Matter of Mahal

Interim Decision #1779

临时决定第1779号

half sister of the petitioner, are the offspring of a second marriage of the same father to Aupar Kaur Mahal in October 1928 also under the Hindu Rites. According to information from the Consulate Gen- eral of India at San Francisco dated September 7, 1966, before the enactment of the Hindu Code Bill in 1955/1956, a man could legally marry more than one wife in India. It is established then that the petitioner and the beneficaries are the children of1 po_ygamous Mar* riage. It has been ascertained from the Indian Embassy at Washing. ton, D.C. that the children of these polygamous marriages, which, it. must be remembered were legal in both India and Pakistan until 1955/1956, under the Hindu law are legitimate in every sense of the word. The case therefore falls squarely within the decision in Matter of K—W—S--, 9 I. & N. Dec. 396 (A.G., 1961). In that case the parties were a sister and her half brother who were the offspring of a wife and a concubine, respectively, in China. Under Chinese law the child of a concubine who is acknowledged by the father, was equally as legiti- mate as the child of his lawful wife. In affirming the Board's order that these children, who were legitimated under the law of China, should be regarded as brother and sister, the Attorney General pointed out that neither the decision nor the 1952 Act implies any approval of the institution of concubinage or polygamy, which constitutes a class excluded from entry into the United States under section 212 (a) (11) of the Immigration and Nationality Act. However, in the 1952 Act, Congress deemed it more in accordance with humanitarian principles to try to keep together those offspring of a common parent who have lived together as a family unit in accordance With the estab- lished laws and institutions of their place of residence, regardless of whether or not those laws are in conformity with the long social and family institutions: In the instant case the polygamous marriage of the father to two wives in India or Pakistan was legal under Hindu law prevailing at that time and the children of such polygamous marriages were under the law then prevailing considered legitimate. Matter of K—W—S—, (supra), is considered dispositive of the case to accord recognition of a brother and sister relationship such as will support a petition for preference status. ORDER: It is ordered that the visa petitions be approved for fifth preference quota status on behalf of the beneficiaries.

申请人的同父异母姐妹，是同一父亲于1928年10月与Aupar Kaur Mahal依印度教仪式缔结第二次婚姻所生的子女。根据印度驻旧金山总领事馆1966年9月7日的资料，在1955/1956年《印度教法典法案》颁布之前，一名男子在印度可以合法地娶一名以上的妻子。因此可以认定，申请人和受益人是1夫多妻婚姻的子女。已从印度驻华盛顿特区大使馆查明，这些1夫多妻婚姻的子女——必须记住，这种婚姻在1955/1956年之前无论在印度还是在巴基斯坦都是合法的——根据印度教法律，在一切意义上均为婚生子女。 因此，本案完全属于Matter of K—W—S--, 9 I. & N. Dec. 396 (A.G., 1961)一案判决的适用范围。在该案中，当事人是一名姐妹和她的同父异母兄弟，二人分别是中国的一名妻子和一名妾所生的子女。根据中国法律，经父亲认领的妾所生子女，与合法妻子所生子女同样具有婚生地位。在维持委员会关于这些根据中国法律已准正的子女应被视为兄弟姐妹的命令时，总检察长指出，无论是该判决还是1952年法案，都不意味着认可纳妾或多妻制度，该制度构成《移民与国籍法》第212条(a)款第(11)项下被排除入境的一类人。然而，在1952年法案中，国会认为，按照人道原则，更适宜的做法是设法使同一父母的子女保持团聚，只要这些子女按照其居住地的既定法律和制度曾作为一个家庭单位共同生活，而不论这些法律是否与长期的社会和家庭制度相一致： 在本案中，父亲在印度或巴基斯坦娶两名妻子的1夫多妻婚姻，根据当时通行的印度教法律是合法的，而这种1夫多妻婚姻的子女根据当时通行的法律被视为婚生子女。Matter of K—W—S—（同上）被认为对本案具有决定性，应承认兄弟姐妹关系，以支持优先类别身份的申请。 命令：兹命令，为受益人批准第5优先类别配额身份的签证申请。