U.S. denies residency to Nigerian woman after DNA shows sponsor not her biological father

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services have denied the residency application of James Odiete’s daughter, Linda, after a DNA test proved he was not her biological father.

The USCIS in 2007 approved an I-130 application for Mr Odiete’s daughter, granting her access to the country. After over a decade, the man initiated the formal process to upgrade his daughter’s immigrant status to a permanent resident, form I-148.

The U.S. government requested supporting documents such as Ms Odiete’s birth certificate, tuition receipts and pictures to substantiate Mr Odiete’s claim that she was indeed his daughter. A DNA test was also required.

While Mr Odiete was able to provide documentation showing he had been responsible for her upkeep from birth till the time of application, a DNA test revealed he was not her biological father.

“The result of the DNA concluded that Mr Adex Odiete was not her biological father,” stated 2024 court filings at the U.S. District Court of California – Central District.

“Mr Adex Odiete her father, had been a victim of a paternity fraud perpetrated by the mother of Linda Odiete,” Jovi Usude, the lawyer representing Mr Odiete,  wrote on January 22.

Still, Mr Odiete continued with the permanent residency filing process, saying the bond he shared with Ms Odiete was beyond blood ties and that he still regarded her as his own child.

“Despite the knowledge derived from the DNA, Mr Adex Odiete has continued to stand by and support his daughter,” the court document stated.

What Mr Odiete did not immediately realise was that the USCIS had also revoked the I-130 petition previously granted to Ms Odiete as the U.S. government could no longer harbour the alien whose presumed blood ties to her sponsor were found to be non-existent.

The USCIS concealed the revocation of Ms Odiete’s I-130 petition from 2017 until 2022, when Mr Odiete visited their office to follow up with the request for adjustment of the immigration status of his daughter, the father claimed in court filings.

That was where he learnt that Ms Odiete no longer had the right to stay in the U.S., because her I-130 petition had been revoked.

The belated notice formed the basis of Mr Odiete’s lawsuit, which sought the court’s intervention to overturn the revocation of the initially approved I-130 form and keep his daughter from being deported until litigation was concluded.

Mr Odiete sued the USCIS, asserting that the government agency violated his rights by not promptly informing him of the revocation of his daughter’s status.

“I was never notified by the USCIS, that the approval of my daughter’s I-130 petition had been revoked. I became aware that USCIS had revoked my daughter’s approval when my daughter and I attended her interview to adjust her status here in the United States of America,” Mr Odiete stated.

Citing section 205c of the revocation of approval of petition law,  Mr Odiete noted that “if upon reconsideration, the approval previously granted is revoked, the director shall provide the petitioner or self-petitioner with a written notification of the decision that explains the specific reasons for revocation.”

He added that his “due process right was taken away” and asked the court for an order not to deport his daughter to Nigeria until the matter was fully resolved in court.

Mr Odiete further sought an order “reinstating the denied I-485 Application for Adjustment of Status.”