Ioannis Georgios Asimakopoulos and Maria Asimakopoulos v. Immigration and Naturalization Service

Petitioners seek review of a decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals (the “Board”) denying their petition for suspension of deportation under 8 U.S.C. § 1254 (a) (1). We reverse and remand the cause to the Board for two reasons: (1) the Board applied a standard of classification of aliens eligible for suspension that is not authorized by section 1254(a) (1); (2) the Board failed to exercise the discretion that Congress committed to it to determine petitioners’ eligibility for suspension of deportation by section 1254(a) (1). We overrule the contrary holding of Matter of Lee (B.I.A.1966) 11 I. & N.Dec. 649 upon which the Board relied in deciding this case.

Petitioners are husband and wife. The husband, a 31-year-old Greek national, entered the United States in June 1961 as a temporary visitor. In June 1962, he assumed the status of a student. He became deportable because he went to work for a salary while he was a student. He was not deported, however, and he later was classified as a sixth preference alien. In 1967, he received a waiver of the exchange visitor foreign residence requirement under 8 U.S.C. § 1182 (e). He and his wife were married shortly after he first became…