Mairykeeva v. Barr
Mairykeeva v. Barr
Opinion of the Court
This case arises from the Board of Immigration Appeal's ("BIA") decision affirming the United States Citizen and Immigration Services' ("USCIS") denial of Marat Yrysbekov's I-130 immigrant visa petition, which he filed for the benefit of his non-citizen wife, Aiperi Mairykeeva. Presently before the Court are the parties' cross-motions for summary judgment: Plaintiffs, Yrysbekov and Mairykeeva, assert that the denial of the I-130 petition was arbitrary and capricious, violating the Administrative Procedures Act ("APA") as well as the due process and equal protection clauses of the Constitution, and Defendants
I. BACKGROUND
Pursuant to the Immigration and Nationality Act ("INA"), a United States citizen may petition to have his or her spouse obtain lawful resident status through an I-130 petition.
Plaintiffs' immigrant visa interview with USCIS was conducted on November 18, 2015.
After the interview, the USCIS issued a Notice of Intent to Deny ("NOID") the I-130 Petition, which informed Plaintiffs that the USCIS intended to deny their petition because they failed to prove that Mairykeeva's prior marriage to Dzholdoshbekov had been terminated.
The Philadelphia USCIS office denied Plaintiffs' I-130 Petition.
Yrysbekov appealed that decision to the Board of Immigration Appeals ("BIA"). In support of the appeal, he provided the complaint Mairykeeva filed against the former counsel who allegedly encouraged her to submit the fraudulent divorce decree, an unsworn written statement in which Mairykeeva explained why she claimed to be married on her nonimmigrant visa application and why she obtained a fraudulent divorce decree, and a document from Kyrgyzstan purporting to show that Dzholdoshbekov was not currently married.
Plaintiffs then filed a complaint in this Court, alleging that the denial of the I-130 petition was unlawful under the APA, violated the USCIS and BIA's duty to properly adjudicate immigrant visa petitions under
II. STANDARD OF REVIEW
The petitioner bears the burden of establishing eligibility for the benefit sought in an I- 130 petition.
"While summary judgment is the proper mechanism for deciding, as a matter of law, whether an agency's action is supported by the administrative record and consistent with the APA standard of review, because the district judge sits as an appellate tribunal in such cases, the usual summary judgment standard does not apply."
III. DISCUSSION
1. Claims Under the APA
Plaintiffs argue that because Mairykeeva "conclusively repudiated and disavowed" the statement on her nonimmigrant visa application that she was married to Dzholdoshbekov, the government's determination that Plaintiffs failed to demonstrate Mairykeeva was legally free to marry Yrysbekov was unreasonable.
*397In response, Defendants assert that the decision was not arbitrary and capricious because Mairykeeva submitted fraudulent and conflicting evidence relating to a prior alleged marriage in Kyrgyzstan, and it was thus reasonable to determine that she lacked credibility when she disavowed this alleged marriage. Defendants also contend that, while the USCIS has approved I-130 petitions where the beneficiary had previously made false representations about being married, the beneficiaries in those cases were able to demonstrate through documentation and testimony that such previous representations were false; Mairykeeva, however, has changed her story and presented conflicting evidence to the USCIS.
Given the numerous conflicting representations by Mairykeeva, the Court cannot find the agency's decision to be arbitrary or capricious. Mairykeeva claimed she was married to Dzholdoshbekov in her nonimmigrant visa application, but did not mention such a marriage, or disavow it, in the I-130 petition. Plaintiffs also failed to provide the USCIS any objective evidence to confirm the claim that no marriage in Kyrgyzstan ever occurred, and instead provided a fraudulent divorce decree purporting to show that she divorced Dzholdoshbekov. On appeal, Plaintiffs provided the certificate purporting to show that Dzholdoshbekov was not married, at which time the BIA was not obliged to consider it.
In sum, Mairykeeva appears to concede that she relied almost entirely on her credibility
Moreover, Plaintiffs' motion appears to ignore that the burden of establishing eligibility for the alien relative petition lies with them. Specifically, Plaintiffs complain that the USCIS failed to verify Mairykeeva's alleged marriage to Dzholdoshbekov, and that the immigration officer who contacted the U.S. consular official to obtain verification that the purported divorce decree was not a genuine document "never attempted to verify whether the alleged marriage between Ms. Mairykeeva and Mr. Dzholodoshbekov ever took place."
2. Constitutional Claims
Plaintiffs also allege that the USCIS's decision violated due process and equal protection. As the Court has determined that the agency's decision was proper, and as Plaintiffs were granted numerous opportunities to present their case and evidence during the adjudicative process, they cannot establish that their procedural due process rights were violated.
IV. CONCLUSION
For the foregoing reasons, the BIA did not act arbitrarily, capriciously, or abuse *399its discretion in reaching its decision to affirm the USCIS's denial of Plaintiffs' I-130 visa petition. Plaintiffs' motion for summary judgment is denied, and Defendants' motion for summary judgment is granted. An appropriate Order follows.
Plaintiffs named the United States Attorney General, the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, the Director of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, and the District Director of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services. Plaintiffs have sued Defendants in their official capacities.
District courts have jurisdiction to review a decision on the merits of a petition to classify a non-citizen as a relative of a United States citizen. Adi v. United States ,
Unless otherwise noted, the factual background of the case derives from the Record and the undisputed facts as provided in the parties' summary judgment briefings.
See B2 Tourist Visa Application [Doc. No. 4-12] at 1, 3.
See I-130 Petition for Alien Relative [Doc. No. 4-10] at 1.
The I-130 petition lists Mairykeeva as having one prior spouse, Ivan Budiac. The Petition makes no reference to Dzholdoshbekov.
See USCIS Notice of Decision [Doc. No. 4-6] at 1.
Pls.' Mot. Summ. J. [Doc. No. 5] at 8. Plaintiff also asserted in her Statement in Support of Appeal that she "informed the USCIS officer that I was never married to Arsen Dzholdoshbekov and that I falsely stated that I was married to him on my visa application." Statement in Supp. of Appeal, Ex. D [Doc. No. 4-4] ¶ 2.
It is not clear from the record whether Mairykeeva attempted to clarify the conflict between her nonimmigrant visa petition, in which she asserted that she was married to Dzholdoshbekov in Kyrgyzstan, and her I-130 petition, in which she asserted that she had been married only once before to an individual other than Dzholdoshbekov. The USCIS decision states that, "[a]t th[e] interview the beneficiary testified, under oath, that other than her current marriage with [Yrysbekov], she had contracted just one prior marriage in her lifetime," referring to the marriage to Budiac. USCIS Notice of Decision [Doc. No. 4-6] at 1-2. Neither the USCIS decision nor the BIA's decision makes any reference to Mairykeeva's alleged admission, during the interview, that she lied on her nonimmigrant visa application about being married to Dzholdoshbekov. Additionally, the "Interview Notes" indicate that Mairykeeva "says [she was] never married" and that her nonimmigrant visa petition references an "undisclosed" prior spouse. Interview Notes [Doc. No. 4-11] at 2.
Defendants do not contest Mairykeeva's characterization of the interview, and, in their briefing, assert that Mairykeeva "den[ied] to the USCIS officer that she had been married to Dzoldoshbekov." Defs.' Mot. Summ. J. [Doc. No. 6] at 2.
Notice Intent to Deny [Doc. No. 4-7] at 2-3.
See Statement of Findings [Doc. No. 4-13] at 2 (determining that "a fraudulent divorce decree for Mairykeeva's claimed termination of marriage to Dzholdoshbekov was submitted to USCIS").
Mairykeeva has filed a complaint against this attorney. Complaint Form, Ex. 1 [Doc. No. 4-5] at 1-3.
USCIS Notice of Decision [Doc. No. 4-6].
Statement in Supp. of Appeal [Doc. No. 4-4] at 13-14; Document from National Archives for Civil Registration in Kyrgyzstan [Doc. No. 4-4] at 17-19; Complaint Form [Doc. No. 4-5] at 1-3.
Decision of Board of Immigration Appeals [Doc. No. 4-1] at 1.
Matter of Brantigan ,
Matter of Soo Hoo ,
Salazar-Paucar v. I.N.S. ,
Dorley v. Cardinale ,
Motor Vehicle Mfrs. Ass'n of U.S., Inc. v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. ,
Smith ,
I.N.S. v. Elias-Zacarias ,
Pls.' Mot. Summ. J. [Doc. No. 5] at 9.
Pls.' Mot. Summ. J. [Doc. No. 5] 9-10, 13-14.
Defs.' Resp. [Doc. No. 7] at 3.
"Where ... the petitioner was put on notice of the required evidence and given a reasonable opportunity to provide it for the record before the denial, [the BIA] will not consider evidence submitted on appeal for any purpose. Rather, [the BIA] will adjudicate the appeal based on the record of proceedings before the district or Regional Service Center director. In such a case, if the petitioner desires further consideration, he or she must file a new visa petition." Matter of Soriano , 19 I. & N. Dec. at 766 (internal citation omitted). Additionally, it should be noted that Plaintiffs did not provide any evidence as to whether Mairykeeva had ever been married in Kyrgyzstan.
Plaintiffs argue that there was "no reason for the [USCIS] to trust the information which Plaintiff provided to the US Consulate in Kyrgyzstan" on her nonimmigrant visa application "when she herself had retracted and repudiated it." Pls.' Mot. Summ. J. [Doc. No. 5] at 16. Plaintiff also argued that "it was absurd, improper and unreasonable for the USCIS to claim that Plaintiff was married to Mr. Dzholdoshbekov when Plaintiff herself has conclusively repudiated and disavowed the statements made on her [nonimmigrant visa application]." Id. at 9.
Bangoura v. Sessions , No. 18-2274,
"To reverse the BIA finding, [this Court] must find that the evidence not only supports [the opposite] conclusion but compels it ...." Elias-Zacarias ,
Pls.' Mot. Summ. J. [Doc. No. 5] at 8.
Matter of Brantigan , 11 I. & N. Dec. at 494-95.
Matter of Ho ,
Pls.' Mot. Summ. J. [Doc. No. 5] at 9.
See Herrera v. Holder , No. 13-640,
Bakran v. Sec'y, U.S. Dep't of Homeland Sec. ,
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Aiperi MAIRYKEEVA v. William BARR
- Cited By
- 3 cases
- Status
- Published