Filed: Mar. 21, 2005
Latest Update: Feb. 21, 2020
Summary: United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit F I L E D IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT March 21, 2005 Charles R. Fulbruge III Clerk No. 04-60280 Summary Calendar SASA JANKOVIC, Petitioner, versus ALBERTO R. GONZALES, U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL, Respondent. - Petition for Review of an Order of the Board of Immigration Appeals BIA No. A78 196 592 - Before GARZA, DeMOSS, and CLEMENT, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM:* Sasa Jankovic, a citizen of Serbia and Montenegro, petitions for
Summary: United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit F I L E D IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT March 21, 2005 Charles R. Fulbruge III Clerk No. 04-60280 Summary Calendar SASA JANKOVIC, Petitioner, versus ALBERTO R. GONZALES, U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL, Respondent. - Petition for Review of an Order of the Board of Immigration Appeals BIA No. A78 196 592 - Before GARZA, DeMOSS, and CLEMENT, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM:* Sasa Jankovic, a citizen of Serbia and Montenegro, petitions for ..
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United States Court of Appeals
Fifth Circuit
F I L E D
IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT March 21, 2005
Charles R. Fulbruge III
Clerk
No. 04-60280
Summary Calendar
SASA JANKOVIC,
Petitioner,
versus
ALBERTO R. GONZALES, U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL,
Respondent.
--------------------
Petition for Review of an Order of the
Board of Immigration Appeals
BIA No. A78 196 592
--------------------
Before GARZA, DeMOSS, and CLEMENT, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:*
Sasa Jankovic, a citizen of Serbia and Montenegro,
petitions for review of an order of the Board of Immigration
Appeals (BIA or Board) dismissing his appeal of the Immigration
Judge’s (IJ) decision to deny his application for asylum and
withholding of removal under the Immigration and Nationality Act
(INA) as well as the Convention Against Torture (CAT). Jankovic
also appeals from the BIA’s denial of his motion to remand for an
adjustment of status based on his marriage to a United States
citizen. We DENY the petition for review.
*
Pursuant to 5TH CIR. R. 47.5, the court has determined that
this opinion should not be published and is not precedent except
under the limited circumstances set forth in 5TH CIR. R. 47.5.4.
No. 04-60280
-2-
Jankovic has failed to brief the merits of the IJ’s denial
of his application for withholding of removal. Therefore he has
waived this issue on appeal. See Rodriguez v. INS,
9 F.3d 408,
414 n.15 (5th Cir. 1993).
This court will uphold the factual findings that an alien is
not eligible for asylum or withholding of removal based on CAT if
those findings are supported by substantial evidence. Efe v.
Ashcroft,
293 F.3d 899, 903 (5th Cir. 2002). The substantial-
evidence standard requires that the decision be based on the
evidence presented and that the decision be substantially
reasonable. Carbajal-Gonzalez v. INS,
78 F.3d 194, 197 (5th Cir.
1996). The BIA’s decision is supported by substantial evidence,
and the record does not compel a contrary conclusion as to either
Jankovic’s asylum claim or his CAT claim.
Jankovic contends that he should be permitted to adjust his
status (to lawful permanent resident) as a result of his marriage
to a United States citizen. Jankovic asserts that the Board
erred by denying his motion for remand on the grounds that (1) he
failed to establish that the marriage was bona fide, and (2) that
he is inadmissible under INA § 212(a)(6)(C)(ii); 8 U.S.C.
§ 1182(a)(6)(C)(ii). Such an adjustment of status is available,
at the discretion of the Attorney General, “if (1) the alien
makes an application for such adjustment [on INS Form I-485],
(2) the alien is eligible to receive an immigration visa and is
admissible to the United States for permanent residence, and
No. 04-60280
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(3) an immigrant visa is immediately available to [the alien] at
the time his [I-485] application is filed.” INA § 245(a),
8 U.S.C. § 1255(a); see Obitz v. INS,
623 F.2d 1331, 1331-33 (9th
Cir. 1980).
The Board denied Jankovic’s motion to remand based on his
marriage to a United States citizen. This court applies the
abuse-of-discretion standard in reviewing the Board’s denial of a
motion to remand. Ogbemudia v. INS,
988 F.2d 595, 600 (5th Cir.
1993). This court does not need to decide whether the Board’s
rulings on the first two grounds are correct, because Jankovic
admittedly failed to qualify for the adjustment under the third
statutory requirement.
Jankovic fails to meet the third requirement because only
“[a]n approved [INS Form I-130 petition] filed by the spouse
satisfies the requirement that a visa is immediately available.”
Agyeman v. INS,
296 F.3d 871, 878 (9th Cir. 2002). The Supreme
Court so held, by necessary implication, in INS v. Miranda,
459
U.S. 14, 15-19 (1982). Jankovic has conceded that his wife’s
I-130 petition was only pending at the time he filed his motion
to remand.
Jankovic’s petition for review is DENIED.