8 U.S.C. § 1229c — Voluntary departure

(a) Before or instead of proceedings. (1) The Attorney General may allow voluntary departure at the alien’s expense instead of, or before completion of, § 1229a proceedings if the alien is not deportable under § 1227(a)(2)(A)(iii) or § 1227(a)(4)(B). (2)(A) The permission normally may last no more than 120 days. (B) From October 1, 2000 through September 30, 2003, the Attorney General could waive that limit for humanitarian reasons for a visa-waiver-program visitor seeking continuing medical treatment from an associated physician, if the alien submitted a detailed diagnosis and expected treatment period, a facility assurance that no Federal or State public health assistance paid the treatment, no account balance was outstanding, and the facility would notify the Service when treatment ended, plus proof of daily financial support and no public assistance for the alien and covered family; or for a spouse, parent, sibling, child, or other family member who entered with and had the same status as that principal alien. (C) Such waivers required a Service district-office request to headquarters; no more than 300 principal-alien waivers could be granted in a fiscal year; normally no more than one adult family member could receive one, but two could if the principal was under 18 or one adult was at least 55 or physically handicapped. (D) The Commissioner had to report waivers for the prior fiscal year to Congress by March 30 each year. The waiver authority was suspended while a required report was overdue. (3) The Attorney General may require a voluntary-departure bond, returned when timely departure is proved. (4) This paragraph does not apply to an arriving alien whose § 1229a proceedings were or would be started on arrival, but that alien may withdraw the admission application under § 1225(a)(4). (b) At the proceeding’s end. (1) The Attorney General may allow departure at the alien’s expense if the judge orders it instead of removal and finds that the alien was physically present for at least one year before service of the notice to appear; has been a person of good moral character for at least five years before applying; is not deportable under § 1227(a)(2)(A)(iii) or (4); and clearly and convincingly proves the means and intention to leave. (2) Permission may last no more than 60 days. (3) A bond sufficient to ensure departure is required and is returned on proof of timely departure. (c) The Attorney General must not grant voluntary departure if the alien was previously allowed to depart after being found inadmissible under § 1182(a)(6)(A). (d) Failure to leave. (1) Subject to (2), an alien who fails voluntarily to leave on time must pay a civil penalty of $1,000 to $5,000 and cannot receive relief under this section or §§ 1229b, 1255, 1258, or 1259 for 10 years. (2) Those limits do not apply to VAWA-based relief under § 1229b or § 1255, to a petition under § 1229b(b)(2), or to former § 1254(a)(3), when extreme cruelty or battery was at least one central reason for overstaying. (3) The order must state these penalties. (e) Additional conditions. The Attorney General may regulate and limit eligibility for any alien class, and courts may not review such a regulation. (f) Judicial review. Courts have no jurisdiction over an appeal from denial of a subsection (b) voluntary-departure order and may not stay removal while a voluntary-departure claim is considered.