634 B.R. 11

Section 109(a)'s requirement that the debtor has property in the U.S. does not apply to chapter 15 debtor. If section 109 applicable, it makes section last sentence in section 1528 providing for debtor to file another case under Title 11 "only if the debtor has assets" in the U.S. duplicative and superfluous. Applying section 109(a) in chapter 15 also conflicts with the venue statute for cases where a debtor lacks assets in the U.S. Section 1517 makes no reference to section 109 and requiring compliance with section 109 would graft section 109(a) into section 1517.