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 Liao
Deportation relief denied after military training
A Chinese Nationalist Air Force captain entered the United States for military training in 1954, then resigned and remained after his unit returned to Formosa. He conceded deportability but sought suspension of deportation based on extreme hardship and withholding because he feared persecution. The…
Matter of Aircraft No. N-2476-U
Pilot's inspection fine cut to $25
A pilot returned from a business trip to Mexico with one passenger and left the aircraft without presenting either person for immigration inspection. He remembered the requirement while at a restaurant and returned to the airport that afternoon to report the lapse. The District Director imposed a…
Matter of Avalos Zavala
Concealed family facts were material to visa application
A man from Peru obtained an immigrant visa after representing that he had no wife or children, although he was married and had four children. He was also seeking to marry his cousin after a pending divorce. A special inquiry officer terminated deportation proceedings after finding that the false…
Matter of Psalidas
Father's denaturalization defeated son's citizenship claim
A man born in Greece claimed U.S. citizenship through his father, who had been naturalized before the man's birth. A federal court had cancelled the father's citizenship in 1940 after finding that he took permanent residence abroad within five years of naturalization. The son argued that the…
Matter of Gayo-Gayo
Deportation finding upheld on one charge
A Spanish citizen entered the United States using a visa issued after his marriage to a U.S. citizen. An immigration officer found the marriage was entered only to secure his admission and sustained a deportation charge based on his ineligibility for that visa. The Board upheld that finding because…
Matter of Kinj
Parent of a minor citizen denied visa preference
A Lebanese citizen remained in the United States after his student admission and a later voluntary departure deadline expired. He sought adjustment of status, arguing that his legal relationship to a young U.S. citizen child qualified him for a second preference immigrant visa. The Board assumed…
Matter of Lee
Four years in China broke continuous U.S. residence
A Chinese citizen sought a record of lawful admission under section 249, which required continuous U.S. residence since before June 28, 1940. He had lived in China from 1947 to 1951, initially to visit his ill wife. After her death, he remarried, entered business there, and kept no home, property…
Matter of Young
Temporary voluntary departure preserved residence
A Chinese citizen sought adjustment of status under a provision requiring continuous U.S. residence since before June 28, 1940. The Service argued that his voluntary departure in 1947, after deportation proceedings began, broke that continuity. He had kept his U.S. living quarters and much of his…
Matter of Caudillo-Villalobos
Court reporting trips counted as entries
A lawful permanent resident repeatedly traveled to Mexico to report to a court after his arrest and conviction there for incest. An immigration officer had ended deportation proceedings after treating the short trips as falling under the rule for innocent, casual, and brief travel in Rosenberg v…
Matter of Russo
Italian election voting defeated daughter's visa preference
A woman born in the United States sought a visa preference for her married daughter, an Italian national. The District Director denied the petition because the woman had voted in Italian elections, which the Board found had caused her to lose U.S. citizenship under the law then in force. She said…
Matter of O'Gorman
Two check forgeries were not a single scheme
The Board reviewed a deportation order against a Scottish citizen convicted of petty larceny and attempted second-degree grand larceny. He argued that the convictions arose from one scheme because he made the two checks on the same evening. The Board rejected that argument because the checks…
Matter of Lum
Natural mother's visa petition restored
A naturalized citizen sought a second preference immigrant visa for her natural mother. She had been adopted in China as an infant, but entered the United States as the wife of a U.S. citizen and had received no immigration benefit through the adoption. The District Director revoked her petition…
Matter of Petuoglu
District Director waived foreign residence requirement
Doctor Stepan Petuoglu, a Turkish physician, entered the United States for medical training as an exchange visitor. He and his U.S. citizen wife later moved to Canada intending to meet the two-year foreign residence requirement, but were told that the Canadian residence did not satisfy it. A prior…
Matter of Jacobson
Brief Mexico visit interrupted required presence
A man who had been deported in 1937 returned to the United States without inspection in 1953. He spent four or five hours in Mexico in 1959, then reentered. The Board held that this trip interrupted the seven years of continuous physical presence then required for suspension of deportation. It…
Matter of Ikemiya
Exchange visitor waiver allowed worker status change
A Japanese exchange visitor sought to change his status to temporary worker after the Department of Agriculture obtained approval of a worker petition for him. The Department of State had recommended, and he had received, a waiver of the two-year foreign residence requirement for exchange visitors…
Matter of Loza-Bedoya
Deportation interrupted required presence
A Mexican citizen who had entered the United States without inspection sought relief from deportation based on his long residence and the hardship removal would cause his family. He argued that an old immigration law's seventh proviso could be applied retroactively to make his residence lawful. The…
Matter of Dun-Rite Kitchen Cabinet, Corp.
Cabinetmaker preference petition denied
Dun-Rite Kitchen Cabinet sought first preference immigration status for Francesco Coscia as a cabinetmaker. The job clearance order required at least three years of experience making custom cabinets with both hand and machine tools. The company submitted statements from two prior employers, but the…
Matter of Haddad
Student status change denied for lack of support
A Chilean citizen admitted as a visitor asked to change to student status to study English and electronics in New York. He later enrolled in dental technology instead and stopped attending after a short time. His father said he would send $150 to $200 monthly, but the Regional Commissioner found…
Matter of Jensen
One forged check counted as one crime under youth exception
A Canadian applicant sought admission for permanent residence after a conviction for forging and using a $20 check when he was 16. The special inquiry officer admitted him under the then-applicable exception for a single crime involving moral turpitude committed before age 18 and more than five…
Matter of The
Acknowledgment did not establish stepmother relationship
A naturalized United States citizen petitioned for an immigrant visa preference for the woman her father had married when she was a child. The District Director denied the petition because the claimed stepmother relationship did not meet the immigration law's definition. On appeal, the Board…
Matter of Martinez-Torres
Permission to reapply for admission denied
A Mexican citizen appealed the denial of his request for permission to reapply for admission after deportation. He had been convicted under a federal law concerning marijuana and had been deported in 1962. The Regional Commissioner found that the conviction made him mandatorily inadmissible under…
Matter of Alberga
Sample stitcher experience not established
A women's clothing manufacturer sought first preference quota status for a Jamaican dressmaker as a sample stitcher. The clearance order required five years of experience across the tasks of that position. The beneficiary had studied dressmaking in New York and completed a year of practical…
Matter of Prieto-Perez
Property claim prompted further citizenship inquiry
A man born in the United States was also a Mexican citizen and lived in Mexico while working in the United States. An immigration officer found him excludable after concluding that he had lost United States citizenship by obtaining land in a Mexican border zone limited to Mexican nationals. The…
Matter of Azmitia
Visitor visa intent weighed against adjustment
A Guatemalan man, his wife, and their minor child entered the United States as visitors and later applied for permanent residence. The adults told immigration officials that they had intended to settle in the United States when they applied for visitor visas. The Acting Regional Commissioner found…
Matter of Beato
Deportability upheld, hearing reopened for adjustment application
A lawful permanent resident was convicted of attempted second-degree assault after pleading guilty in satisfaction of a New York indictment. The Board agreed with the special inquiry officer that the conviction involved moral turpitude because the pertinent indictment count charged assault with…
Matter of M/V Hellenic Leader
Fine withdrawn because owner lacked notice
Immigration officers revoked a crewman's landing permit and returned him to the M/V Hellenic Leader, but he later left the ship. The District Director imposed a $1,000 fine on the ship's owner for failing to detain and deport him. The Board held that, once a landing permit had been issued, the duty…
Matter of Garcia-Castillo
Visa misrepresentation weighed against adjustment
A Peruvian citizen obtained a visitor visa with a doctor's letter saying he was coming to the United States for treatment, although he was not ill and intended to seek permanent residence. A special inquiry officer granted adjustment of status, but the Board reversed that discretionary grant. On…
Matter of Rocha
Passport error did not establish citizenship
A woman born in Portugal entered the United States with a U.S. passport issued after she disclosed her family history to a consular official. In deportation proceedings, she argued that she was a U.S. citizen through her mother and had relied in good faith on the passport. The Board found that her…
Matter of Ngan
Sworn false statements barred suspension of deportation
A man who entered the United States claiming citizenship later acknowledged that he had used another person's identity and was deportable. He sought suspension of deportation, which required good moral character during the relevant period. The Board reconsidered its earlier grant of relief and held…
Matter of Hirabayashi
Colorado marriage recognized for visa petition
A United States citizen petitioned for nonquota immigrant status for his wife, a Japanese citizen and his first cousin. They lived in Illinois, where first cousin marriages were prohibited, but married in Colorado, where their marriage was permitted. After an earlier remand, the Board considered…
Matter of Gaglioti
Gambling conspiracy did not involve moral turpitude
The government appealed an order terminating deportation proceedings against a man convicted of conspiracy to establish gambling games in Pennsylvania. The Board held that the gambling offenses underlying the conspiracy did not ordinarily involve moral turpitude. Under the rule it applied, a…
Matter of Toth
Regional Commissioner granted defector classification
A Hungarian native who had become a Canadian citizen sought defector classification so he could pursue permanent residence in the United States. He acknowledged membership in Hungary's Communist Party from 1948 to 1956, including while serving as an army captain. He testified that he helped…
Matter of Gupta
Expired employer petition defeated nonquota eligibility
A research chemist from India sought permanent resident status based on a first preference visa petition from his former employer. That petition had expired before the October 24, 1962 enactment of a law granting certain first preference beneficiaries nonquota status. His new employer's petition…
Matter of Sweed
Approved marriage petition did not require adjustment of status
A Jordanian visitor sought adjustment to permanent resident status after marrying a U.S. citizen. The District Director approved his second wife's petition for nonquota immigration status, but the special inquiry officer doubted that his marriages were genuine and denied adjustment as a matter of…
Matter of Pisciotta
Withdrawn first petition did not bar a new spouse petition
A U.S. citizen petitioned for nonquota immigration status for her husband. His first wife's petition had been approved, then withdrawn and revoked, and his application for permanent resident status was denied. An immigration officer denied the new petition because he believed the earlier approval…
Matter of Bagai
Ten-year period began with first deportable act
A man found deportable after an unlawful reentry in 1952 and a missed address report in 1955 sought suspension of deportation. The special inquiry officer granted his application using the first deportable act to start the required ten-year period, then certified the case because a Board precedent…
Matter of Acosta
Police service requiring an oath led to exclusion
A man naturalized as a U.S. citizen later served in the Cuban National Police and returned to the United States as a Cuban refugee. A special inquiry officer ordered him admitted as a citizen, but the government appealed. Applying the expatriation statute then in force, the Board held that the…
Matter of Sinha
Minister classification petition denied
The Vedic Society of America petitioned to classify its founder as a nonquota immigrant minister under the law then in effect. The Regional Commissioner found that the society had fewer than twenty members, did not require them to leave other denominations, and lacked prescribed standards for…
Matter of Bailie
Kansas bad-check conviction lacked required fraud intent
A permanent resident was ordered deported after convictions for selling mortgaged property and drawing a check with insufficient funds. Deportation on the charged ground required two convictions for crimes involving moral turpitude. The Board held that the Kansas check offense did not require an…
Matter of Moorman
U.S. birthplace allowed adjustment despite Canadian quota treatment
The applicant was born in Kansas, later lived in Canada, and lost her U.S. citizenship by voting in a Canadian election. She entered the United States as a student and applied to adjust to permanent resident status. The District Director explained that the statute treated her as born in Canada for…
Matter of Barnes
Waiver denied while bond remained in force
Vernon Michael Barnes applied for a waiver of excludability so he could join his parents, who were lawful permanent residents in the United States. He had been convicted in Barbados after taking money from a bank and was serving a three-year good-behavior bond. The decision found that his parents…
Matter of Del Conte
Petitions approved for twin sisters
A U.S. citizen couple petitioned for two young sisters from Italy to come to the United States for adoption. The District Director found that the sisters qualified as eligible orphans under the law then in effect because their mother could not care for them, her husband refused to support them, and…
Matter of Fong
Drug use conviction supported deportation order
A special inquiry officer ordered a Chinese national deported after a Pennsylvania conviction for unlawful drug use. He argued that a conviction for use did not establish illicit possession under the deportation statute. The Board held that unlawful use necessarily involved possession and that…
Matter of Poindexter Gallery
Urgent need for artist not shown
Poindexter Gallery petitioned for an artist from Japan, proposing to act as her agent and sell her paintings on commission. The Regional Commissioner acknowledged her talent but found no urgent need for her services under the law then in effect. She had not earned her living from painting sales…
Matter of Tamura
Chief cook qualified for treaty investor employee status
A Japanese chief cook at a New York restaurant applied to change his nonimmigrant status to that of an employee of a treaty investor. The District Director denied the application because the cook had no financial interest in the restaurant. The Regional Commissioner found that the regulation also…
Matter of Alvarez-Mujioa
Farmworker waivers did not cover later immigrant entry
A Mexican national was deported after entering without inspection, then returned as a contracted agricultural laborer in 1958 and 1959. He argued that the permission accompanying those laborer entries also authorized his 1961 entry as an immigrant. The Board held that the regulation then in force…
Matter of Guja
Trainee change of status denied without approved petition
A Philippine student sought to change to industrial trainee status after practical training at a cancer research institute. The institute filed a petition for that status, but the proposed program would have been employment in its continuing research activities. The Regional Commissioner held that…
Matter of Megalogenis
Pennsylvania marriage valid without cohabitation
A U.S. citizen petitioned for nonquota classification for her Greek husband after they signed a marriage contract aboard a ship in Pennsylvania. The District Director denied the petition, questioning the marriage because the couple had not cohabited. The Board applied Pennsylvania common law and…
Matter of Wolfe
Iranian student adjustment denied pending repayment arrangements
An Iranian student sought adjustment to permanent resident status after marrying a U.S. citizen. Iran had financed her education in the United States in exchange for a commitment to return and work for its government. The Department of State said granting adjustment without a return plan or…
Matter of M/S "Berlin"
Crewmen at gangway had not landed for fine purposes
Four crewmen from the M/S "Berlin" stepped onto a New York pier before immigration inspection to help passengers leave the ship. The District Director imposed fines on the carrier for failing to keep them aboard, then reduced the total to $800. The Board found that the crewmen stayed at the foot of…
Matter of Perez
Former Dominican intelligence employee denied withholding
Two Dominican nationals sought withholding of deportation after overstaying their authorized admission. The husband's claim rested on about six months of employment in a minor role with the former Dominican military intelligence service; his wife's claim depended on his. The Board held that he had…
Matter of Lau
Claimed adoption failed Chinese law requirements
A naturalized U.S. citizen petitioned for a preference visa for a man he called his adopted son. The petitioner's mother had taken the child into her household in China while the petitioner was abroad, without his knowledge. The Board credited the petitioner's account that he learned of the…
Matter of Adamo
Italian embezzlement conviction barred adjustment
An Italian national received permanent resident status after entering as a visitor. The Service later sought rescission based on an Italian conviction for aggravated embezzlement involving accordions entrusted to him in the United States. The Board held that the conviction involved moral turpitude…
Matter of Vardjan
Board upheld denial of deportation withholding
The respondent, a Yugoslav national of German descent, sought withholding of deportation because she feared physical persecution if returned to Yugoslavia. The Board upheld the special inquiry officer's denial under the 1964 version of section 243(h) of the Immigration and Nationality Act. It found…
Matter of Boireau
Crewman allowed to reapply after deportation
A Haitian crewman sought permission to reapply for admission after his deportation. The District Director denied the application because the crewman had refused to return to Haiti and had not shown a legal domicile elsewhere. The Acting Regional Commissioner found that the applicant had sailed to…
Matter of Schonfeld
Reentry permits denied after prolonged residence abroad
A mother and son admitted as permanent residents in 1960 repeatedly obtained reentry permits while living in Venezuela. They sought new permits after returning to the United States in 1964, explaining that liquidating the family's printing business then would cause a large financial loss. The…
Matter of Schaad
Stepfather petition denied after marriage occurred when petitioner was 28
A naturalized U.S. citizen petitioned for second preference visa status for the man her mother married in Hungary. Her mother and the man had lived together since 1944, when the petitioner was 13, but did not marry until 1960, when she was 28. The Board found that Hungarian law gave cohabitants…
Matter of Barreiros
Residence adjustment rescinded after marriage finding
A Portuguese national obtained permanent resident status after marrying a United States citizen. The government later alleged that the marriage existed only to obtain that adjustment. The Board held that in a rescission proceeding the government must prove ineligibility by a preponderance of…
Matter of Kinney
Appeal dismissed because the Connecticut offense lacked intent to defraud
A Canadian permanent resident had 1957 breaking and entering and larceny convictions and a 1958 Connecticut conviction for obtaining goods through a false written financial statement. The government appealed a finding that he was not deportable for two crimes involving moral turpitude after entry…
Matter of Cortez-Vasquez
Daily firewood purchases qualify as business visits
A Mexican national crossed the border about four days a week to buy and collect firewood from Texas ranches, then returned home the same day to sell it in Mexico. A special inquiry officer concluded that the ongoing work made him an immigrant who needed an immigrant visa. The Board reversed. It…
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.