Opinion ID: 1469016
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Jurisdiction to Determine Good-Faith Marriage

Text: Ibrahimi further contests the BIA's denial of his good-faith-marriage waiver. Because the ultimate determination as to whether to grant a waiver is discretionary, the Government argues that we lack jurisdiction to hear Ibrahimi's appeal. See 8 U.S.C. § 1252(a)(2)(B) (outlining the limitations on this court's jurisdiction to hear denials of discretionary relief). Ibrahimi counters that his case only involves the agency's determination as to his statutory eligibility for the waiveri.e., whether he entered his marriage in good faith. Ibrahimi argues that since eligibility for discretionary relief is a question of law or the application of law to facts, this court retains jurisdiction to review the decision to deny the waiver on the basis that he failed to establish a good-faith marriage. We agree with Ibrahimi. In the context of good-faith-marriage waivers, our jurisdiction depends on the nature of the BIA's decision under § 1186a(c)(4). This court has held that [w]e have jurisdiction to consider what the legal standard is for the good-faith determination and to review the threshold determination of whether the credited evidence meets the good-faith standard. Nguyen, 522 F.3d at 855; cf. Guled v. Mukasey, 515 F.3d 872, 880 (8th Cir.2008) (We may review the non-discretionary determinations underlying [eligibility for cancellation of removal], such as the predicate legal question whether the IJ properly applied the law to the facts in determining an individual's eligibility.). While a good-faith-marriage determination certainly involves some fact-finding, ultimately the conclusion is governed by a legal standard. Because the question of whether a marriage was entered into in good faith is a predicate legal question that amounts to a nondiscretionary determination[] underlying the denial of relief, then, this court has jurisdiction to review whether Ibrahimi met the legal standard necessary to establish his eligibility for the waiver. Nguyen, 522 F.3d at 854-55. As per Nguyen, our jurisdiction is limited to this legal determination and does not extend to the underlying factual determination. In an effort to preclude this court from exercising jurisdiction, the Government relies on Suvorov v. Gonzales, 441 F.3d 618 (8th Cir.2006) and Ignatova v. Gonzales, 430 F.3d 1209 (8th Cir.2005), two cases where we found jurisdiction lacking. While these cases do discuss jurisdiction in the context of good-faith-marriage waivers, we find them distinguishable. In both Suvorov and Ignatova, the agency's denials of good-faith-marriage waivers were premised on purely factual determinations. In each case, an adverse credibility determination drove the agency's conclusion that there was no good-faith marriage. See Nguyen, 522 F.3d at 854 n. 2 (discussing Suvorov and Ignatova ). Congress has explicitly provided that the BIA has the sole discretion to determine what evidence is credible and the weight to be given that evidence in determining whether a good-faith-marriage waiver is warranted, 8 U.S.C. § 1186a(c)(4), and Nguyen recognized this limitation. Nguyen, 522 F.3d at 854-55. In other words, consistent with the statute's language, Suvorov and Ignatova prevent us from exercising jurisdiction to pass upon the credibility and weight of the evidence that a petitioner has presented in an attempt to establish eligibility for a waiver of the joint-filing requirement. Id.; see also Ebrahim v. Gonzales, 471 F.3d 880, 883-84 (8th Cir. 2006) (Here, the IJ, as in Suvorov, determined that [the alien] was not eligible for waiver after finding [the alien and his former wife] were not credible and, therefore, did not enter into the marriage in good faith. Therefore, following Suvorov, we lack jurisdiction to review the denial of the waiver.). These cases do not prevent us from asserting jurisdiction to make a determination of what constitutes a good-faith marriage and whether the credited evidence meets that standard. In this case, the BIA's denial of Ibrahimi's waiver was not premised upon a finding that the evidence of the bona fide nature of his marriage was incredible. In fact, as discussed above, the agency did not make a specific credibility finding with regard to his testimony or his evidence at all, with the exception of expressly crediting Urgento's testimony. Ibrahimi is, instead, asking this court to review whether the BIA properly applied the law to the facts in concluding that his credited evidence failed to meet the good-faith legal standard and thus properly prevented him from establishing his eligibility for discretionary relief under § 1186a(c)(4)(B). We have jurisdiction to consider that question. See 8 U.S.C. § 1252(a)(2)(D) (preserving jurisdiction over constitutional claims or questions of law); Nguyen, 522 F.3d at 855.