A-18497411 A-18497413
Decided by District Director July 29, 1969
Since it has been established that applicants' father, because of his class of admission and his duties, would have been eligible for the benefits of section 13 of the Act of September 11, 1957 following termination of his diplomatic status, his loss of eligibility for such relief (having last entered the United States as a visitor) does not disturb nor in any way affect the eligibility for the benefits of section 13 of the Act of applicants, who have remained in this country since their admission on January 25, 1953 under section 101(a)(15)(A)(i) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, as amended, as his accompanying minor children
The applicants are two sisters, one twenty three and one twenty five, both natives and citizens of Ecuador. They were last admitted to the United States on January 25, 1953 under the provisions of section 101(a)(15)(A)(i) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, as amended, as the accompanying minor children of Cesar F. Penaherrera, then Ecuadoran Consul General at San Francisco, California.
The father of the applicants officially terminated his position as Consul General at San Francisco, California on July 8, 1953. Mr. Penaherrera left the United States for San Salvador in the summer of 1956. He was issued an immigrant visa by the American Consulate in San Salvador, El Salvador on August 17, 1956 and admitted to the United States for permanent residence on October 2, 1956. On May 2, 1958 the American Embassy, Guatemala made a determination that he had lost his residence status in the United States. Mr. Penaherrera was next admitted to the United States at Miami, Florida on January 13, 1962 as a visitor for pleasure until March 12, 1962. He left the United States to return to El Salvador on December 20, 1962 and the record does not indicate that Mr. Penaherrera has ever returned to the United States since his last departure.
The applicants have remained in the United States since their entry on January 25, 1953. Due to their early age at the time of arrival and their long stay in the United States they came to believe until recently that they were lawful permanent residents of the United States.
The applicants are presently employed, Maria Penaherrera as a traffic agent for Foremost Foods Company, 111 Pine Street, San Francisco, California, and Barbara Penaherrera as an office clerk in the same city. They desire to remain in the United States because they believed they were lawful permanent residents for many years and regard this country as their home.
The good moral character of the applicants has been established. They are not inadmissible to the United States under the excluding provisions of the Act, except for lack of entry documents. They have fulfilled all the requirements for eligibility under Section 13 of the Act of September 11, 1957. The Secretary of State has no objection to the granting of permanent resident status.
Title 8 of the Code of Federal Regulations, part 245.3, states in part that "The benefits of section 13 of the Act of September 11, 1957 shall be accorded only to an alien admitted to the United States under the provisions of either section 101(a)(15)(A)(i) or (ii) or 101(a)(15)(G)(i) or (ii) of the Act who performed diplomatic or semidiplomatic duties and to members of his immediate family." (Emphasis supplied) Since it has been established that their father would have been eligible for the benefits of the Act, because of his class of admission and his duties, his loss of eligibility by having last entered the United States as a visitor for pleasure does not disturb or in any way affect the continued eligibility of these applicants for the benefits of section 13.
It is ordered that the status of the applicants be adjusted to that of lawful permanent residents of the United States.
It is further ordered that if during the session of Congress at which these cases are reported or the session next following, either the Senate or the House of Representatives passes a resolution unfavorable to the applicants this order be automatically revoked and the applicants be required to depart from the United States in the manner required by law.