Opinion ID: 4486989
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Procedural History & Facts

Text: The principal alien in this case, Maria Medina Tovar, was born in Mexico in 1992; she came to the United States when TOVAR V. ZUCHOWSKI 9 she was six years old. In 2004, Tovar was the victim of a serious crime while living in Oregon, and she was helpful to law enforcement in the investigation or prosecution of that crime. On June 14, 2013, Tovar filed her U-visa petition (Form I-918). Thereafter, on September 21, 2015, Tovar married Adrian Alonso Martinez, a citizen of Mexico. Tovar was granted U-visa status as of October 1, 2015. On March 26, 2016, Tovar filed a petition for derivative U-visa status (Form I-918, Supplement A) for Martinez as her “accompanying, or following to join,” spouse. The USCIS denied that petition, because Tovar and Martinez were not married when Tovar filed her initial petition for principal U- visa status, as required by 8 C.F.R. § 214.14(f)(4). On May 8, 2017, Plaintiffs filed a complaint in district court seeking declaratory and injunctive relief from USCIS’s denial of derivative status for Martinez.2 On cross-motions for summary judgment, Plaintiffs argued that the regulation requiring the marital relationship to exist at the time of the principal U-visa petition is contrary to the statute and that the regulation violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Defendants replied that the U-visa provision in 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(15)(U) is ambiguous, but the agency’s regulation is a reasonable interpretation and should be afforded deference. 2 Plaintiffs did not file an administrative appeal of USCIS’s denial. However, Defendants conceded before the district court that exhaustion of administrative remedies was not a prerequisite to judicial review in this case. See Darby v. Cisneros, 509 U.S. 137, 154 (1993) (“[W]here the APA applies, an appeal to ‘superior agency authority’ is a prerequisite to judicial review only when expressly required by statute or . . . agency rule . . . .”). 10 TOVAR V. ZUCHOWSKI The district court determined that (1) Congress did not directly address the question of when a marital relationship must exist for a spouse to be eligible for U-visa derivative status and (2) the regulation is reasonable and entitled to deference. Additionally, the district court concluded the regulation does not violate the Equal Protection Clause, because its treatment of nonimmigrant spouses is rationally related to immigration concerns (such as marriage fraud) recognized by Congress. Thus, the district court granted Defendants’ motion for summary judgment and denied Plaintiffs’ motion for summary judgment. Plaintiffs appealed.