INA §212(a)(9)(A)(ii)
Some prior removal orders create a ten-year inadmissibility period under INA §212(a)(9)(A)(ii). This rule is different from the five-year bar for certain arriving applicants and different from the ten-year unlawful-presence bar under INA §212(a)(9)(B).
INA §212(a)(9)(A)(ii) generally applies to a person not covered by the arriving-alien provision of §212(a)(9)(A)(i) who was ordered removed under INA §240 or another provision of law, or who departed while an order of removal was outstanding.
The person is inadmissible if seeking admission within ten years of the relevant departure or removal, unless the statutory consent-to-reapply provision applies.
This ten-year bar is a prior-removal bar. It should not be confused with the separate ten-year unlawful-presence bar under INA §212(a)(9)(B).
The statute measures the applicable period from the date of departure or removal. Determining the correct start date requires reviewing the order and travel history rather than assuming the date of the immigration-court decision is controlling.
INA §212(a)(9)(A)(iii) provides an exception when, before the date of reembarkation at a place outside the United States or before seeking admission from foreign contiguous territory, the government has consented to the person reapplying for admission.
Form I-212 is the principal application used to request that consent.
The two provisions have different triggers. INA §212(a)(9)(A) is based on a prior removal order or departure with an outstanding removal order. INA §212(a)(9)(B) is based on specified periods of unlawful presence followed by departure or removal.
One person can potentially be subject to more than one inadmissibility provision at the same time.
No. The applicable period depends on the removal type, whether it was a first or repeat removal, and other statutory facts.
No. Expiration of the statutory period does not erase the historical removal order from the immigration record.
Yes. Form I-212 addresses consent to reapply after certain removals; separate grounds such as misrepresentation may require separate analysis.
No. INA §212(a)(9)(C) concerns certain unlawful reentries or attempted reentries following specified prior immigration violations.
These government materials provide the principal statutory and agency framework discussed on this page.
A review can determine whether the case involves the five-year, ten-year, twenty-year or another reentry rule and whether consent to reapply is available.