19-732

Singh v. Barr

BIA

A201 292 537

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE SECOND CIRCUIT

SUMMARY ORDER

RULINGS BY SUMMARY ORDER DO NOT HAVE PRECEDENTIAL EFFECT. CITATION TO A SUMMARY ORDER

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At a stated term of the United States Court of Appeals 

for the Second Circuit, held at the Thurgood Marshall 

United States Courthouse, 40 Foley Square, in the City of 

New York, on the 27th day of October, two thousand twenty.

PRESENT:

JON O. NEWMAN,

JOHN M. WALKER, JR.,

MICHAEL H. PARK,

Circuit Judges.

_____________________________________

KARNAIL SINGH,

Petitioner,

v. 19-732

NAC

WILLIAM P. BARR, UNITED STATES

ATTORNEY GENERAL,

Respondent.

_____________________________________

FOR PETITIONER: Karnail Singh, pro se, Richmond 

 Hill, NY.

 

FOR RESPONDENT: Jeffrey Bossert Clark, Acting 

Assistant Attorney General; Kiley 

Kane, Senior Litigation Counsel; 

Andrea N. Gevas, Trial Attorney, 

Office of Immigration Litigation,

United States Department of 

Justice, Washington, DC.
2

UPON DUE CONSIDERATION of this petition for review of a 

Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”) decision, it is hereby 

ORDERED, ADJUDGED, AND DECREED that the petition for review 

is DENIED.

Petitioner Karnail Singh, a native and citizen of India, 

seeks review of a February 22, 2019, decision of the BIA,

denying his motion to reopen. In re Karnail Singh, No. A201 

292 537 (B.I.A. Feb. 22, 2019). We assume the parties’ 

familiarity with the underlying facts and procedural history.

We review the denial of a motion to reopen “deferentially 

for abuse of discretion,” finding “such abuse only if the 

BIA's decision-making was arbitrary or capricious” and 

“review[ing] the BIA’s fact-finding only for substantial 

evidence.” See Jian Hui Shao v. Mukasey, 546 F.3d 138, 168-

69 (2d Cir. 2008) (internal quotation marks omitted). In his 

motion to reopen, Singh asserted that, because the Congress 

Party had gained power in India, police had arrested and 

abused his wife in an effort to locate and arrest him on 

account of his membership in the Sikh-affiliated Akali Dal 

Mann Party. As support, he submitted his own written 

statements and general country conditions evidence.
3

It is undisputed that Singh’s 2018 motion was untimely 

because it was filed more than two years after his removal 

order became final in 2015. See 8 U.S.C. 

§ 1229a(c)(7)(C)(i); 8 C.F.R. § 1003.2(c)(2). However, the 

time limitation for filing a motion to reopen does not apply 

if reopening is sought to apply for asylum and the motion “is 

based on changed country conditions arising in the country of 

nationality or the country to which removal has been ordered, 

if such evidence is material and was not available and would 

not have been discovered or presented at the previous 

proceeding.” 8 U.S.C. § 1229a(c)(7)(C)(ii); 8 C.F.R. 

§ 1003.2(c)(3). 

“[T]o prevail on a motion to reopen alleging changed 

country conditions where the persecution claim was previously 

denied based on an adverse credibility finding . . . , the 

[movant] must either overcome the prior determination or show 

that the new claim is independent of the evidence that was 

found to be not credible.” Matter of F-S-N-, 28 I. & N. Dec. 

1, 3 (BIA 2020); see also Kaur v. BIA, 413 F.3d 232, 234 (2d 

Cir. 2005) (“[E]vidence submitted by petitioner in support of 

. . . motion was not ‘material’ because it did not rebut the 

adverse credibility finding that provided the basis for the 
4

IJ’s denial of petitioner’s underlying asylum application.”). 

The BIA did not err in concluding that Singh’s unsworn 

statement that Indian police had abused his wife in an attempt 

to locate and arrest him for political reasons and the 

evidence of general conditions in India failed to overcome 

the underlying adverse credibility determination. That 

evidence did not address the findings that formed the basis 

for the adverse credibility determination—Singh’s 

inconsistent statements regarding his alleged beatings on 

account of his political activities. See Kaur, 413 F.3d at 

234; Matter of F-S-N-, 28 I. & N. Dec. at 3. Accordingly, 

because Singh failed to overcome the adverse credibility

determination, the BIA did not abuse its discretion in denying 

his untimely motion to reopen. See 8 U.S.C. 

§ 1229a(c)(7)(C)(i); 8 C.F.R. § 1003.2(c)(2); Kaur, 413 F.3d 

at 234. 

For the foregoing reasons, the petition for review is 

DENIED. All pending motions and applications are DENIED and 

stays VACATED.

FOR THE COURT: 

Catherine O’Hagan Wolfe,

Clerk of Court