Cancellation of Removal Oakland MI

Oakland’s Premier Legal Counsel Regarding Cancellation of Removal

A successful Cancellation of Removal provides immigration relief for non-citizens in removal proceedings, because it provides a defense to deportation from the United States. Cancellation of Removal is allowed only once in a lifetime, and will be denied if the applicant ever received it before for any reason. Under current US immigration law there are different requirements for non-citizens that are not Lawful Permanent Residents, and persons that are Lawful Permanent Residents (LPRs), that are set forth in the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA).

INA section 240A(b)(1) Cancellation of Removal allows the non-Lawful Permanent Resident to become a Lawful Permanent Resident, and avoid removal to their country of citizenship, provided that they are successful before an Immigration Judge in their petition. If the non-Lawful Permanent Resident is placed in deportation proceedings and is seeking Cancellation of Removal under INA 240A(b)(1), the non-citizen must prove each and every of the following:
1. the non-citizen has been physically present in the United States for at least ten years;
2. the non-citizen has good moral character for at least ten years;
3. the non-citizen has not been convicted of certain crimes listed in INA sections 212(a)(2), 237(a)(2), or 237(a)(3);
4. the non-citizen’s removal would cause an exceptional and extremely unusual hardship to the non-citizen’s lawful permanent resident or US citizen spouse, child, or parent (also known as a qualifying relative).

As a general policy, Immigration Judges rarely approve Cancellation of Removal, because the standard of proof of “exceptional and unusual hardship” is an extremely high and difficult burden. The Immigration Court will strictly scrutinize whether the applicant possesses the required good moral character, and whether an exceptional and extremely unusual hardship actually exists. If the individual is not legally able to receive Cancellation of Removal for any particular reason (because of criminal grounds, antiterrorism grounds, the individual is crewman who entered after June 30, 1964, the individual is considered a certain J visa exchange visitors that did not satisfy their two year requirement, the individual previously was granted Cancellation of Removal, the individual does not meet all of the other requirements outlined above, etc.) the Immigration Judge will not approve Cancellation of Removal application, no matter what the compelling reason or personal hardship. Cancellation of Removal is only available for non-Lawful Permanent Residents or Lawful Permanent Residents who are already in removal proceedings; a non-citizen should never place himself or herself into harms way and seek to be placed into removal proceedings to try to obtain Cancellation of Removal, even if the individual believes he or she has a very winnable case.

The Violence Against Women Act (also called VAWA) is also a form of Cancellation of Removal for non-Lawful Permanent Residents who are either the children (male or female) or spouses (male or female) of a US citizen or Lawful Permanent Resident abuser, that have been subjected to battery or who are the victims of extreme cruelty by that abuser. The non-citizen applicant is required to sufficiently prove all of the following for their VAWA petition:
1. the non-citizen has been battered by or suffered extreme cruelty from a Lawful Permanent Resident (green card holder) or United States citizen abuser, or is the parent of a child who suffered such abuse;
2. must be present in the US for three years before applying;
3. would suffer extreme hardship, or that his or her child or parent would suffer extreme hardship, if the individual was removed;
4. good moral character during the period of physical presence;
5. is not inadmissible or deportable due to certain crimes (including, but not limited to, aggravated felonies), terrorism grounds, marriage fraud, false claim of US citizenship, failure to register, or providing false documents;
6. merits a favorable exercise of discretion.

There are other forms of Cancellation of Removal for Lawful Permanent Residents (green card holders) such as an INA section 240A(a) waiver and a INA section 212(c) waiver. Under INA section 240A(a) a Lawful Permanent Resident (green card holder) can avoid removal to their country of citizenship from the United States by proving the following:
1. must be an Lawful Permanent Resident for at least five years;
2. must have resided in the United States continuously for seven years after lawful admission;
3. no aggravated felonies, cancellation of removal, INA 212(c) relief, or suspension of deportation in the the past;
4. does not fall into other categories such as being a terrorist, persecutor, certain crewmen, or an exchange visitor;
5. is able to convince the Immigration Judge that the positive factors for keeping the individual in the US outweighs the reason for removal of the individual.

INA section 212(c) is a highly complicated but extremely important variety of United States immigration relief that also gives Lawful Permanent Residents a chance to avoid deportation despite the fact that they are determined to be inadmissible and/or deportable. However, there are grounds for denial and pitfalls, for which hiring an experienced and dedicated immigration lawyer to represent you is absolutely mandatory. The reason INA section 212(c) relief is sought after and so desirable is due to the fact that it [unlike other forms of United States immigration relief] gives the Immigration Judge the ability to waive all grounds of inadmissibility, and also the burden is often easier to meet than the standard of “extreme hardship” under INA section 212(h). The basic requirements of INA section 212(c) Cancellation of Removal are that the inadmissibility or deportation of the non-citizen is based on one or more criminal convictions from before April 1, 1997, the non-citizen has never ever received Cancellation of Removal during their lifetime, and the non-citizen must have seven years of lawful unrelinquished domicile in the United States.

The Cancellation of Removal information that you just read is subject to change, repeal, or modification at any future point in time, and is only intended to encourage you to seek help from a top tier immigration professional. The information that you just read is not a substitute for hiring a talented immigration attorney to give you proper legal advice, to develop a sound immigration defense strategy, and to fully and properly represent you in Immigration Court. United State’s immigration policy, case law, and other statutory law may impact your Cancellation of Removal (for example, “stop clock” provisions based upon certain criminal convictions of the individual that may impact an Immigration Judge’s calculation of how long the non-citizen was deemed to be physically present in the United States in order to qualify for Cancellation of Removal). Other significant and important types of immigration relief are potentially available to the non-citizen beyond what is stated herein, and a experienced immigration attorney is in the best position to tell you your options (for example, other forms may potentially include any of the following: I-192, I-212, 601, 601A, asylum, CAT (Convention Against Torture), withholding or removal, 212(h) waiver, U visa, S visa, T visa, CSPA, etc). For all removal defense issues a non-citizen should immediately seek proper legal advice and representation from a trusted immigration professional, such as the lawyers at Hilf & Hilf, PLC.