The Fourth Circuit has deferred to the Board’s decision in Matter of Song, which requires a K-1 entrant to submit an affidavit of support from the K-1 petitioner to adjust status even if the entrant and petitioner are now divorced.
“Song reads Sesay as granting her some leeway around strict application of the regulatory requirement that Sang, as her petitioner, must be her sponsor. In other words, as Song’s argument goes, Sesay recognized that sometimes we must bend the rules so that the K-1 process can function. So too here, she argues: if we don’t allow Song to meet public-charge requirements by enlisting a co-sponsor aside from Sang, then status adjustment will be nearly unavailable for people in Song’s situation. But Sesay doesn’t support, much less compel, Song’s position. To the contrary, Sesay confirms that K-1 beneficiaries still must satisfy public-charge requirements and other criteria for admissibility. And 8 C.F.R. § 213a.2 makes clear that K-1 beneficiaries can’t satisfy those requirements absent an affidavit of support from the petitioner. Sesay involved an ambiguous statute and the lack of applicable clarifying regulations, while here, the regulations apply on their face to Song’s situation. Nor is Song’s proposal necessary for the K-1 process to function.”
The full text of Song v. Garland can be found here: