Practice resources
Search immigration practice advisories, sample filings, manuals, brief banks, and government guidance from trusted practitioner sources.
ASISTA Practice Pointer Hot Tips for Contacting USCIS About Pending Survivor-Based Cases (March 24, 2026).docx.pdf - Google Drive Loading… Sign in
Reviews USCIS policy-manual updates issued on December 22, 2025 affecting VAWA adjudication and flags the practical consequences for current filings.
Explains the statutory age-in rule for VAWA derivatives and offers practical guidance on preserving derivative eligibility as children age out.
On August 26, 2025, the Tenth Circuit issued a published decision, O.C.V. v. Bondi , vacating the Board of Immigration Appeals presidential decision Matter of M-R-M-S- , which had wrongfully held that if a persecutor had any motivation other than animus toward the family group, an asylum seeker could not prevail on a family-based asylum claim. The Tenth Circuit rejected this narrowed definition of nexus. The case was litigated in federal court by the Center for Gender and Refugee Studies and the
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Chart-based comparison of VAWA self-petitions and VAWA special-rule cancellation of removal, with eligibility and strategy differences called out side by side.
In Department of State v. Muñoz , 602 U.S. 899 (2024), the U.S. Supreme Court concluded that a U.S. citizen and her noncitizen spouse had no access to judicial review of a consular officer’s denial of an immigrant visa. The Court held that a U.S. citizen has no “fundamental liberty interest” i n her spouse’s admission to the United States. This practice advisory, by the American Immigration Council, the International Refugee Assistance Project, and the Consular Accountability Project, is intende
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U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has increasingly alleged that Temporary Protected Status (TPS) applicants—primarily Venezuelans—have smuggled a family member when entering the United States. This practice advisory begins by providing background on this issue. The practice advisory then discusses how smuggling allegations prejudice Venezuelan TPS applicants given their unique circumstances such as geography, family ties, residence in other countries after fleeing Venezuela, and
Noncitizens who are seeking to obtain Lawful Permanent Residence via family members can do so using two processes—consular processing at a United States consulate or embassy in the person’s home country, or through adjustment of status at a United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) office in the United States. For those already in the United States, adjustment of status is preferable because they do not have to worry about traveling abroad, triggering the unlawful presence ina