KAO AND LIN

Citations

• 23 I. & N. Dec. 45

Syllabus

KAO AND LIN, 23 I&N Dec. 45 (BIA 2001) ID 3446 (PDF) (1) In evaluating an application for suspension of deportation, the hardship to the applicant's United States citizen child must be given careful consideration, as the applicant's eligibility for relief may be established by demonstrating that his or her deportation would result in extreme hardship to the child. (2) The standard for determining \extreme hardship\ in applications for suspension of deportation is also applied in adjudicating petitions for immigrant status under section 204(a)(1) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, 8 U.S.C. § 1154(a)(1) (1994 & Supp. V 1999), as amended, and waivers of inadmissibility under section 212(i) of the Act, 8 U.S.C. § 1182(i) (Supp. V 1999). (3) The respondents met the extreme hardship requirement for suspension of deportation where their oldest daughter, who is a 15-year-old United States citizen, has spent her entire life in the United States, has been completely integrated into the American lifestyle, and is not sufficiently fluent in the Chinese language to make an adequate transition to daily life in her parents' native country of Taiwan. Matter of Pilch, 21 I&N Dec. 627 (BIA 1996), distinguished.