Common Immigration Questions
Authoritative bilingual answers to immigration law questions, organized by practice area and grounded in INA, USC, and CFR citations.
Family Immigration
Practice areaMarriage-based green cards, fiancé visas, parents, children, siblings, and the waivers that make admissibility possible.
2 questions
Humanitarian Relief
Practice areaAsylum, withholding, U and T visas, VAWA self-petitions, and Special Immigrant Juvenile Status for survivors of harm.
4 questions
Asylum & withholding
I missed the one-year asylum filing deadline — is there anything I can do?
Yes — INA § 208(a)(2)(D) allows late filing if you can prove changed circumstances or extraordinary circumstances, and withholding of removal and CAT protection remain available with no deadline.
What is the credible-fear interview at the border and how should I prepare?
It is a screening interview that decides whether you are referred to an immigration judge for a full asylum hearing — you must articulate a specific, fact-grounded fear of persecution tied to one of five protected grounds.
U & T visas (crime victims & trafficking)
Naturalization & Citizenship
Practice areaEligibility timing, the civics and English exam, derivation and acquisition, and the traps that put citizenship itself at risk.
2 questions
Deportation Defense
Practice areaDetention and bond, cancellation of removal, asylum in immigration court, and appeals and motions before the BIA and circuit courts.
3 questions
Detention & bond
ICE issued a detainer on my loved one — what do I do right now?
Document everything, do not sign Form I-407 or any waiver of rights, gather identity and immigration records, and contact counsel within 48 hours — the detainer requests local custody for up to 48 hours after release, which is the window to act.
Can I challenge mandatory detention with a Joseph hearing?
Yes — under Matter of Joseph, 22 I&N Dec. 799 (BIA 1999), a detained noncitizen can demand a hearing to determine whether INA § 236(c) mandatory detention actually applies, and if not, become eligible for a bond hearing.
Employment Immigration
Practice areaEB-1, EB-2 NIW and EB-3 green cards, H-1B specialty workers, L-1, O-1 and TN visas, and the PERM labor-certification process.
3 questions
L-1, O-1 & TN visas
Can I work in the U.S. as a TN professional under USMCA?
Yes — if you are a Canadian or Mexican citizen, hold a degree or credentials matching one of the 60+ designated TN professions, have a U.S. employer offering a qualifying job, and meet the documentary requirements at the port of entry (Canadians) or consulate (Mexicans).
When does L-1 intracompany transfer make sense for a global employer?
L-1A (managers/executives) and L-1B (specialized-knowledge employees) let multinational employers transfer key staff to U.S. operations after at least 1 year of qualifying foreign employment in the last 3 years.
H-2 Visa Compliance
Practice areaH-2A and H-2B program design, wages, housing and transportation obligations, audits, and the 2025 portability and recruitment-fee rules.
6 questions
Wages, housing & audits
What housing, transportation, and wage obligations does an H-2A employer actually have?
H-2A employers must provide free compliant housing, inbound/outbound and daily transportation, the AEWR (or higher prevailing wage), workers' comp, tools and equipment, and a 3/4 contract-hour guarantee — and DOL audits these systematically.
DOL is threatening to debar my farm from the H-2A program — what can I do?
Debarment is appealable and defensible — request an administrative hearing under 29 C.F.R. § 501.20 within 30 days, build the mitigation record (corrective action, good-faith compliance, worker make-whole), and litigate the willfulness finding that drives the debarment length.
Recruitment & retaliation
Can H-2 workers be charged a recruitment fee?
No — both H-2A (20 C.F.R. § 655.135(j)) and H-2B (20 C.F.R. § 655.20(o)) flatly prohibit any worker from paying recruitment fees, and the 2025 H-2 Modernization Rule extended employer liability to fees charged by foreign recruiters even without the employer's knowledge.
Under the 2025 H-2 reforms, can my H-2 worker switch employers without losing status?
Yes — the 2025 H-2 Modernization Final Rule created true portability and a 60-day grace period, so an H-2A or H-2B worker can change to a different approved H-2 employer without re-entering and without losing status, as long as the new petition is filed in time.
DACA & TPS
Practice areaDACA renewals and initial filings, TPS designations and re-registration, work authorization, travel, and pathways to a green card.
4 questions
TPS — designations & re-registration
Am I eligible for TPS and which countries are currently designated?
TPS under INA § 244 is for nationals of designated countries who were in the U.S. on the designation's continuous-residence date — current designations in 2026 include Venezuela, Haiti, Ukraine, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen.
Can a criminal arrest end my TPS?
An arrest does not end TPS automatically — but a conviction for any felony or two or more misdemeanors disqualifies the holder by statute, and even some pre-conviction dispositions can trigger denial on re-registration.
Work authorization & travel
My TPS work permit is about to expire — am I covered by automatic extension?
Likely yes — USCIS routinely publishes Federal Register notices auto-extending TPS EADs for 540 days when a TPS extension is announced, but the extension only applies if the new EAD application is filed on time.
If I travel on TPS Advance Parole, am I admitted when I return — and does that help my green-card case?
After Matter of Z-R-Z-C- was vacated and USCIS's 2022 policy update took effect, TPS holders who travel on Advance Parole and re-enter are treated as inspected and admitted/paroled for INA § 245(a) adjustment purposes, restoring the pre-2020 rule.
Writ of Mandamus
Practice areaFederal-court suits to compel USCIS, the State Department, or USCBP to act when a case has stalled beyond reasonable adjudication time.
5 questions
When mandamus is the right tool
How long does USCIS have to decide my case before I can sue?
There is no statutory deadline — but federal courts apply the six-factor TRAC test for unreasonable delay, and most successful mandamus actions are filed when an adjudication has sat 2x the published processing time without movement.
Should I file a FOIA, a congressional inquiry, or a mandamus?
Each tool answers a different question — FOIA tells you what is in the file, a congressional inquiry pushes the case internally, and mandamus is the lawsuit that forces a decision when the first two failed.
Common cases we file
My affirmative asylum case has been pending for years — can I sue?
Yes — affirmative asylum mandamus is increasingly common because USCIS asylum-office backlogs now exceed 5 years in many offices, and courts have ordered specific interview dates when administrative exhaustion is shown.
My visa is stuck in 221(g) administrative processing — can mandamus help?
Sometimes — courts are split on whether the consular nonreviewability doctrine blocks mandamus over a stuck 221(g), but in most circuits a years-long 221(g) without movement remains actionable as failure to adjudicate.
Habeas Corpus
Practice area§ 2241 petitions challenging unlawful or prolonged ICE detention, post-order detention, and unconstitutional conditions of confinement.
5 questions
Post-order detention
I have a final order of removal but ICE cannot deport me — when do they have to release me?
Under Zadvydas v. Davis, ICE has a 6-month presumptive limit on post-final-order detention, and after that the burden shifts to the government to show removal is significantly likely in the reasonably foreseeable future.
I have been in mandatory detention for over a year — is there a habeas remedy?
Possibly — Jennings v. Rodriguez closed the door on a statutory right to periodic bond hearings, but multiple circuits still recognize as-applied due process challenges where § 236(c) detention has become unreasonably prolonged.
Detention basics
Should I file a bond motion in immigration court or a habeas in federal court?
Start with the bond motion in immigration court if jurisdiction exists — federal habeas is the next step when the immigration judge has no jurisdiction over bond or when bond is denied as a matter of law rather than discretion.
Can I challenge medical neglect or unsafe conditions in ICE detention through habeas?
Yes — although Bivens claims are limited, habeas remains available to challenge conditions that effectively make continued detention itself unconstitutional, especially serious medical neglect and prolonged solitary placement.
Petition for Review
Practice areaCourt-of-appeals review of final removal orders — the 30-day deadline, stays of removal, reinstatement, administrative removal, and options after removal.
10 questions
Petition-for-review basics
What is a petition for review of a removal order?
A petition for review is the case-opening document filed with the clerk of a federal court of appeals under INA § 242. Since the REAL ID Act of 2005, it is the sole and exclusive way to have a judge outside the immigration system review a final order of removal.
How is a petition for review different from a BIA appeal?
A BIA appeal is an administrative appeal inside the agency and carries an automatic stay of removal while it is pending. A petition for review is a federal-court case with no automatic stay — and skipping the BIA appeal usually forfeits the right to federal-court review entirely.
My motion to reopen was denied — can a federal court review that?
Yes. The denial of a motion to reopen or reconsider is itself a reviewable final order, with its own fresh 30-day window for a petition for review. But the underlying removal order's deadline does not restart — each order carries its own separate clock.
Deadlines & stays of removal
How strict is the 30-day deadline for a petition for review?
Completely strict. 8 U.S.C. § 1252(b)(1) gives 30 days from the date the removal order becomes final, courts cannot extend it for any reason, and a petition filed on day 31 is dismissed no matter how strong the case. Every separate order carries its own 30-day clock.
Does filing a petition for review stop my deportation?
No. Filing the petition does not stop removal by itself. A separate Motion for Stay of Removal must be filed under FRAP 18 inside the court-of-appeals case, and the court decides it under the four factors of Nken v. Holder — led by the likelihood that the petition will succeed.
Reinstatement & DHS-issued orders
ICE reinstated my old removal order — can any court review that?
Yes — but only through a petition for review filed within 30 days of the Form I-871 reinstatement decision. Reinstatement under INA § 241(a)(5) skips the immigration court entirely, so the court of appeals is the first and only judge who will ever look at it.
What is administrative removal under INA § 238(b), and can it be challenged?
Administrative removal lets DHS order the removal of a non-permanent-resident with an aggravated-felony conviction on paper — Form I-851 — without an immigration judge. The only judicial check is a petition for review in the court of appeals, filed within 30 days.
Removal during or before the case
What happens if I am deported while my petition for review is still pending?
The case does not die. Since 2005, physical removal no longer moots a petition for review — the court keeps deciding it, and a win obligates the government to treat the order as vacated. If the removal violated a court-ordered stay, the court has contempt and enforcement tools, and ICE has a written directive on facilitating return.
My family member was already deported and nothing was ever filed. Is there anything left?
Sometimes, yes — but the sequence matters. If any order in the case is still inside its 30-day window, a petition for review can be filed from abroad. Otherwise the realistic path usually starts with a motion to reopen, since courts in most circuits have rejected the rule that leaving the country forfeits that motion.