Jamshid Iran v. Immigration and Naturalization Service

Petitioner seeks review of a Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) affirmance of an order of deportation. We reverse.

On December 81, 1979, an Order to Show Cause was issued charging that petitioner was a native and citizen of Iran who entered the United States on September 19, 1978 as a nonimmigrant visitor authorized to remain for a period of six months, and who remained beyond that period. A deportation hearing was held on March 26, 1980. The only evidence introduced at the hearing was two documents introduced by the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) and the Order to Show Cause. The INS submitted a purported Form 1-506, “Application for Change of Nonimmigrant Status,” filed with the INS on June 13, 1979, and a purported letter from the Iranian Consulate General in San Francisco, dated June 5, 1970. Based on this evidence, the immigration judge found petitioner deport-able. The BIA affirmed.

In deportation proceedings, the INS has the burden of proving deportability by “clear, unequivocal, and convincing evidence.” Woodby v. INS, 385 U.S. 276, 277 , 87 S.Ct. 483, 484 , 17 L.Ed.2d 362 (1966); 8 C.F.R. § 242.14 (a). To prove deportability, the INS must show that the…