A lawful permanent resident may be placed in removal proceedings because of a criminal conviction. If the lawful permanent resident meets the eligibility criteria and the immigration judge decides that he or she is deserving, he or she will be allowed to stay in the United States despite the criminal conviction.

In order to be eligible for cancellation of removal for lawful permanent residents, you must prove that you:

• Have been a lawful permanent resident for five years
• Resided in the United States for seven years prior to your conviction
• Have not been convicted of an aggravated felony

A lawful permanent resident can only be granted cancellation of removal one time.

If you are a non-permanent resident in the United States, you may be eligible to apply for cancellation of removal if you:

• Have been living in the United States for more than 10 years
• Do not have any disqualifying criminal convictions
• Have been of good moral character for 10 years
• Have a United States citizen or lawful permanent resident spouse, parent or child who would suffer exceptional and extremely unusual hardship if you were removed

If you are granted cancellation of removal for non-permanent residents, you will become a lawful permanent resident. These applications may take a long time, however, because there are a limited number of cases that can be approved every year. You may be eligible to have a work permit or work authorization while your case is pending.

The Department of Homeland Security has the authority to use prosecutorial discretion to administratively close and/or “recalendar” certain types of cases. If you are facing removal or deportation and you are not a priority for removal as defined by the Department of Homeland Security, you may be able to have your case administratively closed. This means you do not have a date to attend court and there is no final order of removal or deportation against you.

In addition to the three means of blocking removal described above, you may be able to apply for the following other applications to stop your removal or deportation:

ASYLUM — If you have been persecuted in the past or fear that you will be persecuted in the future in your home country based on your race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group or political opinion, you may be able to ask that the Immigration Judge grant you asylum. Asylum applications must be filed within one year of your arrival in the United States, with limited exceptions. If you cannot file for asylum due to having missed the one-year deadline, you may be able to seek withholding of removal or protection under the Convention Against Torture, where the immigration judge will order that the government cannot remove or deport you right now because you may face persecution or torture.

ADJUSTMENT OF STATUS — If you have a relative who is a United States citizen and you were admitted or paroled into the United States (or had a visa petition filed for you before April 30, 2001), you may be able to seek adjustment of status. You would first need to have United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) approve an I-130 petition for you and then you could file your application for your lawful permanent residence in removal proceedings. Sometimes, our attorneys can request that the Department of Homeland Security terminate your removal proceedings to allow you to adjust your status in front of USCIS.

WAIVERS — Depending on why you are removable or inadmissible to the United States, you may be able to seek a waiver. If you are eligible for an I-601 provisional waiver, our attorneys may be able to have your removal proceedings temporarily closed to allow you to file this waiver.