LOVELL

11 I. & N. Dec. 473

• Court: Board of Immigration Appeals
• Decided: July 1, 1966
• Docket: 1547
• Status: Published

Opinion

Interim Decision .#1547

Krrima or 141mM In Visa Petition Proceedings

A-14389539 Decided by Regional Commissioner /away 17 1966

Petition to classify alien as eligible orphan as defined in section 101(b) (1) (F), Immigration and Nationality Act, as amended by P. L. 89 238, is denied -

since adoption of the beneficiary by her widowed aunt does not meet the statutory requirement of adoption by a United States citizen and spouse.

This matter is before the Regional Commissioner on appeal from the denial of the petition to classify the alien as an eligible orphan under section 101(b) (6) of the Immigration and Nationality Act. This section has since been repealed by P.L. 89-236, effective De- cember 1 1965, and the definition of the term "child" in section 101 (b) (1) (F) of the Act has 'been amended to read as follows: {Bs) a child, under the age of fourteen at the time a petition is filed in his behalf to accord a Aseeliication as an immediate reiative under section 201(b), who is an orphan because, of the death or disappearance of, abandonment or de- sertion by, or separation- or loss from, both parents, or for whom the sole er surviving parent is incapable of providing the proper care which will be provided tne ctuid if admitted to the 'United Staten and who has in writing irrevocably released the child for emigration and adoption; who has been adopted abroad by a United States citizen and his spouse who personally saw and observed the child prior to or during the adoption proceedings; or who is coming to the United States for adoption by a United gtates citizen and spouse who have complied with the preadoption requirements, if any, of the child's proposed residence: Provided, That no natural parent or prior adoptive par- ent of any such child shall thereafter, by virtue of such parentage, be ac- corded any right, privilege, or status under this act. (Emphasis supplied.) The instant petition discloses that the beneficiary was born De- cember 13, 1954 at Barbados, West Indies; that she presently resides with her mother at Belleplaine, St. Andrew, Barbados; that she has only one parent; that the latter is unable to provide for her support. It is further reflected that the child's aunt, a 49-year-old United States citizen whose husband is deceased, intends to adopt the bene- ficiary in this country.

473 Interim Decision #1547 It hai been held in utter pf D , 8 I. & N. Dec. 628, that the —

adoption of a child by an aunt who is divorced does not meet the statutory requirement under section 4 of the Act of September 11, 1957 that the adoption of en eligible orphan be by a United States citizen and spouse. Similar language is contained in. section 101(b) (1) (F) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, as amended, as previously noted above. The adoptive ' parents must be a married couple and, therefore, the instant petition by the alien's widowed aunt cannot be approved. Accordingly, this appeal will be dis- missed. ORDER: It is ordered that the appeal be and the same is hereby dismissed. •