Labor Administrative Hearing Officer Barry Hirshbein said Virginia Babauta’s first IR permit issued in 2008 should not have been granted as their marriage that year wasn’t considered valid.
“Upon questioning, it was disclosed that the first marriage between the parties was not a valid marriage…. As it turns out, the prior marriage was still in effect when the marriage to dependant took place. Had this fact been disclosed to the Department of Labor, the application for IR in 2008 would not have been granted,” said Hirshbein.
“The denial is affirmed. The Department of Labor shall not amend the dependant’s date of birth. A copy of this order shall be provided to USCIS and ICE,” he added.
According to Labor, Babauta’s IR permit expired on Oct. 17, 2009 and she has no umbrella permit to keep her from being removed by Nov. 28, 2011.
All umbrella permits are valid through Nov. 27, 2011.
Mrs. Babauta and her husband Alejo Babauta entered into another marriage in 2010 and applied for her IR’s renewal on Jan. 12, 2011.
At which time, Mr. Babauta, acting as Mrs. Babauta’s sponsor, disclosed that the prior marriage was finally terminated by divorce.
“Appellants then submitted a renewal application of the IR permit,” said Hirshbein.
In the renewal application, Mrs. Babauta also declared that the date of birth in her passport was wrong and asked that Labor correct its record to reflect her true date of birth as Jan. 26, 1953.
But Labor denied her renewal application.
The Babautas filed an appeal but Hirshbein affirmed the denial.
“The renewal was properly denied. The parties were not lawfully married at the time of the original application in 2008. The marriage was void and the permit was not properly granted. There cannot be a renewal of an act that could not be lawfully recognized,” Hirshbein said.
“Dependant gave many reasons why she was not seeking correction, none rang true. Finally, dependant stated that’s she needed to correct the record so that she could obtain a ‘green card.’ The hearing officer is not inclined to facilitate that application by correcting years of false reporting,” he added.
