NONPRECEDENTIAL DISPOSITION To be cited only in accordance with Fed. R. App. P. 32.1 United States Court of Appeals For the Seventh Circuit Chicago, Illinois 60604 Argued April 25, 2018 Decided July 26, 2018 Before DANIEL A. MANION, Circuit Judge DAVID F. HAMILTON, Circuit Judge AMY C. BARRETT, Circuit Judge No. 17-2492 CHRISTOPHER FLIGER and ANNA Appeal from the United States FLIGER, District Court for the Northern District Plaintiffs-Appellants, of Illinois, Eastern Division. v. No. 15-CV-5704 KIRSTJEN M. NIELSEN, Secretary of Jorge L. Alonso, Homeland Security, et al., Judge. Defendants-Appellees. ORDER Christopher and Anna Fliger appeal the denial of an I-130 visa petition that Christopher filed, as a U.S. citizen, on Anna’s behalf asking the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to adjust Anna’s immigration status based on their marriage. There is no question that Christopher and Anna’s marriage is legitimate, but immigration authorities denied the petition based on Anna’s attempt to gain permanent-resident status in the United States through an earlier fraudulent marriage. Once a person has entered into a marriage to evade immigration laws, he or she is ineligible for relief any time in the future. See 8 U.S.C. § 1154(c). Christopher and Anna sought judicial review of the decision under the Administrative Procedure Act, No. 17-2492 Page 2 5 U.S.C. §§ 701–06. The district judge entered summary judgment against them. We affirm the district court’s judgment because substantial evidence supports the decision that Anna and her previous husband entered into marriage primarily to evade immigration laws. Background Anna, a citizen of Poland, married Fred Kirschnick in 1995 when she was 18 years old and he was 71. She had arrived in the United States in 1991 on a visa and then “overstayed.” At the time of the marriage, Anna had neither been in immigration proceedings nor had any prior contact with immigration authorities. The following year, Fred filed a visa petition seeking to classify Anna as his spouse, and Anna applied for an adjustment of status. For reasons the record does not disclose, Fred and Anna did not receive an interview until approximately 11 years after filing their paperwork. At oral argument, counsel for the agency agreed that 11 years was an unusually long delay. By the time the interview took place in August 2007, Fred was 82 years old, resided in a nursing home, experienced problems with his eyesight, and had suffered a stroke. Fred and Anna’s petition went awry when they told different stories of their courtship in their interviews. See Nikrodhanondha v. Reno, 202 F.3d 922 (7th Cir. 2000) (inconsistent statements made by couple may be basis for denial). Anna said that she met Fred in 1991 when her sister was cleaning his house. She had dinner with him and they began dating. Anna admitted that they did not live together immediately after getting married, but she said that they had lived together for one year in 1999. That ended when Fred encountered financial trouble. Then the couple became homeless until Fred moved ...
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