Matter of Zeleniak
Board of Immigration Appeals
26 I. & N. Dec. 158 (2013)
Zeleniak (petitioner), a U.S. citizen validly married to his male spouse under Vermont law, filed a resident-status petition for his spouse in 2010, which the Benefits Center Director denied; after a remand to address the marriage's validity, the Director again denied the petition, declining to consider spousal qualification given DOMA § 3's definition of marriage as limited to opposite-sex unions. While the appeal was pending, the Supreme Court decided United States v. Windsor, holding DOMA § 3 unconstitutional, prompting the Board to reconsider the petition in light of that ruling.
Whether the Supreme Court's ruling in United States v. Windsor that § 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act is unconstitutional applies to immigration cases.