Los Angeles federal court judge orders ‘widow penalty’ cases reopened

Immigration Attorney won a big victory in his quest to end the so-called widow penalty. The widow penalty concerns spouses who filed to adjust status but their United States citizen spouses die before the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services issues a final decision.

The Los Angeles Times reports that U.S. District Judge Christina A. Snyder wrote a 35-page decision stating that USCIS must follow a 9th Circuit Court decision from 2006, which states that applicants don’t lose their status as spouses because the government didn’t rule on their cases before the citizen’s death. Please note that USCIS is part of the United States Department of Homeland Security.

For more on Mr. Renison’s work, please visit his website.