Strokous

MEMORANDUM **

Nataliya Strokous petitions for review of a Board of Immigration Appeals’ (“BIA”) decision dismissing her appeal of an immigration judge’s decision that rejected her claim for adjustment of status based on marriage to a United States citizen (“USC”). 1 Given the parties’ familiarity with the facts, they are only briefly summarized here. Strokous is a Ukrainain citizen who arrived in the United States on a K-l fiancee visa in order to marry Boris Begel (“Begel”), a USC whom she later divorced. She filled out an application for adjustment to lawful permanent resident (“LPR”) status before divorcing Begel but did not file the application until after the divorce. 2 The then-immigration and Naturalization Service (“INS”) rejected her petition for adjustment of status, and an immigration judge found her deportable.

In her appeal before the BIA, Strokous argued that she is entitled to adjust to LPR status based on her marriage to Be-gel despite the fact that the marriage ended before she filed her application for adjustment of status. Central to this claim is the text of section 245(d) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (“INA”). 8 U.S.C. § 1255 (d). Under INA §…