TIME FOR APPEAL OF DEPORTATION - by an immigration attorney

If you were told that it was too late to file your Motion to Reopen your case, the Court of Appeals may have good news for you in one of their recent cases!

The court has just ruled that there is no time limit for a Motion to Reopen based on lack of notice. This means that a Motion to Reopen could be filed on an argument of lack of notice at “any time” without any questions as to when the alien learned of the existence of the order.

Why is this important! Well, if you are one of those people who have an outstanding deportation order, you know just how important it can be. Did you get the notice? Did it go to your immigration consultant and you never learned about it? Did you move?

A good way to understand this ruling is to look at the case the court used to make its ruling. Michelle and her son had a deportation order entered by an Immigration Judge. They filed a Motion to Reopen saying they never received any notice. The Immigration Judge denied their motion, because they waited seven months to file the motion. They appealed this order and won their argument.

Michelle and her son went to an immigration consultant who gave an address that the consultant said Michelle and her son had lived at for five years. In fact they had never lived at this address! They failed to attend asylum interview and the case was referred to immigration court. A certified letter was sent to the immigration consultant’s address and he signed for it. Michelle and her son never knew about the letter or the upcoming hearing it explained.

When Michelle and her son did not attend the Immigration Court hearing the Immigration Judge issued an order of deportation in Michelle’s absence. Some seven months latter, when Michelle found out about the deportation order, she filed her Motion to Reopen. The Immigration Judge denied the motion saying that she did not explain the delay.

The appellate court said the Immigration Judge was wrong! They ruled that there is no time limit for such a motion, when it is based on lack of notice. The Appellate court even cited a case that involved a ten year delay!  This case was reopened after ten years!

If you have an outstanding Deportation order and do not think you received proper notice, you must consult an immigration attorney immediately.