URGENT@ DEPORTATION or VOLUNTARY DEPARTURE

C

cherdarling

Registered Users (C)
Hello.

My best friend who lives somewhere in the East Coast has been been there
with his family for 7 years now, and still an undocumented alien. His siblings and parents were able to legalize their papers because of their jobs, and hes the only one illegal left in their family. Last year, he was caught with marijuana and had drug charges, was jailed for months and got out because of bail. His probationary period is almost finished in weeks time this year since they had paid the fines/penalty in full as per Probation Officer. He already got his clearance early this month and will have his last court hearing also this month.

I want to know what could be the court's decision regarding his case. Will it be Deportation or Voluntary Departure? Since he doesn't have any family left (except his relatives) back in his native land, could that affect the court's decision? His Immigration Lawyer has been advising him since last year after he got out of jail that his only way to legalize his stay in the US is to marry a US Citizen. Is it too late for him to follow his lawyer's advice since his court trial is fast approaching? If he'll get deported or vice versa, how long does the process would take?

I need help and response regarding this matter ASAP. Thank You.
 
Legalising his stay is one issue. The criminal case is another. Does this lawyer practice both immigration and criminal law?

cherdarling said:
His Immigration Lawyer has been advising him since last year after he got out of jail that his only way to legalize his stay in the US is to marry a US Citizen.
Click to expand...
 
Even marriage to a USC doesn't buy you a free pass into the US. His drug conviction would require him to get a waiver. He really doesn't need a Attorney to ask for VD. A Judge can award that to him regardless of his criminal history, they shouldn't but they do. If he isn't in ICE custody, he will need to show that he has the means to depart (valid passport, money for ticket) and might be required to post a departure bond. If in their custody, he should have a passport, and be able to pay the cost of a ticket on a government plane. You should always take VD over a deportaion if you plan on coming back.

I'm not sure what you are trying to say, you talk about a trial and then say he is on probation. Probation means he was convicted, are we looking at two drug crimes or one?
 
Last edited by a moderator:
@TripleCitizen: I am not sure if his lawyer both practice Immigration and Criminal Law. But as far as I know, she's the only lawyer his family has been consulting. The lawyer was referred by his sister's boyfriend.


@DafortyCal: Just one drug charge as far as I know. As what my best friend told me, though he only stayed in jail for 4 months (2008) and got out because of bail and was sent back home, he was still placed under probation from the day he got out up to this very minute (August2008-July2009). Every month he sees his Probation Officer for urine samples, some times the P.O visits his house to check his lifestyle. And every 2 mos since last year, he's been attending some court hearing procedures regarding his case but always adjourned. They usually stayed in court for 10-20mins only. Last March or April, the Probation Officer informed him that if he wanted his probation to finish faster, they need to pay the fines in full and so they did it. And he was also informed that his next hearing is due on the last week of this month. And just 4 days ago, he already received his clearance from Hudson County. I'm not so sure what was that for. And by the way, what is that waiver for?

Ever since he got out of jail, the Lawyer had been telling the family that his "only" way to legalize his stay in the US is to marry a citizen, since he's an undocumented alien for such a long time and with a drug charge on his hand. He left the Philippines in 2002.

So what do you think can be the court's decision to this issue? Will it be too late for him to follow his lawyer's advice since the clearance was already out and his court hearing is at the end of this month. What do you think could be the family's next step? If it will be Deportation or Voluntary Departure, how long does those process would take?
 
Last edited by a moderator:
cherdarling said:
So what do you think can be the court's decision to this issue? Will it be too late for him to follow his lawyer's advice since the clearance was already out and his court hearing is at the end of this month. What do you think could be the family's next step? If it will be Deportation or Voluntary Departure, how long does those process would take?
Click to expand...

I think you are confusing immigration and criminal issues. The criminal court does not have jurisdiction over immigration matters and unless your friend was reported to ICE for being illegal and CIE moved to deport him then voluntary departure or deportation do not even come into play.


Now if ICE has issued a notice to appear and the court hearing you are talking about is in immigration court then he needs to listen to his lawyer. If he has already been put in removal proceedings then he will only be able to AOS (get legal ) if the judge lets him file AOS with the court. At his master hearing the judge will advise him as to the forms of relief that maybe available to him and ask if he would like to pursue them. As far as I can tell the only way he will be able to get legal is if he married a US citizen and asked the immigration court to let him adjust his status. It will be hard to do that though because he will need a waiver for his drug charge
 
@AzBlk: Hmm, I am not sure if the court hearing he had been attending is for the Immigration. But he once told me that if I haven't heard anything from him in the next couple of weeks, he might be already under the custody of the Immigration. I remember him also telling me that his lawyer would try to convince the judge/court to let him have VD rather than Deportation because he doesn't really want to go into fixed marriage.

With regards to his probation, it's almost finished. They already paid the fines in full. And he got his clearance from Hudson County just 4 days ago.

The last time he went to court, I think that was April or May, it was adjourned. And his next hearing will be on the last week of July. Hopefully, that will be his last.

But do you think is it already too late for them to get him a US Citizen for Marriage for Convenience? With the drug charge on his hand and being an illegal alien for such a long time, does marrying a US Citizen would save him from coming back to Philippines?
 
Last edited by a moderator:
cherdarling said:
But do you think is it already too late for them to get him a US Citizen for Marriage for Convenience?
Click to expand...

What you are asking or suggesting is illegal. And if he gets caught he will forever be banned from coming back to America.
 
I know. And personally I wouldn't let him do that. But his family is so pursued of looking for one because they want their son to be legal. I just want to know if its too late for them to do that step. If engaging to MOC would save their son from coming back to the Philippines?
 
I know. Personally as his best friend, I wouldn't let him do that, and i'm so against it. His family is so eager to look for one because they wanted him to stay in the US. They couldn't do any thing because of the drug charge. I just wanna know if its too late for them to engage in MOC. Will that save him from coming back to the Philippines?
 
"At his master hearing the judge will advise him as to the forms of relief that maybe available to him and ask if he would like to pursue them. "

I don't know how they do things in your part of the country, but I have never seen anyone advised of his forms of relief until after deportability has been determined. Even then the government can object.

His best bet would be for his parents to naturalize, him to remain unmarried, and they file a application for him. Then again, if he has a problem with illegal drugs he is wasting his time because ICE will remove him after his next arrest.
 
I totally agree with Darfortycal. If his familly really want's to help him out, his parents needs to become US Citizens provided they've been legal for at leas 5 years. Don't tempt fate and make the problem worse by getting him permanently banned thru a sham marriage.
Now for the hard part. He will need a 601 waiver, but for that to be approved he must prove that not granting him the waiver would cause extreme hardship to his parents or other legal immediate relatives. That's his main problem at this point.
 
His parents are already US Citizens/ Green card holders. They also did that sham marriage but unfortunately, the "sham" thing got real that caused the break up of his family. That resulted my best friend to being so rebellious =(. And now, the family wanted to do that sham thing again at their son's expense. I think his parents already filed a petition for him 1 year ago prior to his arrest.

What are those advises the court usually would suggest? What is 601 waiver?

So you mean to say, he goes to sham marriage or not, he will still go back to the Philippines?
 
Last edited by a moderator:
First things first. Can you drop the sham marriage thing? It's illegal and will get your friend permanently banned from the USA.
Are his parents Green Card Holders or US Citizens? They cannot be both. If he is unmmarried that's a difference of six month (Parents are US Citizen) or 5-10 years or more (parents are green card holders.)
Which court you're talking about?
Because of conviction, he must have a waiver that forgives his transgressions. 601 waiver.
He may have to go back even if his parents filed for him.
 
@Bahamas68: I think they're Green Card Holders. But yeah, I either not in favor of the sham marriage. His parents thinks that's the only way he could stay in the US.

Court? I think he had been attending the Immigration court hearing, as his cousin told me.

What's the best advice that you could give me, so I can tell this to him.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Here is the deal. Others please chime in. Based on this statement, "I think he had been attending the Immigration court hearing, as his cousin told me." It doesn't seem to me that your friend is in deportation proceedings. He cannot have been attending immigration court hearing. There are only two distinct dates as relates to immigration court. 1. The master calendar hearing, and 2. The individual hearing. You don't continually go to immigration court like have been attending. It doesn't work like that. It's either one of the two above, as I mentioned. So it sounds to me that your friend is in criminal court. Immigration has nothing to do with that.
His crime looks to me that it's a misdeameanor, ( provided it's a first offense), based on the fact that he only served only four months in jail. It depends on where you live. But from what I'm seeing, I don't think his crimes amounted to a felony. If I'm correct, than he qualifies for the petty crime exemption, and that won't raise any flags with immigration.
Most jurisdictions don't report you to immigration for petty crimes. Besides if they reported him, they would be required to hold him until immigration comes to pick him up. And put him in jail until he faces an immigration judge.
So, in a nutshell, I don't think your friend is in any form of immigration proceedings. So, instead of him rocking the boat and worry about all that, just wait for immigration to make the next move. If he is in the system, believe me if immigration/ICE wants to find him, they know exactly what to do.
So, instead of examining all those scenarios, the first thing to ask your friend is if he has received a Notice to Appear (NTA). If he doesn't have one, he can turn himself in or wait to be found.
 
Hmm...ok i get it. But why did he told us that just in case we haven't heard anything from him in the next couple of weeks he might be in the jail again or somethin?... Why was his lawyer had been advising him to go and marry a Citizen for him to stay legally in the US? And the clearance, what's that for? That came from the Hudson County Jail where he was jailed.

And the last time we talked, he mentioned that his lawyer would try to convince the judge to just allow him to voluntary leave the country than be deported.
Regarding the court hearings, he's scheduled to attend to those once every 3 months.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
cherdarling said:
Hmm...ok i get it. But why did he told us that just in case we haven't heard anything from him in the next couple of weeks he might be in the jail again or somethin?... Why was his lawyer had been advising him to go and marry a Citizen for him to stay legally in the US? And the clearance, what's that for? That came from the Hudson County Jail where he was jailed.

And the last time we talked, he mentioned that his lawyer would try to convince the judge to just allow him to voluntary leave the country than be deported.
Regarding the court hearings, he's scheduled to attend to those once every 3 months.
Click to expand...

Like I said in an earlier posting you are probably confusing criminal court with immigration court. You friend most likely has criminal problems and not immigration issues. Now I do not know that lawyer but assisting or advising a client to commit an illegal act is a sure way to get oneself disbarred.

On those court proceeding those are definitely not immigration related. If it was immigration they would have ordered him deported already assuming he has not relief available to him.
 
guys heres the concern now:

I've just talked to my best friend tonight. His clearance from Hudson County states that he's already cleared from the offense that's why he'll have his Criminal court hearing scheduled on the 28th of this month, and his Immigration court hearing will be on the 30th. He said those might be the last court hearings for him. All in all, he'd been attending 2 hearings at the same time every 3 months for both Criminal and Immigration Court.

Now, his lawyer told or advised them ( he went there with his mom), that he needs to find a US Citizen for MOC asap and he needs to get married within the week...as in within this week before he goes to the immigration court hearing! The lawyer said that is the "ONLY" way for him to stay in the US, or he'll get deported...it's like a matter of life and death situation. The hearing is like 2 weeks from now, and he should get a USC and should get married within the week. So what do you think can be his family's next step to this? What about the advise of that lawyer?

I need your opinion.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
cherdarling said:
guys heres the concern now:

I've just talked to my best friend tonight. His clearance from Hudson County states that he's already cleared from the offense that's why he'll have his Criminal court hearing scheduled on the 28th of this month, and his Immigration court hearing will be on the 30th. He said those might be the last court hearings for him. All in all, he'd been attending 2 hearings at the same time every 3 months for both Criminal and Immigration Court.

Now, his lawyer told or advised them ( he went there with his mom), that he needs to find a US Citizen for MOC asap and he needs to get married within the week...as in within this week before he goes to the immigration court hearing! The lawyer said that is the "ONLY" way for him to stay in the US, or he'll get deported...it's like a matter of life and death situation. The hearing is like 2 weeks from now, and he should get a USC and should get married within the week. So what do you think can be his family's next step to this? What about the advise of that lawyer?

I need your opinion.
Click to expand...

He needs to get his affairs in order then leave. If he gets voluntary departure then he mmight be able to come back in 5/10/15 years but it he embarks on the fools errand of a MOC, it is still unlikely he will get a green card sans a i-601 waiver because of his drug conviction and then also if he gets caught he will be banned for life.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top