State Dept. Eliminates Board of Appellate Review
The Department of State (DOS) issued a final rule effective October 20, 2008, that eliminates the Department’s Board of Appellate Review (L/BAR), which had been authorized to review certain Department determinations, in particular those related to loss of citizenship and passport denials. Because L/BAR’s jurisdiction has been superseded or made obsolete, and in large part replaced by review of loss of citizenship and passport matters by the Bureau of Consular Affairs, this rule eliminates L/BAR and authorizes on a discretionary basis an “alternative, less cumbersome” review of loss of nationality determinations by the Bureau of Consular Affairs.
