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Important Immigration Updates
Docket Reassignments at the Boston Immigration Court
The Boston Immigration Court recently welcomed several new judges and is in the process of reassigning cases to their dockets. The Court is also moving away from having out-of-state judges hear cases docketed in Boston. As a result, the hearing date of a client in removal proceedings can change without official notice.
Thus, if your client is in removal proceedings, we encourage you to check their EOIR Case Status page on a weekly basis to ensure you won't miss a change in their hearing date or judge assignment.
If you have taken on a defensive case for full representation, please also make sure your Form EOIR-28, Notice of Entry of Appearance as Attorney, is on file with the Boston Immigration Court, so you won't miss any official notices from the Court.
"Fee-in" Biometrics
If you represent a client whose case has been docketed with the Immigration Court, you will need to submit an affirmative request to USCIS to schedule a biometrics appointment for your client related to their asylum application. This is known as a request for "fee-in" biometrics, even though no fee is involved.
We encourage you to submit this request soon after filing your client's I-589 Asylum Application, as it can take USCIS several months to mail you a biometrics appointment notice. Your client will need to have their biometrics captured by USCIS before their individual, or merits, hearing. Without this step, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) cannot conduct the required national security checks and the judge will not issue a decision on the merits. If your client has a criminal history, please consult with your PAIR mentor about the timing of submitting the request for biometrics.
Please note: if your client's case has been referred to the Immigration Court by the Asylum Office, or if they filed an affirmative asylum application with USCIS as an Unaccompanied Alien Child (UAC), their asylum biometrics process will be different. There are additional exceptions to the "fee-in" biometrics requirement. We encourage you to contact your PAIR mentor with any questions.
Update from Boston Asylum Office re:
Affirmative Scheduling & Operation Allies Welcome (OAW) cases
Cross-posted from AILA NE; emphasis added in bold
Update from the Boston Asylum Office - From Director Meghann Boyle:
Under directive, the Boston Asylum Office has had to focus its resources on the post-Title 42 caseload at the southwest U.S. border since May 12, 2023. We had to significantly reduce our affirmative scheduling starting May 12 in order to address the post-Title 42 caseload at the southwest U.S. border. However, as of July 2023, we will begin increasing our affirmative scheduling again, prioritizing OAW cases. We will continue to assess requests to expedite, as we always do, and work them into the schedule as appropriate. However, the majority of our officers will remain on the credible fear docket for the foreseeable future. The southwest border credible fear caseload has impacted all aspects of affirmative processing. We are pivoting some staff back to the affirmative caseload in July, so everything from interviews to decision service should increase. We have been able to serve a large number of affirmative cases (a significant portion of which were OAW) during the post-Title 42 push, as cases have cleared background checks and were able to be out-processed. We will provide further updates soon. Thank you to AILA NE for this Asylum Office Update.
Have other questions? Don't hesitate to reach out to your PAIR mentor!
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