Nikolay Zyapkov married a U.S. citizen, who filed a petition on his behalf. Later, he was placed into removal proceedings for overstaying his tourist visa. While in proceedings, his daughter from a previous relationship naturalized and also filed a petition on his behalf. US Citizenship and Immigration Services ultimately concluded that Zyapkov's marriage was fraudulent and denied the petition filed by his wife. Strangely, however, the petition filed by his daughter was subsequently approved, despite the fact that section 204(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act prohibits any person who has been found to have entered into a marriage for the purpose of obtaining immigration benefits to become the beneficiary of another family-based petition in the future. Nevertheless, the Immigration Judge determined that Zyapkov's marriage was a sham, and as such, that he was inadmissible for having committed fraud to gain an immigration benefit. He denied Zyapkov's application for permanent residency based on his inadmissibility and as a matter of discretion.
Despite the inherent contradiction between a marriage fraud finding and the approval of the subsequent petition filed by Zyapkov's daughter, the Seventh Circuit upheld the Judge's marriage fraud finding on appeal.
The full text of Zyapkov v. Lynch can be found here: http://media.ca7.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/rssExec.pl?Submit=Display&Path=Y2016/D03-29/C:15-2063:J:Manion:aut:T:fnOp:N:1727875:S:0