Opinion ID: 3001227
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Oluwole’s Marriage

Text: Oluwole argues that the BIA erred when it refused to order a remand to await the outcome of his application to adjust status based on his marriage to Raliat Olufunmi, a United States citizen. The BIA has held that if certain factors are present, it may, “in the exercise of discretion,” grant a properly filed motion to reopen by an alien who marries a United States citizen after the commencement of removal proceedings. In re Velarde-Pacheco, 23 I. & N. Dec. 253, 256 (BIA 2002). One of those factors is that “the motion presents clear and convincing evidence indicating a strong likelihood that the respondent’s marriage is bona fide.” Id. The BIA here held that this factor was not satisfied by Oluwole’s evidence: a photocopy of the marriage certificate, an affidavit from his spouse declaring the marriage to be bona fide, an unexecuted copy of a contract to open a joint bank account, and several photos. We review the BIA’s denial of a motion to remand for abuse of discretion. Uriostegui v. Gonzales, 415 F.3d 660, 664 (7th Cir. 2005). First, Oluwole contends that the BIA failed to properly consider his evidence of a bona fide marriage. This is not true—the board did consider Oluwole’s evidence No. 07-1028 Page 7 but found it insufficient to establish that the marriage was bona fide. Next, Oluwole contends that remand should have been granted because he submitted more evidence of a bona fide marriage than the alien in Velarde-Pacheco. But this is also incorrect—the submissions in Velarde-Pacheco included evidence that the couple had lived together for several years, a marriage certificate, a birth certificate for the couple’s United States citizen son, and an affidavit attesting that the alien had known his wife for several years. Velarde-Pacheco, 23 I. & N. Dec. at 256. As the BIA noted, Oluwole failed to submit any third-party evidence to show that he and his wife were living together or had commingled their assets. By contrast, the evidence submitted by the alien in Velarde-Pacheco showed that he was living with his wife and that they had a son together. Even if there is a slight possibility that a different BIA panel would consider Oluwole’s evidence to demonstrate a high probability that his marriage is bona fide, id., he has failed to show that the BIA abused its discretion.