Legal Question in Immigration Law in New York

Re: Residency

There are too many facts missing in your question to answer it.

For one, it is not clear whether the court date your mother missed resulted in her deportation prior to her return (the first time -- as the second return was clearly post-deportation). The reason this is important is that the general rule is that a person previously ordered deported who enters the United States without being lawfully admitted (i.e. without inspection), or attempts such an entry, is permanently barred for admission to the United States; no waiver of this bar is normally available. A person who was placed in deportation proceedings upon their entry to the U.S. and was ordered deported is inadmissible for a minimum of five years. If the person is ordered deported from the U.S. after a deportation or removal hearing or who departed while an order of removal was outstanding, they are inadmissible for 10 years. After a second deportation, the period of inadmissibility is 20 years. In some limited circumstances, these periods may be waived.

Then, the issue is the nature of the underlying crime that caused the deportation. If the alien has been convicted of an aggravated felony, he or she must remain outside of the United States for twenty consecutive years from the deportation date before he or she is eligible to re-enter the United States.

Those permanent residents who have ever been convicted of an aggravated felony are permanently inadmissible to the U.S. and generally are not eligible for a waiver.

It is also important to know what weapon offenses and any other crimes your mother was convicted of. As stated above, an aggravated felony conviction has very dire consequences for a green card holder; however, certain other criminal convictions known as "crimes involving moral turpitude" can also result in a bar to admission. Waivers may be available in limited circumstances. A waiver analysis is very fact-specific.

Contact a qualified immigration attorney to get answers to your questions. Waivers for previously deported LPRs based on criminal history are complex matters that require a full review of the relevant facts and complicated legal analysis.

The above reply is in the nature of general information, is not legal advice and should not be relied on as such.