Catabay

MEMORANDUM **

Eliza Catabay petitions for review of a decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”) that adopted and affirmed the Immigration Judge’s (“IJ”) discretionary denial of Catabay’s request for a waiver of the requirement to file a joint petition for removal of the conditions of residence. Where, as here, “the BIA adopts an IJ’s findings and reasoning, we review the IJ’s opinion as if it were the opinion of the BIA.” Singh-Kaur v. INS, 183 F.3d 1147, 1150 (9th Cir.1999). The IJ held that Catabay did not show that she entered her marriage to a United States citizen in good faith. Catabay (“Petitioner”) challenges this determination on factual and constitutional grounds. Because the facts are known to the parties, we recount them only as necessary to explain our decision.

Catabay challenges the denial of the discretionary waiver. We review the denial for abuse of discretion. Nyonzele v. INS, 83 F.3d 975, 979 (8th Cir.1996); 8 U.S.C. § 1186a(c)(4) (1994). The factual findings underlying the IJ’s decision are reviewed for substantial evidence. INS v. Elias-Zacarias, 502 U.S. 478 , 481 & n. 1, 112 S.Ct. 812 , 117 L.Ed.2d 38 (1992). To overcome this deference,…