United States Court of Appeals For the Eighth Circuit ___________________________ No. 19-1335 ___________________________ Orwa Ali Al-Saadoon; Farok Abdulmajid Hamod lllllllllllllllllllllPetitioners - Appellants v. William P. Barr, Attorney General of the United States of America; Lee Cissna, Director, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services; Leslie Tritten, Field Office Director, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services; Kirstjen Nielsen, Secretary of the United States Department of Homeland Security lllllllllllllllllllllDefendants - Appellees ____________ Appeal from United States District Court for the District of Minnesota ____________ Submitted: May 14, 2020 Filed: August 28, 2020 ____________ Before SMITH, Chief Judge, MELLOY and SHEPHERD, Circuit Judges. ____________ SMITH, Chief Judge. This case is the next chapter in an almost 20-year pursuit of naturalization by Farok Abdulmajid Hamod and his wife Orwa Ali Al-Saadoon. In Al-Saadoon I, we affirmed the denial of Hamod’s and Al-Saadoon’s petitions for naturalization because Hamod engaged in unlawful employment, and, therefore, the couple never lawfully adjusted to permanent resident status. Al-Saadoon v. Lynch (Al-Saadoon I), 816 F.3d 1012 (8th Cir. 2016). In an attempt to remedy their unlawful adjustment, Al-Saadoon and Hamod filed a Supplement A to Form I-4851 with the United States Customs and Immigration Services (USCIS) to adjust their status to lawful permanent residents nunc pro tunc2 to 2002. They based the filing on their child’s American citizenship and filed new applications for naturalization. USCIS rejected Hamod’s and Al-Saadoon’s requests for nunc pro tunc adjustment to lawful permanent resident status. The couple filed suit in the district court,3 challenging USCIS’s denial, the government moved to dismiss their petition, and the district court granted the motion. Hamod and Al-Saadoon appeal. We affirm. I. Background In 1999, Hamod and Al-Saadoon, natives of Iraq, entered this country on a religious-worker visa after Hamod accepted a position as a teacher at the Al-Amal School in Minnesota. Hamod’s visa prohibited him from changing employers without prior authorization from the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS). In August 2000, the Islamic Cultural Community Center (ICCC) filed a petition seeking authorization to permanently employ Hamod as an Imam, and INS granted the petition in December. In 2002, Hamod and Al-Saadoon adjusted to permanent resident status. 1 If someone is disqualified from adjustment of status, he/she may be eligible to adjust status under 8 U.S.C. § 1255(i). 2 “Nunc pro tunc, a Latin phrase meaning ‘now for then,’ refers to the power of a court to treat something done now—typically a court order—as effective as of an earlier date.” Gutierrez-Castillo v. Holder, 568 F.3d 256, 261 (1st Cir. 2009). 3 The Honorable Eric C. Tostrud, United States District Judge for the District of Minnesota. -2- In 2007, Hamod and Al-Saadoon sought naturalization. On the naturalization application, Hamod revealed that he began working for the ICCC before the ICCC filed the petition for authorization to employ him. Therefore, USCIS denied Hamod’s and Al-Saadoon’s petitions for naturalization. USCIS concluded that they had not been lawfully admitted to permanent resident status because Hamod had engaged in unauthorized employment. Hamod and Al-Saadoon then filed ...
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