of the regulations on immigrant survivors and their derivative beneficiaries who are seeking administrative closure or the termination of removal proceedings. As the regulations are implemented and more information becomes available, ASISTA will update this guidance.
Read MoreASISTA Practice Advisory: Addressing Late-Breaking Inadmissibility Grounds for U Visa Beneficiaries (Aug. 8, 2024)
When a U applicant or recipient fails to waive an applicable inadmissibility ground at any stage, for any reason, it puts their current and future statuses at risk. Yet there do exist strategies to address these “late-breaking” inadmissibility grounds, depending on when they come into being and when you learn of them. This practice advisory…
Read MoreASISTA Practice Pointer: Correctly Identifying the Expiration Date of U Nonimmigrant Status (Updated February 8, 2024)
Many practitioners report uncertainty about the date their client’s U status expires because the client has multiple documents defining the validity of their status. For instance, a U derivative may have: (1) the I-797 approval notice for the principal’s I-918, (2) the I-797 approval notice for their own I-918A, (3) a U-3 (or other derivative…
Read MoreChecklist: Initial Documents Immigrant Survivors May Need (Nov. 2023)
This checklist suggests documents that social workers and advocates working with immigrant survivors may wish to help the survivors to gather. They may become useful for pending or future immigration application. Most people will not have all of these, but if your client has them, see if you can help obtain a copy. This project…
Read MoreASISTA New Resource: Top Ten Things Criminal Defense Attorneys Should Know About Criminalized Survivors (Oct. 9, 2023)
When a noncitizen survivor faces criminal charges, their immigration prospects will be best preserved if their criminal defense attorney is well-informed about immigration fundamentals. This resource is designed to inform criminal defense attorneys and advocates of key immigration concepts and equip them with useful tips and resources to put them into action.
Read MoreASISTA Notes from USCIS HART Service Center Quarterly Engagement (Sept. 22, 2023)
On September 22, 2023, USCIS held an engagement to provide an update on the Humanitarian, Adjustment, Removing Conditions and Travel Documents (HART) Service Center, which included a Q&A portion. These are ASISTA’s notes from that engagement.
Read MoreBrand-New: ASISTA & Ujima Release Practice Advisory on Anti-Blackness & Immigrant GBV Survivors (Feb. 2023)
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 9, 2023 Contacts: Kirsten Rambo, kirsten@asistahelp.org Cristina Velez, cristina@asistahelp.org ASISTA Releases Practice Advisory on Anti-Blackness and Immigrant Survivors of Gender-Based Violence in Collaboration with Ujima, Inc. The racism that pervades the US immigration system creates particular hardships for Black survivors of gender-based violence (GBV). ASISTA and Ujima, Inc. (the National Center…
Read MoreASISTA Releases Practice Advisory on Representing Criminalized Immigrant Survivors (Jan. 2023)
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 18, 2023 Contacts: Kirsten Rambo, kirsten@asistahelp.org Cristina Velez, cristina@asistahelp.org ASISTA Releases Practice Advisory on Representing Criminalized Immigrant Survivors ASISTA has released a practice advisory for immigration practitioners that provides an introduction to the impacts of criminal-legal system contacts on eligibility for survivor-based immigration relief. Immigrant survivors may be criminalized for many reasons,…
Read MoreVAWA Practice Advisory: VAWA Self-Petition Policy Updates (June 2022)
ASISTA, the Immigrant Legal Resource Center (“ILRC”), and Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. (“CLINIC”) co-authored the VAWA Practice Advisory: VAWA Self-Petition Policy Updates. Click here to access the Executive Summary: VAWA Self-Petition Policy Updates (June 2022), and here to download the practice advisory in Word version. This project was supported by Grant No. 15JOVW-21-GK-02240-MUMU awarded…
Read MoreAdvisory on new T Visa sections of the USCIS Policy Manual (November 2021)
ASISTA and CAST developed this advisory to highlight significant changes to the T visa section of the USCIS Policy Manual that went into effect on October 20, 2021. Changes include: Additional guidance on the intersections between trafficking/domestic violence and trafficking/smuggling; Physical presence on account of trafficking; Extended work authorization when filing a timely I-485 under…
Read MoreNew ASISTA Policy Alert, Q&A on ICE Directive: Using a Victim-Centered Approach with Noncitizen Crime Victims (Current as of August 23, 2021)
On August 10, 2021, ICE issued a new agency directive superseding guidance from 2019 regarding stay of removal requests and removal proceedings involving U visa petitioners (hereinafter “Directive”). The Directive outlines new policies and procedures regarding exercising prosecutorial discretion for victims of crime, including those eligible for victim-based immigration relief (including VAWA self-petitions, U and…
Read MoreAlbence Practice Advisory: Stay Extended through July 2, 2021
The stay in ASISTA v. Johnson (formerly known as ASISTA v. Albence) has been extended through July 2, 2021 while the parties continue discussions regarding an additional 90 day stay. Our practice advisory has been updated accordingly.
Read MoreNew Advisory: Overview of U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021 & Its Impact on Immigrant Survivors
U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021 & Its Impact on Survivors: On Thursday, February 18, 2021 theU.S. Citizenship Act of 2021 was introduced in the House by Representative Linda Sánchez and in the Senate by Senator Bob Menendez. ASISTA and our partners with the Alliance for Immigrant Survivors have prepared an overview of the bill with a discussion…
Read MoreASISTA Practice Alert Regarding Certain U Visa ‘After-Acquired Spouse’ Cases (Feb. 11, 2021)
In December, the 9th Circuit held in Medina Tovar v. Zuchowski that certain after-acquired spouses of U visa petitioners are eligible to “accompany or follow to join” the U-1 through the I-918A petitioning process. The Court recently issued its mandate on 1/25/2021. The judgment in Medina Tovar is therefore in effect as of 1/25/2021. We’ve prepared this Practice Alert to help you…
Read MoreNew Practice Advisory: Insight into USCIS’s Application of the “No-Blanks” Policy to U-Visa Petitions
The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), ASISTA and the Domestic Violence Project (DVP) of the Urban Justice Center have published a new practice advisory based on new USCIS documentation obtained by FOIA litigation brought by Cleary Gottlieb on behalf of DVP. This advisory contains a summary of the records USCIS released through the FOIA litigation , as…
Read MoreUpdated Practice Advisory: Status of USCIS Fee Rule
Over the last few week, there have been several updates that impact fee waiver practice. ASISTA has updated its fee rule advisory to provide additional background information and updates for agencies working with immigrant survivors and their families.
Read MoreASISTA Practice Pointer: DHS Freedom of Information Act Requests (August 31, 2020)
We are happy to share ASISTA’s new practice pointer: DHS Freedom of Information Act Requests. This practice pointer includes a breakdown of each DHS agency’s record keeping, sample FOIA language, and information on administrative appeals of FOIA results. For additional helpful tips, take a look at our recent webinar, FOIA Requests to DHS in Survivor-Based Cases.
Read MoreASISTA Practice Pointer: Filing Form I-290B When Multiple Interrelated Forms are Denied (July 2020)
When a petitioner files multiple interrelated forms for one case, such as a U visa, the denial of one form generally leads to the denial of all ancillary forms as well. In this practice pointer, we will address how many Form I-290Bs to file in this scenario, whether derivatives need to file their own Form…
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