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CITIZENSHIP RESULTS DEMONSTRATE EXTENT OF INS DISCRETION
The experiences of identical twin sisters who applied for US citizenship demonstrate what many consider excessive INS discretion.  Lyaman and Ilyana Savy, immigrants from Azerbaijan, submitted the same documents with their citizenship applications.  They were applying through their mother, who became a citizen in March 1997.  Ilyana was granted citizenship in June 1998.  Her sister’s case was not resolved until this week, two years later. 
Refugees such as the Savy’s often have a difficult time obtaining government documents to prove identity and family relationships.  In this case, the mother was divorced from the father, but did not have a court order showing that she had custody of the girls.  When they applied for citizenship, they included affidavits from friends saying that the girls had lived with their mother since the divorce, and that they did not have any contact with their father. 
The INS adjudicator handling Ilyana’s application found the evidence submitted sufficient and granted citizenship.  The adjudicator handling Lyaman’s application said that only a court order of custody would be sufficient. 
The mother began a two-year letter writing campaign, and recently spoke about the case to a local newspaper.  One day after the story was published, the INS reversed its position in Lyaman’s case and granted her citizenship. 
According to an INS spokesperson, the different results were probably attributable to the fact that when the applications were reviewed, there were several new citizenship adjudicators who may not have been aware of the range of documents that can be submitted to show family relationships.