The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit determined that persons who entered the United States illegally on June 15, 1991, and were issued a Notice To Appear on May 3, 2001, had not maintained continuous presence in the United States for a ten-year span as required by 8 U.S.C. § 1229b.
In February 2001, they engaged CB Immigration Services ("CB"), who informed them they were eligible to apply for lawful permanent resident status. They paid CB approximately $5500, and CB submitted asylum applications on their behalf, which ultimately resulted in the initiation of removal proceedings.
The court ruled that the ten-year period under section 1229b could not be equitably tolled for the alleged fraud by CB, and that although the statute permitting intermittent absences during a ten-year span does not providing a grace period to effectively reduce the ten-year requirement.