Supreme Court gives temporary amnesty to overstaying foreigner

The U.S. Supreme Court has given temporary amnesty to a foreigner who overstayed his visa and sought to remain in the United States legally. The court ruled that someone here illegally may withdraw a voluntarily agreement to depart and continue to try to get approval to remain in the United States.

The decision agrees with a proposed Justice Department regulation governing the treatment of similar cases in the future.

In the case considered, a Nigerian citizen stayed beyond the expiration of his tourist visa in 1998. He married an American the following year and soon began trying to obtain a visa as an immediate relative of a citizen. But the couple apparently failed to submit some documents, causing immigration officials to deny the visa.

The man has still been trying to obtain the visa, but immigration authorities have ordered him to leave the country. He agreed to leave voluntarily, which would allow him to try sooner to re-enter the country legally than if he had been deported.

The Supreme Court could not consider the fact that immigration authorities recently ruled that the man had entered a 'sham' marriage in order to stay in the United States. The court decided that he could withdraw his voluntary agreement to leave the country and continue to try to adjust his status while in the United States.