Cancellation of Removal Considerations in Virginia

One important consideration in someone’s application to remember is that someone does not have to have police reports, or have had ever called the police, or have had a conviction for domestic violence in order to qualify. There are certain types of victim-based benefits that require an individual to have reported the abuse, but this is not one of them. As long as someone or their cancellation of removal lawyer can show the battery or extreme cruelty they suffered to the satisfaction of the judge, it is not going to bar them from receiving status.

Another consideration to remember is that physical abuse is not a requirement. Someone can show that they are suffering and the abuse occurred in other ways other than physical abuse. Those are a bit more difficult to prove but someone is not disqualified if they have not suffered physical abuse.

Stop Time Rule

One important consideration to remember in a cancellation of removal application in Virginia is to make sure, like with the other two types of applications, that the individual applying knows about the stop time rule and are able to prove three years of physical presence in the Unites States from the day of entry to the date the notice to appear was issued. They should make sure that if they do not meet the date requirement then they speak to a Virginia immigration attorney and look into other options and into the possibility of requesting prosecutorial discretion to get the notice to appear re-issued.

Common Application Mistakes

A common mistake people make in their cancellation of removal application in Virginia is believing just their own testimony is going to be sufficient. In some cases, it will be, but it is best to provide hard evidence to the judge when making the decision about the barrier of extreme cruelty. People who are eligible for this have often been through trauma and when there are issues involved like PTSD, they may not remember dates, timelines, and details of the abuse. Often, the first time someone is speaking about the abuse, it might be with their attorney. Details can be difficult to remember, and that is an important consideration to take in someone’s application.

An attorney will need to submit a declaration with a timeline of the abuse and the details of the abused prior to the court hearing, so that the court can review this. When someone is giving their testimony in court, they need to make sure that they are properly prepared to testify and they are properly prepared for the hearing, so that their testimony will align with their declaration on the evidence that they have already submitted. This takes a lot of review, discussion, and practice with an attorney beforehand, because sometimes when an individual is up on the stand and they are being interrogated about this suffering they have been through, it is easy for people to get stumbled and the prosecutor can try to impeach their credibility based on bad memory.

A person needs to be aware of these particular considerations in their cancellation of removal cases in Virginia and will need to discuss strategies for dealing with trauma when testifying about suffering they have been through. Someone should discuss these considerations with their attorney prior to the court date and as soon as they can.