IN THE ARIZONA COURT OF APPEALS DIVISION TWO IN RE THE MARRIAGE OF MARIA DEL CARMEN RENDON QUIJADA, Appellant, and JULIAN JAVIER PIMIENTA DOMINGUEZ, Appellee. No. 2 CA-CV 2022-0174-FC Filed June 15, 2023 Appeal from the Superior Court in Pima County No. D20221319 The Honorable J. Alan Goodwin, Judge VACATED AND REMANDED COUNSEL Ayala Law Office P.C., Tucson By Siovhan S. Ayala and Robert W. Current Counsel for Appellant Luke E. Brown, Tucson Counsel for Appellee IN RE MARRIAGE OF RENDON QUIJADA & PIMIENTA DOMINGUEZ Opinion of the Court OPINION Judge Sklar authored the opinion of the Court, in which Vice Chief Judge Staring and Judge O’Neil concurred. S K L A R, Judge: ¶1 This case concerns the relationship between immigration status and state-law domicile. At issue is Maria Del Carmen Rendon Quijada’s petition for dissolution of her marriage to Julian Javier Pimienta Dominguez. The parties originally entered the United States on visas prohibiting them from intending to establish residency. The trial court therefore concluded that federal law precluded Rendon from establishing domicile in Arizona, and it dismissed the case for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. We vacate that dismissal. Before Rendon filed the petition, she began seeking a visa that could lead to permanent residency. We therefore conclude that federal law does not prevent her from establishing an Arizona domicile. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND ¶2 Rendon and Pimienta married in Mexico in 1999 and share one minor child. They came to the United States in 2007 on visas created under the North American Free Trade Agreement (“NAFTA”). The visas allow certain categories of business people and their families to enter the United States without establishing permanent residence. See 8 C.F.R. § 214.6. Pimienta’s visa is called a TN visa, which is for employees. Rendon’s is called a TD visa, which is sponsored by TN-visa holders for their family members. ¶3 Pimienta moved to Virginia no later than March 2021. He did not sponsor the renewal of Rendon’s visa or their son’s visa after those visas expired in March 2020. Rendon remained in Arizona beyond the expiration date. Pimienta has continued to renew his TN visa. ¶4 Pimienta filed for dissolution in Mexico in November 2020. Rendon challenged the Mexican court’s jurisdiction on the ground that the parties’ marital residence was in Arizona rather than Mexico. The Mexican court declined jurisdiction and dismissed the case. 2 IN RE MARRIAGE OF RENDON QUIJADA & PIMIENTA DOMINGUEZ Opinion of the Court ¶5 In 2020, Rendon began seeking status as a lawful permanent resident. The initial step was for her sister, a United States citizen, to file a Petition for Alien Relative with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (“USCIS”). USCIS received the petition in January 2021. It remained pending as of the trial court hearing in August 2022. ¶6 In May 2022, Rendon filed the dissolution petition in this case. In response, Pimienta filed a motion to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. He argued that Rendon’s immigration status precluded …
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