Supreme Court to Review Visa Revocation/Sham Marriage Case

Official U.S. Supreme Court Photo

Kimberly Strawbridge Robinson for Bloomberg reports that the U.S. Supreme Court today agreed to take up another case on whether courts can review visa determinations for spouses of U.S. citizens.  The Court heard arguments in a visa denial case last week,

The justices agreed to consider whether Amina Bouarfa, a U.S. citizen whose husband’s visa was originally approved, can challenge the Department of Homeland Security’s revocation of that visa.  DHS determined that Bouarfa’s marriage was a “sham.”

The question presented by Bouarfa v. Mayorkas is whether courts can review a visa revocation.   The circuits are split on whether US courts can review revocation decisions.  As Amy Howe describes the issues on SCOTUSBlog, “Bouarfa v. Mayorkas, involv[es] whether courts can review a decision to revoke approval of a petition for an immigrant visa on the ground that the government had initially misapplied nondiscretionary criteria during the approval process, and when the applicant would have had a right to review of an initial decision denying review of the application.”

KJ