The Administrative Appeals Office (AAO) conducts administrative review of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) officers’ decisions regarding immigration benefit requests in order to promote consistency and accuracy in the interpretation of immigration law and policy.  We have appellate jurisdiction over approximately fifty different types of immigration applications and petitions.      

The AAO Practice Manual describes rules, procedures, and recommendations for practice before the AAO.  It is organized into seven chapters, including:

The final rule, Notices of Decisions and Documents Evidencing Lawful Status, published on Oct. 29, 2014, is effective today, Jan. 27, 2015. This rule amends regulations governing when USCIS will:

• correspond with,
• issue a notice of decision to, or
• provide documents to

an applicant, petitioner, or requester, and/or an attorney of record or accredited representative.

If you request either initial or renewal Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), you must submit Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization and required fees. USCIS will reject your request if you fail to submit Form I-765, the required filing fee, Form I-765 Worksheet, and Form I-821D, Consideration of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals.

The Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC) has updated the FAQ page of its official website with a new keyword search function, Search FAQs. Users may now search the FAQ page by using a single keyword or exact phrase to identify items in the FAQ database that correspond to keywords or characters specified by the user. A Tip sheet has been developed to assist with use of the Search FAQs tool. To access the FAQs page and Search FAQs Tip Sheet, click here.