Deportation Defense

Deportation Defense

Adjustment of status:

The process for adjustment of status to permanent residence occurs in many forms, whether it be through marriage to a U.S. citizen or a lawful permanent resident Cuban national or through a U.S. citizen parent petitioning for his/her child under 21, or a U.S. citizen son or daughter petitioning for his parent, or through the Cuban Adjustment Act for nationals of Cuba or through self-petitioning victims of domestic violence. Beneficiaries of petitions filed prior to April 30, 2001 may also be eligible to adjust status here in the United States, even if they entered without inspection, dependent upon visa availability. Each of these processes has its own requirements and regulations. The firm is experienced in the preparation of legal documentation necessary to obtain lawful permanent residence through all types of family-based petitions, spousal petitions, Cuban adjustment, Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), and employment-based petitions. In order to achieve the desired goal, our legal services do not end with the filing of documents; hence, the firm is committed to remaining actively involved with every step of the adjudication in reference to each document filed on our client's behalf. The processing time for residence applications vary from 4-6 months for most family-based applications before the local USCIS offices, depending on the availability of the visa number, the approval of the visa petition (if required), the priority date of a family or employment-based petition. Immediate relatives of U.S. citizens (parents, spouses, and children under 21) can file for adjustment of status to permanent residence in the United States if they entered the United States legally, are engaged in a bona fide familial relationship (in the case of spouses), and are admissible to the United States. Cuban nationals who were admitted and/or paroled into the United States are eligible for permanent residence as long as they have been physically present in the United States for one year and are admissible. The spouse or child of a U.S. citizen/Lawful Permanent Resident or parent of a U.S. citizen who is battered or subject to extreme cruelty may self-petition and apply for permanent residence when his/her petition is approved. All applicants for permanent residence have to undergo a biometric and fingerprinting process, which checks for criminal records through the FBI data system to insure admissibility to the United States. Applicants are entitled to apply for employment authorization and perhaps travel documents, while their applications are pending. As there are distinct requirements for each manner of adjusting status to permanent residence, we highly recommend that you retain competent counsel, such as our firm, to represent you through the convoluted process and assist you with its intricacies to guarantee the best result.   

Asylum:

There are many reasons people come to the United States, but one of the principal ones is they fear returning to their home country because their lives will be in danger. To qualify for asylum in the United States, you have must apply for said benefit within one-year of your last entry to the country and establish to the satisfaction of the Asylum Officer or the Immigration Judge that you have suffered past persecution or fear future persecution on account of the following protected grounds: race, ethnicity, religion, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group. The burden of proof that must be met is that there is a reasonable likelihood that the person will be persecuted or fears persecution upon returning to their home country. This burden is met through a combination of documentary evidence (police reports, newspaper articles, affidavits, etc.) and credible and persuasive testimony. As this process is documents intensive, we urge you to retain counsel to present your case in the best light. The processing time before the Miami Asylum Officer is about 3-4 months for an interview and if the asylum application is pending for more than 150 days, the person is eligible to apply for employment authorization. Before the Immigration Court, the asylum process can take upwards to one year. Aliens granted asylum are eligible to apply for permanent residence after one-year in asylee status, as well as having the right to petition derivative immediate family members either here in the United States or abroad. The asylum process and the legal standards needed to sustain one’s burden of proof are complicated and very legal case-specific, so we urge you to retain competent counsel to represent you with your asylum application, especially given the fact that there is a one-year deadline to file. Before the Immigration Court, it is even more urgent, as the process is confrontational, with the government attorney urging the Court to remove the alien back to his home country. This process can take in excess of one year before the Immigration Court and fingerprinting services are mandatory.  

Cancellation of Removal:

There are two forms of this relief available to aliens in removal proceedings. For lawful permanent residents, an alien is eligible to apply if he/she has been a lawful permanent resident for five years, has resided continuously in the United States for seven years after having been admitted into the United States in any status, and has not been convicted of an aggravated felony. This application for relief is complicated as to who qualifies, given the “stop-time rule” and the forty-three categories of aggravated felonies. However, if a lawful permanent resident qualifies, the Immigration Judge will cancel a person’s removal if he/she can establish that he/she deserves the benefit as a matter of discretion and the balancing of the positive factors outweigh the negative factors. The positive factors include residence of long duration, family ties in the United States and abroad, property and business ties, community service, military service, extreme hardship suffered by family members, employment history, country conditions in applicant’s home country, and rehabilitation. The negative factors include seriousness and recency of criminal record, nature of grounds for removal, additional immigration violations, and other evidence of bad character (failure to pay taxes, etc.)

For non-lawful permanent residents in removal proceedings, an applicant qualifies for cancellation of removal if he/she has been physically present in the United States for a period of not less than 10 years, has been a person of good moral character during such period, has not been convicted of certain offenses, and establishes that removal would result in exceptional and extremely unusual hardship to a USC or LPR spouse, parent, or child. Again, the requirements for qualifying for this relief are very case-specific, dependent upon the existence of a criminal record and the existence of qualifying relatives and we highly recommend the services of an attorney in Court. 

Both forms of relief are very documents intensive and quite complicated, as the strategy is to present the strongest possible case, given the burdens of proof in both instances are so different and are subject to discretion by the Immigration Judge. The processing time for these applications is dependent upon the Immigration Judge’s calendar and may take in excess of one year and require fingerprint and biometrics services.