Immigration Laws & Regulations Flashcards

Under INA § 245(a), which threshold requirement must an applicant meet to be eligible to adjust status to LPR from within the US?

Answer: The applicant must have been inspected and admitted or paroled into the US

INA § 245(a) requires that the applicant have been inspected and admitted or paroled—those who entered without inspection (EWI) are generally ineligible to adjust status inside the US.

What is the general continuous residence requirement for naturalization under INA § 316(a)?

Answer: 5 years as an LPR

The default naturalization requirement under INA § 316(a) is 5 years of continuous residence as an LPR immediately preceding the application.

Under INA § 319(a), the continuous residence requirement for naturalization is reduced to 3 years for which category of applicants?

Answer: LPRs who have been married to and living with a US citizen spouse for 3 years

INA § 319(a) allows spouses of US citizens who have been married to and living in marital union with that citizen for at least 3 years to naturalize after 3 years of LPR status.

Under INA § 320, a child born outside the US automatically acquires citizenship when which condition is met?

Answer: At least one parent naturalizes while the child is under 18 and the child is an LPR residing in the US in the parent's legal custody

INA § 320 provides for automatic acquisition of citizenship when a parent naturalizes and the child is an LPR under 18 residing in the US in the legal and physical custody of the naturalizing parent.

Under INA § 316, an applicant's continuous residence is presumed to be disrupted if a single trip abroad lasts more than how long?

Answer: 6 months

A single absence exceeding 6 months but less than 1 year creates a rebuttable presumption that continuous residence was broken; an absence of 1 year or more breaks continuous residence absolutely.

What is the minimum physical presence in the US required during the 5-year statutory period for naturalization under INA § 316?

Answer: 30 months (2.5 years)

INA § 316(a) requires at least 30 months of actual physical presence within the 5 years immediately preceding the naturalization application.

Under the Board of Immigration Appeals' Matter of Lozada standard, an ineffective assistance of counsel claim requires which of the following?

Answer: An affidavit detailing the attorney-client agreement, a filed bar complaint or explanation why not, and notice to the former attorney to respond

Matter of Lozada, 19 I&N Dec. 637 (BIA 1988), requires: (1) an affidavit from the alien describing the agreement with counsel; (2) evidence a bar complaint was filed or a reasoned explanation why not; and (3) notice to the former attorney to respond.