Other relief in removal proceedings
Some of the most valuable relief for a person in removal proceedings is not granted by the immigration judge at all. U and T visas, Special Immigrant Juvenile classification and TPS are decided by USCIS, and the court's job is to wait for the decision. Registry and NACARA cancellation are granted by the judge but fit a narrow group of people. Deferred action and ICE stays are not relief from the court in any form. This page covers each one, who decides it, and how the removal case is managed while it is pending.
Current as of September 2026. We re-check this page every quarter and after any rule change.
The relief page divides applications by who decides them. Most of the items on this page are decided by USCIS while the court waits, which changes the strategy: the work is filing a strong petition with USCIS quickly and persuading the judge to continue or administratively close the case until it is decided. Continuances require good cause under 8 C.F.R. 1003.29, and under Matter of L-A-B-R-, 27 I&N Dec. 405 (A.G. 2018), the primary questions are how likely the collateral relief is to be granted and whether it would materially affect the outcome of the removal case. Administrative closure under Matter of Avetisyan, 25 I&N Dec. 688 (BIA 2012), and 8 C.F.R. 1003.18(c) is the alternative for a long wait.
The U visa
The U visa under INA 101(a)(15)(U) and 214(p) is for a victim of a qualifying crime who has been helpful to law enforcement. The regulation is 8 C.F.R. 214.14. Three features shape its use in a removal case:
- USCIS has exclusive jurisdiction. The judge cannot grant it.
- A law enforcement certification is required, on Form I-918 Supplement B, signed by a law enforcement agency. Obtaining it is the first task and often the hardest.
- The cap is 10,000 principal visas a year, and demand exceeds it, so a wait follows even an approvable petition.
In Matter of Sanchez Sosa, 25 I&N Dec. 807 (BIA 2012), the Board held that an immigration judge should generally continue proceedings for a prima facie approvable U petition, and set out the factors that guide the decision. The certification, the filed petition and the receipt notice are what make a petition prima facie approvable in the judge's eyes. A stalled petition is a mandamus question, covered at uscisdelay.com.
The T visa
The T visa under INA 101(a)(15)(T) and 214(o), with the regulations at 8 C.F.R. 214.200 through 214.216 (the old section, 214.11, is now only a cross-reference), is for a victim of a severe form of trafficking in persons. The application is Form I-914, decided by USCIS, and the annual cap is 5,000. Trafficking cases arrive in removal proceedings more often than people expect, because the person was apprehended in the situation the trafficker created, and the trafficking is not recognized until counsel asks the right questions. The court is asked to continue or close the case while USCIS decides the I-914, on the same good-cause principles that govern the U visa.
Special Immigrant Juvenile classification
Under INA 101(a)(27)(J) and 8 C.F.R. 204.11, a person who is under 21 and unmarried may be classified as a Special Immigrant Juvenile on the basis of a state juvenile court order finding that reunification with one or both parents is not viable because of abuse, neglect, abandonment or a similar basis under state law, and that return to the country of nationality is not in the child's best interest. The petition is Form I-360, filed with USCIS.
Two proceedings run at once: the state family or juvenile court, which issues the predicate order, and USCIS, which decides the petition. The immigration judge decides neither, and is asked to continue or administratively close the removal case while they happen. The age limit is a hard clock, and the state court process is started the day the child's situation is identified.
Temporary Protected Status
TPS under INA 244 lets nationals of a designated country remain and work in the United States for the period of the designation. Which countries are designated, and for how long, changes, and we do not print the list here because it would be stale. USCIS decides the application in the first instance.
What matters for a person in proceedings is 8 C.F.R. 244.18: a person whose TPS application USCIS denied may renew the application before the immigration judge, who decides eligibility fresh. The evidence of nationality and of eligibility under the designation is presented to the judge, and a grant of TPS resolves the case for the life of the designation. A person who was never granted TPS and is now in proceedings should ask whether a designation covers them before conceding anything.
NACARA special rule cancellation
Section 203 of the Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central American Relief Act, Pub. L. 105-100, created a special rule of cancellation of removal for certain nationals of El Salvador, Guatemala and the former Soviet bloc who registered or applied for relief by the statutory dates in the 1990s. The regulations are 8 C.F.R. 1240.60 through 1240.70, and the judge decides the application in proceedings. The class is closed by its dates, so in 2026 it fits a person who registered or applied decades ago and was never adjudicated. The old registration or application is the key document, and it has to be located.
Registry
INA 249 authorizes a grant of lawful permanent residence to a person who entered the United States before January 1, 1972, has resided continuously since, has good moral character, is not ineligible for citizenship, is not deportable on the terrorism ground in 237(a)(4)(B), and is not inadmissible under 212(a)(3)(E) or under the parts of 212(a) that concern, in the statute's words, "criminals, procurers and other immoral persons, subversives, violators of the narcotic laws or smugglers of aliens." Under 8 C.F.R. 1249.2(a), a person who has been served with a Notice to Appear applies only in the removal proceedings, and the immigration judge decides it. It requires no petition, no qualifying relative and no hardship showing. The proof is the entry date and the unbroken residence, from records that are now more than fifty years old, and the good moral character requirement is measured against INA 101(f). A person who fits registry generally also fits other relief, and the applications are filed together.
Old dates, old records
NACARA and registry both turn on documents from decades ago: a registration receipt, a school record, a Social Security earnings statement, a church record. We start the records requests at the first meeting, because they take longer than anything else in the case.
Deferred action and ICE stays: not court relief
Deferred action and a stay of removal are decisions by the Department of Homeland Security not to execute removal for a period. They are not granted by the immigration judge, do not end the court case, and confer no status. A stay of removal is requested from the ICE field office on Form I-246 under 8 C.F.R. 241.6, filed in person at the ICE field office. It carries a $155 ICE fee as of September 2026, which ICE may waive and which is not our legal fee. The request is usually made after a final order, and it is covered on stays of removal. Before a final order, the vehicle for asking the government to stand down is prosecutorial discretion: a DHS motion to dismiss under 8 C.F.R. 1239.2(c), requested case by case.
How the court case is managed while USCIS decides
- File with USCIS first. The judge continues a case for a petition that exists, not for one that is planned.
- Bring the receipt and the evidence to the next hearing and move for a continuance under 8 C.F.R. 1003.29, addressing the L-A-B-R- factors and, for a U visa, Sanchez Sosa.
- Ask for administrative closure under 8 C.F.R. 1003.18(c) where the wait will be years, as it is for a U visa.
- Keep every other application alive. A continuance is not a grant. Cancellation, adjustment and protection claims are filed by the judge's deadline regardless.
- If USCIS stalls, consider mandamus. A federal court can order USCIS to decide a petition that has sat beyond a reasonable time.
The USCIS petitions behind this page, and the family petitions that lead to adjustment in court, are handled on our family immigration site.
USCIS petitions at visa4love.com →
uscisdelay.comWhen a U visa, an I-360 or an I-130 sits at USCIS while the judge waits, a mandamus action in federal court asks a district judge to order a decision.
Mandamus for a stalled petition at uscisdelay.com →
Read next: administrative closure, adjustment of status in court, stays of removal, or every form of relief.
Common questions
Will the judge wait for USCIS to decide my U visa?
Usually, if the petition is prima facie approvable. Under Matter of Sanchez Sosa, 25 I&N Dec. 807 (BIA 2012), an immigration judge should generally continue proceedings for a U visa petition that appears approvable on its face, and the Board set out the factors that guide that decision. A petition that has not been filed, or that lacks the required law enforcement certification, is a weaker case for a continuance. Administrative closure is the alternative when the wait will be long.
Can the judge grant TPS if USCIS denied it?
Yes, in the sense that matters. Under 8 C.F.R. 244.18, a person whose TPS application was denied by USCIS may renew the application in removal proceedings, and the judge decides eligibility fresh rather than merely reviewing the denial. The evidence of nationality, continuous residence and presence is presented again.
What is registry?
INA 249 lets an immigration judge grant lawful permanent residence to a person who entered the United States before January 1, 1972, has resided here continuously since, has good moral character, is not ineligible for citizenship, is not deportable on the terrorism ground, and is not inadmissible on the criminal, prostitution, subversive, narcotics, alien-smuggling or Nazi-persecution, genocide and torture grounds. Under 8 C.F.R. 1249.2 a person served with a Notice to Appear applies only in proceedings. It fits a small group of people in 2026, but for those people it is a direct path to a green card without a petition or a qualifying relative.
Is deferred action a form of relief in court?
No. Deferred action and a stay of removal from ICE are decisions by the Department of Homeland Security not to carry out removal for a period. They do not end the court case, do not confer status, and cannot be ordered by the judge. A stay of removal is requested from ICE on Form I-246 under 8 C.F.R. 241.6, filed in person at the ICE field office, with a $155 ICE fee as of September 2026 that ICE may waive. The page on stays of removal covers it.
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.