United States Third Circuit

In an action determining plaintiff's status for immigration and citizenship purposes, District Court's order to treat her as an immediate relative despite the death of her citizen husband is reversed, where: 1) eligibility for an immediate relative visa is based on whether the facts in the Petition for Alien Relative such as spousal status are true when the petition is adjudicated, not when that petition was filed; and 2) the citizen spouse died before the citizen spouse and the plaintiff were married for two years and thus the plaintiff does not qualify as an "immediate relative" under the Immigration and Nationality Act.

Appellate Information

• Decided 02/02/2009
• Published 02/02/2009

Judges

• Before:  SLOVITER, FUENTES, and NYGAARD, Circuit Judges.

Court

• United States Third Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• Alison R. Drucker (Argued), United States Department of Justice, Office of Immigration Litigation, Washington, D.C., Alex Kriegsman, Office of United States Attorney, Newark, N.J., for Appellants.


• For Appellees:
  
• Jeffrey A. Feinbloom (Argued), Feinbloom Bertisch, New York, N.Y., for Appellee.