USCIS withdraws denial of petition for CW-1 permit for foreign worker

The Administrative Appeal Office of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has remanded to USCIS California Service Center for further review the petition for a CW-1 permit filed by a Bangladeshi national and a private company, who are suing the U.S. government and other officials in federal court over the denial of his petition.

Assistant U.S. attorney Jessica F. Cruz, counsel for the U.S. government and USCIS officials, and attorney Joseph E. Horey, counsel for Moniruzzaman Masud and Angando Inc., notified the U.S. District Court for the NMI on Friday that the USCIS Administrative Appeal Office has withdrawn its earlier denial of the petition.

Cruz and Horey disclosed that the USCIS Administrative Appeal Office reopened Masud’s and Angando’s petition and remanded it to USCIS California Service Center for further review.

The U.S. government’s position is that the administrative process must be exhausted in order for Masud and Angando to proceed with their lawsuit.

With this development, Cruz and Horey asked the court to stay or suspend the case pending the final decision of USCIS. They will provide the court with a status report every 60 days.

USCIS denied Masud’s and Angando’s petition for a CW-1 permit on the grounds that the employer had not established that Masud was lawfully present in the CNMI at the time the petition was filed. The plaintiffs asserted that Masud obtained an umbrella permit in 2009, which proved he was lawfully present in the Commonwealth.

The plaintiffs are suing the U.S. government, Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson, USCIS Director Leon Rodriguez, and USCIS California Service Center Director Rosemary Langley Melville.

The plaintiffs asked the court to declare that Masud was lawfully present in the CNMI at the time of Angando’s petition and is eligible for CW-1 classification.

Horey wants the court to compel the defendants to classify Masud as an alien eligible for CW-1 classification, and to approve Angando’s petition to employ him.

Horey stated in the complaint that on April 30, 2007, Masud, who at the time held a CNMI 706D immediate relative entry permit based on his marriage, applied with the CNMI Immigration director for the renewal of his permit.

His renewal application was denied in 2007. He appealed the denial to the CNMI Attorney General. The appeal remained pending and unresolved as of Nov. 27, 2011, according to Horey.

The lawyer said that, on Nov. 27, 2009, the CNMI Department of Labor issued an umbrella permit to Masud—a two-year permit issued prior to Nov. 28, 2009, by CNMI Labor, Department of Commerce, or Attorney General. Horey said the umbrella permit remained valid through Nov. 27, 2011.

The lawyer said that, on Nov. 27, 2011, Angando mailed to USCIS a petition for CW01 worker classification for Masud.

In 2012, the USCIS California Service Center denied the petition on the basis that Angando had not presented evidence that Masud was lawfully present in the CNMI at the time the application was filed. Angando appealed.

In February 2015, the Administrative Appeals Office upheld the denial. This prompted Masud and Angando to file the lawsuit last July.