Title 8

SECTION 1240.65

1240.65 Eligibility for suspension of deportation.

§ 1240.65 Eligibility for suspension of deportation.

(a) Applicable statutory provisions. To establish eligibility for suspension of deportation under this section, the applicant must be an individual described in § 1240.61; must establish that he or she is eligible under former section 244 of the Act, as in effect prior to April 1, 1997; must not be subject to any bars to eligibility in former section 242B(e) of the Act, as in effect prior to April 1, 1997, or any other provisions of law; and must not have been convicted of an aggravated felony or be an alien described in former section 241(a)(4)(D) of the Act, as in effect prior to April 1, 1997 (relating to Nazi persecution and genocide).

(b) General rule. To establish eligibility for suspension of deportation under former section 244(a)(1) of the Act, as in effect prior to April 1, 1997, an alien must be deportable under any law of the United States, except the provisions specified in paragraph (c) of this section, and must establish:

(1) The alien has been physically present in the United States for a continuous period of not less than 7 years immediately preceding the date the application was filed;

(2) During all of such period the alien was and is a person of good moral character; and

(3) The alien's deportation would, in the opinion of the Attorney General, result in extreme hardship to the alien or to the alien's spouse, parent, or child, who is a citizen of the United States or an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence.

(c) Aliens deportable on criminal or certain other grounds. To establish eligibility for suspension of deportation under former section 244(a)(2) of the Act, as in effect prior to April 1, 1997, an alien who is deportable under former section 241(a) (2), (3), or (4) of the Act, as in effect prior to April 1, 1997 (relating to criminal activity, document fraud, failure to register, and security threats), must establish that:

(1) The alien has been physically present in the United States for a continuous period of not less than 10 years immediately following the commission of an act, or the assumption of a status constituting a ground for deportation;

(2) The alien has been and is a person of good moral character during all of such period; and

(3) The alien's deportation would, in the opinion of the Attorney General, result in exceptional and extremely unusual hardship to the alien, or to the alien's spouse, parent, or child, who is a citizen of the United States or an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence.

(d) Battered spouses and children. To establish eligibility for suspension of deportation under former section 244(a)(3) of the Act, as in effect prior to April 1, 1997, an alien must be deportable under any law of the United States, except under former section 241(a)(1)(G) of the Act, as in effect prior to April 1, 1997 (relating to marriage fraud), and except under the provisions specified in paragraph (c) of this section, and must establish that:

(1) The alien has been physically present in the United States for a continuous period of not less than 3 years immediately preceding the date the application was filed;

(2) The alien has been battered or subjected to extreme cruelty in the United States by a spouse or parent who is a United States citizen or lawful permanent resident (or is the parent of a child of a United States citizen or lawful permanent resident and the child has been battered or subjected to extreme cruelty in the United States by such citizen or permanent resident parent); and

(3) During all of such time in the United States the alien was and is a person of good moral character; and

(4) The alien's deportation would, in the opinion of the Attorney General, result in extreme hardship to the alien or the alien's parent or child.

---