This position is located in the Office of Chief Counsel. As a Paralegal Specialist, you will provide legal support arising from Federal litigation involving immigration benefits administered by USCIS and DHS, commercial and administrative law matters, ethics concerns, civil procedure, and criminal law issues, along with preparing visa petition appeal briefs.

Duties

Conduct substantive research using attorney files, law reports, statutes and regulations, library reference files, computer databases, and other pertinent sources. Analyze facts and legal issues, and prepare appropriate memorandum, discussion paper, brief or report reflecting facts, supporting case law, applicable regulations, sources, citations, and other items discovered during the course of legal research. Establish and maintain computer filing system to track correspondence, visa petition appeals, legal advice, and federal litigation. Input data into computer databases and systems concerning federal court litigation and visa petition appeals, retrieve and analyze data therefrom and prepares reports and charts as needed. Review, develop and recommend to Division Chief and attorneys action to be taken on visa petition appeals, draft briefs and write reports for District personnel in the area and the Department of Homeland Security on behalf of the division attorneys. Other administrative support duties as assigned in support of the legal program.

Requirements

Qualifications

The qualifications for this position must be met by 11:59 PM (Eastern Time) on 09/27/2023. Current Federal employees must have served 52 weeks at the lower grade or equivalent grade band in the Federal service. The Time-in-Grade requirement must be met by 11:59 PM (Eastern Time) on 09/27/2023. GS-11: You qualify at the GS-11 level if you possess one (1) year of specialized experience, which is equivalent to at least the GS-09 level in the federal government, that equipped you with the skills needed to successfully perform the duties of the position. You must have experience performing the following duties: Reviewing and processing legal cases through to solution. Receiving, organizing, examining and evaluating petitions and complaints filed by individuals, businesses or attorneys in the U.S. District Courts or the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Using computer data bases, online search tools, and legal publications to research legal issues. OR You may also substitute successful completion of a Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree, or 3 full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree in an accredited college or university, may be substituted for experience at the GS-11 grade level. Such education must demonstrate the skills needed to do the work. A course of study in business administration, public administration, or related fields is qualifying. One year of full-time graduate education is considered to be the number of credit hours that the school attended has determined to represent 1 year of full-time study. If that information cannot be obtained from the school, 54 semester hours should be considered as satisfying the 3 years of full-time study requirement. GS-12: In addition to the requirements at the lower grade level(s), you qualify at the GS-12 level if you possess one (1) year of specialized experience, which is equivalent to at least the GS-11 level in the federal government, that equipped you with the skills needed to successfully perform the duties of the position. You must have experience performing the following duties: Providing technical direction on complex issues and resolving differences of opinion among employees or between employees and agency customers, applicants or petitioners. Processing legal cases that require extensive interpretation of guidelines and modifying guidelines for new situations. Reconciling conflicting policies and facts, identifying and eliciting additional information and making a number of decisions at various stages. GS-13: In addition to the requirements at the lower grade level(s), you qualify at the GS-13 level if you possess one (1) year of specialized experience, which is equivalent to at least the GS-12 level in the federal government, that equipped you with the skills needed to successfully perform the duties of the position. You must have experience performing the following duties: Planning, developing, interpreting and resolving broad, complex and unprecedented problems. Providing authoritative advice to external parties dealing with the organization or internal agency employees, and making decisions or recommendations with respect to cases and assignments. Analyze issues of fact and issues of law to make recommendations to attorneys on factual and legal issues involved in their cases. Analyze new legislation, which has an impact on agency policies, procedures, and guidelines or implementation. Please read the following important information to ensure you submit everything we need to consider your application: It is your responsibility to ensure that you submit your responses and appropriate documentation prior to 09/27/2023. Your resume will be used to determine your qualifications for the position advertised in this announcement. Therefore, your resume must highlight your most relevant, significant experience related to the requirements found in the qualification section of this announcement, as well as any applicable education. USCIS will only review the first 5 pages of your resume to determine your initial eligibility/qualifications for a position. As such, please be sure to include content to support your eligibility/qualifications for this position within the first 5 pages. Please note that your full resume will be made available to the hiring manager if you are referred. Be clear and specific when describing your work history since Human Resources cannot make assumptions regarding your experience. Your application will be rated and ranked based on your responses to the online questions. Please ensure EACH work history includes ALL of the following information: Job Title (include series and grade if Federal Job) Duties (be specific in describing your duties) Employer's name and address Supervisor name and phone number Start and end dates including month, day and year (e.g. June 18 2007 to April 05 2008) Start and end dates for each grade/pay level if you've held a federal position. Full-time or part-time status (include hours worked per week) Salary Determining length of General or Specialized Experience is dependent on the above information and failure to provide the above information may result in a finding of ineligible. Note: Overstating your qualifications and/or experience in your application materials or application questionnaire may result in your removal from consideration. Federal Experience: If you are using current or prior federal experience as a basis for qualifying for this position, the grade levels and length of employment (mm/dd/year) at each grade level must be listed in your work history. This information will be further validated if selected for this position. National Service Experience (i.e., volunteer experience): Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religious; spiritual; community, student, social). Volunteer work helps build criteria competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer service. Please provide the dates and amount of time/hours worked earning this experience.

Education

COMBINING QUALIFYING EXPERIENCE AND EDUCATION: If you do not qualify based on experience or education alone, you may be able to qualify based on a combination of your experience and education. For more information on combining education and experience, visit the following website: General Schedule Qualification Standards. Transcript required: If you don't submit a transcript, we will not use your education when deciding if you're qualified for the job. For verification purposes, the transcript submitted must include your name and educational institution.

COMBINING QUALIFYING EXPERIENCE AND EDUCATION (at the GS-11 level only): If you do not qualify based on experience or education alone, you may be able to qualify based on a combination of your experience and education. For more information on combining education and experience, visit the following website: General Schedule Qualification Standards. Transcript required: If you don't submit a transcript, we will not use your education when deciding if you're qualified for the job. For verification purposes, the transcript submitted must include your name and educational institution.

Basic Education or Experience Requirement: This position has a basic requirement that can be met by either education or experience. If you meet this requirement via education, you must submit a copy of your college transcript(s) (unofficial is acceptable) to support the basic educational requirement or a list of coursework with hours completed. For verification purposes, the transcript submitted must include your name and educational institution. If you meet this requirement via experience, the experience must be listed in your resume.

Contacts

• Address
• Name: HROC Staffing Help Desk
• Phone: 952-697-8380
• Email: [email protected]