New asylum data: March, 2014

Based on a recent released USCIS Asylum Office data, in March, 2014, Asylum Office received total 4862 asylum applications.  There were 1078 applicants from Mainland China, about 22% of all applications.

USCIS conducted 2895 asylum interviews nationwide.  In San Francisco, there were 224 interviews conducted;  In New York, there were 636 interviews conducted and in LA there were 486 interviews conducted.

Asylum offices finished total of 2304 cases.  There were 964 cases were approved; 49 denied; 504 referred to immigration courts.  312 cases were referred to courts due to the one year rule(filed after one year of entry and were not within the exceptions).  There were also about 293 who were referred to courts without interview(no shows).

San Francisco Asylum Office continues to be the office with highest approval rate(214 out of 271 completed cases);  New York completed 713 cases with 132 cases approved;  Los Angeles Asylum Office completed 490 cases with 218 cases approved.

At the end of March, 2014, San Francisco Asylum Office had 6,000 cases pending;  NY with 6,899 and LA 11,880.

2014 second quarter EB5 processing data

USCIS just released its EB5 processing data for the second quarter of 2014.

During the second quarter of 2014, USCIS received total of 2540 I-526 applications and approved 1429, denied 257.  The approval rate was 86%.  As of March 31, 2014, USCIS had 8,302 I-526 applications pending.

During the same time period, USCIS received 502 I-829 application(removal of condition).  USCIS approved 297 and denied 75 with 1,637 I-829 applications pending.  The approval rate was 80%.

“Extreme Cruelty” for cancellation does not require physical abuse

The Board of Immigration Appeals(BIA) recent ruled that to qualify for “extreme cruelty” cancellation of removal, physical abuse is not required.  As long as the actions are severe enough to inflict mental harm to the alien, it will be sufficient to qualify for cancellation of removal relief.

In this case, the immigration judge denied the respondent’s application for cancellation, concluding that the abuse was not severe enough.  Respondent’s husband was an alcoholic and gambler.  The BIA disagreed with the judge finding the abuse severe enough and reversed judge’s decision.

 We have done similar cases before where the abuse was not physical.  If you believe you are the victim of an abused relationship and you need immigration status, please contact us for evaluation.