Listening to immigration attorneys speak must sometimes sound like alphabet soup: DOL, PERM, USCIS, DOS, NVC, TSC, NBC, VSC, RFE, INA, EOIR, BIA, EAD, AP, LPR, and so on constantly litter our speech. I sometimes catch myself with a client mid-abbreviation and have to back up to say the complete name of the agency or phrase I’ve just tried to shorten.

The worst of it happens when immigration lawyers are talking to each other in front of non-immigration lawyers: “So, I called the NCSC, and put in a service request for the RFE that TSC issued on that EAD/AP application. While we wait for that adjudication, I guess the client will have to extend their H-1B with VSC.” The thing is, I don’t always notice I’ve done it until I look at the blank stares of friends listening to the conversation but not comprehending anything.