Jae Myung Lee, Jung Sook Lee, Hee Jung Lee v. Immigration and Naturalization Service

The Lees petition for review of a Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) decision finding them deportable because of a fraudulent labor certification. We dismiss the petition for want of jurisdiction because the petition for review in this court was untimely filed.

The BIA’s dismissal of petitioners’ appeal from the Immigration Judge’s deportation order was dated June 27, 1980. The Lees’ petition for review in this court, filed April 3, 1981, was clearly untimely under 8 U.S.C. § 1105a(a)(l), which provides that a petition for review may be filed not later than six months from the date of the final deportation order. This requirement is mandatory and jurisdictional. See Chudschevid v. INS, 641 F.2d 780, 783-84 (9th Cir. 1981); Loza-Bedoya v. INS, 410 F.2d 343, 345-46 (9th Cir. 1969).

Petitioners contend, however, that the appeal is nevertheless timely because the BIA failed properly to serve a copy of the decision on them as required by 8 C.F.R. §§ 3.1 (f), 292.5(a), and because they did not learn of the BIA’s decision until March 16, 1981. The record shows, however, that the BIA mailed a copy of its decision to the address of record for petitioners’ attorney and that the Post…