In an unpublished decision, the Ninth Circuit applied the Supreme Court's recent decision in Maslenjak v. US to determine if a petitioner had been lawfully admitted to permanent residence. The petitioner had used a false birth certificate to adjust status, though all evidence suggested that he was eligible to adjust under his true identity. "First, Maslenjak suggests that falsehoods that do not otherwise affect an applicant’s substantive legal eligibility for permanent residence do not justify concluding that the applicant was not 'lawfully admitted for permanent residence.' Second, Maslenjak suggests that substantive qualification for LPR status is a complete defense to the allegation that one was not 'lawfully admitted for permanent residence.'”
Thus, the court remanded for the Board of Immigration Appeals to determine if it should adopt the Maslenjak standard for determining whether a noncitizen is lawfully admitted to permanent residence.
The full text of Sandoval v. Sessions can be found here:
https://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/memoranda/2017/08/18/13-73009.pdf