Glossary

Sixty terms from immigration filing practice.

Written for paralegals joining an immigration team and for attorneys crossing over from another practice area. Precise where precision matters, plain everywhere else.

Terms: 68
Categories: 14
Updated: Aug 2026
Cost: Free

68 terms

A B C D E F G H I K L M N O P R S T U V W

A

AAO: The Administrative Appeals Office, the USCIS body that reviews appeals of most benefit denials. Its designated decisions — Matter of Dhanasar chief among them — are binding precedent on USCIS adjudicators.
Adjustment of status: The process under INA 245 by which someone already in the United States becomes a lawful permanent resident without leaving, filed on Form I-485. The alternative is consular processing abroad.
Advisory opinion: A written consultation from a peer group, labor organisation or management organisation required for O and P classifications. It must address the specific engagement described in the petition, not the beneficiary generally.
Alien registration number: The unique A-number USCIS assigns to a foreign national. It appears on approval notices and green cards and must reconcile across every form in a matter.

B

Bates numbering: Sequential page numbering applied across an entire document set so any page can be cited by a stable address. Inherited from litigation practice; in immigration filings it makes exhibit citations resolvable.
Beneficiary: The foreign national on whose behalf a petition is filed. Distinguished from the petitioner, who is usually the employer or the qualifying relative.
Bona fide marriage: A marriage entered into in good faith rather than to obtain an immigration benefit. Established by a preponderance of the evidence under Matter of Chawathe, typically through commingled finances, cohabitation and shared life evidence.

C

Cap-exempt: An H-1B petition not counted against the annual numerical cap, available to institutions of higher education, affiliated nonprofits, nonprofit research organisations and certain governmental research organisations.
Certified translation: A full English translation of a foreign-language document accompanied by a certificate in which the translator attests to their competence and the completeness of the translation, as 8 CFR 103.2(b)(3) requires.
Concurrent filing: Filing an I-140 immigrant petition together with an I-485 adjustment application when a visa number is immediately available at the time of filing.
Consular processing: Obtaining an immigrant visa at a US consulate abroad rather than adjusting status inside the United States.
Cover letter: The legal brief that opens a petition packet, setting out the statutory basis, the facts, and the mapping of each evidentiary assertion to a specific exhibit and page range.

D

Denial: A final adverse decision on a petition or application. Distinguished from an RFE, which is an interim request for additional evidence before a decision issues.
Derivative beneficiary: A spouse or child who obtains status through the principal beneficiary's petition, such as an H-4 dependent of an H-1B holder.
Dhanasar: Matter of Dhanasar, 26 I&N Dec. 884 (AAO 2016), the controlling framework for National Interest Waiver petitions. Establishes three prongs: substantial merit and national importance, well positioned to advance, and benefit to waiving the job offer requirement.
Duplicate filing: A second copy of a petition submitted where consular notification is requested, so the record can be forwarded without delaying the original.

E

EAD: Employment Authorization Document, issued on Form I-766, granting the holder permission to work in the United States for a defined period.
EB-1A: The employment-based first preference for individuals of extraordinary ability, requiring sustained national or international acclaim evidenced under 8 CFR 204.5(h)(3) and reviewed under the Kazarian two-step framework.
EB-2 NIW: An employment-based second preference petition requesting a waiver of the job offer and labor certification requirements on national interest grounds, adjudicated under Matter of Dhanasar.
ETA-9089: The Application for Permanent Employment Certification filed with the Department of Labor. Once certified it fixes the minimum requirements the beneficiary must meet for the corresponding I-140.
Exhibit index: The finding aid at the front of a petition packet listing every exhibit with its page range and, in a two-tier structure, the statutory criterion it supports.
Extraordinary ability: The evidentiary standard for EB-1A and O-1A, requiring a level of expertise indicating the individual is one of the small percentage who have risen to the very top of the field.

F

Final merits determination: The second step of Kazarian review, in which the adjudicator assesses the totality of the evidence to decide whether the beneficiary has sustained acclaim, after the threshold count of criteria is satisfied.
FEIN: Federal Employer Identification Number. Must match exactly across the I-129, LCA, incorporation documents and support letter.

G

G-28: Notice of Entry of Appearance as Attorney or Accredited Representative. Establishes the attorney of record and must be signed by both the attorney and the client.
Good moral character: A statutory requirement in several humanitarian and naturalisation contexts, typically evidenced by police clearances from every jurisdiction of residence plus supporting affidavits.

H

H-1B: A nonimmigrant classification for specialty occupations requiring theoretical and practical application of a body of highly specialised knowledge and a bachelor's degree or higher in a directly related field.

I

I-129: Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker, used for H, L, O, P, TN and other employment-based nonimmigrant classifications, with a classification-specific supplement.
I-130: Petition for Alien Relative, establishing a qualifying family relationship between a US citizen or lawful permanent resident petitioner and a foreign national beneficiary.
I-140: Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker, used for EB-1, EB-2 and EB-3 classifications.
I-485: Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status, filed by applicants already in the United States.
I-693: Report of Immigration Medical Examination and Vaccination Record, completed by a designated civil surgeon and submitted in a sealed envelope. Validity windows change; check current policy at filing.
I-751: Petition to Remove Conditions on Residence, filed by conditional permanent residents who obtained status through a marriage under two years old at approval.
I-797: The USCIS notice of action family, including receipt notices, approval notices and requests for evidence.
I-864: Affidavit of Support Under Section 213A, a legally enforceable undertaking by a sponsor to maintain the intending immigrant at 125% of the federal poverty guideline.
I-94: The arrival and departure record establishing a foreign national's period of authorised stay. Retrieved electronically from CBP rather than from the paper card.
Inadmissibility: Grounds under INA 212(a) rendering a foreign national ineligible for admission or adjustment, including health, criminal, security, public charge and prior immigration violation grounds.

K

Kazarian: Kazarian v. USCIS, 596 F.3d 1115 (9th Cir. 2010), establishing the two-step review for extraordinary ability petitions: a threshold count of regulatory criteria, then a qualitative final merits determination.

L

L-1A: Intracompany transferee classification for managers and executives, requiring a qualifying corporate relationship and one continuous year of qualifying employment abroad within the preceding three years.
L-1B: Intracompany transferee classification for employees with specialized knowledge of the organisation's products, services, research, equipment, techniques or management.
LCA: Labor Condition Application, Form ETA-9035, certified by the Department of Labor before an H-1B petition is filed. Fixes the wage level, SOC code and worksite.

M

Marginality: In E-2 practice, the requirement that the enterprise generate more than minimal living income for the investor and family, typically shown through job creation or a credible five-year plan.
Matter of Chawathe: 25 I&N Dec. 369 (AAO 2010), confirming that the preponderance of the evidence standard applies to most benefit adjudications — the applicant must show the claim is probably true.

N

Notice of Intent to Deny: A NOID sets out the adjudicator's specific grounds for a proposed denial and gives the petitioner an opportunity to respond. More serious than an RFE.

O

O-1A: Nonimmigrant classification for individuals with extraordinary ability in the sciences, education, business or athletics, evidenced by at least three of eight regulatory criteria plus an advisory opinion.
O-1B: Nonimmigrant classification for extraordinary achievement in the arts or in the motion picture and television industry, applying a distinction standard rather than the acclaim standard.

P

PERM: The Program Electronic Review Management labor certification process administered by the Department of Labor, requiring a test of the US labor market before most EB-2 and EB-3 petitions.
Petitioner: The party filing on behalf of the beneficiary — typically the employer in employment-based cases or the qualifying relative in family cases.
Preponderance of the evidence: The standard of proof in most immigration benefit adjudications: the claim must be shown to be probably true, meaning more likely than not.
Prevailing wage: The wage level determined by the Department of Labor for a given occupation and geographic area, which the offered wage must meet or exceed.
Priority date: The date that establishes a beneficiary's place in the immigrant visa queue, set by the filing of the labor certification or the immigrant petition depending on category.
Prong: One of the three elements of the Matter of Dhanasar National Interest Waiver framework. Each must be independently satisfied; evidence for one does not carry to another.

R

Redaction: Permanent removal of sensitive data — Social Security numbers, financial account numbers, third-party identifiers — from documents before filing. Visual masking without removing the underlying text is not redaction.
RFE: Request for Evidence, an interim notice identifying deficiencies in the record and setting a deadline for response. Around 40% of employment-based RFEs cite evidence that was filed but not locatable in the exhibit structure.

S

Service center: One of the USCIS facilities adjudicating petitions — Texas, Nebraska, California, Vermont and Potomac. RFE incidence varies measurably between them for the same classification.
SOC code: Standard Occupational Classification code identifying the occupation on the LCA or labor certification. Must be consistent with the duties described in the support letter.
Specialized knowledge: The L-1B standard, requiring knowledge of the organisation's products or processes that is special or advanced relative to both the industry and others within the organisation.
Specialty occupation: The H-1B threshold under 8 CFR 214.2(h)(4)(iii)(A), satisfied where a bachelor's degree in a directly related field is normally the minimum requirement for the position.
Support letter: The employer's letter describing the position, duties and the beneficiary's qualifications. Should allocate duties by percentage of time rather than listing them generically.
Sustained acclaim: The requirement in EB-1A and O-1A that recognition be ongoing rather than a single past achievement, assessed across the whole record at the final merits stage.

T

Tab divider: A physical or generated separator sheet marking the start of an exhibit in a filed binder, carrying the exhibit number and short description.
TN: The USMCA professional classification available to Canadian and Mexican citizens for occupations on the treaty's Appendix 2 list, with a specified credential for each profession.
Two-tier index: An exhibit index grouping documents first by statutory criterion or argument and then by individual document, so an adjudicator can move from a legal assertion directly to the pages that support it.

U

U visa: Nonimmigrant status for victims of qualifying criminal activity who have suffered substantial abuse and are helpful to law enforcement, requiring a certification on Form I-918 Supplement B.
UPL: Unauthorized practice of law. Legal technology may organise, index and draft structural material, but legal advice, petition theory and filing decisions remain the responsibility of the licensed attorney of record.

V

VAWA self-petition: A petition under the Violence Against Women Act allowing certain abused spouses, children and parents to petition without the abuser's participation, adjudicated under the any credible evidence standard.
Visa Bulletin: The monthly Department of State publication establishing which priority dates are current for each preference category and country of chargeability.

W

Well positioned: Prong 2 of Matter of Dhanasar, asking whether the beneficiary specifically is well positioned to advance the proposed endeavour — a question about the individual, not the field.

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