Brian M. O’Leary has been appointed as  the new Executive Office for Immigration Review’s (EOIR) Chief Immigration Judge.  Attorney General Eric Holder announced his appointment yesterday. Prior to his elevation, Judge O’Leary served as an immigration judge from May 2007 to June 2009 at the Arlington, VA., Immigration Court. In the past, he has the honor of holding important positions in the immigration court circles including temporary board member on the Board of Immigration Appeals, deputy chief immigration judge in the Office of the Chief Immigration Judge. Based on his extended experience, Judge O’Leary possess extensive knowledge in immigration laws. In 1982, he completed undergraduate work at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service and later on in 1985, received a Juris Doctorate from New England School of Law. He is a member of the Massachusetts and Florida state bars.

For complete information, please click Attorney General Appoints New Chief Immigration Judge

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has published an interim rule with a request for comments to remove reference to filing locations and obsolete references to legacy Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) and adding a provision to facilitate the expansion of the use of approved electronic equivalents of paper forms. Thus, if implemented, the rule will eliminate confusion and certain obsolete references to the INS organizational structure from USCIS regulations, help the public to determine where to file forms with USCIS. Moreover, it permit USCIS to create a more efficient and streamlined process for future changes to filing instructions, and allow the component to better manage its workload through, among other things, affording greater flexibility to accept and process applications and petitions in an electronic environment. The rule will be effective from July 6, 2009 and interested persons are invited to submit written comments on or before  August 4, 2009.

For complete information, please click DHS Interim Rule on Removal of Filing Locations, Obsolete references to INS and Adding a Definition of the term FORM