Matter of Akinola, Interim Decision Number 2400
| Decision Date | 19 June 1975 |
| Docket Number | A-18159092,Interim Decision Number 2400 |
| Citation | 15 I&N Dec. 359 |
| Parties | MATTER OF AKINOLA In Visa Petition Proceedings |
| Court | U.S. DOJ Board of Immigration Appeals |
The District Director revoked his approval of visa petition classifying beneficiary as the spouse of a United States citizen under section 201(b) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, on the ground that the beneficiary had a prior marriage which had not been dissolved. The beneficiary and his first wife, natives and nationals of Ghana, had been married there in 1964 according to local tribal custom. Beneficiary entered the United States as a nonimmigrant student in 1969, and was later that year joined by his first wife. He claims they were divorced in 1972, under Ghanaian customary law, at a time when neither he nor his first wife was in Ghana. He married petitioner in 1973. The proofs offered as to the termination of the first marriage were found to be insufficient. Board held that petitioner had failed to sustain the burden of proof as to termination of prior marriage, citing Matter of Brantigan, 11 I. & N. Dec. 493 (BIA 1966) and 8 CFR 204.2(c)(2). Board stated that as a minimum, to establish termination of a Ghanaian tribal marriage by a tribal divorce, there must be proof of confirmation by a Ghana Court, or proof of the customary law of the pertinent Ghana tribe or group and proof of compliance with such law.
ON BEHALF OF PETITIONER: Ira Ehrlich, Esquire 21 40th Street New York, New York 10016.
In a decision dated December 11, 1974, the district director revoked approval of a visa petition classifying the beneficiary as the spouse of a United States citizen under section 201(b) of the Immigration and Nationality Act. The district director revoked approval on the ground that the beneficiary had a prior marriage which has not been dissolved. The petitioner has appealed from that decision. The appeal will be dismissed.
The beneficiary is a native and citizen of Nigeria. He married his first wife in Ghana in 1964 according to local tribal custom. The beneficiary entered the United States as a nonimmigrant student in January 1969. His first wife joined him later that year. The petitioner claims that the beneficiary divorced his first wife under Ghanaian customary law on June 6, 1972. At the time, neither party was in Ghana. The petitioner married the beneficiary on October 5, 1973.
In a visa petition proceeding, the burden of proof is on the petitioner. Matter of Brantigan, 11 I. & N. Dec. 493 (BIA 1966). Under 8 CFR 204.2(c)(2), the petitioner must submit proof of the legal termination of all previous marriages of both the husband and spouse.
As evidence of the termination of the beneficiary's marriage, the petitioner has submitted affidavits from the parents of the beneficiary, the parents of his first wife, and a letter from the Consulate General of Ghana in New York. The affidavits state that the beneficiary and his first wife were divorced in June 1972 and that they are no longer husband and wife. Both affidavits are dated June 6, 1972. The letter from the Ghanaian consulate states that the dissolution of the marriage is authenticated by the affidavits of the parents.
The district director revoked approval on the ground that the divorce did not conform to the customary law of Ghana. Specifically, the district director...
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