An immigration petition may be filed by a U.S. citizen on behalf of certain family members, seeking for them to receive a green card, fiancée visa, or a K-3 or K-4 visa, based on the relationship between the U.S. citizen and the beneficiary. Petitions are for immediate relatives of U.S. citizens, such as a spouse, parent, child, or sibling.

The Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) takes another look at decisions made by the U.S. Immigration courts, as well as some decisions from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. BIA appeals are seen at the final administrative action in a case, with the following stages of appeals taking place in the United States courts of appeals if the appeal is allowed to be heard.

The BIA has jurisdiction over the whole country to hear appeals in a variety of proceedings, with their rulings being binding unless modified or overruled by a federal court or Attorney General. Most likely, if an appeal is taken beyond the BIA, it would be heard by a court such as the 9th Circuit Appeals Court, or the Supreme Court of the United States in some circumstances.

Some immigration benefit appeals will be heard by the Administrative Appeals Office (AAO). The AAO had jurisdiction over about 50 different immigration types. While the BIA is part of the Department of Justice, the AAO receives their authority from the Department of Homeland Security. For example, the AAO would handle most employment based immigrant and non-immigrant visa petitions.

The AAO is also responsible for hearing appeals to fiancée petitions, such as the K-1 and K-2. The K-1 fiancée non-immigrant visa relates to the foreign citizen fiancée of a U.S. citizen, who with a K-1 visa permit would have permission to travel to the United States and marry their U.S. citizen sponsor within 90 days of arriving into the country. Similarly, a K-2 visa could be granted to the eligible child of someone receiving a K-1 visa. In this case, the K-2 visa holder would be accompanied into the United States by the K-1 visa holder (the parent of the K-2 holder).

Most foreign-born people who marry U.S. citizens apply for a green card which allows them to stay in the U.S. with their spouse. To become a permanent resident, they would first file for a 2-year conditional green card. After that time, a Form I-751 must be filed to remove the conditions on residence, to seek to change their status to permanent resident. This application should be filed within 90 days of the end date of the conditional residence.

A Notice of Intent to Deny (NOID) is something issued by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services to those petitioning for residency, family visas, employment visas, or citizenship. This could be filed in situations when the person evaluating the petition thinks that it should be denied, while indicating that the petitioner could have additional evidence which could lead to a reversal. Any responses to NOID’s must be sent by the petitioner, or an attorney on behalf of the petitioner.

At the Law Offices of James S. Hong and Associates, we handle simple to highly complex immigration matters including family law. We also provide translation services of any and all immigration related documents in any language including documents such as birth, death and marriage certificates, divorce decrees, etc. Contact us any time, 24/7 and let us help you today.