Cancellation of Removal for legal permanent residents or LPR Cancellation of Removal.
What is Cancellation of Removal?
Cancellation of Removal is a benefit that is considered a form of relief from removal to Noncitizens who are legal permanent residents or green card holders through the filing of the form 42A before the immigration judge or the Executive Office of Immigration Review also known as the EOIR. Legal Permanent Residents subject to deportation proceedings are legal permanent residents who committed an immigration law violation after they obtained their green card. There is a long list of immigration law violations including the violation of criminal laws which include:
​
-
Conviction of a Crime Involving Moral Turpitude committed within five years of admission into the United States or ten years if the green card was received for being a criminal informant and where the crime is punishable by a sentence of at least one year,
-
Conviction of two or more crimes involving moral turpitude at any time after admission into the United States,
-
Conviction of an aggravated felony crimes after admission into the United States,
-
Conviction for a high-speed flight from an immigration checkpoint,
-
Conviction of committing or conspiring to commit espionage, sabotage, treason or sedition punishable by at least five years,
-
Conviction for a Controlled Substance Related Crime,
-
Conviction for certain Firearms related crimes,
-
Crimes related to Domestic Violence, Child Neglect, Child Abuse, Child Abandonment and Stalking,
​​
The list of deportable immigration law violations include a legal permanent resident being considered a terrorist, threat to national security, someone who has participated in smuggling, and a conditional legal permanent resident married for less than two years when the green card was approved who was not able to remove the conditional green card’s conditional status. We discuss potential immigration law violations that make a noncitizen deportable here.
Eligibility requirements.
-
The noncitizen must be a legal permanent resident for at least five years.
-
The noncitizen has accrued at least seven years of continuous residence in the United States after admission into the United States.
-
The seven years can count since the noncitizen was admitted as a legal permanent resident which would require the noncitizen to have the green card for seven years instead of five years or the seven-year period can be counted since the noncitizen was admitted into the United States under any legal immigration status. An example is a noncitizen who entered the United States on a tourist visa and a few years later obtained the green card. The seven-year period could count since the date of legal admission into the United States on the tourist visa.
-
Note that the seven-year period stops accrual when the Notice to Appear or NTA is filed with the immigration court detailing the immigration law violations subjecting the legal permanent resident to deportation.
-
The seven-year period also stops accrual of time on the date the noncitizen committed certain offenses under immigration law. These are typically the crimes referred here previously as crimes involving moral turpitude, and crimes related to controlled substances as well as other crimes listed under immigration law.
-
The noncitizen did not fall under the category of persecutor or terrorist or obtained the green card through fraud or mistake.
-
The noncitizen was not convicted of an aggravated felony.
Cancellation is granted as a matter of discretion.
An immigration judge has the discretion to grant or deny an application for cancellation of deportation. In determining whether to grant cancellation an immigration judge considers such factors as the length of residence in the United States, any family and community ties in the United States as well as any community service work.
Furthermore, the immigration judge can look at the following circumstances to consider the effect deportation can have on the legal permanent resident or family members.
-
age;
-
health;
-
special needs in school;
-
length of residence in the United States;
-
family and community ties in the United States;
-
family and community ties in the home country;
-
circumstances in the home country, including standard of living, way of life, languages spoken, work opportunities; and
-
alternative methods for immigrating the cancellation applicant.
​
Benefit Granted.
A grant of cancellation of removal will stop deportation of the noncitizen returning legal permanent resident status. Note that the approval of cancellation of removal is only granted once.
Denial.
If the application is denied, the noncitizen will be subject to being removed from the United States although the noncitizen also has the right to appeal the judge’s decision before the Board of Immigration Appeals.
Most often removal cases are cases where the noncitizen should seek the representation of an experienced immigration attorney to help the noncitizen wade through the potential pitfalls of the removal and cancellation of removal process.