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 L—D—L—R—
Concealed arrests made visa misrepresentation material
A Mexican permanent resident concealed two arrests when applying for his immigrant visa and later sought reentry after visiting Mexico. He had received a police certificate showing no criminal record, and the special inquiry officer found that the concealed arrests were immaterial because the…
Matter of D—W—M—
Divorce did not defeat adopted child's visa petition
A naturalized United States citizen petitioned for nonquota status for his adopted son in Korea. The child had lived with his adoptive mother for years after the petitioner moved to the United States, and the adoptive parents later divorced. On certification, the Board held that the custody and…
Matter of D—
Smuggling with intent to defraud supported exclusion
A Canadian commuter pleaded guilty to smuggling whiskey into the United States under 18 U.S.C. § 545. When he next sought admission, a special inquiry officer excluded him because the offense involved moral turpitude. The appellant argued that removal of the words “the revenue” from the smuggling…
Matter of C—
Recognition under Spanish law did not establish legitimation
A naturalized United States citizen petitioned for second preference visa status for a daughter born in Spain outside marriage. He had formally recognized her as his child while she was young and appealed the District Director's denial of the petition. The Board explained that the statute required…
Matter of S—
False citizenship claim prevented adjustment eligibility
A German citizen repeatedly entered the United States after falsely claiming to be a United States citizen. When deportation proceedings followed his last entry, he sought time to apply for adjustment of status under section 245 of the Immigration and Nationality Act. The special inquiry officer…
Matter of M—S—
Earlier agricultural worker entry supported deportation charge
A Mexican citizen entered the United States as an agricultural worker in December 1959, committed a crime in June 1960, and was later admitted for permanent residence. He was convicted in 1961 and sentenced to five years in prison. The special inquiry officer ordered deportation under a provision…
Matter of M—R—
Family omissions did not make visa fraud material
A Mexican widow used her maiden name and omitted her marriage and three children when applying for an immigrant visa. The government argued that truthful answers would have led the consul to ask about her finances and childcare arrangements. The special inquiry officer found the omissions willful…
Matter of J—P—
Labor certification barred commuter admission for covered job
A Mexican worker who lived across the border sought admission as a returning resident commuter to work for Peyton Packing Company in El Paso. During a strike, the Secretary of Labor had certified that admitting aliens for work at Peyton would adversely affect the wages and working conditions of…
Matter of N—
Prior adjustment denial barred a renewed application without new evidence
The respondent was a German visitor who stayed in the United States beyond the period authorized for her admission. The Board rejected due process challenges concerning the interpreter, notice of the deportation hearing, and the requested continuance. It held that the district director's denial of…
Matter of P—R—
Uncorroborated voting statements did not prove loss of citizenship
The respondent was born in the United States but had previously been found to have lost citizenship through work for the Mexican government or voting in a Mexican election. The Service withdrew the employment theory, and the respondent later denied that he had voted in Mexico. The special inquiry…
Matter of Grecian Palace
Bond requirement upheld for temporary worker petition
The District Director denied a temporary worker visa petition because the petitioner did not post a $1,000 bond to secure the beneficiary's maintenance of status and departure. Counsel argued that the government could require a bond only when the beneficiary applied to enter the United States. The…
Matter of K—
False citizenship claim did not bar termination of deportation proceedings
The case concerned a Polish lawful permanent resident who had been convicted of breaking and entering and later entered the United States without inspection after falsely claiming to be a U.S. citizen. A special inquiry officer terminated the deportation proceeding after granting a nunc pro tunc…
Matter of S—Y—L—
Formosa and Hong Kong deportation designations upheld
The respondent was a Chinese crewman who stayed in the United States longer than his admission allowed. He challenged an order naming Formosa as the primary place of deportation, Hong Kong as an alternative, and denying release on bond. Applying the United States' recognition policy at the time…
Matter of Hroncich
Deportation order withdrawn for a naturalization hearing
A Yugoslavian crewman faced an outstanding deportation order for entering without an immigrant visa. He sought to pursue naturalization based on military service, but the deportation finding impeded that petition. In December 1961, the Board held his motion in abeyance while the Immigration Service…
Matter of Plane F-BHSQ
Later parole did not erase carrier fine
Air France brought a German passenger to New York without the visa required for his temporary visit, and the District Director imposed a $1,000 carrier fine. Immigration officials later paroled the passenger into the United States. The airline argued that an emergency might have supported a…
Matter of V—
Citizenship certificate granted based on father's Philippine residence
A father applied for a citizenship certificate for his son, who was born in the Philippines in 1958. The father was born in California and lived in the Philippines from 1936 until 1954. The Regional Commissioner considered whether the father's years there before Philippine independence counted as…
Matter of G—
Visa fraud and voluntary party membership findings upheld
The respondent had been admitted as a permanent resident after obtaining an immigrant visa in Vienna in 1956. A special inquiry officer later found him deportable on charges concerning his past membership in the Communist Party of Hungary and concealment of that membership during the visa process…
Matter of M/S Tenna Dan
Crewman detention fine reduced to $500
Immigration officers refused a crewman permission to land from the M/S Tenna Dan, then temporarily took him ashore for fingerprinting and returned him to the vessel. He later left the ship without authorization. The Board held that the vessel's agents remained responsible for detaining him after…
Matter of R—
Earlier sham marriage barred a new visa petition
A naturalized United States citizen petitioned for nonquota immigrant status for her Portuguese husband. He had previously obtained that status through a marriage to another United States citizen. After a hearing, an immigration official determined that the earlier marriage was entered into to…
Matter of S—
Five-year rescission limit did not bar exclusion review
An applicant sought readmission as a permanent resident after obtaining a 1955 adjustment of status. Immigration officials alleged that he had secured his original 1949 visa by fraud. A special inquiry officer and the Board concluded that the government could no longer raise that ground because…
Matter of M—
Third orphan visa petition denied under historical two-child rule
A couple sought nonquota immigrant classification for a third orphan whom they planned to adopt in the United States. They had already brought two orphans into the country under earlier special statutes and adopted them. The couple argued that the newer statute limited the number of approved…
Matter of C—
Attorney could not appeal a revoked visa petition for an absent petitioner
The Immigration and Naturalization Service revoked an approved visa petition for a nonquota immigrant beneficiary. The petitioner received notice, but her former attorney said he could not locate her and filed an appeal while continuing to represent the beneficiary. The Board held that 8 C.F.R. §…
Matter of S—
Adoption barred preference petitions for natural parents
A naturalized U.S. citizen petitioned for preference quota immigrant visa status for his natural parents, who lived in the Soviet Union. He had been legally adopted in Israel at age 13 and had lived in the custody of his adoptive parents for years. The Board held that the adoption provisions of the…
Matter of B—
Family upbringing did not establish a legal adoption
A naturalized United States citizen sought preference quota status for his married niece, whom he and his wife had raised in the Netherlands Antilles. The visa petition depended on showing that she was his legally adopted daughter. The Board had previously returned the case for evidence of a…
Matter of G—
Hungarian law gave a child equal legal status after paternity was acknowledged
A permanent resident petitioned for third preference immigration status for his son, who was born in Hungary outside marriage. The district director denied the petition because the son's qualifying parent-child relationship had not been established. The Board examined Hungarian laws that had…
Matter of M—C—
Board upheld a 1961 exclusion ruling based on voting in Mexico
The applicant was born in Kansas and also held Mexican nationality through his parents. He had lived in Mexico since 1932 and testified that he voted there in the 1952 and 1960 elections. In this 1961 decision, the Board applied the expatriation provisions then cited in the case and held that his…
Matter of T—
Court-appointed guardian could file a spouse visa petition
A United States citizen's court-appointed guardian filed a visa petition for the citizen's wife. The district director first approved it, then revoked the approval on the ground that a guardian could not file for a citizen adjudged unable to act for himself. The Board concluded that section 205…
Matter of S—
Peruvian homicide conviction supported deportation charges
A Mexican citizen was convicted in Peru under a homicide provision after he killed a woman in 1950. The Peruvian court found that he had not intended to kill her. The Board compared the language of that provision with United States voluntary manslaughter law and held that intent to kill was not…
Matter of N—
Undisclosed arrest made a visa misrepresentation material
An Irish immigrant was arrested in England on an embezzlement charge three days before he applied for a United States visa. The Board found that he knowingly failed to disclose the arrest on the visa application. It held the omission material because the consular officer would have delayed issuing…
Matter of N—
Citizen retained nationality despite residence in Canada
A woman born in Scotland entered the United States as a child and derived citizenship through her father's naturalization. She later lived in Canada for more than five years, which raised a question about loss of nationality under the law then in force. Congress amended the law in 1959 to protect…
Matter of C—A—
Unaware citizen did not lose citizenship by using Cuban passport
An applicant born in Cuba had a claim to United States citizenship through his father, who was born in the United States. Immigration officials argued that using a Cuban passport after December 24, 1952, had cost him that citizenship under the law governing dual nationals. The applicant testified…
Matter of E—
A two-day visit met the mother's residence requirement
Two siblings born in Mexico applied for certificates recognizing United States citizenship acquired through their mother. She was a United States citizen who had visited the United States for about two days before either child's birth. The Regional Commissioner held that this short visit met the…
Matter of D—S—, Inc.
Shoe repair firm did not prove urgent need for specialist
A company operating 19 shoe repair shops sought first preference immigration status for an Italian worker it proposed to employ as an orthopedic shoemaker and designer. The Service found that the shops mainly performed ordinary shoe repairs, and only one shop repaired about two pairs of orthopedic…
Matter of S— and B—C—
Attorney General set a common test for material immigration misstatements
In one case, an applicant concealed his former Communist Party membership, which he said was involuntary. In the other, a man used his nephew's name for earlier agricultural worker entries and omitted that history from a later visa application. The Attorney General held that a misstatement is…
Matter of C—M—
Adult criminal conviction barred voluntary departure
A Mexican citizen entered the United States as a child without an immigration visa. He later sought voluntary departure instead of deportation. He committed a kidnapping offense in California at age 17 but was convicted in the Superior Court after turning 18. The Board held that California law did…
Matter of Y—J—G—
Adult son retained eligibility for a nonquota visa
A permanent resident petitioned for immigration preference for his unmarried son, but the son turned 21 while waiting for a visa and lost the child category that initially supported the petition. Congress later expanded the third preference category to include unmarried adult sons and daughters…
Matter of H—
Michigan justice court could not undo conviction after sentence
A German permanent resident had been convicted in Michigan of malicious destruction of property and later larceny. After a deportation order, the first court vacated its conviction, and a special inquiry officer terminated the deportation proceedings. The Board held that the justice court had no…
Matter of T—
Commissioner granted adjustment after a false citizenship claim
A woman from China appealed the denial of her application to adjust her immigration status. She had entered the United States after falsely claiming citizenship, and the Commissioner assumed for this decision that she knew the claim was false. He held that her appearance before an immigration…
Matter of S—
Existing first marriage defeated a spouse visa petition
A naturalized United States citizen sought a nonquota immigrant visa for a man she had married in New York. The district director denied the petition because the man had married another woman only months earlier and had shown no termination of that marriage. The petitioner argued that her…
Matter of S—
Invalid Turkish religious divorce defeated nonquota spouse status
A Turkish citizen entered the United States with a nonquota immigrant visa based on his marriage to a United States citizen. He had previously obtained a religious divorce in Turkey from his first wife. Turkish authorities reported that the divorce had no legal validity because Turkish law required…
Matter of C—
Later change in adoption rule did not restore nonquota visa status
A naturalized citizen petitioned for nonquota immigration status for his adopted son. The Board had denied the petition under its then governing rule requiring legal custody and residence with both adoptive parents. The Attorney General later changed that interpretation, but the son had already…
Matter of E—
SEC reporting conspiracy sustained deportability
A citizen of the United Kingdom, born in China, appealed a deportation order after a federal jury convicted him of conspiring to defraud the United States through false or delayed securities reports. The Board held that it was bound by the criminal conviction record and could not retry the case. It…
Matter of H—
Dual citizen retained United States nationality despite Canadian citizenship acts
A man born in Detroit to Canadian parents had citizenship in both countries at birth and grew up in Canada. To keep his Canadian citizenship, he signed a United States citizenship renunciation before a Canadian notary and obtained a Canadian citizenship certificate. The Board held that these acts…
Matter of H—V—
Federal youth correction commitment was a final narcotics conviction
A Mexican citizen who had lived continuously in the United States pleaded guilty in federal court to illegally importing narcotics. Instead of an ordinary sentence, the court committed him to the Attorney General for treatment and supervision under the Federal Youth Corrections Act. The Board held…
Matter of K—W—S—
Attorney General affirmed visa preference for a half brother
A naturalized United States citizen petitioned for fourth preference immigrant status for her half brother, born to their father and one of his concubines in China. The district director denied the petition because the claimed relationship was not satisfactorily established. The Board found the…
Matter of R—
Board upheld deportation under a 1952 Act exclusion
A German citizen appealed an order requiring his deportation after the immigration service alleged that he was excludable when he last entered the United States. The Board held that the 1952 immigration law’s then-existing “psychopathic personality” exclusion covered exhibitionism. It relied on the…
Matter of M—
Board upheld deportation after voluntary Cuban army service
A man born in Wisconsin joined Cuban revolutionary forces in 1958, returned to the United States, then went back to Cuba after the new government took power. He resumed his captain's rank and served in the Rebel Army without protest. The Board held that the government had proved voluntary service…
Matter of C—C—
Board upheld admission after applicant changed employers
A Mexican applicant arrived with a nonquota immigrant visa, but the employer named in his support documents was on the Secretary of Labor’s list of employers ineligible to contract Mexican workers. A special inquiry officer initially excluded him. The Board reopened the case so he could find…
Matter of G—Q—
Board denied another request to reopen deportation proceedings
The Board had found that the respondent voluntarily and meaningfully belonged to the Communist Party, and a court of appeals had affirmed the deportability finding. He sought another reopening to testify that he neither advocated forceful overthrow of the government nor knew the Party advocated it…
Matter of P—
Board upheld deportability after a crewman went ashore without permission
An Italian crewman went ashore in Baltimore after immigration officers inspected him and refused him permission to land. The Board initially found that the charge of entry without inspection could not stand because he had been inspected, and it sent the case back for a suitable charge. After a new…
Matter of E—
Board denied discretionary suspension of deportation
An Italian citizen who had lived in the United States since 1916 conceded deportability based on two robbery convictions and requested suspension of deportation. He pointed to his long residence, marriage to a U.S. citizen, business, and asserted rehabilitation. The Board considered those factors…
Matter of H—
Board rejected the sentence charges and reopened proceedings
A Michigan court granted a new trial after the respondent had served more than a year of an 18-month to 15-year sentence. On a new guilty plea, the court placed him on probation for ten months. The Board held that the new trial vacated the earlier sentence, so the respondent had no existing…
Matter of P—
Board found citizenship at birth despite father's automatic reacquisition of Italian nationality
The petitioner sought approval of a visa petition after a district director found that his father had lost United States citizenship before the petitioner's birth in Italy in 1914. The father had automatically reacquired Italian nationality under Italian law and later traveled on an Italian…
Matter of A—
Board required a deportation hearing after a stowaway escaped custody
A Greek stowaway was ordered detained aboard a vessel in New York but escaped through a porthole and remained in the United States for nearly two years. A special inquiry officer ended the deportation proceedings, reasoning that the original order to detain and deport the stowaway still controlled…
Matter of S—
Tailor lacked five years of experience after age 21
A clothing retailer petitioned for first preference immigrant status for a 24-year-old tailor. His former employer described more than seven years of journeyman work, but the Service required five years of qualifying experience after age 21. The Assistant Commissioner found that the tailor did not…
Matter of SS ‘San Marco IV’
Matter of SS “San Marco IV” (BIA ID 1153): Board rejected a vessel agent's fine for unpaid deportation expenses
The Immigration and Naturalization Service assessed a $300 fine against a company that had served as a vessel's bunkering agent in 1953. The fine followed the company's refusal to pay $275 in expenses for deporting a crewman in 1959. The Board held that the statute made the vessel's owners…
Matter of V—R—
Last failure to register set the ten year clock for suspension eligibility
A man who had entered the United States as a stowaway sought reconsideration of the denial of his application for suspension of deportation. He argued that his failures to comply with alien registration rules made him deportable on a ground that could qualify him for relief and that his ten year…
Matter of K—
High Commissioner's executive pardon ended deportation proceedings
A woman admitted to the United States as a displaced person faced deportation because of an earlier conviction in a U.S. military court in Germany. The U.S. High Commissioner for Germany later issued a general amnesty and pardon covering that conviction and sentence. The Board held that the High…
Matter of Z—
Economic duress prevented loss of U.S. citizenship
A Detroit-born U.S. citizen worked as a music teacher in Israel after his family faced illness and financial difficulties. The government argued that his employment under the Israeli government cost him his U.S. citizenship, making him deportable after he entered the United States on a transit…
Matter of L—L—
Buying an entry card did not establish fraudulent procurement
A Mexican applicant bought an alien registration receipt card from a private stranger and used it to enter the United States in 1959. He later applied for admission with a visa issued by a U.S. consul, having disclosed the earlier entry. The Immigration Service argued that buying and using the card…
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.