Vasa Kaliski v. District Director of Immigration and Naturalization Service

The Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) appeals from the judgment of the district court approving a preferential visa petition filed by appellee Vasa Kaliski on behalf of his son Milivoj who was born out of wedlock in Yugoslavia in 1934. We affirm.

In January 1973, Kaliski filed a petition for a preferential immigrant visa for his son. INS rejected the petition because Mi-livoj was born out of wedlock, and because there was no evidence that he was legitimated under Yugoslav law before his eighteenth birthday as required by the Immigration and Nationality Act (Act), 8 U.S.C. § 1101 et seq. The Board of Immigration Appeals (Board) affirmed the rejection. The district court, on a petition for review, reversed the decision of the INS on the ground that Milivoj was legitimated under California law before his eighteenth birthday.

Section 201 of the Act, 8 U.S.C. § 1151 , sets a quota on the number of immigrant visas allowed for each fiscal year. Within the quota are seven categories of persons entitled to preferential treatment. One such preference is for “qualified immigrants who are the married sons or married daughters of citizens of the United States.” 8 U.S.C. § 1153…