Reopening Removal
Proceedings
By James E. Root
Los Angeles, CA
Mr. Gulzar Singh, a native and
citizen of India, entered the US in 1997, with a
visitor visa. He remained in the US past the authorized
time and filed an asylum application. Subsequently,
Mr. Singh wrote to the asylum office withdrawing
his asylum application stating he would try to live
in a different city in his home country. Although
he did not provide the asylum office with a forwarding
address, he departed the US on May 1, 1998.
Two months later, the asylum office served a Notice
to Appear (NTA), which is the charging document
placing someone into removal proceedings, to Mr.
Singh’s last known US address. The NTA alleged
Mr. Singh was removable as an alien who stayed in
the US longer than permitted. When Mr. Singh did
not appear for his removal proceedings hearing,
the Immigration Judge ordered him removed in absentia.
Mr. Singh re-entered the US in 1999. In 2002, he
filed a motion to reopen his removal proceedings
and to rescind the in absentia removal order. His
motion was denied. The Board of Immigration Appeals
held there was no jurisdiction to adjudicate the
motion because it was filed after Mr. Singh departed
the US. Then he filed a Petition for Review with
the Ninth Circuit US Court of Appeals. The Ninth
Circuit granted the petition.
Generally, an alien who leaves the US after removal
proceedings have already been initiated is barred
from filing a motion to reopen. But that rule did
not apply in Mr. Singh’s case because he departed
from the US before removal proceedings began, and
he established he was not in the US when the NTA
was mailed, and so he never received the required
statutory notice or the notice of change of address
notification. Accordingly, his motion to reopen
should have been granted.
(Mr. James E. Root practices exclusively immigration
law. He has offices in the Los Angeles and Orange
Counties. For a free initial consultation please
contact 1(888) ROOT-LAW or visit www.RootLaw.com)
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