Opinion ID: 783754
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Applicability of INS precedent decisions

Text: 36 The appellants argue that the 1998 INS precedent decisions should not have been applied to Chang's petition because her investment was made prior to the issuance of the decisions. In R.L. Investment Limited Partners v. INS, 86 F.Supp.2d 1014 (D.Haw.2000) ( RLILP ), the district court held that the same precedent decisions could be applied to an I-526 petition filed prior to the issuance of the decisions, because the decisions did not effect a change in existing law. Id. at 1018, 1024-1025. That decision was subsequently adopted by this Court, and is binding precedent. See 273 F.3d 874 (9th Cir. 2001). 37 We distinguished RLILP in Chang v. United States, 327 F.3d 911 (9th Cir.2003). The immigrant investors in that case were not similarly situated to the RLILP plaintiffs because, prior to the issuance of the precedent decisions, their I-526 petitions had already been approved. Id. at 926. They had made significant commitments in reliance on the approval of their petitions, and we ultimately concluded that retroactive application of the precedent decisions to this class of immigrants was impermissible. Id. at 929. 38 We see no comparable basis on which to distinguish RLILP here. Chang withdrew her first petition after being notified that it contained problematic features, and her current petition was not even filed, let alone approved, before the precedent decisions were issued. Even if the current petition could be said to relate back to the original petition, however, under RLILP the precedent decisions can be applied to petitions that were filed before the issuance of the decisions. RLILP, 86 F.Supp.2d at 1024-25. 39 Appellants argue that Chang's situation is different from that of the RLILP plaintiffs because her investment was made prior to the issuance of the precedent decisions. But the investment in RLILP was of exactly the same character as the investment here — $500,000 placed in an escrow account to be paid out only on approval of the I-526 petition — and this question is therefore squarely controlled by RLILP. Id. at 1027 n. 2. INS did not act improperly in applying the precedent decisions.