USCIS |
| Blog | Posted By: hindtodaynews on:5/16/2012 9:37:14 PM |
WASHINGTON—U.S.
Citizenship and Immigration Services’ (USCIS) Administrative Appeals
Office (AAO) today issued a binding precedent decision addressing the
term “culturally unique” and its significance in the adjudication of
petitions for performing artists and entertainers.
In
the case at issue, the Skirball Cultural Center filed a P-3
nonimmigrant petition on behalf of a musical group from Argentina that
was denied a performing artists’ visa for failing to establish that the
group’s performance was “culturally unique” as required for this visa
classification. Due to the unusually complex and novel issue and the
likelihood that the same issue could arise in future decisions, the
decision was recommended for review.
USCIS’s
AAO approved the petition after its review of the entire record, which
included expert written testimony and corroborating evidence on behalf
of the musical group. The regulatory definition of “culturally unique”
requires USCIS to make a case-by-case factual determination. The
decision clarifies that a “culturally unique” style of art or
entertainment is not limited to traditional art forms, but may include
artistic expression that is deemed to be a hybrid or fusion of more than
one culture or region.
Precedent
decisions support USCIS’s commitment to consistency in the
administration of immigration benefits. This is the third precedent
decision issued since late 2010. Selected and designated as precedent by
the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), with the
Attorney General’s concurrence, precedent decisions are administrative
decisions that are legally binding on DHS components responsible for
enforcing immigration laws in all proceedings involving the same issue.
The Department of Justice’s Executive Office for Immigration Review
(EOIR) publishes precedent decisions in bound volumes titled,
“Administrative Decisions Under Immigration and Nationality Laws of the
United States.”
For the complete announcement please see USCIS Issues Precedent Appeals Decision on P-3 Nonimmmigrant Visa Petition on the uscis.gov website.