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Murthy India Success: U.S. consulate, Kolkata reverses Erroneous Inadmissibility Finding for Alien Smuggling and Fraud against Married Couple

  • April 5, 2022
150 150 Murthy Immigration Services

We at Murthy India are delighted to share this success story that resulted in reversal of erroneous inadmissibility findings made by a U.S. Consular post in India. We thank our client for allowing us to share this story to help others. Information about clients is kept strictly confidential and is never shared without their explicit permission.

Background

The applicant applied for L2 dependent visa as a spouse of the L1A principal applicant. The applicant engaged a lawyer in India to get married legally as their wedding was not approved by their parents. This wedding was performed in a temple in Ghaziabad under the Arya Samaj traditions. Based on the temple certificate, the applicants registered their marriage with the local Registrar of Marriages and the Registrar issued a certificate of marriage under Hindu Marriage Act. The applicants started living together as a couple in their new home. The applicant had incorporated the spouse’s name in all government issued and personal documents. However, when the spouse sought to acquire a dependent visa at the U.S. Embassy, New Delhi, she was found inadmissible for fraud under INA 212(a)(6)(C)(i) and her husband’s visa was cancelled, and he was charged with being inadmissible for alien smuggling under INA 212(a)(6)(E). These inadmissibility findings carry a lifetime ban and would require a nonimmigrant / immigrant waiver approved by CBP’s admissibility review office (ARO) for admission into the United States.

Applicants were terribly shaken by the lifetime bans and consulted MISPL in India to identify the reason for these findings. They were under the impression that applying for a nonimmigrant waiver was their only option to move forward. After we reviewed the documents and facts of the case, we clearly explained that these inadmissibility findings were based on a misunderstanding of the religious / ceremonial requirements of Arya Samaj marriages and the misinterpretation of marriage laws in India. We informed the clients that there were similar erroneous findings for several applicants in 2018-19 who were married under the Arya Samaj tradition.  We explained that we could make a strong legal argument to request the consulate to reverse these findings and issue the visas for both spouses. If this is not reversed by the consulate, we need to escalate / appeal to the U.S. Department of State (DOS) to have them reverse the inadmissibility findings. Alternatively, we suggested that they could reapply for the visas with the legal clarifications to have a better chance to explain the case to a new U.S. consular officer.

Murthy India helps with Reversal of Erroneous Inadmissibility Findings

Due to elaborate administrative processing backlog and shut down of consular missions in India due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the previous L1A petition had expired, and the consular post was not able to process the visa application. Based on our suggestion, the applicant requested his employer to file a fresh L1A petition and reapply for the visa. Following this, we assisted the applicant with an interview at the U.S. Consulate in Kolkata and submit our legal arguments to the consulate through the explanation in the nonimmigrant visa application, Form DS-160. We pointed out the fact that the DOS considers the marriage to be valid for visa adjudication purposes, if the marriage is deemed valid in the place of celebration and the fact that the marriages under Arya Samaj tradition do not require the same rituals which are applicable and a pre-requisite for certain other marriages under the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955. We pointed out that the consular post erred in finding the applicants inadmissible and pointed out that the DOS had previously accepted legal submissions provided by the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) to reverse several similar erroneous inadmissibility findings. The consular officer at the U.S. Consulate, Kolkata carefully studied the Legal Memorandum and supporting documents, and subsequently reversed these erroneous inadmissibility findings.

Conclusion

Like our clients who can finally get their lives back, we are overjoyed by this victory and reversal of the erroneous inadmissibility findings. It is unfortunate that the clients had to undergo this unnecessary stress due to a misunderstanding in the requirements of religious ceremonies of Arya Samaj marriages in India. As always, it is welcoming that Consular Officers are receptive to reversing the erroneous ineligibility findings and understanding the nuances and complexities under the laws of India and other countries. We are delighted for this couple as we feel that we have played a vital role in helping them realize their American Dream of living and working in the U.S.

At MISPL, we thank our clients for giving us the opportunity to help them with their U.S. immigration and we look forward to continuing to help them and others as they struggle with delays and misunderstandings that can occur.