ALL BRIEFS · PAGE 5

Brief index

Every ATLAS brief, in desk order. Use the desk rail to filter by practice area, or the research console for a direct query.

IMMImmigration Strategy & StatusIMM desk →FINFinancial Regulation & Digital AssetsFIN desk →CORPCorporate Operations & RiskCORP desk →LITLitigation & Dispute ResolutionLIT desk →EMPEmployment & WorkforceEMP desk →FAMFamily TransitionsFAM desk →PROPProperty & DevelopmentPROP desk →PRIVPrivacy, Cyber & AIPRIV desk →IPIntellectual Property & MediaIP desk →ESTEstate, Tax & SuccessionEST desk →CRIMConsumer & Criminal ProcedureCRIM desk →

IMM-19 · 57

Visitor Status: Extensions, Change of Status, and Overstay Risk

7 MIN · IMM

The date that governs a visitor's stay is on the admission record, not the visa. This brief covers extending that date, changing category from inside the country, and the cost of getting the timing wrong.

The admission record, not the visa expiry date, sets how long a visitor may remain; the visa only controls travel to the border.
Requests to extend or change status are filed on Form I-539 and must be received before the authorised stay expires.
A timely, non-frivolous request generally suspends the accrual of unlawful presence while it is pending, with accrual resuming on denial.

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IMM-20 · 58

When a Naturalisation Case Stalls: Delays, Inquiries, and Mandamus

7 MIN · IMM

A stalled naturalisation case has two very different remedies depending on whether the interview has happened. This brief separates them and sets out what each one can realistically deliver.

Delay before the interview and delay after it are different legal problems with different remedies, and the interview is the dividing line.
INA 336(b) gives a federal district court jurisdiction when no decision follows within 120 days after the examination.
Mandamus under 28 U.S.C. § 1361 compels an agency to act on a duty it owes; it cannot compel the agency to approve.

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IMM-21 · 59

Military Naturalisation and Parole in Place for Service Families

7 MIN · IMM

Service changes the naturalisation test, and a discretionary parole policy has changed what family members can do without leaving the country. This brief separates the statutory rules from the policy ones.

INA 328 allows naturalisation after qualifying honourable service, with the residence and physical-presence requirements substantially reduced.
INA 329 covers service during designated periods of hostilities and removes several requirements that apply to ordinary applicants.
Military naturalisation runs on the standard application plus a certification of service completed by the applicant's branch.

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IMM-22 · 60

Following to Join: Derivative Asylum and Refugee Petitions on Form I-730

8 MIN · IMM

Form I-730 moves a spouse or unmarried child into the principal's protected status. Two facts decide most cases: when the petition was filed, and when the family relationship began.

A principal asylee or refugee may petition for a spouse and unmarried children under 21 using Form I-730, filed separately for each beneficiary.
The petition is generally due within two years of the asylum grant or refugee admission, and USCIS may extend that window for humanitarian reasons.
The qualifying relationship must have existed before the principal was granted asylum or admitted as a refugee, not afterwards.

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IMM-23 · 61

The Asylum One-Year Deadline and Its Exceptions

9 MIN · IMM

Asylum applications are barred after one year unless an exception applies. This brief sets out what counts as changed or extraordinary circumstances and how the reasonable-period requirement is applied.

An asylum application must be filed within one year of the applicant's last arrival, proved by clear and convincing evidence of the arrival date.
Two statutory exceptions exist: changed circumstances materially affecting eligibility, and extraordinary circumstances directly related to the delay in filing.
Either exception must be followed by filing within a reasonable period, judged case by case rather than against a fixed number of days.

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IMM-24 · 62

Immigration Court Logistics: Venue Changes, Continuances, and Filing Rules

9 MIN · IMM

Removal cases are lost on logistics more often than on law. This brief covers where a case sits, how it moves, when more time is granted, and the filing rules that carry hard consequences.

Venue lies with the immigration court where the charging document was filed, and only an immigration judge can change it, on a good-cause motion.
A venue motion normally requires the respondent's new address, pleadings to the charges, and a statement of the relief that will be sought.
Continuances are granted for good cause, and both Attorney General and Board decisions since 2018 have narrowed what qualifies, especially for collateral applications.

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IMM-25 · 63

Surviving an I-9 Audit: Notices of Inspection, E-Verify, and Penalties

10 MIN · IMM

An inspection notice starts a three-business-day clock and ends the chance to fix anything quietly. This brief maps the violation categories, the cure period, and the rules that constrain every correction.

A Notice of Inspection from Immigration and Customs Enforcement normally gives an employer three business days to produce its I-9 forms and supporting records.
Substantive violations cannot be cured after the notice; technical or procedural violations get at least ten business days to correct once identified.
Employees choose which acceptable documents to present, and demanding specific or extra documents is an unfair documentary practice enforced by the Justice Department.

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IMM-26 · 64

H-1B Site Visits: FDNS Inspections and the Evidence They Test

8 MIN · IMM

A site visit compares the petition's claims to the facts on the ground: the worksite, the wage, the duties, and the supervision. This brief sets out what is checked and what an adverse report triggers.

USCIS site visits are conducted by the Fraud Detection and National Security directorate, usually unannounced and often after the petition is already approved.
The officer verifies that the employer exists, that the beneficiary works at the stated location, and that the wage and duties match the petition.
Third-party worksites draw heightened attention because the petitioning employer must still show a genuine offer and control over the work.

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IMM-27 · 65

PERM Audits and Supervised Recruitment: Responding to the Department of Labor

9 MIN · IMM

A PERM audit is a production demand with a hard deadline, not an invitation to explain. This brief covers what triggers an audit, what the response must contain, and what supervised recruitment does to a case.

Audit letters are issued at random and for identified triggers, and the response is due within 30 days of the letter, with one extension possible.
Failure to respond ends the case: the application is denied without review, and the Certifying Officer may impose supervised recruitment on future filings.
Supervised recruitment transfers control of advertising text, placement, and applicant handling to the Certifying Officer and adds substantial time.

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IMM-28 · 66

EB-2 Classification: Advanced Degree or Exceptional Ability

8 MIN · IMM

EB-2 has two entrances. One turns on a degree or its defined experience equivalent; the other on meeting at least three regulatory criteria for exceptional ability. Choosing wrongly costs a filing.

The advanced degree route requires a master's or higher, or a bachelor's degree plus five years of progressive post-baccalaureate experience in the specialty.
The exceptional ability route requires evidence satisfying at least three of six regulatory criteria, followed by a judgment on the whole record.
The job itself must require what the classification demands; a highly qualified worker in a position requiring only a bachelor's degree does not fit the advanced degree route.

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IMM-29 · 67

AC21 Portability: Changing Jobs With a Pending Adjustment Application

8 MIN · IMM

Portability lets a sponsored worker leave the sponsoring employer without losing the case, but only after the application has been pending 180 days and only into a same-or-similar job.

Once an adjustment application has been pending 180 days or more, the underlying petition remains valid if the new job is in a same or similar occupational classification.
The change is documented on Form I-485 Supplement J, which confirms the new offer and the applicant's intention to work in that position.
An approved petition that has been approved for 180 days is generally protected from automatic revocation when the employer withdraws it.

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IMM-30 · 68

EB-1C Multinational Managers and Executives: Proving the Corporate Case

9 MIN · IMM

EB-1C requires no labor certification, which makes it fast on paper and demanding in evidence. The petition stands or falls on the corporate relationship and on what the manager actually does.

The beneficiary must have worked abroad for at least one year in the preceding three in a managerial or executive capacity for a qualifying organization.
A qualifying multinational relationship must exist — parent, subsidiary, affiliate, or branch — and be proved through ownership and control documents.
The U.S. entity must have been doing business for at least one year before the petition is filed, so there is no new-office route here.

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FIN-06 · 69

Suspicious Activity Reports: Filing Standards and the Confidentiality Rule

8 MIN · FIN

A SAR is the one filing a customer must never learn about. This brief sets out what triggers the obligation, how the 30-day clock runs, who may lawfully be told, and what the statutory safe harbour actually protects.

A SAR is due within 30 calendar days of initial detection of facts that may form a basis for filing, extendable to 60 if no suspect is identified.
Federal law makes both the report and its very existence confidential; a bank may not tell the customer, and disclosure carries its own penalties.
The statute grants a safe harbour from liability to the filer and its people for reporting a possible violation, whether or not the suspicion proves correct.

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FIN-07 · 70

Custodial and FBO Account Structures: Whose Money Is It

8 MIN · FIN

An FBO account holds one balance at a bank and many claims outside it. This brief separates legal ownership from operational control, and sets out the titling, records, and disclosure conditions the structure depends on.

An FBO account is a single deposit at a bank held by an intermediary for identified end users, whose individual claims exist only in the intermediary's ledger.
Pass-through insurance conditions include custodial titling, records identifying the true owners and their interests, and a genuine disclosed agency relationship.
The label 'FBO' on an account title creates nothing by itself; the underlying agreements and state law determine whether a trust or agency actually exists.

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