Legal Question in Immigration Law in Hawaii

Can an Immigration Officer undermine a Judges decision?

I have been married to a Philippine citizen for almost 11 years. Prior to that, she was married to another US citizen. The details of this is extremely long and complicated. But she has been fighting deportation ever since she got here. The deportation was based on falsified documents and lies (not her doing), but after almost 18 years of fighting this, an immigration judge terminated the proceedings for adjustment of status. Recently, we had our I-485 interview and had to explain the situation again to the ISO. We get neither an approval or a denial as the ISO had to do ''some research'' and he is going to get back with us. We have an approved I-130 and she has no criminal record or anything else of bad character. My question is if the Immigration Judge has already approved the adjustment of status, how can the ISO undermine the judges decision? I thought the job of the ISO is to make sure we have an approved I-130 (which we do), make sure we have a bona fide marriage (we have been married for 11 years) and I am financially sound. Who is he to question any other facts to the case, especially after the immigration judge has already terminated the deportation?


Asked on 2/15/09, 1:49 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Marc Seguinot Seguinot & Associates, P.C.

Re: Can an Immigration Officer undermine a Judges decision?

When the judge terminated the proceedings, is effect, he returned jurisdiction back to USCIS to adjudicate the I-485. There is no reason that the ISO should have to rehash the I-130; he or she should go straight to the adjudication of the I-485 -- that is why the judge terminated the case. If the I-130 was not approved, the judge WOULD NOT have terminated the case. It is always preferable to have the judge adjudicate the I-485 after an I-130 has been approved for several reasons: the USCIS will always delay the I-485 -- always. So, now that the I-485 is in the hands of the USCIS, the best you can do is keep nagging them for a decision. If the decision is positive, fine. If it is negative, you will be served with a notice to appear before the court -- again! It is not likely to happen anytime soon. There is a good chance that if the judge sent your case back to USCIS, they will resolve it probably in your favor. If they don't hurry up, get your lawyer to do something about it. You do have a good lawyer, eh? Good luck to you. Sounds as if things will work out. (Just a note: you are a citizen -- you can complain to Congress and the Senate Judiciary Committee about these "games" played with your life.)

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Answered on 2/15/09, 3:00 pm


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