Duties

Summary

This position is located in the Board of Immigration Appeals. The BIA's primary mission is that of producing authoritative administrative case law in the form of BIA decisions, interpreting the immigration laws and laying down guidelines for the exercise of the Attorney General's delegated administrative discretion. In addition, the BIA has appellate jurisdiction over essentially all decisions of Immigration Judges and certain decisions of DHS officers.
Learn more about this agency

Responsibilities

Duties include but are not limited to the following:

• Reviewing and analyzing records of administrative proceedings
• Conducting needed legal research
• Drafting formal appellate orders for consideration by the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA).
• Evaluating administrative records of proceedings
• Assessing whether administrative discretion was exercised properly
• Recommending a formal legal disposition of appeals or motions under review

Travel Required

Not required

Supervisory status
No

Promotion Potential
13

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

• You must be a U.S. Citizen or National.
• You must complete a background investigation, credit check, and drug test.
• Selective Service Registration is required, as applicable.
• A two year trial period will be required.
• May be required to file a Financial Disclosure.
• Salary payments must be by direct deposit to a financial institution.
• This is an Excepted Service position; additional positions may be filled from this announcement.
• Moving and relocation expenses are not authorized.
• This is an Excepted Service position and additional positions may be filled from this announcement within 90 days of certificate issuance.

Qualifications

In order to qualify for the Attorney Advisor position, you must meet the following minimum qualifications:
Must possess a LLB, LLM, or Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree.
AND
Must be a U.S. citizen.
AND
Must be an active member of the bar in good standing, duly licensed and authorized to practice law as an attorney under the laws of a U.S. state, territory, Puerto Rico, or the District of Columbia. (You must include your date of admission to the bar in your resume.)
AND
Must possess at least 2 years of post J.D professional legal experience.

In addition to the minimum qualification requirements, applicant must submit a writing sample which demonstrates their ability to author legal documents (not to exceed 10 pages).

Applicants must meet all qualifications and eligibility requirements by the closing date of the announcement.

IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE MAY NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. If your resume does not support your questionnaire answers, we will not allow credit for your response(s).

For more information on the qualifications for this position, click here .

Education

ARE YOU USING EDUCATION TO QUALIFY? Education must be accredited by an accredited institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be credited towards qualifications (particularly positions with a positive education requirement). You MUST provide transcripts or other documentation to support your educational claims. Applicants can verify accreditation by clicking here . All education claimed by applicants will be verified by the appointing agency accordingly. (Note: If you are selected for this position based on education, an official transcript will be required, prior to your first day.) You must meet all qualification requirements by the closing date of this announcement.

Special Instructions for Foreign Education: If you are using education completed in foreign colleges or universities to meet the qualification requirements, you must show that the education credentials have been evaluated by a private organization that specializes in interpretation of foreign education programs and such education has been deemed equivalent to that gained in accredited U.S. education programs; or full credit has been given for the courses at a U.S. accredited college or university. For further information, click here .

Translated transcripts are required.

Additional information

Conditions of Employment: Only U.S. Citizens or Nationals are eligible for employment with the Executive Office for Immigration Review. Dual citizens of the U.S. and another country will be considered on a case-by-case basis. All DOJ applicants, both U.S. citizens and non-citizens, whose job location is with the U.S., must meet the residency requirement. For a total of three (not necessarily consecutive years) of the five years immediately prior to applying for a position, the applicant must have: 1) resided in the U.S., 2) worked for the U.S. overseas in a Federal or military capacity; or 3) been a dependent of a Federal or military employee serving oversees.

Career Transition Assistance Program (CTAP) or Interagency Career Transition Assistance Program(ICTAP): To be well qualified, you must satisfy all qualification requirements for the vacantposition and (for scored examining) score 80 or better on established ranking criteria OR (forcategory rating criteria) rate equivalent to the Highly Qualified or better category usingestablished category rating criteria and must submit proof of eligibility for the special selectionpriority. Additional information about CTAP/ICTAP eligibility can be found by clicking here( http://www.opm.gov/ctap/index.asp )

EEO Statement
Reasonable Accommodation Statement

Veteran's Preference: If you are entitled to veterans preference, you should indicate the type of veteran preference you are claiming on your resume. In order to verify your veteran preference entitlement, please submit a copy of the Member Copy 4 of your DD-214; official statement of service from your command if you are currently on active duty. If you are a disabled veteran, a Purple Heart recipient or claiming military spouse preference, you must submit a Standard Form 15, "Application for 10-Point Veterans Preference.

If you are unable to apply online or need to fax a document you do not have in electronic form, view the following link for information regarding an Alternate Application .

How You Will Be Evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

Applicants will be evaluated on the basis of the quality of experience. Applicants are required to address the Quality Ranking Factors (QRFs) as stated below. Failure to submit this information will result in your application being determined ineligible for consideration.

1. Excellent analytical, research and writing abilities; and
2. Proven ability or potential to perform effectively with a high-volume case load and in a working environment of continuous legal research and writing.

We will review your resume and supporting documentation to ensure you meet the minimum qualification requirements. If you meet the minimum qualifications, your experience, education and training will be rated using a job questionnaire based on the following competencies or knowledge, skills and abilities needed to perform this job.

These qualifications must be met by the closing date of the announcement.

Once the application process is complete, a review of your resume and supporting documentation will be made and compared against your responses to the assessment questionnaire to determine if you are qualified for this job.

If it is determined that you meet the minimum qualification requirement, your application will be identified for referral to the hiring manager for further review and consideration. There is no formal rating system for applying veteran's preference to attorney appointments in the excepted services; however, the Department of Justice considers veteran's preference eligibility as a positive factor in attorney hiring. Applicants eligible for veteran's preference must include that information in their cover letter or resume and attach supporting documentation (e.g. the DD214, Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty and other supporting documentation) to their submissions.

Although the "point" system is not used, per se, applicants eligible to claim 10- point preference must submit Standard From SF-15, Application for 10- Point Veteran Preference, and submit the supporting documentation required for the specific type of preference claimed (visit the OPM website, www.opm.gov/forms/pdf_fill/SF15.pdf for a copy of the SF-15, which list the types of 10- point preferences and the required supporting document (s). Applicants should note that SF-15 requires supporting documentation associated with service-connected disabilities or receipt of non-service connected disabilities pensions to be date 1991 or later except in the case of service members submitting official statements or retirement orders from a branch or Armed Forces showing that his or her retirement was due to permanent service-connected disability or that he/she was transferred to the permanent disability retirement list (the statement or retirement orders must indicate that the disability is 10% or more.)
You will be rated based on the following knowledge, skills, abilities (KSAs) or competencies:

• Legal, Government and Jurisprudence

In order to be rated as meeting the minimum qualifications, we must be able to determine from your application package that you have the education and/or specialized or general experience that is required. Applicants who have qualifying experience performed on less than a full-time basis must specify the percentage and length of time spent in performance of such duties.

Background checks and security clearance

Security clearance
Q Access Authorization

Drug test required
Yes

Required Documents

To apply for this position, you must provide a complete Application Package by the closing date of this announcement, which includes:
1. Your Resume showing relevant experience; cover letter optional
2. A complete Assessment Questionnaire
3. Transcripts (include your name, college name/address, type of degree, major, date degree conferred,
courses, grades, semester/quarter hours, G.P.A. etc.)
4. Proof of active bar membership
5. Writing Sample (Not to exceed ten (10) pages
6. Quality Ranking Factors - submit a separate document - Please see "How You Will Be Evaluated"
7. Other supporting documents (submit if applicable to you)

- CTAP/ICTAP documents
- Veterans' documentation (DD-214 (Member 4 copy), dated VA Letter, SF-15)

Note: Please ensure that your resume contains your full name, address, phone number, employment information such as: Employer name and location; From and to dates (or from date to present for current position), which include the month and year for each description of experience, with grade level held, if applicable, education, training etc.

If you are relying on your education to meet qualification requirements:

Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be credited towards qualifications. Therefore, provide only the attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education .

Failure to provide all of the required information as stated in this vacancy announcement may result in an ineligible rating or may affect the overall rating.