ADMINISTRATIVE CLOSURE & TERMINATION OF PROCEEDINGS

Author: Norka M. Schell, Esq. 
Law Offices of Norka M. Schell, LLC


                                           THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN 
ADMINISTRATIVE CLOSURE AND TERMINATION OF PROCEEDINGS

If you are in immigration proceedings or know someone who is in proceedings, you may have heard the terms "administrative closure" and "termination of proceedings." What are these terms and what are the differences between them?

 Administrative closure is a procedural mechanism used to temporarily remove a case from the immigration court's calender. The Board of Immigration Appeals (Board) "urged" Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to administratively close cases where there is a pending visa petition that is prima facie approvable. In evaluating a request for administrative closure, Immigration Judges have the authority to administratively close a case which is before him or her over a party's objection where it is "otherwise appropriate under the circumstance."  A person whose case has been administratively closed remains in removal proceedings, and either party ( the respondent or the DHS ) can request that the case be placed back on the court's calender at any time. A party, whose case has been administratively close, does not waive any rights obtained when the case was closed.

By contrast, termination of proceedings means that the case has ended and the respondent is no longer in removal proceedings. A party in proceedings may request the court for dismissal of his case and only the court, upon motion, may then terminate the proceedings. The reason for termination include that the Notice to Appear was "improvidently issued." Upon termination, the individual will revert to the same status he or she was in prior commencement of proceedings. If the government wants to place the individual back into proceedings after a case is terminated, it must file a new Notice to Appear with the court.

Whether a request for an administrative closure or a motion to terminate proceedings might be filed in a particular case, it is a legal question.