Florida Immigration Attorney, Carlos E. Sandoval Offers Advice on Joint Motions to Reopen

Joint Motions to Reopen apply to people who have a final order of deportation, but who qualify for adjustment of status through an immediate family member such as a spouse, parent, or adult child over the age of 21. If the person has a final deportation order, they cannot request immigration adjustment because only the judge has jurisdiction. And the judge cannot approve the adjustment because the court case is already closed.

Attorney Sandoval explains that: “In these types of cases, what you must do is reopen the case in immigration court so that the judge can adjudicate the adjustment of status. Normally to reopen a case in court it must be done within 90 days after the judge ordered deportation. But for most people, those deportation orders are already more than 90 days old. One of the exceptions to that 90-day period is if the prosecutor can be persuaded to join in the motion to reopen the case. With the new memorandum of prosecutorial discretion that the Department of Homeland Security released a couple of weeks ago, one of the things they are willing to do is reopen cases in which there is already a deportation if the person qualifies for adjustment of status. By means of this, the case could be reopened even if more than 90 days have passed since the deportation order and ask the judge for adjustment of status”.

There is specific filing and timeframe guidance for the Joint Motions to Reopen. Attorney Sandoval encourages all who may have a case to contact our office for advice.