Background
The appellant sought review of the denial of a fifth alien relative petition for her husband. The agency denied the petition under the Immigration and Nationality Act because the husband had previously attempted to obtain citizenship through a sham marriage with a different woman. The district court dismissed the suit for failure to state a claim.
The court’s reasoning
The court reviewed the dismissal de novo under the Administrative Procedure Act standard. It found the agency’s decision was not arbitrary or capricious because the evidence supported the finding of marriage fraud. The evidence showed the previous marriage lacked a genuine intent to establish a life together, including that the couple did not speak the same language, never lived together, and provided staged photographs. The court also held that a new affidavit from the former spouse was insufficient to overcome the existing record evidence of fraud.
What it means going forward
The ruling reinforces the deference given to agency determinations regarding marriage fraud and clarifies that new affidavits alone are generally insufficient to rebut prior evidence of fraud in the record.
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