NOT RECOMMENDED FOR PUBLICATION File Name: 21a0230n.06 No. 20-3460 UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SIXTH CIRCUIT FILED May 03, 2021 ) DEBORAH S. HUNT, Clerk SAIYDAH WEEMS SHOLANKE, et al., ) Plaintiffs-Appellants, ) ) v. ON APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES ) DISTRICT COURT FOR THE NORTHERN ) UNITED STATES CITIZENSHIP AND DISTRICT OF OHIO ) IMMIGRATION SERVICES, et al., ) OPINION Defendants-Appellees. ) ) BEFORE: STRANCH, LARSEN, and NALBANDIAN, Circuit Judges. JANE B. STRANCH, Circuit Judge. Saiydah Weems Sholanke and Abdulafeez Sholanke (Sholanke) appeal the district court’s grant of judgment as a matter of law to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) for its denial of immigration benefits to Abdulafeez Sholanke. Sholanke had previously married Christina Yoder, who had similarly filed for immigration benefits on his behalf. USCIS determined that Sholanke’s marriage to Yoder was fraudulent, and then denied Weems Sholanke’s petition based on the permanent bar in 8 U.S.C. § 1154(c) (INA § 204(c)). The Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) affirmed. The Sholankes filed suit in district court, claiming that the BIA’s decision violated the Administrative Procedure Act (APA). The district court found for USCIS. The Sholankes now argue that the panel should reverse the district court and find that the BIA and USCIS acted arbitrarily and capriciously. We AFFIRM. No. 20-3460, Weems Sholanke v. USCIS I. BACKGROUND Abdulafeez Sholanke is a citizen of Nigeria. In Nigeria, he married a woman named Surat Jimoh. In August 2013, the two divorced, after about a year and a half of marriage, and Sholanke was admitted to the United States on an F-1 nonimmigrant student visa. On September 5, 2014, Sholanke married Christina Yoder, a United States citizen. Yoder filed an I-130, a Petition for Alien Relative, for Sholanke on October 17, 2014, and at the same time, Sholanke filed an I-485, for adjustment of status. With their I-130, the couple submitted evidence that the marriage was bona fide, including photographs of the couple together, a lease document signed by the landlord but not Yoder or Sholanke, Sholanke and Jimoh’s divorce decree, a joint utility bill, their marriage certificate, the affidavits of witnesses to the ceremony, and an affidavit from Yoder’s father in support of Sholanke’s petition. USCIS interviewed Yoder and Sholanke separately on January 13, 2015. At the interview, Yoder stated that she and Sholanke discussed marriage starting in February 2014, but Sholanke said those conversations did not occur until July 2014. The couple was inconsistent about who attended their marriage ceremony. Yoder could not recall Sholanke’s father’s name. The couple did not provide the same answer as to how many of Yoder’s brothers Sholanke had met; Sholanke said one, and Yoder said four. On May 14, 2015, USCIS conducted a home visit at the address on the lease Yoder and Sholanke had listed and found Sholanke. He stated that Yoder was not there because she had gone to work. Officers claim Sholanke said that he and Yoder had first met at a Burger King, rather …
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