Checklist: evidence for cancellation of removal
Cancellation for a person without status has four elements under INA 240A(b)(1), and you carry the burden on every one. Organize the evidence the same way: ten years of presence year by year, good moral character, the conviction record, and hardship to your qualifying relative. Start collecting now. Most of these records take weeks to arrive, and the judge sets the filing deadline, not you.
Current as of September 2026. We re-check this page every quarter and after any rule change.
Collect by element, label by year, and keep originals. This page is the working list. The law behind each element is on cancellation of removal for non-permanent residents, and the overview of both forms is on cancellation of removal. Cancellation is one form of relief from removal, and the same documents often support another application filed beside it.
1. Ten years of presence, year by year
Make one folder for each year, counting back ten years from the date you file. Aim for several documents a year, spread across the year, with your name and a date on each. One strong document per season is better than twenty from the same month.
- Federal and state tax returns, with IRS transcripts for every year you filed.
- Pay stubs, W-2s, 1099s, and letters from employers with dates of work.
- Leases, rent receipts, mortgage statements, and letters from landlords.
- Utility, phone and internet bills.
- Bank statements, and money transfer receipts showing you sent from here.
- Medical, dental and pharmacy records. Vaccination cards.
- Your children's birth certificates, school records and report cards that name you as the parent or emergency contact.
- Car registration, insurance, and a driving record.
- Church, union, team and community membership records.
- Dated photographs, and mail postmarked to you.
- Your passport, every page, and any consular identification.
- Declarations from people who have known you across the decade, stating how they know you and how often they saw you.
List every trip out of the country
Write down every departure, with dates, however short. Under INA 240A(d)(2), one absence of more than 90 days, or absences adding up to more than 180 days, breaks continuous presence. The count can also stop early under the stop-time rule, when a proper Notice to Appear is served or when certain offenses are committed. Bring your Notice to Appear to the person reviewing the file. See defective Notices to Appear and the stop-time rule.
2. Good moral character
The period is the same ten years, and under Matter of Ortega-Cabrera, 23 I&N Dec. 793 (BIA 2005), it is measured backward from the final decision. What you do while the case is pending counts.
- Tax returns for every year. If you did not file, talk to a lawyer about filing now, before the hearing.
- Proof of child support payments, if a court ordered them.
- Letters from employers, clergy, teachers, coaches, neighbors and community leaders. Each should say how the writer knows you, for how long, and give specific examples. Each writer should attach identification and proof of status if they have it.
- Certificates: volunteer work, classes, training, awards.
- If alcohol or drugs were ever part of your record: proof of treatment, program completion, and sobriety since. Under Matter of Castillo-Perez, 27 I&N Dec. 664 (A.G. 2019), two or more DUI convictions in the period create a presumption against good moral character that has to be rebutted with evidence.
3. The conviction record
Under Pereida v. Wilkinson, 592 U.S. 224 (2021), you bear the burden of showing a conviction does not disqualify you, and you lose if the record is inconclusive. So the record has to be complete.
- A certified disposition for every arrest, in every state and country, including cases that were dismissed, sealed or very old. Order these from the clerk of the court where the case was heard.
- For every conviction: the charging document, the plea or verdict, the plea transcript if one exists, the judgment, and the sentence.
- The text of the statute you were convicted under, as it read on the date of the offense.
- Proof that every sentence, fine, class and term of probation was completed.
- Any order vacating or modifying a conviction, with the motion papers that show why. See post-conviction relief.
Do not explain an arrest to the judge from memory. Get the paper first. How a conviction is classified is decided under the categorical approach, which looks at the statute and the record, not at your account of what happened.
4. Hardship to the qualifying relative
This element decides most cases. Start with proof that the relative qualifies: their birth certificate, naturalization certificate, passport or green card, and the marriage or birth certificate that connects them to you. A child must still be under 21 and unmarried at the final decision, under Matter of Isidro-Zamorano, 25 I&N Dec. 829 (BIA 2012), so note every child's birthday against the hearing date.
Medical
- The relative's medical and psychological records.
- A letter from the treating professional stating the diagnosis, the treatment, the medications, the prognosis, and your role in the care.
- Evidence on whether that treatment is available, and affordable, where you would return. Under Matter of J-J-G-, 27 I&N Dec. 808 (BIA 2020), a medical hardship claim needs all three: the condition, the treatment, and its availability in the country of return.
School
- Report cards, attendance records and awards.
- Any special-education plan, evaluation or therapy record.
- Letters from teachers and counselors about the child and about you.
- Evidence of the child's language ability in the language of the country of return, and of what schooling exists there for a child like yours.
Financial
- Household income and who earns it. Rent or mortgage, debts, and monthly costs.
- Evidence of what you could earn in the country of return, and what the relative's care costs there.
Country conditions
- Reports on the specific region you would return to, not only the country: health care, schools, safety, work.
- Proof of who you have left there, or that you have no one.
Declarations
- Your own, covering your history and each element.
- The qualifying relative's, in their own words, on what they would lose if you left and what would happen if they went with you.
- Family members, doctors, teachers and clergy with direct knowledge.
The judge weighs hardship factors together, not one at a time. The standard is hardship substantially beyond what a family ordinarily suffers when a close relative is deported, under Matter of Monreal-Aguinaga, 23 I&N Dec. 56 (BIA 2001).
If you are a permanent resident: the equities
Cancellation for a green card holder under INA 240A(a) has no hardship element. It requires five years as a permanent resident, seven years of continuous residence after admission in any status, and no aggravated felony conviction. After that, the judge balances the good in your life against the record, under Matter of C-V-T-, 22 I&N Dec. 7 (BIA 1998). See cancellation for permanent residents. Collect:
- Your green card and every passport, to prove the dates of residence and admission.
- The complete conviction record described in part 3. It matters more here.
- Proof of family in the United States, their status, and what they rely on you for.
- Work history, tax returns, property, a business, military service.
- Rehabilitation: sentence and supervision completed, treatment records, and clean time since.
- Letters from people who know about the offense and still vouch for you.
How to hand it over
Keep originals at home and give your lawyer copies. Sort by element, then by date. Put a sticky note on anything you cannot explain. Do not leave out a bad document. Your lawyer needs to see it before the government's lawyer shows it to the judge.
Read next: cancellation for non-permanent residents, cancellation for permanent residents, the individual hearing, or the glossary.
Common questions
What if I have no documents for one of the ten years?
Fill the gap with whatever exists for that year: a money transfer receipt, a medical visit, a child's school record that names you, a pay stub, a dated photograph, or a declaration from someone who saw you regularly. The judge is looking for an unbroken decade. Under INA 240A(d)(2), a single absence of more than 90 days, or absences totaling more than 180 days, breaks continuous presence, so an unexplained gap invites the argument that you were away.
When is the evidence due?
In a non-detained case, filings for an individual hearing are due at least 30 days before the hearing unless the judge sets a different date, under the Immigration Court Practice Manual, chapter 2.1. In a detained case, the judge specifies the deadline. The court counts calendar days and a filing is on time only when the court receives it. A record that arrives after the deadline may not be considered.
Should I hand over documents that hurt my case?
Give them to your lawyer, always. Under Pereida v. Wilkinson, 592 U.S. 224 (2021), an applicant for relief bears the burden of showing a conviction is not disqualifying and loses if the record is inconclusive, so a missing record does not help you. The government has its own copy of your arrest history. Your lawyer can only prepare for a document they have seen, and decides with you what is filed.
Does my own hardship count?
Not directly. The statute asks about exceptional and extremely unusual hardship to your United States citizen or permanent resident spouse, parent or child. Your hardship matters when it becomes theirs. Build the record around the relative: their health, their schooling, their dependence on you, and what would happen to them in either outcome.
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.