Opinion ID: 3052179
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Jurisdiction to Review “Extraordinary

Text: Circumstances” The Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (IIRIRA), ordinarily requires an asylum application to be filed “within 1 year after the date of the alien’s arrival in the United States.” 8 U.S.C. § 1158(a)(2)(B). An exception, however, permits an application to be considered if the alien “demonstrates to the satisfaction of the Attorney General . . . extraordinary circumstances relating to the delay in filing the application” within the required one year. 8 U.S.C. § 1158(a)(2)(D). A regulation sets forth examples of extraordinary circumstances, including the one under which Husyev attempted to qualify: HUSYEV v. MUKASEY 6901 The applicant maintained . . . lawful immigrant or nonimmigrant status . . . until a reasonable period before the filing of the asylum application. 8 C.F.R. § 1208.4(5)(iv). The IJ and the BIA ruled that Husyev had failed to meet this requirement because he waited 364 days—more than a reasonable period— after expiration of his legal status before filing his asylum application. [1] A threshold question is whether we have jurisdiction to review this determination. There are two potential obstacles to our jurisdiction. The first is 8 U.S.C. § 1158(a)(3), which provides that “[n]o court shall have jurisdiction to review any determination of the Attorney General” regarding the oneyear bar or its exceptions for changed or extraordinary circumstances. Standing alone, that provision clearly would preclude our jurisdiction. In 2005, however, Congress enacted the REAL ID Act, which dramatically altered the effect of statutes stripping us of jurisdiction to review BIA decisions. Pub. L. No. 109-13, Div. B, § 106(a)(1)(A)(iii), 119 Stat. 231, 310 (May 11, 2005) (codified at 8 U.S.C. § 1252(a)(2)(D)). Under the REAL ID Act, “[n]othing in . . . any . . . provision of this chapter . . . which limits or eliminates juridical review, shall be construed as precluding review of constitutional claims or questions of law.” 8 U.S.C. § 1252(a)(2)(D). The jurisdictional prohibition of § 1158(a)(3) is accordingly overridden by the REAL ID Act for questions of law and constitutional claims. We so held in Ramadan v. Gonzales, 479 F.3d