Standards for Continuances to Pursue Collateral Relief in Removal Proceedings (Matter of L-A-B-R-)

Policy effect

The Attorney General issued a binding precedent decision establishing a multifactor legal standard governing motions for continuances under 8 C.F.R. § 1003.29. The decision limits immigration judges' discretion when a respondent requests a continuance to pursue collateral relief outside immigration court, requiring the adjudicator to focus primarily on the likelihood that the collateral relief will be granted and will materially affect the outcome of the removal proceedings. Phase scope: Nationwide EOIR immigration courts and Board of Immigration Appeals proceedings

Official source excerpt

Quoted verbatim from the official source below. Ellipses indicate omitted text.

(1) An immigration judge may grant a motion for a continuance of removal proceedings only “for good cause shown.” 8 C.F.R. § 1003.29. (2) The good-cause standard is a substantive requirement that limits the discretion of immigration judges and prohibits them from granting continuances for any reason or no reason at all. (3) The good-cause standard requires consideration and balancing of multiple relevant factors when a respondent alien requests a continuance to pursue collateral relief from another authority—for example, a visa from the Department of Homeland Security. See Matter of Hashmi, 24 I&N Dec. 785, 790 (BIA 2009). (4) When a respondent requests a continuance to pursue collateral relief, the immigration judge must consider primarily the likelihood that the collateral relief will be granted and will materially affect the outcome of the removal proceedings.

Review method

Two separate automated exact-claim source reviews

Other United States changes operative in 2018

• 2018-01-19Requirement to Articulate Particular Social Groups Before the Immigration Judge (Matter of W-Y-C- & H-O-B-)
• 2018-03-05Vacatur of Requirement for Full Evidentiary Hearings in Asylum Claims (Matter of E-F-H-L-)
• 2018-04-06Zero-Tolerance Policy for Southwest Border Offenses Under 8 U.S.C. § 1325(a)
• 2018-05-15Tenant-occupancy methodology withdrawn for EB-5 job forecasts
• 2018-05-17Matter of Castro-Tum: Restriction on General Administrative Closure Authority
• 2018-06-11Matter of A-B-, 27 I&N Dec. 316 (A.G. 2018), Interim Decision #3929
• 2018-09-11Outright Denials Without Request for Evidence (RFE) or Notice of Intent to Deny (NOID) (PM-602-0163)
• 2018-09-18Limitation on Immigration Judges' Inherent Authority to Terminate or Dismiss Removal Proceedings (Matter of S-O-G- & F-D-B-)
• 2018-10-01Expanded Issuance of Notices to Appear (NTAs) for Denied Status-Impacting Applications
• 2018-10-04Presidential Determination on Refugee Admissions for Fiscal Year 2019
• 2018-11-01Medical-report validity recalculated from the civil surgeon signature