# Cancellation of Removal **Status: stub — expand.** **Cancellation of removal** (8 U.S.C. § 1229b) is discretionary relief an immigration judge may grant to a person already found removable. For lawful permanent residents it requires five years as an LPR, seven years of continuous residence, and no aggravated-felony conviction. For non-LPRs it requires ten years of continuous physical presence, good moral character, no disqualifying conviction, and "exceptional and extremely unusual hardship" to a U.S.-citizen or LPR spouse, parent, or child — and Congress capped non-LPR grants at 4,000 a year, so approved applicants can wait years for a number. The continuous-presence clock stops when a valid [[Notice to Appear]] is served, which is why *Pereira v. Sessions* (2018) and *Niz-Chavez v. Garland* (2021) — both about defective notices — were cancellation cases. It is Stage 5 relief on the [[Immigration Removal Pipeline]] and is unavailable on every bypass track, since none of them reaches an immigration judge. ## See also - [[Immigration Removal Pipeline]] · [[Notice to Appear]] · [[Withholding of Removal]]