Federal Agency Decisions
Federal workers' compensation appeals from the Department of Labor's Employees' Compensation Appeals Board (ECAB), federal-sector labor-relations cases from the Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA), mine-safety cases from the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission (FMSHRC), workplace-safety cases from the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC), Longshore Act and Black Lung Benefits Act appeals from the Department of Labor's Benefits Review Board (BRB), precedent decisions of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA), environmental permit and penalty appeals from the EPA's Environmental Appeals Board (EAB), and whistleblower and other labor appeals from the Department of Labor's Administrative Review Board (ARB), each with a plain-English summary, the law it cites, and whether it counts as precedent. More agencies are coming.
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Matter of Masson
Adjustment of status approved
A man born in Cuba had lived in Haiti from childhood and was a Haitian citizen. He entered the United States as a visitor in 1964 and later applied for permanent residence under the Act of November 2, 1966. The Board held that the statute covered a native or citizen of Cuba who met its stated…
Matter of Perez
Journalist qualified for third preference classification
A Philippine journalist sought third preference immigrant classification as a member of the professions. He held a bachelor's degree with a journalism major and had worked for more than three years as a government information writer. The Department of Labor issued the required labor certification…
Matter of Maher
Foreign trained dentist qualified as a professional
A dentist trained in the United Arab Republic sought third preference immigrant classification as a member of the professions. The District Director denied the petition because the dentist needed more study before he could practice in the United States. The Regional Commissioner held that a foreign…
Matter of Yam
Warrantless arrest and evidence upheld
Immigration investigators questioned a restaurant operator who produced documents bearing different names. He challenged his arrest without a warrant and sought to suppress the documents and the affidavit taken afterward. The Board held that the conflicting documents gave the investigator reason to…
Matter of Peterson
Marriage recognized despite separate bedrooms
A United States citizen petitioned for immediate relative status for his wife, a citizen of Iran. The District Director doubted their marriage because they slept in separate rooms and the husband said he married partly to have a housekeeper. The Board found that the couple had entered a valid…
Matter of Lim
Fraud waiver did not cover innocent visa error
A woman entered as the spouse of a person believed to be a United States citizen. Her husband was not a citizen, so she was ineligible for the visa status she received, but the Service did not claim that she knew this or committed fraud. The special inquiry officer terminated deportation…
Matter of Hanna
Ceramic engineer qualified for third preference classification
A ceramic engineer from the United Arab Republic sought third preference classification as a member of the professions. He held a baccalaureate degree in ceramic engineering and had more than five years of experience in that field. The District Director treated ceramic engineering as a…
Matter of Soares
Stepchild petition denied without a family relationship
A United States citizen petitioned for immediate relative status for her husband's son, who was born to another woman before their marriage. The son had always lived with his birth mother in Portugal and had never been part of the petitioner's household. The District Director granted the petition…
Matter of Riva
Deportation hearing need not decide future admissibility
A Peruvian national conceded that he had remained in the United States beyond his authorized stay. He received voluntary departure but asked the special inquiry officer to decide whether his earlier efforts to avoid military service would make him inadmissible if he sought a visa abroad. The…
Matter of Leveque
Changed labor certification rule controlled pending application
A French visitor who remained beyond her authorized stay applied for adjustment of status in May 1965. Before the application was decided, a new law required a labor certification that she could not obtain. She argued that the Service's investigation delayed her case and that the special inquiry…
Matter of Weindl
Commuter who left to avoid draft remains excludable
An Austrian permanent resident worked in the United States while living in Canada as a commuter. After his draft deferment ended, he gave up that status and took work in Canada. He testified that he left partly because he did not want to serve while the Vietnam conflict continued. The Board found…
Matter of Winter
Guilty pleas without final convictions did not support deportation
A British lawful permanent resident faced deportation after pleading guilty to Massachusetts larceny charges. The state court imposed no sentence and placed the cases on file. After he left and reentered the United States, the Service argued that his guilty pleas counted as admissions of crimes…
Matter of Wolf
Three years of discretionary readmission after business trips
A permanent resident barred from citizenship because he had obtained relief from military service on grounds of alienage sought permission to make frequent business trips abroad and return to the United States. The District Director denied his request for unlimited permission. The Board agreed that…
Matter of Vanisi
Service may reopen pending adjustment case
A visitor from Tonga received a conditional order granting adjustment of status, pending a quota number. The Service later moved to reopen the case with a consular report indicating that she had married before entering and had described herself as unmarried on her application. A clerical delay had…
Matter of Chen
Restaurant investigation supported crewman’s deportation order
Immigration officers investigating a restaurant questioned a Chinese crewman who had stayed beyond his permitted period. The restaurant owner consented to the investigation, and the officers arrested him after he tried to flee and could not show lawful status. The Board held that the officers’…
Matter of Wu
Community guild could petition for a physician it would not pay directly
The Darrington Hospital Guild sought sixth preference classification for a physician to serve a community without a local doctor. The Guild would provide a medical facility, while patients would pay the physician directly. The District Director held that the Guild's plan to use the physician's…
Matter of Kotur
Conditional entrant could not yet petition for spouse
A Yugoslavian conditional entrant sought second preference immigrant status for his wife. The District Director denied the petition because the husband had not yet been admitted for permanent residence. The Board found that two years had not elapsed since his conditional entry and that his status…
Matter of Nagy
Set-aside youth conviction cannot support deportation charge
A Hungarian lawful permanent resident faced deportation based on two convictions for crimes involving moral turpitude. His conviction for transporting a stolen vehicle had been set aside under the Federal Youth Corrections Act, and the Youth Correction Division issued a certificate recording that…
Matter of Garcia
California legitimation rule supports a married son's visa petition
A naturalized U.S. citizen sought fourth preference status for his married son in the Philippines. The district director denied the petition because the father had not established a qualifying parent-child relationship. The parents married when the son was 35, but the Board found that the father…
Matter of Paco
Withdrawn job offer voided labor certification
A Mexican applicant sought admission to work in the United States using an immigrant visa with a labor certification based on a domestic job offer. The prospective employer withdrew the offer after his wife died. The Board held that the withdrawal made the labor certification invalid before the…
Matter of Lau
Hong Kong upheld as alternate deportation destination
A crewman from mainland China remained in the United States beyond his authorized stay. A special inquiry officer allowed voluntary departure and ordered deportation to the Republic of China on Formosa, or alternatively Hong Kong, if the crewman did not leave. The Board rejected his argument that…
Matter of Kowarski
Visiting nuclear scientist qualified for temporary work
The University of Texas petitioned to employ French nuclear scientist Lew Kowarski as a visiting professor for the spring 1968 semester. The District Director considered Kowarski's research record, his position at the European Center for Nuclear Research, and the university's plan for teaching and…
Matter of McLean
Separate bad-check convictions supported deportability
A British citizen appealed an order finding him deportable after convictions for issuing bad checks in California and Colorado. The Board held that both crimes involved moral turpitude because each statute required intent to defraud. It rejected his claim that the offenses arose from one scheme…
Matter of Rodriguez
Later parole met Cuban adjustment requirement
A Cuban citizen arrived on January 1, 1959, received parole, and was inspected and paroled again after that date. The district director denied his application for permanent residence under the Cuban Adjustment Act because his original arrival was not after January 1. The Regional Commissioner held…
Matter of Contreras-Sotelo
Timely departure did not break residence
A Mexican respondent sought permanent residence based on continuous residence in the United States. The Service appealed the special inquiry officer’s grant of relief, arguing that his 1957 departure after deportation proceedings broke his residence. The Board held that a timely departure before a…
Matter of Benitez-Saenz
Timely departure preserved residence
A respondent sought permanent residence under former INA section 249 after a 1959 voluntary departure. The special inquiry officer denied relief because an alternate deportation order had accompanied permission to leave voluntarily. The Board held that the deportation order never took effect…
Matter of Medina-Ochoa
Brothers admitted as business visitors to salvage lumber
Two brothers from Mexico sought entry to demolish a house they had been given in California and take its usable lumber home. They would receive no pay, use no local labor, and expected to finish in about six days. A special inquiry officer excluded them as immigrants without visas, reasoning that…
Matter of Arjani
Accounting experience qualified applicant for visa preference
A British applicant sought third preference immigrant visa classification as a member of the accounting profession. The District Director denied his petition, and a Department of Labor advisory opinion found that his education alone did not equal a United States bachelor's degree. On appeal, the…
Matter of Young
Board denied reconsideration of stepchild petition
A lawful permanent resident asked the Board to reconsider its denial of a visa petition for her husband's daughter. She argued that a later court decision supported treating the child as her stepchild. The Board distinguished the cited cases because each involved a marriage after the child's birth…
Matter of Pasarikovski
Refugee classification denied without presidential definition
A Yugoslav citizen living in the United States sought refugee classification after an earthquake destroyed his home in Skopje. The District Director denied the request under a provision for people uprooted by a catastrophic natural calamity. The Regional Commissioner found that the provision…
Matter of Caydam
Deficient medical process required a new examination
A Turkish citizen facing deportation sought adjustment to permanent resident status through his U.S. citizen spouse. The special inquiry officer found him ineligible based on a Public Health Service Class A medical certificate. The Board found that the medical process had not followed required…
Matter of Ho, et al.
Deportation notices need not name an alternate country
Six crewmen from mainland China remained in the United States beyond their permitted stay. Immigration officials found them deportable and named Hong Kong as an alternative destination if needed. On appeal, the crewmen argued that their orders to show cause were defective because those notices did…
Matter of Wellhofer
Bermuda travel did not bar adjustment
A German citizen entered the United States as a visitor after traveling through Bermuda and later applied to adjust to permanent resident status. The district director denied the application based on an exclusion rule concerning travel from an adjacent island. The Regional Commissioner held that…
Matter of Chan
Adoption recognized despite age gap
A lawful permanent resident petitioned for preference quota status for her adopted son. The District Director denied the petition because Chinese law called for an adoptive parent to be at least 20 years older than the child, while she was about 16 years older. The Board found that the age…
Matter of Castillo-Godoy
Missing labor certification defeated motion to reopen
A Mexican citizen entered the United States to work after obtaining a visa through a marriage that the Board found was solely for immigration purposes. He asked the Board to reopen his deportation case after marrying the mother of his child, a U.S. citizen, arguing that he was now the parent of a…
Matter of Pableo
California legitimation supported son's visa preference
A naturalized U.S. citizen petitioned for first preference visa classification for his unmarried son, who was born in the Philippines outside marriage. The father had publicly acknowledged and supported him, and in 1951 the child joined the father's household with his wife's consent. The District…
Matter of Piraino
Suspended theft sentence fell within petty offense exception
The Immigration Service appealed a ruling that an Italian lawful permanent resident was not deportable because of a 1944 aggravated theft conviction. The Board treated the conviction as a petty offense under the law then in force because execution of the reduced sentence had been suspended, so no…
Matter of Buenaventura
School counselor lacked graduate study and teaching experience
A school counselor sought third preference immigrant classification as a member of the professions. The District Director found that professional recognition as a school counselor required graduate work in guidance and at least one year of teaching experience. The petitioner had a bachelor's degree…
Matter of Gerhard
Commuter status survived brief return to Canada
A Canadian citizen admitted as a United States commuter left an industrial blacksmith job after one week because the heat was unsuitable, and returned to Canada while his wife underwent surgery. He resumed work in Canada but found a better suited millwright job in Detroit about three months later…
Matter of Hyatt
Blanket labor certification covered visiting musicians
The owner of a Michigan steak house and lounge petitioned for temporary worker classification for two Canadian musicians who would play on weekends for four weeks. A Department of Labor blanket certification covered qualifying musicians working within 50 miles of the Canadian border for less than…
Matter of Bozdogan
State license was not required before visa petition approval
A Texas salon owner sought sixth preference classification for a Turkish hair stylist he wanted to employ. The District Director denied the petition because the stylist lacked a Texas beauty operator license and had not shown that he could obtain one. The Regional Commissioner found that he had the…
Matter of Norton
Michigan did not recognize the Mexican mail-order divorce
A naturalized U.S. citizen asked for immediate relative classification for Victoria J. Norton as his wife. She had obtained a Mexican divorce from a prior marriage contracted in the Philippines, but neither former spouse attended the divorce proceeding. The Board found that Michigan, where she…
Matter of Quan
Rescission of a mother's permanent resident status vacated
A Peruvian woman's permanent resident status had been based on her husband's claim to U.S. citizenship. He later admitted that he was a Chinese citizen, and the District Director rescinded her adjustment of status. The Deputy Associate Commissioner held that the family unity protection in section…
Matter of Wong-Setoo
Claimed adoption could not establish sister relationship
A naturalized U.S. citizen sought a family preference visa for her blood niece, claiming that her parents had adopted the niece and made her an adopted sister. The District Director denied the petition, and a later claimed adoption agreement prompted further investigation. The Board found that the…
Matter of Blanco
Canceled admission record allowed a new residence record
A Guatemalan woman had been admitted as a permanent resident in 1957. While she worked for an official of the Venezuelan embassy, the Service changed her status to that of a nonimmigrant and canceled her prior record of lawful admission. After the job ended, she sought a new record of admission…
Matter of Chan
Fraud waiver denied but voluntary departure allowed
A Chinese citizen appealed an order of deportation after entering the United States without inspection in the rear of a delivery truck. He sought the fraud waiver in section 241(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act. The Board held that the waiver did not apply because he had entered secretly…
Matter of Hung
Short programming course did not establish professional qualification
A visa petitioner appealed the denial of third preference classification for a computer programmer. The beneficiary had a business administration bachelor's degree, a 95-hour IBM data processing course, and programming employment since May 1966. The Regional Commissioner explained that some…
Matter of Ahmed
Mechanical technologist did not qualify for professional preference
A beneficiary appealed the denial of his petition for third preference immigrant status as an assistant engineer and mechanical technologist. He had completed a three-year power technology course and was studying for a mechanical technology degree. The Regional Commissioner found that he lacked the…
Matter of Rivero-Diaz
Exclusion upheld on public interest and security grounds
A Cuban citizen appealed an exclusion order based on three provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act. He was the founder of the Cuban Nationalist Association and said his activities expressed his political views. The Board concluded from the record that he sought entry for activities…
Matter of Nason
Separate mail fraud schemes support deportation order
A Canadian permanent resident pleaded guilty to mail fraud counts involving two fictitious names and conduct roughly ten months apart. An earlier Board deportation decision was remanded after a federal appeals court required a fuller assessment of whether the convictions arose from a single scheme…
Matter of University of Michigan
Visiting professor's one year teaching assignment was temporary service
The University of Michigan petitioned for a mathematician to teach for one academic year while a regular professor was on leave. The District Director denied the petition because the underlying faculty position was permanent. On certification, the Regional Commissioner found that the visiting…
Matter of Unnisa
Proposed operating room training did not fit exchange visitor program
An Indian medical graduate sought to change from temporary visitor to exchange visitor status for operating room training at a hospital. The hospital's approved program covered medical internships and residencies and courses in medical or x-ray technology. The State Department found the description…
Matter of Reimer
Consul's visa advice did not excuse entry without documents
A German permanent resident visited East Berlin while abroad in 1964. After police took his registration card, a U.S. consul told him it could no longer be used to return and that a new visa could take up to a year. He instead obtained a U.S. passport by posing as a citizen and used it to enter the…
Matter of Farinas
Old deportation orders set aside after miscarriage of justice
A Philippine citizen was deported in 1950 after a 1946 Board ruling treated a brief Canadian stop during employer arranged travel to Alaska as a new entry. The Board found that later controlling decisions issued before his deportation meant that the 1946 order could not have survived judicial…
Matter of Samuel
Clinical psychologist qualified for professional preference
A petitioner sought third preference visa classification for a clinical psychologist from Pakistan. The beneficiary held a psychology master's degree and a further diploma, had four years of clinical experience, and had a labor certification. The District Director found that his training met the…
Matter of Zappia
Marriage entered to evade Wisconsin prohibition did not support visa petition
A U.S. citizen petitioned for immediate relative status for his wife. They were first cousins living in Wisconsin and had gone to South Carolina to marry because Wisconsin law prohibited their marriage. The Board found that they went there solely to avoid Wisconsin's prohibition and immediately…
Matter of Hinojosa-Pena
Prior exclusion does not end the inquiry on a new application
A married couple from Mexico applied for admission as temporary visitors in 1967. They had been excluded in 1955 for obtaining immigration documents by fraud and had made later visits using waivers, but had no waiver for this application. The special inquiry officer relied solely on the 1955 record…
Matter of Wong
Adjustment request belonged before the district director
A man previously excluded from the United States had been paroled into the country and later obtained approval of an immediate relative visa petition. He asked the Board to reopen his proceeding so he could seek adjustment of status. The Board held that the governing regulation assigned his…
Matter of Bun
Engineer's temporary work did not defeat petition revalidation
An engineer sought revalidation of a previously approved third preference visa petition. He planned to study electrical engineering at Stanford and work part time in management consulting or investment banking to support his family. The Regional Commissioner found that his education, experience…
Matter of Mesa
Public assistance did not bar Cuban refugees' adjustment
A Cuban couple paroled into the United States in 1962 sought permanent residence under the Act of November 2, 1966. The Southwest Regional Commissioner denied their applications because they received public assistance and were deemed inadmissible as likely public charges. On certification, the…
What these documents are
- The agencies: Federal workers' compensation appeals from the Department of Labor's Employees' Compensation Appeals Board (ECAB), federal-sector labor-relations cases from the Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA), mine-safety cases from the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission (FMSHRC), workplace-safety cases from the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC), Longshore Act and Black Lung Benefits Act appeals from the Department of Labor's Benefits Review Board (BRB), precedent decisions of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA), environmental permit and penalty appeals from the EPA's Environmental Appeals Board (EAB), and whistleblower and other labor appeals from the Department of Labor's Administrative Review Board (ARB). Each decision page names its agency.
- Commission, Board and Authority decisions: Rulings by the agency's highest review level (the Commission at OSHRC and FMSHRC, the Authority at FLRA, the Board of Immigration Appeals, the Administrative Review Board at Labor, and the Environmental Appeals Board at EPA). These are citable as precedent, though a decision may have been appealed to a U.S. Court of Appeals after issuance.
- ALJ decisions: Rulings by the agency's Administrative Law Judges after a hearing. When no Commissioner directs review, an ALJ decision becomes a final order that binds the parties in that case but is not binding precedent: under 29 U.S.C. § 661(j) at OSHRC, and after the 40-day window of 30 U.S.C. § 823(d)(1) at FMSHRC.
- Why finality matters: Every page here says which kind of decision you are reading, so you know whether it is precedent you can cite or a final order that only shows how one judge ruled on one set of facts.
- Where they come from: Every page links the official public release from the deciding agency, and the full text on the page is that release. The plain-English summaries are written by Ezel.