Cancellation of removal for permanent residents
INA 240A(a) lets an immigration judge cancel the removal of a lawful permanent resident who has held the green card for five years, has lived in the United States continuously for seven years after being admitted in any status, and has not been convicted of an aggravated felony. There is no hardship requirement. The grant is discretionary, and if it is granted you keep the green card you already have.
Current as of September 2026. We re-check this page every quarter and after any rule change.
This is the remedy for a green card holder who is charged with deportability, usually for a criminal conviction, and wants to keep the green card. The three elements are short. The litigation is about when the clock stopped, whether the conviction is an aggravated felony, and whether the equities outweigh the record. The page on cancellation generally compares this form with the other two; the relief page lists everything else.
The three elements
| Element | What the statute says | Where it is litigated |
|---|---|---|
| (1) Five years as an LPR | Lawfully admitted for permanent residence for not less than 5 years | The date the green card was granted; whether it was obtained lawfully |
| (2) Seven years of residence | Resided in the United States continuously for 7 years after having been admitted in any status | The stop-time rule; the date of the first admission |
| (3) No aggravated felony | Not convicted of any aggravated felony | The categorical approach; the record of conviction |
Authority: INA 240A(a). The application is Form EOIR-42A, filed with the immigration court, with biometrics processed through USCIS.
Five years, and seven years in any status
The five years run from the date you became a permanent resident. The seven years are different: they run from any admission, in any status. A person admitted as a visitor in 2012 and granted a green card in 2020 has seven years of residence in 2019 and five years as a resident in 2025. Both have to be satisfied, and the seven-year period is the one the stop-time rule usually cuts short.
"Admitted" means a procedurally regular inspection and admission, even if it was not substantively lawful, under Matter of Quilantan, 25 I&N Dec. 285 (BIA 2010). A person waved through at a port of entry without questions was admitted. A person who crossed without inspection and later adjusted was not admitted until the adjustment, and the seven years run from then.
The stop-time rule
Under INA 240A(d)(1), continuous residence ends at the earlier of two events: service of a Notice to Appear under INA 239(a), or the commission of an offense referred to in INA 212(a)(2) that renders you inadmissible under 212(a)(2) or removable under 237(a)(2) or (a)(4).
- The offense stops time when it was committed, not when you were convicted, under Matter of Perez, 22 I&N Dec. 689 (BIA 1999). A crime committed in year six of residence stops the clock in year six, even if the conviction came years later.
- "Renders inadmissible" applies to residents who are not seeking admission. In Barton v. Barr, 590 U.S. 222 (2020), the Supreme Court held that an offense referred to in 212(a)(2) stops time for a permanent resident even though the resident is being charged with deportability, not inadmissibility, and would never actually be denied admission on that ground.
- A Notice to Appear stops time only if it is a real one. Under Pereira v. Sessions, 585 U.S. 198 (2018), a notice that omits the time and place of the hearing does not stop the clock, and under Niz-Chavez v. Garland, 593 U.S. 155 (2021), a later hearing notice cannot complete it. See defective Notices to Appear.
The aggravated felony bar
"Aggravated felony" is defined in INA 101(a)(43), and "conviction" in INA 101(a)(48)(A), which includes a plea or finding of guilt with some punishment where adjudication was withheld. Whether a state conviction is an aggravated felony is decided under the categorical approach: the elements of the statute of conviction are compared to the generic federal definition, and the minimum conduct the statute criminalizes controls, under Moncrieffe v. Holder, 569 U.S. 184 (2013), Descamps v. United States, 570 U.S. 254 (2013), and Mathis v. United States, 579 U.S. 500 (2016). Under Pereida v. Wilkinson, 592 U.S. 224 (2021), you bear the burden of showing the conviction is not disqualifying and lose if the record is inconclusive.
A conviction vacated for a substantive or procedural defect is no longer a conviction, under Matter of Pickering, 23 I&N Dec. 621 (BIA 2003); one vacated only to avoid immigration consequences still is. See post-conviction relief. The categorical analysis is on criminal convictions and removal.
The offense date, not the sentencing date
Before conceding that you fall short of seven years, put three dates on one line: your first admission, the date of the offense as charged in the criminal complaint, and the date the Notice to Appear was served. The earliest stop-time event is the one that counts, and it is often not the one the government's charging document assumes.
The bars in 240A(c)
INA 240A(c) denies cancellation, whatever the elements, to a person who was previously granted cancellation of removal, suspension of deportation or relief under former section 212(c); to crewmen; to certain J-1 exchange visitors; and to people inadmissible under INA 212(a)(3) or deportable under 237(a)(4), the security-related grounds. The one-time rule is the one that matters most: a resident who used 212(c) in the 1990s and is back in court has no cancellation.
Discretion
The three elements get you to a hearing. The judge then decides whether to grant as a matter of discretion, and under 8 C.F.R. 1240.8(d) that burden is yours. The Board set out the balancing for this form of cancellation in Matter of C-V-T-, 22 I&N Dec. 7 (BIA 1998), adopting the framework it had used for 212(c) relief in Matter of Marin, 16 I&N Dec. 581 (BIA 1978). The favorable factors in your life are weighed against the adverse ones. There is no formula, and the record you build is the case.
What the discretionary record contains
The length of your residence and how you came. Your family in the United States, with their status and what they depend on you for. Your work history and tax returns. Property, business and community ties. Evidence of rehabilitation: the sentence completed, supervision completed, treatment, and the time since. Letters from people who know both the offense and the person. And your own testimony, which has to take responsibility for the record without excusing it. The judge is asking whether the person in front of them is the person in the conviction records.
Form EOIR-42A and the fee
The application is Form EOIR-42A, filed with the immigration court by the deadline the judge sets, with biometrics processed through USCIS. The government filing fee for Form EOIR-42A is $710 as of September 2026, for filings postmarked on or after February 1, 2026: the $100 EOIR fee plus a $610 fee added by the 2025 reconciliation law, paid through the EOIR Payment Portal, plus a $30 biometrics fee per person. None of it is our legal fee. Whether the 2025 component can be waived is a question we have not confirmed, so ask us before assuming a waiver. The EOIR forms and fees page is authoritative and we confirm the amount with you before filing.
What the hearing looks like
Cancellation is decided at an individual hearing. The government usually rests its charge on the conviction records, and the eligibility elements are often argued on documents. The hearing itself is about discretion: you testify, the government's attorney cross-examines you on the offense and on anything else in the record, your family and other witnesses testify, and the judge decides, often orally at the end. Filing deadlines are covered on the deadlines page; a detained case moves on whatever schedule the judge sets.
If it is granted
The proceedings end and you keep your lawful permanent residence. Nothing new issues. The conviction stays on your record, and under 240A(c)(6) the remedy cannot be used again, so a later removable offense would leave you without it.
Alternatives
- Re-adjustment with a 212(h) waiver. A resident with a citizen or resident spouse, parent, son or daughter may apply for adjustment of status again in front of the judge, with a 212(h) waiver curing the criminal ground. Under Matter of Rivas, 26 I&N Dec. 130 (BIA 2013), the waiver has to accompany the adjustment application. The waiver's own bar for residents who entered as residents and were convicted of an aggravated felony does not reach a person who adjusted inside the country, under Matter of J-H-J-, 26 I&N Dec. 563 (BIA 2015), which makes this route worth checking when cancellation is barred.
- Former 212(c) relief. For a plea entered before April 1, 1997, section 212(c) may still be available under INS v. St. Cyr, 533 U.S. 289 (2001).
- Contesting the charge. If the conviction does not fit the ground charged under the categorical approach, the case is terminated and no application is needed. See motions to terminate.
Read next: cancellation for non-permanent residents, criminal convictions and removal, the 212(h) waiver, or defective Notices to Appear.
Common questions
Do the seven years have to be as a permanent resident?
No. The statute requires seven years of continuous residence in the United States after having been admitted in any status. A person admitted on a student or visitor visa who later adjusted to permanent residence counts the residence from the first admission. Only the five-year requirement is tied to the green card itself.
I was convicted after the government served my Notice to Appear. Does that stop the clock?
The clock stops at the earlier of two events under INA 240A(d)(1): service of a Notice to Appear that contains the time and place of the hearing, or the commission of an offense referred to in INA 212(a)(2) that makes you inadmissible or removable. An offense stops time on the date it was committed, not the date of conviction, under Matter of Perez, 22 I&N Dec. 689 (BIA 1999). So what matters is when the offense happened and whether you already had seven years by then, not when the case ended.
Is every felony an aggravated felony?
No. Aggravated felony is a defined term in INA 101(a)(43), and whether a conviction fits is decided under the categorical approach, which compares the elements of the statute of conviction to the federal definition. Some state felonies are not aggravated felonies and some state misdemeanors are. The label on the state record does not decide it.
What happens if the judge grants cancellation?
The removal proceedings end and you keep your lawful permanent residence. Nothing new is issued; the status you already held is preserved. The conviction remains on your record, and cancellation cannot be granted a second time, so a new removable offense later would leave you without this remedy.
Tell us where your case is. We will tell you what is still possible.
You get a free case review with an attorney, in your language. We speak English, Russian, Spanish and Uzbek in-house, and we bring in a live interpreter for anything else. We will tell you what stage you are at, which forms of relief are open to you, what your deadlines are, and whether we can help. If we cannot, we will say so.