D.C. Circuit Rules USCIS’s Visa Revocation Authority Unreviewable
Joins nine other federal circuit courts that agree USCIS has final say
By Robert Law on July 22, 2021
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia has upheld a district court ruling that visa revocation decisions by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) are unreviewable by the courts. Specifically, the court agreed that “Congress placed visa revocation decisions within the unreviewable discretion of the executive” and, therefore, the plaintiff lacks standing, a legal prerequisite, to sue. The D.C. Circuit’s decision in iTech U.S., Inc. v. Renaud aligns with prior decisions out of nine other federal circuit courts.
Under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), there is a multi-step process for an alien in the United States to obtain an employment-based green card (lawful permanent resident status). First, there must be a legitimate job offer and the employer must generally obtain a labor certification from the Department of Labor (for second and third preference categories) that the intending-immigrant worker will not adversely affect the wages of U.S. workers. Once DOL approves the labor certification, the employer then submits a Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker, with USCIS. Once a visa number is available according to the Visa Bulletin managed by the Department of State, which takes into account worldwide visa limits per category and per country visa caps, a Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status, is submitted to USCIS for the alien to adjust status from nonimmigrant to immigrant (lawful permanent resident).
Under INA section 205, the Department of Homeland Security secretary “may, at any time, for what he deems to be good and sufficient cause, revoke the approval of any petition approved by him” for an immigrant visa. “Such revocation shall be effective as of the date of approval of any such petition.” The DHS secretary has delegated this statutory revocation authority to any USCIS officer authorized to approve employment-based immigrant visa petitions.
https://cis.org/Law/DC-Circuit-Rules-USCISs-Visa-Revocation-Authority-Unreviewable
