The AAO can “also reopen a proceeding or reconsider one of its prior decisions on its own motion”. These motions ask the same authority that made the original decision (denial) to review the application again. This means the USCIS has jurisdiction over its decisions and the AAO has jurisdiction over its decisions.
If a person wants to ask the Board of Immigration Appeals to reopen proceedings in which the Board has already rendered a decision to consider new facts or evidence in the case, he or she can file a motion to reopen with the Board.
If a person lost removal or deportation proceedings, the Court would serve an order of deportation or removal against him or her. At this point, a person may fail to appear in the scheduled hearing. Even if you do not show up for your removal hearing, the hearing goes on without you. The judge can issue a deportation order in your absence. To obtain an order in absentia, the Court has to obtain the proof that a person received written notice.
If your counsel failed to provide you with appropriate legal help and caused you to be issued with the removal order, it may set the ground for a new hearing.
Equitable tolling is a principle related to which a statute of limitations will allow a claim if the alien does not discover the circumstances giving rise to the claim until after the filing deadline has passed. Courts have recognized the importance of this legal postulate in promoting access to a fair and just legal system. Its effect can be described as 'stopping the clock up upon one event, and restart it upon another.'
Motions to reopen are usually filed either with the Immigration Court or the Board of Immigration Appeals. Where the immigrant will apply his or her motion will depend on which of these two entities last had contact with the case. Here, we will overview how to file a motion with the Immigration Court.
Here, we will present you with a statutory mechanism that will allow you to ask the immigration judge to reverse the order. It is the motion to reopen that you can file in limited circumstances, such as the existence of new evidence that was not accessible to you at the prior hearing.
