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Immigration Judge

Department of Justice
Executive Office for Immigration Review
This job announcement has closed

Summary

Applicants who have applied to previous Immigration Judge announcements and/or other locations must re-apply to this announcement to receive consideration for this location.

If you are interested in a rewarding and challenging career, this is the position for you!


This position is in the Executive Office for Immigration Review, Office of the Chief Immigration Judge. The Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) seeks highly-qualified individuals to join our team of expert professionals in becoming a part of our challenging and rewarding Agency. The primary mission of the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) is to adjudicate immigration cases by fairly, expeditiously, and uniformly interpreting and administering the Nation's immigration laws. Under delegated authority from the Attorney General, EOIR conducts immigration court proceedings, appellate reviews, and administrative hearings.

EOIR consist of three adjudicatory components: the Office of the Chief Immigration Judge, which is responsible for managing the numerous immigration courts located throughout the United States where immigration judges adjudicate individual cases; the Board of Immigration Appeals, which primarily conducts appellate reviews of the immigration judges' decisions; and the Office of the Chief Administrative Hearing Officer, which adjudicates immigration-related employment cases. EOIR is committed to providing the fair, expeditious, and uniform application of our Nation's immigration laws in all cases. EOIR's Headquarters is located in Falls Church, Virginia, about 10 miles from downtown Washington, DC.

This position will be mainly assigned to Video Conference Hearings.

More than one position may be filled from this vacancy announcement.

Overview

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Hiring complete
Open & closing dates
08/03/2017 to 08/22/2017
Salary
$144,042 to - $172,100 per year
Pay scale & grade
IJ 00
Location
5 vacancies in the following location:
Falls Church, VA
Travel Required
50% or less - Immigration Judge may be required to travel frequently, including weekends. (May include short detail assignments.)
Relocation expenses reimbursed
No
Appointment type
Permanent - Excepted Service Permanent
Work schedule
Full-Time
Service
Promotion potential
00
Job family (Series)
Supervisory status
No
Security clearance
Top Secret
Announcement number
IJ-10031398-17-TW
Control number
476040600

This job is open to

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Duties

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Immigration Judges preside in formal, quasi-judicial hearings. Proceedings before Immigration Judges include but are not limited to deportation, exclusion, removal, rescission, and bond. Immigration Judges make decisions which are final unless formally appealed. In connection with these proceedings, Immigration Judges exercise certain discretionary powers as provided by law, and are required to exercise independent judgment in reaching final decisions. Immigration Judges in this location will be mainly assigned to video conference hearings. Additionally, Immigration Judges may be required to conduct hearings in penal institutions and other remote locations.

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

  • You must be a U.S. Citizen or National.
  • You must undergo a pre-employment security investigation.
  • Selective Service Registration is required, as applicable.
  • Moving and Relocation Expense are not authorized.
  • Relevant experience (see qualifications below.)

In addition to the minimum qualifications above, applicants must submit a writing sample which demonstrates their ability to author legal documents (not to exceed twenty-five (25) pages) and a document addressing the Quality Ranking Factors (See "How You Will Be Evaluated" section) in order to be considered for this position. Failure to submit these documents will result in your application being removed from consideration.

Qualifications

In order to qualify for the Immigration Judge position, applicants must meet all of the minimum qualifications listed below.

Education: Applicants must possess a LL.B. or a J.D. degree.
-AND-
Licensure:
Applicants must be an active member of the bar, 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 (include the date of your admission to the bar).
-AND-
Experience:
Applicants must be U.S. citizens and must have practiced as an attorney, post-bar admission, for a minimum of seven (7) years at the time the application is submitted.

IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE MAY NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE
Qualifications must be met by the closing date of the announcement.

Additional information

Employment is contingent upon the completion and satisfactory adjudication of a background investigation. Selectee(s) must be able to maintain a top secret clearance. There is no formal rating system for applying veterans' preference to attorney appointments in the excepted service; however, the Department of Justice considers veterans' preference eligibility as a positive factor in attorney hiring. Applicants eligible for veterans' preference must include that information in their cover letter or resume and attach supporting documentation (see section entitled "Required Documents" for further details).

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.

EEO Statement: The United States Government does not discriminate in employment on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, political affiliation, sexual orientation, marital status, disability, age, membership in an employee organization, or other non-merit factor.

Reasonable Accommodation Statement: Federal agencies must provide reasonable accommodation to applicants with disabilities where appropriate. Applicants requiring reasonable accommodation for any part of the application and hiring process should contact the hiring agency directly. Determinations on requests for reasonable accommodation will be made on a case-by-case basis.

Direct Deposit: All Federal employees are required to have Federal salary payments made by direct deposit to a financial institution of their choosing.

Alternative work schedule options are available.

This is an excepted service appointment. Upon completion of the required trial period, the position will be permanent.

You are encouraged to apply online. If you are unable to apply online, you must request an alternative application method. Please contact Tyler Walls, HR Specialist, via email at tyler.walls@opm.gov or via phone at 816-426-5706 between the office hours of 8:00 am and 5:00 pm EST.

How you will be evaluated

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

Applicants meeting the minimum requirements will be further evaluated to determine those who are best qualified. This determination will be based, in part, on the following quality ranking factors (QRF's):

  1. Ability to demonstrate the appropriate temperament to serve as a judge.
  2. Knowledge of immigration laws and procedures.
  3. Substantial litigation experience, preferably in a high volume context.
  4. Experience handling complex legal issues.
  5. Experience conducting administrative hearings.
  6. Knowledge of judicial practices and procedures.
Applicants are required to address QRF #1 and a minimum of three (3) of the remaining five (5) factors in narrative form. The QRFs must be addressed on a separate document which indicates the number of the specific QRF you are addressing. Applicants should be thorough in addressing the QRFs. For example, applicants addressing QRF #3 (substantial litigation experience) should discuss the approximate number of cases handled in a given period of time, the applicant's specific role (first chair, co-counsel, responsible for the written brief only, etc.), and the length of time involved in a given role (lead counsel in 20 jury trials In 10 years). Applicants should also include specific examples of the types of cases, the number of court appearances made in those cases, and the case dispositions (plea, settlement, bench trial, Jury trial, etc.) Conclusory statements (such as "the applicant has been involved in a substantial amount of litigation") will receive little or no weight in the evaluation of the QRFs.

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