Immigration Law FAQs

A grant of voluntary departure gives you either 60 or 120 days to leave the United States. If you fail to depart you can be fined up to $5000 and you will have a 10-year bar to several types of immigration benefits, including adjustment of status. If you leave after the specified time, you will be considered deported and barred from returning to the United States for 5, 10, or 20 years or even permanently. If you do not leave the U.S. the voluntary departure order automatically become a deportation order and you can be picked up by immigration officials and deported, without first seeing a judge.

It depends. If you have a final order of removal, the U.S. government has a right to remove you. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has to coordinate your deportation with your home country. You could be deported in a matter of days, weeks, months or even years. In some cases, ICE cannot deport you because your home county is not approving ICE’s deportation request.

If you were never in removal proceedings and was served with a Notice to Appear (NTA), for the first time, the court has to find you removable before you can be deported. You can also consent to removal by electing voluntary departure, if you want to leave the U.S. on your own. You will be given either 60 or 120 days to leave.

There is no way to be 100% safe from immigration enforcement officials. You can minimize your risk of encounters with ICE by not traveling within 100 miles of the U.S. border and staying within “ICE sensitive locations,” such as schools, daycares, preschools, primary and secondary schools, colleges and universities, and known school bus stops during periods when school children are present at the stop, health care facilities, such as hospitals and doctors’ offices places of worship, including synagogues, mosques, and temples, funerals and weddings, and public demonstrations, such as marches, rallies, or parades.

Getting married to a U.S. citizen could provide immigration benefits, such as allowing you to adjust your status and get a green card. However, this is not guaranteed. Your entire record will need to be evaluated, including whether your entry to the U.S. was lawful, your criminal history and medical history.