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Date: 06-18-2024
Case Style:
In RE The Marriage of Maria del Carmen Rendon Quijada and Julian Javier Pimicent Dominguez
Case Number: D20221319
Judge: Jay Alan Goodwin
Court: Superior Court, Pima County, Arizona
Plaintiff's Attorney:
Defendant's Attorney:
Description:
Tucson, Arizona family law lawyers represented the parties in a divorce case.
¶2 This case arises from an Arizona divorce proceeding initiated by Maria Del Carmen Rendon Quijada ("Rendon"), which was dismissed for lack of subject matter jurisdiction pursuant to a motion filed by her husband, Julian Javier Pimienta Dominguez ("Pimienta").
¶3 Rendon and Pimienta married in Mexico in 1999. They relocated to the United States in 2007.
¶4 Pimienta entered the United States on a TN visa. TN visas allow professionals from Canada and Mexico to work temporarily in the United States. See 8 C.F.R. § 214.6(d)(1). Rendon entered the United States on a TD visa. TD visas are reserved for the spouses and unmarried, minor children of TN visa holders. See 8 C.F.R. § 214.6(j)(1). TN and TD visa holders are "nonimmigrants" who "hav[e] a residence in a foreign country which [they have] no intention of abandoning and who [are] visiting the United States temporarily for business." 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(15)(B); see also 8 U.S.C. § 1184(e)(1) (providing that aliens "who seek[] to enter the United States" on a TN or TD visa "shall be treated as if seeking classification, or classifiable, as a nonimmigrant under section 1101(a)(15)").
¶5 Rendon's TD visa expired in March 2020. In December 2020, Rendon began seeking lawful permanent resident status by having her sister file a Petition for Alien Relative with the U.S. Citizenship and
Immigration Service. That petition was pending at the time of the trial court's August 2022 hearing on Pimienta's motion to dismiss.
¶6 In November 2020, Pimienta filed for marital dissolution in Mexico. Rendon challenged the Mexican court's jurisdiction on the ground that she lives in Arizona, not Mexico. The Mexican court dismissed the case for lack of jurisdiction.
¶7 The couple lived in Arizona before separating. Rendon continues to live in Arizona, but Pimienta moved to Virginia around March 2021. Pimienta has continued to renew his TN visa but refused to renew Rendon's TD visa.
¶8 In May 2022, Rendon filed the dissolution petition at issue here. In response, Pimienta filed a motion to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. He argued Rendon could not establish domicile in Arizona because her TD visa precludes her from intending to remain in the state indefinitely. Despite finding that Rendon subjectively intends to remain in Arizona indefinitely, the trial court granted Pimienta's motion to dismiss. The trial court reasoned that under Ninth Circuit precedent, Rendon's TD visa precludes her from establishing domicile in the United States.
Does federal immigration law divest an Arizona court of jurisdiction over a divorce?
Outcome: No
Plaintiff's Experts:
Defendant's Experts:
Comments: