A SIGN OF PROGRESS BUT IT IS STILL A WORK IN PROGRESS

of 7

A SIGN OF PROGRESS BUT IT IS STILL A WORK IN PROGRESS

A new feature has been added on the USCIS website. You can now search AAO non-precedent decisions! You simply enter

search terms in the dedicated search box. It might or might not be useful. The jury is still out. Read on……

of 7

Here is what I got when I searched for the term “affirmative duty”. Imagine my surprise at finding 464 hits. It turns out

that the results are for each term by itself all inclusive. They are displayed as links to decisions sorted by date beginning with

the most recent. Results go back as far as decisions are posted (2005) but I would try to avoid citing anything before

September 2015, when the citation string began, if possible.

of 7

When I refined my search for a very specific item the results shrank. Because I am interested in EB-5 and I knew that

there are cases posted that specifically reference a particular Regional Center (PIDC), I searched for PIDC. However, be

forewarned that most names are redacted so you only get lucky when a mistake was made! We will have to wait and see

how useful this feature is in the end.

of 7

My next experiment was to search for a specific citation, but an incomplete one “MATTER OF MGKI”. This worked well.

of 7

My search for “MATTER OF MGKI” resulted in but a single result. I am sure that a full citation string with ID# will result

in a single result until such time as AAO cites to an earlier case decision.

of 7

I happen to know that some related cases have very similar citation strings, for instance there is an employer in CNMI that filed petitions for over 100 CW-1 visas that were denied with appeals dismissed. I searched a partial string “MATTER OF H-K-E-(O-)I- LTD” and got 1,806 results which is far too many. I refined my search term to “H-K-E-(O-)I- LTD” believing this would be better but it was a “good news vs. bad news” situation because I got more results (2,086) but the links include the category name and a sentence or so highlighting my search term. Good luck as we all figure out how to use this new feature. See the next and final page below.

of 7

This final search is for an entire citation string “Matter of K-R-C-, LLC, ID# 14127 (AAO Nov. 17, 2015)” I was thinking that

I would get a single result. I was wrong again. Instead I got this:

I hope others have better luck or that this feature gets further refinement in the future! Again, “Good Luck!”

A SIGN OF PROGRESS BUT IT IS STILL A WORK IN PROGRESS

News & Politics

Transcript of A SIGN OF PROGRESS BUT IT IS STILL A WORK IN PROGRESS