Singh

Harbinder Dhariwal Singh, a citizen of India, obtained lawful permanent resident status in the United States on December 1,1990 as a special agricultural worker. From that date to the onset of these proceedings, he has spent less than one-third of his time in the United States. Singh arrived in San Francisco on July 8, 1993 from Great Britain, where he simultaneously enjoyed permanent resident status. Upon arrival, he was placed in exclusion proceedings as an alien not in possession of a valid immigrant visa.

The Immigration and Naturalization Service (“INS”) contends that Singh abandoned his permanent resident status through his extended time abroad and his minimal contacts in this country. After an evidentiary hearing, the Immigration Judge (“D”) ordered Singh excluded. Singh appealed to the Board of Immigration Appeals (“the Board”) which upheld the IJ’s decision for the reasons stated therein. He then petitioned for a writ of habeas corpus to the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. That petition was denied on July 23, 1996, and this appeal followed.

*1514 The district court had jurisdiction to review the final order in habeas corpus…

dissenting:

I dissent. Never before have we held that a lawful permanent resident forfeits his basic and precious right to live and work in this country if he engages in innocent, well-intentioned, and temporary absences — in this case, spending time abroad with his wife and young child while waiting for the INS to grant the visa petition that would allow them to join him here. Contrary to the majority’s assertion, no prior case even remotely suggests, let alone compels, this result.

It is undisputed that Singh lawfully obtained permanent resident status in this country, worked and invested large sums of money in this country, spent a substantial and ever-increasing amount of time in this country, and filed an immigrant visa petition so that his family could join him in this country. Yet the majority holds that his decision to spend a reasonable amount of time each year with his wife and daughter while they were awaiting approval of their petition — one that he filed for the very purpose of reuniting his family in this country— is “clear, unequivocal, and convincing evidence” that he lacked the intent to make the United States his home. On that basis, the majority upholds the…