NOT FOR PUBLICATION FILED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS MAY 9 2017
MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
U.S. COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
ARSEN KARAPETYAN, No. 13-70882
Petitioner, Agency No. A055-671-242
v.
MEMORANDUM*
JEFFERSON B. SESSIONS III, Attorney
General,
Respondent.
On Petition for Review of an Order of the
Board of Immigration Appeals
Submitted December 8, 2016**
Pasadena, California
Before: NGUYEN and OWENS, Circuit Judges, and KORMAN,*** District Judge.
Petitioner Arsen Karapetyan appeals from the Board of Immigration
Appeals’ dismissal of his appeal from an immigration judge’s order of removal.
*
This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent
except as provided by Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3.
**
The panel unanimously concludes this case is suitable for decision
without oral argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2).
***
The Honorable Edward R. Korman, United States District Judge for
the Eastern District of New York, sitting by designation.
As the parties are familiar with the facts, we do not recount them here. We have
jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C. § 1252(a)(1), and we deny the petition.
1. Petitioner is inadmissible under 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(2)(A)(i)(I)
Petitioner was found to be inadmissible for committing two crimes involving
moral turpitude: spousal abuse1 and theft.2 Petitioner argues that the immigration
judge improperly admitted and relied upon a California Department of Justice
report and Petitioner’s waiver application in finding that Petitioner had been
convicted of theft. Not so. While the report contained a small error message, it
nonetheless contained all of the information required to qualify as an admissible
abstract of record of conviction under 8 C.F.R. § 1003.41(a)(5). Further,
Petitioner’s waiver application was also admissible because it reasonably indicated
the existence of Petitioner’s theft conviction under 8 C.F.R. § 1003.41(d).
Because he was convicted of two crimes involving moral turpitude, the
“petty offense” exception does not apply, and Petitioner is inadmissible under
8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(2)(A)(i)(I).
1
“[S]pousal abuse under [California Penal Code section] 273.5(a) is a crime
involving moral turpitude.” Morales-Garcia v. Holder, 567 F.3d 1058, 1064 (9th
Cir. 2009).
2
Theft under California Penal Code section 484 is categorically a crime involving
moral turpitude. Castillo-Cruz v. Holder, 581 F.3d 1154, 1159 (9th Cir. 2009).
2
2. Petitioner is ineligible for a waiver under 8 U.S.C. § 1182(h)
Subsection (h) of 8 U.S.C. § 1182 provides that “[n]o waiver shall be
granted under this subsection in the case of an alien who has previously been
admitted to the United States as an alien lawfully admitted for permanent
residence if . . . the alien has not lawfully resided continuously in the United States
for a period of not less than 7 years immediately preceding the date of initiation of
proceedings to remove the alien from the United States.” (emphasis added).
This court recently held that “an alien admitted as a conditional permanent
resident,” like Petitioner here, “constitutes an ‘alien who has previously been
admitted to the United States as an alien lawfully admitted for permanent
residence.’” Eleri v. Sessions, 852 F.3d 879, 883 (9th Cir. 2017) (citing
8 U.S.C. § 1182(h)). Petitioner is thus subject to § 1182(h)’s seven-year residence
requirement—a requirement he cannot meet. Accordingly, Petitioner is ineligible
for a waiver under § 1182(h).
DENIED.
3