Opinion ID: 1201143
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Sheng Gao Ni, 06-4477-ag

Text: Sheng Gao Ni, a Chinese national, arrived in the United States on January 30, 2000 and, by a Notice to Appear dated February 24, 2000, was charged with attempting to enter the country by fraudulent means. On May 24, 2000, Ni filed an application for asylum and withholding of removal based on his claimed fear of political persecution in China. While this application was pending, Ni married a U.S. citizen, who then filed an I-130 Immigrant Petition for Relative with the USCIS, so Ni could adjust his residency status. The I-130 petition was approved in March 2004 and, on that basis, Ni moved to terminate his removal proceedings. A hearing on Ni's application for asylum and withholding of removal was held on November 10, 2004. At the beginning of the hearing, the Immigration Judge (IJ) denied Ni's motion to terminate removal proceedings on the ground that, as an arriving alien, Ni was ineligible for adjustment of status. Upon the hearing's conclusion, the IJ denied Ni's request for asylum, withholding of removal, and relief under the United Nations Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT), Dec. 10, 1984, S. Treaty Doc. No. 100-20, 1465 U.N.T.S. 85; and ordered his removal. Ni then appealed to the BIA, challenging the IJ's denial of his (1) motion to terminate removal proceedings and (2) application for asylum and withholding of removal. While this appeal was pending, Ni filed a motion to reopen his removal proceedings and remand the case to the USCIS in light of a change in federal regulations, permitting arriving aliens to apply for an adjustment of status before the USCIS. Ni urged the BIA to remand . . . his case to the USCIS for adjudication of his adjustment of status application. The BIA dismissed Ni's appeal and denied his motion to reopen and remand in a decision dated September 1, 2006. With respect to the motion to reopen and remand, the BIA explained its denial as follows: Since the respondent [Ni] is an arriving alien and does not come within the narrow exception which would permit an Immigration Judge to consider an arriving alien's application for adjustment of status, a remand is not warranted in this case. The respondent must pursue any application for adjustment of status with the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) independent of these removal proceedings. In re Sheng Gao Ni, No. A 77 650 655 (B.I.A. Sept. 1, 2006), aff'g No. A 77 650 655 (Immig. Ct. N.Y. City Nov. 10, 2004).