As used in this chapter I, the term:

Act or INA means the Immigration and Nationality Act, as amended.

Aggravated felony means a crime (or a conspiracy or attempt to commit a crime) described in section 101(a)(43) of the Act. This definition applies to any proceeding, application, custody determination, or adjudication pending on or after September 30, 1996, but shall apply under section 276(b) of the Act only to violations of section 276(a) of the Act occurring on or after that date.

Application means benefit request.

Arriving alien means an applicant for admission coming or attempting to come into the United States at a port-of-entry, or an alien seeking transit through the United States at a port-of-entry, or an alien interdicted in international or United States waters and brought into the United States by any means, whether or not to a designated port-of-entry, and regardless of the means of transport. An arriving alien remains an arriving alien even if paroled pursuant to section 212(d)(5) of the Act, and even after any such parole is terminated or revoked. However, an arriving alien who was paroled into the United States before April 1, 1997, or who was paroled into the United States on or after April 1, 1997, pursuant to a grant of advance parole which the alien applied for and obtained in the United States prior to the alien's departure from and return to the United States, will not be treated, solely by reason of that grant of parole, as an arriving alien under section 235(b)(1)(A)(i) of the Act.

Attorney means any person who is eligible to practice law in, and is a member in good standing of the bar of, the highest court of any State, possession, territory, or Commonwealth of the United States, or of the District of Columbia, and is not under any order suspending, enjoining, restraining, disbarring, or otherwise restricting him or her in the practice of law.

Benefit request means any application, petition, motion, appeal, or other request relating to an immigration or naturalization benefit, whether such request is filed on a paper form or submitted in an electronic format, provided such request is submitted in a manner prescribed by DHS for such purpose.

Board means the Board of Immigration Appeals within the Executive Office for Immigration Review, Department of Justice, as defined in 8 CFR 1001.1(e).

Case, unless the context otherwise requires, means any proceeding arising under any immigration or naturalization law, Executive Order, or Presidential proclamation, or preparation for or incident to such proceeding, including preliminary steps by any private person or corporation preliminary to the filing of the application or petition by which any proceeding under the jurisdiction of the Service or the Board is initiated.

CBP means U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

Commissioner means the Commissioner of the Immigration and Naturalization Service prior to March 1, 2003. Unless otherwise specified, references after that date mean the Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and the Director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, as appropriate in the context in which the term appears.

Day, when computing the period of time for taking any action provided in this chapter I including the taking of an appeal, shall include Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays, except that when the last day of the period computed falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or a legal holiday, the period shall run until the end of the next day which is not a Saturday, Sunday, or a legal holiday.

Department or DHS, unless otherwise noted, means the Department of Homeland Security.

Director or district director prior to March 1, 2003, means the district director or regional service center director, unless otherwise specified. On or after March 1, 2003, pursuant to delegation from the Secretary of Homeland Security or any successive re-delegation, the terms mean, to the extent that authority has been delegated to such official: asylum office director; director, field operations; district director for interior enforcement; district director for services; field office director; service center director; or special agent in charge. The terms also mean such other official, including an official in an acting capacity, within U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or other component of the Department of Homeland Security who is delegated the function or authority above for a particular geographic district, region, or area.

EOIR means the Executive Office for Immigration Review within the Department of Justice.

Executed or execute means fully completed.

Form when used in connection with a benefit or other request to be filed with DHS to request an immigration benefit, means a device for the collection of information in a standard format that may be submitted in paper format or in an electronic format as prescribed by USCIS on its official Internet Web site. The term Form followed by an immigration form number includes an approved electronic equivalent of such form as may be prescribed by the appropriate component on its official Internet Web site.

Form instructions means instructions on how to complete and where to file a benefit request, supporting evidence or fees, or any other required or preferred document or instrument with a DHS immigration component. Form instructions prescribed by USCIS or other DHS immigration components on their official Internet Web sites will be considered the currently applicable version, notwithstanding paper or other versions that may be in circulation, and may be issued through non-form guidance such as appendices, exhibits, guidebooks, or manuals.

ICE means U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Immigration judge means an immigration judge as defined in 8 CFR 1001.1(l).

Immigration officer means the following employees of the Department of Homeland Security, including senior or supervisory officers of such employees, designated as immigration officers authorized to exercise the powers and duties of such officer as specified by the Act and this chapter I: aircraft pilot, airplane pilot, asylum officer, refugee corps officer, Border Patrol agent, contact representative, deportation officer, detention enforcement officer, detention officer, fingerprint specialist, forensic document analyst, general attorney (except with respect to CBP, only to the extent that the attorney is performing any immigration function), helicopter pilot, immigration agent (investigations), immigration enforcement agent, immigration information officer, immigration inspector, immigration officer, immigration services officer, investigator, intelligence agent, intelligence officer, investigative assistant, special agent, other officer or employee of the Department of Homeland Security or of the United States as designated by the Secretary of Homeland Security as provided in 8 CFR 2.1.

Lawfully admitted for permanent residence means the status of having been lawfully accorded the privilege of residing permanently in the United States as an immigrant in accordance with the immigration laws, such status not having changed. Such status terminates upon entry of a final administrative order of exclusion, deportation, or removal.

Petition. See Benefit request.

Practice means the act or acts of any person appearing in any case, either in person or through the preparation or filing of any brief or other document, paper, application, or petition on behalf of another person or client before or with DHS.

Preparation, constituting practice, means the study of the facts of a case and the applicable laws, coupled with the giving of advice and auxiliary activities, including the incidental preparation of papers, but does not include the lawful functions of a notary public or service consisting solely of assistance in the completion of blank spaces on printed DHS forms, by one whose remuneration, if any, is nominal and who does not hold himself or herself out as qualified in legal matters or in immigration and naturalization procedure.

Representation before DHS includes practice and preparation as defined in this section.

Representative refers to a person who is entitled to represent others as provided in 8 CFR 292.1(a)(2) through (6) and 8 CFR 292.1(b).

Respondent means an alien named in a Notice to Appear issued in accordance with section 239(a) of the Act, or in an Order to Show Cause issued in accordance with 8 CFR 242.1 (1997) as it existed prior to April 1, 1997.

Secretary, unless otherwise noted, means the Secretary of Homeland Security.

Service means U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and/or U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, as appropriate in the context in which the term appears.

Service counsel means any immigration officer assigned to represent the Service in any proceeding before an immigration judge or the Board of Immigration Appeals.

Transition program effective date as used with respect to extending the immigration laws to the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands means November 28, 2009.

USCIS means U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.