Akram v. Holder

Bd.’s erred in denying application of 18-year-old alien’s I-130 petition seeking lawful permanent resident status based on marriage between alien’s mother to U.S. citizen. While said denial was appropriate under section 1101(a)(15)(K)(iii), where alien held K-4-visa as her mother’s “minor child,” and where alien could not be considered step-father’s “child” for I-130 purposes because she was 18 at time of her mother’s marriage to stepfather, Ct. of Appeals found that 8 CFR section 245.1(i), which restricted alien from adjusting her status by any means other than through her U.S. citizen stepfather, was unconstitutional since instant restriction was contrary to purpose of K-4 visa-holder’s ability to have opportunity to become lawful permanent resident. Ct. further found that there were no other statutory provision that supported restriction contained in 8 CFR section 245.1.