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[House Report 106-905]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]

106th Congress                                                   Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 2d Session                                                     106-905

======================================================================

 
                     FOR THE RELIEF OF SAEED REZAI

                                _______
                                

  September 27, 2000.--Referred to the Private Calendar and ordered to 
                               be printed

                                _______
                                

Mr. Smith of Texas, from the Committee on the Judiciary, submitted the 
                               following

                              R E P O R T

                        [To accompany H.R. 5266]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

    The Committee on the Judiciary, to whom was referred the 
bill (H.R. 5266) for the relief of Saeed Rezai, having 
considered the same, reports favorably thereon without 
amendment and recommends that the bill do pass.

                           TABLE OF CONTENTS

                                                                  

                                                                 Page
Purpose and Summary........................................           1
Background and Need for the Legislation....................           1
Committee Consideration....................................           2
Committee Oversight Findings...............................           2
Committee on Government Reform Findings....................           2
New Budget Authority and Tax Expenditures..................           2
Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate..................           2
Constitutional Authority Statement.........................           3
Agency Views...............................................           3

                          Purpose and Summary

    This bill would make the claimant eligible for adjustment 
of his status to that of a permanent resident.

                Background and Need for the Legislation

    Mr. Rezai first came to the United States from Iran on a 
student visa in 1986. In 1987, he married his first wife and 
was given conditional permanent residence. That marriage was 
dissolved prior to the conditional status of his permanent 
residency being lifted. He then filed for a possible waiver of 
the conditional status as well as an application for asylum. In 
1991, prior to the final ruling of the court denying his 
application for asylum, Mr. Rezai married his current wife, 
Julie. When she filed an immigrant visa on behalf of her 
husband it was denied because under immigration law the fact 
his first marriage did not last 2 years constitutes marriage 
fraud. The judge hearing Mr. Rezai's case after the divorce 
indicated in his decision that there was no proof of false 
testimony by Mr. Rezai and granted him voluntary departure 
rather than ordering deportation because in his words ``Mr. 
Rezai may be eligible for a visa in the future.'' Nevertheless, 
I.N.S. refused to consider Mr. Rezai's petition while 
acknowledging that his current marriage is valid. In the 
meantime, Ms. Rezai has been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. 
Her doctor has indicated that she may rapidly deteriorate as a 
result of any type of severe stress.
    The standard for a private immigration bill being 
appropriate is that the case involves an alien who has an 
unusual problem that would result in extreme hardship to a 
United States citizen spouse, parent or child or to the alien 
beneficiaries themselves. Because of Mrs. Rezai's condition, 
this case meets that standard.

                        Committee Consideration

    On September 26, 2000, the Committee on the Judiciary met 
in open session and ordered reported favorably the bill H.R. 
5266 without amendment by voice vote, a quorum being present.

                      Committee Oversight Findings

    In compliance with clause 2(l)(3)(A) of rule XI of the 
Rules of the House of Representatives, the committee reports 
that the findings and recommendations of the committee, based 
on oversight activities under clause 2(b)(1) of rule X of the 
Rules of the House of Representatives, are incorporated in the 
descriptive portions of this report.

                Committee on Government Reform Findings

    No findings or recommendations of the Committee on 
Government Reform and Oversight were received as referred to in 
clause 2(l)(3)(D) of rule XI of the Rules of the House of 
Representatives.

               New Budget Authority and Tax Expenditures

    Clause 2(l)(3)(B) of House Rule XI is inapplicable because 
this legislation does not provide new budgetary authority or 
increased tax expenditures.

               Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate

    In compliance with clause 3(d)(2) of rule XIII of the Rules 
of the House of Representatives, the committee believes that 
the bill would have no significant impact on the Federal 
budget. This is based on the Congressional Budget Office cost 
estimate on H.R. 5266. That Congressional Budget Office cost 
estimate follows:

                                     U.S. Congress,
                               Congressional Budget Office,
                                Washington, DC, September 26, 2000.
Hon. Henry J. Hyde, Chairman,
Committee on the Judiciary,
House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
    Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has 
reviewed H.R. 5266 and S. 302, which were ordered reported by 
the House Committee on the Judiciary on September 26, 2000. CBO 
estimates that their enactment would have no significant impact 
on the federal budget. H.R. 5266 and S. 302 could have a very 
small effect on fees collected by the Immigration and 
Naturalization Service and on benefits paid under certain 
federal entitlement programs. Because these fees and 
expenditures are classified as direct spending, pay-as-you-go 
procedures would apply. The two pieces of legislation reviewed 
are:
         LH.R. 5266, a bill for the relief of Saeed 
        Rezai; and
         LS. 302, an act for the relief of Kerantha 
        Poole-Christian.
    If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be 
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Mark 
Grabowicz, who can be reached at 226-2860. This estimate was 
approved by Peter H. Fontaine, Deputy Assistant Director for 
Budget Analysis.
            Sincerely,
                                  Dan L. Crippen, Director.

cc:
        Honorable John Conyers Jr.
        Ranking Democratic Member

                   Constitutional Authority Statement

    Pursuant to rule XI, clause 2(1)(4) of the Rules of the 
House of Representatives, the committee finds the authority for 
this legislation in Article 1, Section 8, Clause 4 of the 
Constitution.

                              Agency Views

    The comments of the Immigration and Naturalization Service 
on H.R. 5266 are as follows:

                        U.S. Department of Justice,
                    Immigration and Naturalization Service,
                                    Washington, DC, August 4, 1999.
Hon. Orrin Hatch, Chairman,
Committee on the Judiciary,
United States Senate, Washington, DC.
    Dear Mr. Chairman: In response to your request for a report 
relative to S. 451, for the relief of Saeed Rezai, there is 
enclosed a memorandum of information concerning the 
beneficiary.
    The bill would grant the beneficiary permanent residence in 
the United States as of the date of its enactment and upon 
payment of the required visa fee. It would also direct that a 
visa number deduction be made from the beneficiary's native 
country.
            Sincerely,
                                      FOR THE COMMISSIONER,
                                  Allen Erenbaum, Director,
                                   Congressional Relations.

Enclosure

cc:
        Department of State, Visa Office
        District Director--Denver, CO
        Attn: Private Bill Staff

        District Director--Denver, CO
        Attn: Salt Lake City Sub-Office
        Attn: Investigations--Gary Slaybaugh

 MEMORANDUM OF INFORMATION FROM IMMIGRATION AND NATURALIZATION SERVICE 
                            FILES RE: S. 451

    The beneficiary, Saeed Rezai, a native and citizen of Iran 
, was born on March 21, 1958, in Teheran, Iran. Mr. Rezai 
resides with his spouse in Salt Lake City, Utah. Mr. Rezai is 
currently employed by Westminster College in Salt Lake City 
Utah as the Director of Patrol and Safety, with an income of 
about $32,000 a year. He also serves as a Fire Marshal for the 
college. The beneficiary's assets include his home in Salt Lake 
City, Utah, estimated equity is about $32,000; a 1991 Nissan 
Sentra, estimated value is $4,000; and approximately $2,000 in 
a savings account.
    The beneficiary entered the United States at Chicago, 
Illinois on January 4, 1986, as a student (F-1). On September 
2, 1986, Mr. Rezai was refused reinstatement of student status 
and given voluntary departure until September 17, 1986. Mr. 
Rezai married Elizabeth Shantz, a citizen of the United States, 
on September 9, 1987. Mr. Rezai was given condition residence 
status based upon his marriage on December 16, 1988. The 
conditional residence status was terminated on March 8, 1990, 
on the basis that Mr. Rezai did not establish that the marriage 
was not entered into for the purposed of obtaining an immigrant 
visa. Mr. Rezai was divorced from Elizabeth Shantz on June 1, 
1990, and subsequently placed into deportation proceedings.
    Mr. Rezai applied for waiver of the requirement to file a 
joint petition to remove the conditional status and submitted 
an application for asylum. The Immigration Judge ruled in a 
decision dated January 16, 1991, that Mr. Rezai was ineligible 
for a waiver or asylum. The Board of Immigration Appeals and 
the 10th Circuit of the United States Court of Appeals 
subsequently affirmed the Immigration Judge's decision.
    On June 15, 1991, Mr. Rezai married Julie Marie Wegner, a 
United States citizen. A visa petition was submitted on behalf 
of this marriage. The petition was denied on July 1, 1994. On 
March 3, 1997, a motion to apply for suspension of deportation 
was denied.
    Responses to national agency checks were negative. The 
beneficiary has not performed military service in the United 
States.

                                  
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