KUMAH

Citations

• 19 I. & N. Dec. 290

Syllabus

KUMAH, 19 I&N Dec. 290 (BIA 1985) ID 2997 (PDF) (1) A court decree confirming a nonjudicial divorce under Ghanaian customary law issued by an appropriate Ghanaian court is accepted as evidence both that a customary marriage was dissolved by a customary divorce and that the customary divorce is regarded as valid by the Ghanaian Government. (2) A Ghanaian court decree which either grants or confirms a Ghanaian customary divorce is an essential element of proof in substantiating a claimed customary divorce in that if the petitioner is unable to persuade Ghanaian court officials that the decree should be issued because the questions relating to the tribal affiliations of the parties concerned, the customary divorce law of that tribe, or the conformance to the pertinent ceremonial procedures, then that petitioner cannot satisfy his burden of proving the claimed customary divorce for purposes of the United States immigration laws. Matter of DaBaase, 16 I&N Dec. 720 (BIA 1979), aff'd, DaBaase v. INS, 627 F.2d 117 (8th Cir. 1980) (per curiam) Matter of DaBaase, 16 I&N Dec. 39 (BIA 1976) and Matter of Akinola, 15 I&N Dec. 359 (BIA 1975), modified. (3) A Ghanaian court decree confirming a nonjudicial divorce under Ghanaian customary law is not deemed to be conclusive proof of the facts certified therein because of the potential for fraud or error in their issuance: fraud or mistake may be reasonably suspected where the facts recited on the decree of confirmation are contradicted by other evidence and the discrepancies have not been satisfactorily explained by the petitioner or where there is an absence of sufficient corroborating evidence.