Interim Decision #1865 

MATrER OF TAvnn 

In Deportation Proceedings 

A-12937196 

Decided by Board May 01,1968 

Notwithstanding his recent marriage to a U.S. citizen, a native and citizen of 

Libya who originally came to this country as a student in 1961 on a scholarsifip• 

financed by his government with the understanding he would return to Libya 

so his country would benefit from his education and who in 1064 decided 

against returning but did not notify his government of that intention, is denied 

adjustment of status under section 245, Immigration and Nationality Act, as 

amended, as a matter of discretion, in view of his lack of a showing of good 

faith in his dealings with his government ; there Is no evidence the Government 

of Libya has accepted his offer to repay the cost of his education here; and 

the Department of State advises that approval of the application would have an 

adverse effect on relations with the Government of Libya. 

CHARGE: 

Order: Act of 1952—Seetion 241 (a) (2) [8 U.S.C. 1251(a) (2 ) 3—Remained! 

longer—student. 

ON BEHALF OF RESPONDENT : 

luciaara Harrington, Esquire 

593 Market Street 

San Francisco, Calif. 94105 

(Brief submitted) 

ON BEHALF OF SERVICE: 

Irving A. Appleman 

Appellate Trial Attorney 

Stephen M. Suffin 

Trial Attorney 

(Brief filed) 

The case comes forward on appeal from the order of the special 

inquiry officer dated January 31, 1968, denying the application for 

status as a permanent resident under section 245 of the Immigration 

and Nationality Act; granting voluntary departure in lieu of deportation with the alternative order that if the respondent failed to leavewhen as required he be deported to Germany on the charge contained 

in the order to show cause; further ordering that if Germany was unwilling to accept the respondent or failed to so advise within three 

months following original inquiry, he be deported to Libya; and further ordering that respondent's application under section 243(h) of 

the Immigration and Nationality Act to withhold deportation to 

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Interim Decision #1865 

Libya because of persecution by reason of his political opinion be 

-denied. 

The record relates to a native and citizen of Libya, 27 years old, 

-who last entered the United States as a student at New York on 

August 7, 1965. Extensions of student status were granted until March 

16, 1967. On March 27, 1967, his application for permanent residence 

'status under section 245 of the Act was denied and be was given until 

December 27, 1967 within which to depart voluntarily from the United 

States. He has failed to so depart and is deportable on the charge 

contained in the order to show cause. 

At the deportation hearing the respondent reapplied for status as 

a permanent resident. He orginally came to the United States as a 

-student in 1961 under a scholarship awarded by the Libyan Government. He was aware that he was expected to return to Libya so that 

his country would benefit from his education. The expenses of his 

-education in this country amount to approximately $20,000. In 1964 

he decided against returning to Libya but did not notify the government of that country of his intention. He testified that he saw no 

point in so doing and further admitted that one of the reasons could 

'have been the possible loss of his scholarship. He received a degree 

of Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University 

of California on June 13, 1967, and is presently employed by that 

University. 

The respondent married a United States citizen on December 14, 

'1967. It is noted that the date of his marriage is subsequent to the 

denial of his application for adjustment of status by the District 

Director on November 27, 1967. The respondent states that he is 

-willing to repay the cost of his education at a starting rate of $1,000 

per year, but there is no evidence that this offer has been accepted by 

- the Libyan Goverzunent. He testified that by reason of his marriage 

to a non-Libyan, he would be disqualified from working for the Government of Libya, but this claim is also unsupported. 

The grant of adjustment of status pursuant to section 245 of the 

'Immigration and Nationality Act, is by its very terms, entrusted to 

the discretion of the Attorney General. The respondent has submitted 

a letter from the University of California, dated December 6, 1967 

-which describes an expected contract from NASA to prepare an 

•experiment for an Apollo Applications mission, and that the respondent is expected to be a key person in discharging their responsibility 

under this contract. Meanwhile he has been working on another project, an evaluation of the White Mountains for an infrared observatory. 

Upon questioning, it developed that outside of the fact that respondent 

was an electrical engineer, he had no special qualifications for the 

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project other than some laboratory work, and that the difficulty would 

appear to be one of recruitment of a replacement. 

A letter from the Department of State, dated November 13, 1967, 

advises of a letter received from the Embassy of Libya which is dated 

October 23, 1967 and is enclosed. The Department of State observes 

that the Libyan Government has recently decided to send a large 

-number of its top secondary school graduates to the United States 

for higher education and that the loss of a person such as the respondent might tend to discourage a trend of Libyan training practices that 

the department strongly favors. Therefore the department is of the 

opinion that the approval of the application would have an adverse 

-effect on relations with the Government of Libya. 

The communication from the Counselor of the Embassy of the Kinggiom of Libya, referred to above, recites that scholarships are awarded 

to those worthy young Libyans who possess the highest qualifications 

and potential; the recipients are under moral and legal obligation to 

return to their homeland and to repay with several years of service 

the huge investment made in them by their government; when the 

respondent accepted the scholarship from the Libyan government, 

he was well aware of these conditions and that he would be violating his 

agreement with the Libyan government by remaining in the United 

States. The communication concludes that the respondent, who has 

benefitted so greatly from his country's concern and generosity, should 

return to Libya and contribute to his country's progress and development. 

The special inquiry officer refers to the decision in Matter of Youssef, 11 I. & N. Dec. 163, as controlling in the instant case. In that 

case a student from the United Arab Republic who came to the United 

States on a scholarship from his government to do graduate work, 

entered into an agreement with his government that he would not 

marry without its permission, that after obtaining a Ph.D. degree he 

would work for his government for a maximum period of seven years, 

and that if he did not comply with these conditions, he agreed to refund 

all money received by him in the form of salary and expenses while 

he was under scholarship; and who, by a subsequent marriage to a 

United States citizen without permission, broke the contract, noncompliance with which committed him to refund all the money he 

received under this scholarship. Adjustment of status under section 

245 was denied as a matter of discretion in the absence of a showing 

that his government did not want him back or that he had made adequate financial arrangements to discharge his obligations to his government, or that he had been relieved of this obligation. 

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Iliterun Decision Flow 

While we agree with the denial of the visa petition, we do not feel 

restricted to the precedent cited by the special inquiry officer in the 

instant case. In addition to a lack of showing of good faith on the 

part of the respondent in his dealings with the Libyan government, 

his marriage to a United States citizen occurred on December 14, 1967, 

a date which was subsequent to the denial of his application for adjustment of status under section 245 by the District Director on November 27, 1967. His wife was aware of his immigration status at 

the time she married him. We do not consider this recent marriage 

to a United States citizen a factor sufficiently favorable as to outweigh 

the other unfavorable aspect of the case which has been outlined 

above. Upon a full consideration of the entire record, it is concluded 

that the application for adjustment of status under section 245 should 

be denied as a matter of discretion. We believe the argument of counsel 

regarding the necessity for a waiver in the case of an exchange student 

to be entirely irrelevant. 

The respondent has made application under section 243(h) of the 

Immigration and Nationality Act for withholding of deportation to 

Libya on the ground that he would be persecuted. He testified there 

are many things about the system of government in Libya of which 

he does not approve and which he believes he will voice if returned 

to that country. However, he admitted that if he did remain silent, 

be would suffer no persecution. The respondent has offered no documentary evidence of the likelihood of persecution. In our opinion the 

respondent has not established that he would be subject to persecution 

on account of race, religion or political opinion or even the probability 

of such persecution. We concur in the decision that the application for 

withholding of deportation should be denied. The appeal will be dismissed. 

ORDER: It is ordered that the.appeal be and the same is hereby 

dismissed. 

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