Administrative closure is a type of prosecutorial discretion that the federal government may exercise with respect to individuals who have been charged with deportation. When a person’s removal case is administratively closed, it is taken off of the calendar of the immigration court or the Board of Immigration Appeals, for an indefinite period of time. Administrative closure is only a potential remedy for those individuals who have not yet received a final order of removal. After administrative closure, the case can only be recalendered if one of the parties requests that it be put back on the court’s calendar. However, administrative closure does not grant an individual any sort of legal immigration status. One ground for administrative closure in a removal case may be an individual’s eligibility to obtain a provisional unlawful presence waiver. Qualified individuals can receive this waiver, which waives their unlawful presence in the United States for 180 days or more, before they depart the United States in order to appear at a U.S. Embassy or consulate for an immigrant visa interview. The goal of this process is to decrease the amount of time that immediate relatives must be separated while going through the legal immigration process. In order to be eligible to file a request for a provisional unlawful presence waiver, or Form I-601A, you must be the beneficiary of an approved immigrant visa petition that classifies you as an immediate relative of a U.S. citizen. This means that you must be the spouse, parent, or unmarried child under the age of 21, of a U.S. citizen. In addition to approved immigrant visa petition classification, you also must have paid the Department of State immigrant visa processing fee. There are other eligibility requirements for a provisional unlawful presence waiver, as well, which include requirements that you be at least 17 years of age, that refusal of your admission to the U.S. would cause extreme hardship to your U.S. citizen spouse or parent, and be physically present in the U.S. Landerholm Immigration, A.P.C. is an Oakland immigration law firm whose practice is solely dedicated to protecting the interests of immigrants who are charged with removal, but who are seeking to remain in the U.S. We know how to build the strongest case possible and exercise the best options that available to you in order to defend you against deportation. Call us today to set up your consultation and discover what assistance we have to offer you and your family. Para Espanol haz click aqui!
