Mei Jing Oei v. Attorney General of the United States
Opinion of the Court
OPINION OF THE COURT
Mie Jing Oei petitions for review of a final order of removal rendered by the Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”). For the reasons that follow, we will deny the petition for review.
Oei, an ethnically Chinese citizen of Indonesia, entered the United States in 1999 with a six-month visitor visa. After arriving in the United States, Oei first lived in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, where she worked as a caretaker for an elderly woman. Upon moving to Philadelphia in March 2001, Oei learned from speaking with other immigrants that she needed to take steps to stay in the country. Oei filed an untimely application for asylum a year and two weeks after her visa had expired.
On April 25, 2002, the Immigration Judge (“IJ”) found that, pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1158(a)(2)(D), the untimeliness of Oei’s asylum application was excused due to “extraordinary circumstances.”
On November 15, 2007, the BIA reversed the IJ’s asylum determination but granted Oei voluntary departure. The BIA found that compared to the circumstances facing other immigrants seeking asylum, Oei’s circumstances were not extraordinary and thus her application was untimely. Oei filed a petition for review and we held that the BIA erred by engaging in de novo review of the IJ’s factual findings and remanded the case to the BIA. On remand, the BIA determined that the IJ’s factual findings were not clearly erroneous. The BIA then reviewed de novo the IJ’s application of the law to the facts as found by the IJ, and determined that Oei’s application was untimely as she did not satisfy the “extraordinary circumstances” exception. Consequently, the BIA again vacated Oei’s grant of asylum and extended her period of voluntary departure.
Oei filed another petition for review claiming that the BIA incorrectly applied a de novo standard of review to the IJ’s finding that Oei met the extraordinary circumstance exception to excuse her untimely filing for asylum.
. An alien must apply for asylum within one year of arriving in the United States. 8 U.S.C. § 1158(a)(2)(B).
. An untimely application for asylum may be considered if the alien faced "extraordinary circumstances” related to the delay in filing. 8 U.S.C. § 1158(a)(2)(D).
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Mie Jing OEI v. ATTORNEY GENERAL OF the UNITED STATES
- Status
- Published