Our client had been living in the U.S. as a permanent resident for over 22 years. At a young age, he had been convicted of a charge of burglary. Seventeen years after this conviction, the government issued a notice to appear in immigration court to respond to having committed a crime of moral turpitude and possibly be removed from the U.S. Our client had long moved from the address the government had on file seventeen years earlier, so the notice was never received and he never appeared in court. This caused an order to be entered against him in his absence, finding him removable for a felony crime involving moral turpitude. Client was subsequently picked up at his home and placed in detention. Our attorneys quickly filed a motion to reopen the order of removal, arguing that client was eligible for cancellation of removal due to significant family ties in the U.S., including his U.S. citizen parents, that he maintained steady employment, was remorseful for his past actions and have resided in the U.S. for a lengthy period of time. Our motion was granted and our client successfully continued with his application for cancellation of removal and subsequently with his naturalization application.
