Coultice

MEMORANDUM *

Plaintiffs appeal the district court’s denial of their motion for attorneys fees under the Equal Access to Justice Act, 28 U.S.C. § 1242 (d)(1)(A) (“EAJA”). Because we agree with the district court that plaintiffs are not “prevailing parties” under the EAJA, they are not entitled to recover attorney’s fees. Therefore, we affirm the district court’s decision.

In order to be a “prevailing party” within the meaning of the EAJA, the plaintiff must “enter[] into a legally enforceable settlement agreement against the defendant” in which the “actual relief [obtained] on the merits of his claim materially alters the legal relationship between the parties by modifying the defendant’s behavior in a way that directly benefits the plaintiff.” Barrios v. Cal. Interscholastic Fed’n, 277 F.3d 1128, 1134 (9th Cir.2002) (quoting Farrar v. Hobby, 506 U.S. 103, 111-12 , 113 S.Ct. 566 , 121 L.Ed.2d 494 (1992)). Here, there was no material alteration in the legal relationship between the parties achieved by any such agreement or order because it was the INS’s independent decision to approve the second 1-140 petition that precipitated the stipulated dismissal and resulting Ninth Circuit…