Immigration

The purpose of this email is to point out some issues that you can try to specifically raise with an immigration attorney if you can find one. It’s important to look for an attorney who handles VAWA-related work as well as removal proceedings.

• If someone had lawful status and then lost it and ended up with a removal order, depending on what status they had initially and why they lost it, that could affect whether there are any options. If, for example, someone is an LPR and they lose that status because of an aggravated felony conviction, their options for relief will be very limited. Certain kinds of criminal convictions can also affect eligibility for VAWA cancellation and VAWA self-petitions and can trigger inadmissibility grounds for purposes of a U visa or adjustment of status. Sometimes these problems can be overcome, other times they cannot.
• Whether or not the removal can be re-opened in court can depend on when the removal order entered, whether any immigration relief, such as VAWA cancellation of removal, was requested at the time, and why the relief was denied (if it was requested). Normally, a motion to reopen must be filed within 90 days of the order of removal, and an appeal must be filed within 30 days. However, there are some exceptions - for example, a motion to reopen based on VAWA eligibility can be filed up to a year after the order of removal, and could be filed even after that if there are extraordinary circumstances or extreme hardship to the children. The deadlines can also be tolled if there was ineffective assistance of counsel (meaning if someone’s lawyer completely didn’t represent them well in court).
• Assuming someone is otherwise eligible, a VAWA self-petition or U visa could still be available even with a deportation order. However, the person would need to reopen that removal order before adjusting status through VAWA, and they would still want to reopen it with a U visa to avoid issues with international travel and naturalization.

When consulting with the attorney, you should try to bring as many documents related to the removal proceedings as possible, including the judge’s order and any applications that were filed. If you have an arrest and/or conviction history, you should bring those documents as well. Here again is a link to find a legal services lawyer [HYPERLINK] but if that doesn’t work, you can call these national immigration organizations to see whether they provide lawyers or can refer you.