Matter of A and Z (IJ Dec. 20, 1994) (Arlington) (Nejelski, IJ):  Granted asylum to a Jordanian woman who had been physically and verbally abused throughout a 30 year marriage by her husband who was a wealthy and successful businessperson.  Husband also sought to control her activities and isolate her. Respondent testified she believed in Western values and was not content to be a slave to her husband.  There was also a failure of state protection because the respondent could not go to the police to seek protection, nor could she divorce her husband. Judge found applicant to be a member of a particular social group, consisting of women who espouse western values and are unwilling to live their lives at the mercy of their husbands, society, or government.

Matter of M and K (IJ Aug. 9, 1995) (Arlington) (Nejelski, IJ):  Granted asylum to a woman from Sierra Leone who suffered domestic abuse and forced female genital mutilation.  In Sierra Leone, those who resisted mutilation was considered an outcast; women are expected to be subservient to men.  Respondent was verbally and physically abused because she was mouthy and attempted to assert her individual autonomy.  The government was unable or unwilling to protect women from mutilation or from spousal abuse.  Spousal abuse was persecution; social group was women who have been punished with physical spousal abuse for attempting to assert their individual autonomy.

Matter of Sharmin (IJ Sept. 27, 1996) (New York) (Bukszpan, IJ):  Granted asylum to Bangladeshi woman who was active in the women’s section of the Jayto Party despite her husband’s orders not to leave the house or talk to other people.  Woman testified her husband beat her and a letter from a clinic corroborated physical injuries and hospitalization.  Judge found persecution based on account of both social group membership and political opinion and that the government condoned a husband’s oppression of his wife, and that Muslim religious laws consigned women to an inferior status from which they could not escape.

Matter of A-P- (IJ, Sept. 20, 1996) (San Francisco) (Schooley Yam, IJ):  Granted asylum to a Guatemalan women who was severely beaten by her husband (frequent infliction of severe injury, including dislocated jaw, attempt to cut off hands with machete, attempting to abort when she was pregnant by kicking her in the spine.  Applicant sought help from police, but they said they “would not get involved.”  Judge found persecution on social group membership and political opinion.  Membership was defined as “Guatemalan woman who become involved intimately with Guatemalan men who believe in male domination and are targeted by their male companions…when these men attempt to control them through violence.  Applicant’s resistance to her husband’s abuse was a challenge to his opinion that women are to be subordinate to men, which constituted an expression of political opinion against male domination.

Matter of S- A-:  Granted asylum to a Moroccan woman severely abused by her father because her actions did not conform to his religious beliefs restricting her conduct in dress and behavior.  The court found that the woman was persecuted on account of religion. Membership in a particular social group is based on either an immutable characteristic or one that is so fundamental to the applicant’s identity that he should not be required to change it.  While this encompasses many domestic violence asylum claims, Matter of S- A- illustrates that membership in a particular social group is not the only ground for gender claims.  For example, women may resist subordination and violence because of views about their own autonomy may constitute a well-founded fear of harm.  The court may find their views of autonomy to engage the political opinion ground.

Matter of R- A-:  BIA overturned a grant of asylum to a Guatemalan woman who had shown that her husband kicked her violently when she declined to abort a fetus, despite the applicant’s showing that spousal abuse in Guatemala is common and she was unable to secure state protection.  The court held that the husband’s motives for harming her were not gender-specific and, therefore, she was not persecuted on account of a protected ground (gender-defined particular social group).  There was no evidence that Guatemala willfully withheld protection from a specific class in failing to provide her with security.

Posted by:

Sung Hee (Glen) Yu

Associate Attorney

Sarmiento Immigration Law Firm

1.800.496-8043

glen@sarmientoimmigration.com

dev.sarmientoimmigration.com

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The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced on September 23, 2010 the final rule adjusting fees for immigration applications and petitions. The final rule will increase overall fees by a weighted average of about 10 percent but will not increase the fee for the naturalization applications. The rule will also reduce fees for six individual applications and petitions and will expand the availability of fee waivers to new categories. The adjusted fees will go into effect on November 23, 2010.

Below are the increased fee schedule for some commonly used immigration applications and petitions:

• I-130 Petition for Alien Relative: $355 to $420
• I-485 Applicant to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status: $930 to $985 (Biometrics fee not included). The current I-485 filing fee $1,010 amount includes $930 and biometrics fee $80. The adjusted filing fee will be $985 plus $85 biometrics fee which becomes $1,070.
• I-140 Immigration Petition for Alien Worker: $475 to $580
• I-907 premium processing service: $1000 to $1225
• I-129 Petition for a Non-Immigrant Worker: $320 to $325
• I-765 Application for Employment Authorization: $340 to $380

USCIS also reduced filing fees for six individual applications and petitions, including:

• I-129F Petition for Alien Fiance: $455 to $340
• I-539 Application to Extend/Change Nonimmigrant Status: $300 to $290 and
• I-698 Application to Adjust Status from Temporary to Permanent Resident: $ $1,370 to $1,020.

The adjusted fees will go into effect on November 23, 2010. Applications or petitions mailed, postmarked, or otherwise filed on or after November 23, 2010 must include the new fee. Applications filed with inappropriate filing on and after such date will not be considered properly filed and may be rejected.

If you have any questions, please fill out the free consultation form below, and we will respond as soon as possible privately. 

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In Matter of X-M-C, 25 I&N Dec. 322 (BIA 2010), the Board held that a frivolous finding for an asylum application can be made despite the lack of a final decision on the merits. The Board also held that a withdrawal of the asylum application after the warnings and safeguards have been provided to the alien does not preclude a frivolous finding. This is another case that should serve notice to foreigners to be more careful in filing asylum applications.

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