Cities
Los Angeles
Los Angeles is a city in California. Immigration eligibility is governed by federal law; a city address does not by itself establish eligibility or determine which office or court handles a case.
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Immigration Wiki
What the law says, what a court decided, and what changed. Statutes, agencies and events—with primary sources and practical context.
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Cities
Miami
Miami is a city in Florida. Immigration eligibility is governed by federal law; a city address does not by itself establish eligibility or determine which office or court handles a case.
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California
California is a U.S. state. Federal immigration law applies in the state; state residence is not a separate immigration status.
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Florida
Florida is a U.S. state. Federal immigration law applies in the state; state residence is not a separate immigration status.
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Anna Tsibel
Anna Tsibel is the immigration attorney identified on Ace Immigration’s About page. The firm describes her as Russian-speaking and California-licensed, with an immigration practice focused on asylum and removal defense.
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INA §208 — Asylum
INA §208 / 8 U.S.C. §1158INA §208 is the federal asylum statute. It generally sets a one-year filing deadline after arrival, with exceptions for changed or extraordinary circumstances. Permission to apply does not guarantee asylum.
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INA §245 — Adjustment of status
INA §245 / 8 U.S.C. §1255INA §245 governs many applications for permanent residence inside the United States. Under §245(a), admission or parole, visa eligibility, admissibility and visa availability generally matter; marriage alone is not enough.
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INA §216 — Conditional residence
INA §216 / 8 U.S.C. §1186aINA §216 provides conditional residence for covered marriage-based spouses and children when the marriage is less than two years old at permanent-residence admission. It also governs removal of those conditions.
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INA §212(a)(9)(B) — Unlawful presence
INA §212(a)(9)(B) / 8 U.S.C. §1182INA §212(a)(9)(B) sets three- and ten-year inadmissibility bars tied to specified periods of unlawful presence and departure or removal. Unlawful presence and being out of status are not identical concepts.
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USCIS
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services is a federal agency within the Department of Homeland Security. It administers many immigration benefit applications, including naturalization and many green-card and affirmative asylum cases.
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EOIR — Immigration courts
The Executive Office for Immigration Review is part of the U.S. Department of Justice. Its immigration courts adjudicate removal proceedings; the Board of Immigration Appeals reviews specified immigration decisions.
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Form I-589 — Asylum application
Form I-589 is the application for asylum and withholding of removal. The form does not itself establish eligibility; filing deadlines, jurisdiction and the evidence supporting the claim matter.
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Form I-485 — Adjustment of status
Form I-485 is an application to register permanent residence or adjust status inside the United States. Eligibility depends on the legal basis, entry history, visa availability and admissibility—not just submitting the form.
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Form I-751 — Removal of conditions
Form I-751 is the petition to remove conditions on covered marriage-based permanent residence. Joint petitions and requests for a waiver of joint filing have different requirements.
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Matter of M-A-M-
25 I&N Dec. 474 (BIA 2011)Matter of M-A-M- sets a framework for evaluating a respondent’s competency in removal proceedings and identifying appropriate safeguards. A mental-health diagnosis alone does not end a case.
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Matter of Chawathe
25 I&N Dec. 369 (AAO 2010)Matter of Chawathe explains that most administrative immigration benefit proceedings use the preponderance-of-the-evidence standard: more likely than not. The standard is not universal across immigration law.
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Matter of A-B- (2021) — Historical, overruled
28 I&N Dec. 307 (A.G. 2021)The June 16, 2021 Attorney General decision vacated A-B- I and II. Matter of S-S-F-M- expressly overruled this 2021 decision in September 2025; this entry is historical, not current controlling guidance.
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USCIS fee final rule — 2024
The USCIS fee final rule was announced January 30, 2024, published January 31, and took effect April 1, 2024. This is a historical rule entry, not a quotation of today’s filing fees.
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Form I-485 edition transition — February 2025
USCIS announced on December 10, 2024 that it would accept only the 10/24/24 edition of Form I-485 starting February 10, 2025. This historical transition does not establish the edition accepted today.
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Matter of Delcarmen-Lara
29 I&N Dec. 830 (BIA 2026)On August 13, 2026, the BIA held that advance-parole travel is a departure for the ten-year unlawful-presence provision and overruled Arrabally and Yerrabelly. The new holding applies prospectively; departure alone does not prove every element of inadmissibility.
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Matter of S-S-F-M-
29 I&N Dec. 207 (A.G. 2025)The Attorney General’s September 2, 2025 decision overruled A-B- III (2021) and restored adherence to A-B- I and II in all pending or future cases. It also overruled A-R-C-G- and decisions relying on it.
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Charlotte asylum office opens — October 2026
USCIS announced the Charlotte asylum office on October 9, 2026. Beginning October 13, applicants in North Carolina and South Carolina fell within the new office’s jurisdiction and could be scheduled there for interviews.
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Form I-130
Form I-130 is the petition for an alien relative. A qualifying U.S.
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Form I-130A
Form I-130A is the supplemental information for a spouse beneficiary. This supplement collects biographical information about the spouse beneficiary of a spousal I-130 petition.
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Form I-129F
Form I-129F is the petition for an alien fiancé(e). A U.S.
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Form I-360
Form I-360 is the petition for Amerasian, widow(er), or special immigrant. This petition serves several distinct categories, including qualifying VAWA self-petitioners.
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Form I-601
Form I-601 is the application for waiver of grounds of inadmissibility. This form requests a waiver where the law authorizes one for specified grounds of inadmissibility.
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Form I-601A
Form I-601A is the application for provisional unlawful presence waiver. This provisional waiver process addresses specified unlawful-presence inadmissibility before departure for immigrant-visa processing.
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Form I-131
Form I-131 is the application for travel documents, parole documents, and arrival/departure records. This form covers different travel and parole-related document requests.
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Form I-765
Form I-765 is the application for employment authorization. Eligible applicants use this form to request employment authorization or an employment authorization document.
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Form I-864
Form I-864 is the affidavit of support under INA section 213A. This affidavit is a legally enforceable support undertaking used in many family-based immigrant cases and certain employment-based cases.
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Form I-693
Form I-693 is the report of immigration medical examination and vaccination record. This form documents an immigration medical examination performed by a designated civil surgeon for applicable applicants.
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Form N-400
Form N-400 is the application for naturalization. Eligible permanent residents use this application to seek U.S.
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Form N-600
Form N-600 is the application for certificate of citizenship. This application requests a certificate documenting U.S.
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Form I-90
Form I-90 is the application to replace permanent resident card. Permanent residents use this form for eligible replacement or renewal of their permanent resident card.
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Form I-94
Form I-94 is the arrival/departure record. The I-94 records admission or parole information and, where applicable, the authorized period of stay.
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Form I-862 — Notice to Appear
Form I-862 — Notice to Appear is the notice charging a person in removal proceedings. DHS uses the Notice to Appear to state factual allegations and charges of removability.
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Form EOIR-26
Form EOIR-26 is the notice of appeal from an immigration judge’s decision. This form is used to initiate an eligible appeal of an immigration judge’s decision to the Board of Immigration Appeals.
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INA §101 — Admission and definitions
INA §101; 8 U.S.C. §1101INA §101 defines key immigration terms, including admission. Admission generally means lawful entry after inspection and authorization; parole is not the same legal act.
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INA §201 — Immediate relatives and worldwide levels
INA §201; 8 U.S.C. §1151INA §201 describes worldwide immigration levels and categories outside those numerical limits, including immediate relatives of U.S. citizens. Immediate-relative treatment is not the same as automatic green-card eligibility.
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INA §203 — Immigrant preference allocation
INA §203; 8 U.S.C. §1153INA §203 allocates immigrant visas among preference categories, including family-sponsored and employment-based preferences. A preference category and an approved petition do not necessarily mean a visa is immediately available.
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INA §204 — Immigrant petition procedure
INA §204; 8 U.S.C. §1154INA §204 governs immigrant petition procedures and includes provisions for qualifying VAWA self-petitions. Different petition categories require different statutory relationships, evidence and eligibility.
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INA §204(c) — Marriage-fraud petition bar
INA §204(c); 8 U.S.C. §1154INA §204(c) bars approval of certain petitions where the statutory marriage-fraud conditions are established. A divorce, short marriage or lack of a particular document does not by itself prove marriage fraud.
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INA §209 — Refugee and asylee adjustment
INA §209; 8 U.S.C. §1159INA §209 provides adjustment frameworks for qualifying refugees and asylees. It is distinct from the general INA §245 route and has its own requirements and waiver provisions.
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INA §212(a)(6)(C) — Fraud and misrepresentation
INA §212(a)(6)(C); 8 U.S.C. §1182INA §212(a)(6)(C) addresses fraud or willful material misrepresentation in seeking specified immigration benefits, and separately false claims to U.S. citizenship. The clauses have different elements and exceptions.
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INA §237 — Deportability grounds
INA §237; 8 U.S.C. §1227INA §237 lists grounds on which an admitted noncitizen may be deportable. Deportability is distinct from inadmissibility, and the applicable framework depends on the person’s entry and procedural posture.
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INA §240 — Removal proceedings
INA §240; 8 U.S.C. §1229aINA §240 establishes the general framework for removal proceedings before an immigration judge, including hearings, decisions and specified procedural protections. It does not mean every removal process uses the same hearing procedure.
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INA §240A — Cancellation of removal
INA §240A; 8 U.S.C. §1229bINA §240A provides distinct cancellation-of-removal frameworks for certain permanent residents, nonpermanent residents and qualifying abused persons. Eligibility is category-specific, and statutory eligibility does not guarantee discretionary relief.
Read entrySources and limits
Entries are based on the primary sources listed on each page. An event date is not a last-review date. Historical events and decisions do not establish that a policy still applies today. Russian text is an informational translation; use the original English authority for legal work. No private client cases are published here.
Frequently asked questions
Is this reference library an official source of law?
No. Ace Immigration is a private law firm. Statutes, applicable regulations and governing decisions are primary authorities; these explanations help locate them but do not replace them.
Does a publication date certify attorney review or current law?
No. A publication date records publication, while an event date records a historical milestone. Check subsequent developments. Russian text is an informational translation, not an official legal version.