{"id":1352,"date":"2022-02-16T10:28:27","date_gmt":"2022-02-16T10:28:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.h1btransfersusa.com\/blog\/?p=1352"},"modified":"2022-02-16T10:28:28","modified_gmt":"2022-02-16T10:28:28","slug":"preliminary-settlement-provides-relief-to-former-unnj-students","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.h1btransfersusa.com\/blog\/preliminary-settlement-provides-relief-to-former-unnj-students\/","title":{"rendered":"Preliminary Settlement Provides Relief to Former UNNJ Students"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A U.S. federal district court approved a preliminary settlement agreement<\/strong> for previous students of the University of Northern New Jersey (UNNJ), a fictitious university created by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in 2012. Following the closure of UNNJ in 2016<\/strong>, the DHS terminated the F-1 status<\/strong> of students enrolled at the school, and in a few cases made findings of fraud and misrepresentation resulting in permanent inadmissibility against many UNNJ students<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The settlement agreement stems from a lawsuit filed<\/strong> in 2016 by previous UNNJ students who believed that the government’s blanket policy of ending students’ F-1 status<\/strong> and making inadmissibility decisions without conducting individual hearings violated the law. Pursuant to the proposed settlement agreement, previous UNNJ students<\/strong> will be protected from facing negative consequences. Including denials of immigration benefits<\/strong>, solely because of their enrollment at UNNJ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Terms of the Settlement Agreement<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The settlement agreement defines a class member as “any noncitizen who, for any period of time, enrolled in the University of Northern New Jersey<\/strong>.” As such, even if a student only enrolled at UNNJ for a very brief period, that student would be protected under this settlement<\/strong>. The full terms of the proposed settlement agreement have been posted on the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS<\/strong>) site in order to notify potential class members. The notice of the proposed class action settlement<\/strong> outlines all the applicable terms. Notably, under the proposed settlement agreement, the U.S. government<\/strong> has agreed to the following terms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Relief to Former UNNJ Students<\/h2>\n\n\n\n