PARALEGAL SPECIALIST

Summary

Protect your homeland and defend your culture. Join USCIS, America's frontline defense against illegal foreign infiltration and fraud. 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.
• •Gather and assemble documentary material and information to be released to opposing attorneys pursuant to rules of discovery or as directed by the court.
• •Review, identify issues, and make recommendations to USCIS attorneys for action to be taken on visa petition appeals, and compose and write reports on moderately complex issues.
• •Develop and evaluate all evidence, facts and circumstances relating to cases and make determinations, decisions and recommendations as appropriate within the requirements.
• •Other administrative support duties as assigned in support of the legal program.

Qualifications

The qualifications for this position must be met by 11:59 PM (Eastern Time) on 10/05/2026. 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 10/05/2026. GS-13: 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 majority of 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. Analyzing issues of fact and issues of law to make recommendations to attorneys on factual and legal issues involved in their cases. Analyzing new legislation, which has an impact on agency policies, procedures, and guidelines or implementation. Analyzing and evaluating information from a variety of sources. 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 10/05/2026. You must upload your resume under the "Resume" category. Resumes submitted under the "Other Documents" category will not be considered. Your most recently submitted 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. Limit your resume to no more than two pages. The USAJOBS database will not allow an applicant to submit an application that includes a resume over two pages. To help ensure your resume remains clear and easy to read, we recommend using margins of at least 0.8 inches and a font size of at least 11 point. 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.

Education

EDUCATIONAL SUBSTITUTION: There is no educational substitution at grade. Voluntary Separation Incentive Payment (VSIP): Per 5 CFR 576.202, An employee who receives a Voluntary Separation Incentive Payment (VSIP) and later accepts employment for compensation with the Government of the United States within 5 years of the date of the separation on which the VSIP is based, including work under a personal services contract or other direct contract, must repay the entire amount of the VSIP to the agency that paid it (proof of payment is required) before the individual's first day of reemployment. Any offers of employment made pursuant to this announcement will be consistent with all applicable authorities, including Presidential Memoranda, Executive Orders, interpretive U.S. Office of Personnel Management guidance and U.S. Office of Management and Budget plans and policies concerning hiring. These authorities are subject to change. Applying to this announcement certifies that you give permission for DHS to share your application with others in DHS for similar positions. Common definitions for hiring terms found in this announcement.