Word.ws English Dictionary

front-desk

front-desk verb: to be denied by an INS agent without filing because the officer believes the application invalid at face value.

Verb

front-desk (third-person singular simple present front-desks, present participle front-desking, simple past and past participle front-desked)

  1. (immigration law) To be denied by an INS agent without filing because the officer believes the application invalid at face value.
    • The Supreme Court pointed out a possible exception: "front-desking" may also produce the concrete effects necessary for a claim to be ripe.1998, Bernard D. Reams, American international law cases. Ser. 3, 1994, 6, page 3208
    • Under the Supreme Court's holding, the LULAC stay order survives only for the small group of cases in which aliens were front-desked by the INS in their application for legalization.1998, P. J. Patel, Patel's Immigration Law Digest

Examples of front-desk in a sentence

  • Moreover, the Government has represented to Federal courts its willingness to accept applications of any alien who alleges he or she was "front-desked."2001, Labor Law Reporter Employment Practices:
  • Under the court's order, front-desked class members may have had the right to file and have the Immigration Service process their amnesty applications, and to be issued or reissued work authorization.2003, Immigration Legislation Handbook, page 8-211:

Forms of front-desk

third-person singular presentfront-desks
present participlefront-desking
past participlefront-desked
pastfront-desked

Questions about front-desk

What does front-desk mean?
Front-desk means to be denied by an INS agent without filing because the officer believes the application invalid at face value.
How do you use front-desk in a sentence?
Moreover, the Government has represented to Federal courts its willingness to accept applications of any alien who alleges he or she was "front-desked."
What part of speech is front-desk?
Front-desk is a verb.
What is the past tense of front-desk?
The past tense of front-desk is front-desked.

Words near front-desk in the dictionary

  1. front yards
  2. front-and-center
  3. front-and-centre
  4. front-bencher
  5. front-benchers
  6. front-desk
  7. front-desked
  8. front-desking
  9. front-desks
  10. front-end
  11. front-end loader

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: front-desk (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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