Landa v. Employment Division

Petitioner seeks judicial review of a final order of the Employment Appeals Board determining that he was not entitled to unemployment benefits because he did not have an immigrant visa or work authorization from the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) and was therefore “unavailable” for work. We reverse.

Petitioner entered the United States lawfully under a work contract in 1984.1 After the contract expired, he remained here and married an American citizen. His wife applied on his behalf for a permanent resident visa, and he applied for INS work authorization. INS has not acted on…