There are defenses to deportation or removal proceedings such as cancellation of removal or voluntary departure.  However, determining whether you qualify for one of these defenses depends on many factors. One of those factors is whether the non-immigrant (you) entered the country with or without inspection (inspection does not mean with or without a visa) or if you violated one of the terms. Another factor is whether a removal of non-immigrant would cause an extreme hardship to a United States citizen (USC) spouse or a child.

Because the first two factors are complicated to explain this post, we will only focus on the third factor, which to cancellation of removal based on extreme hardship to a USC.  To qualify for a defense based on an extreme hardship, a non-immigrant must be married to a United States citizen and/or have children(s) or parent(s) who are United States citizens.  Of course, there are various other factors that a non-immigrant must show in order to qualify for any of the defenses mentioned above, which an attorney must evaluate before forming an opinion whether you qualify for one of these defenses.

A point to remember is that even if a cancellation of removal is not available as a defense, a voluntary departure is a desirable alternative than deportation because it helps a non-immigrant preserve his/her right to return to the United States in the near future. However, not everyone qualifies for a voluntary departure. More importantly, overstaying the voluntary departure period could subject the non-immigrant to severe penalties.  Thus, it is imperative that a non-immigrant hire an attorney for deportation advice before his/her court date to determine a type of relief available.

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