Cancellation of Removal for Permanent Residents

 

Cancellation of Removal for Permanent Residents

Similar to Cancellation of Removal for Nonpermanent Residents, “Cancellation for Permanent Residents” is just what it sounds like as well.  If a person is a legal permanent resident (green card holder) in the United States, it is possible to lose that status if the person abandons their permanent resident status, or if he or she commits certain criminal acts or otherwise violates U.S. immigration law.  If the U.S. government decides to attempt to deport a permanent resident, that person will be placed in Immigration Court Removal Proceedings, and that person can possibly apply for Cancellation of Removal.  For this kind of cancellation, a person must have:

  1. 7 years of physical presence in the United States “admitted in any status.”
  2. 5 years as a permanent resident in the United States.
  3. The person cannot have been convicted of any “aggravated felonies.”  

The definition of an aggravated felony is quite complicated, and any person with a permanent-resident loved one or friend that may qualify for cancellation of removal should consult an attorney.  As with Cancellation of Removal for Nonpermanent Residents, it is necessary for the applicant to prove to the Immigration Judge that he or she deserves the Judge’s favorable exercise of discretion.

Lessons from the Past

There is a vague popular belief that lawyers are necessarily dishonest. I say vague, because when we consider to what extent confidence and honors are reposed in and conferred upon lawyers by the people, it appears improbable that their impression of dishonesty is very distinct and vivid. Yet the impression is common, almost universal. Let no young man choosing the law for a calling for a moment yield to the popular belief – resolve to be –> honest at all events; and if in your own judgment you cannot be an honest lawyer, <– resolve to be honest without being a lawyer. Choose some other occupation, rather than one in the choosing of which you do, in advance, consent to be a knave.

Abraham Lincoln

The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln edited by Roy P. Basler, Volume II, "Notes for a Law Lecture", (July 1, 1850), p. 82.

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