What Can Disqualify You From Immigration & How to Avoid Permanent Bars
Some immigration mistakes can be corrected. Others permanently close the door to future relief. Understanding the difference is critical.
At Cohen Immigration Law Group, disqualification risks are evaluated early, drawing on our team’s experience in how these findings are made and enforced.
Who Is Not Eligible for a Green Card?
Certain findings can make a person permanently ineligible for a green card, regardless of family ties or length of time in the United States. Ineligibility most often arises from serious credibility or fraud-related issues rather than minor technical mistakes.
Individuals may be found ineligible for a green card if they fall into any of the following categories:
- Those found to have entered into a sham or fraudulent marriage for immigration purposes
- Individuals who made a false claim to U.S. citizenship, which carries severe and permanent consequences
- Applicants who filed a frivolous asylum application and received a formal finding to that effect
- Individuals convicted of certain aggravated felonies, which can bar eligibility for immigration relief
These findings do not expire and generally cannot be cured through future filings. Many ineligibility determinations result from poorly prepared applications, inconsistent statements, or misunderstandings of the process rather than intentional wrongdoing. Identifying these risks early is critical, as once such a finding is made, options become extremely limited.
What Can Disqualify You From Immigration?
Permanent bars may result from findings of marriage fraud tied to Form I-130 under Section 204(c), frivolous asylum filings, false claims to U.S. citizenship, or certain aggravated felony convictions.
Once established, these findings follow individuals throughout their lives.
Many Immigration Application Disqualifications Are Preventable
Poorly prepared filings, incomplete disclosures, and inconsistent statements often lead to findings that could have been avoided. These outcomes are not always the result of intent, but of inadequate preparation.
Early legal review helps long-term eligibility and credibility before irreversible mistakes occur.
Written & Reviewed By
Hon. Raisa Cohen (Ret.), Esq.
Immigration Attorney & Founder — Cohen Immigration Law Group, P.C.
Forest Hills, New York · NY Bar (2008) · U.S. Court of Appeals, 2nd Circuit
Appointed U.S. Immigration Judge by Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch, March 2016
Hon. Raisa Cohen served nearly a decade as a U.S. Immigration Judge at the New York Federal Plaza Immigration Court — one of eight judges appointed to the bench by Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch in March 2016 (DOJ/EOIR press release). Federal court records show she decided 572 asylum claims on the merits (FY2020–2025), granting relief in 90.7% of cases — more than double the 41.1% national grant rate and well above her own court’s 61% average. Before the bench, she served two stints as Assistant Chief Counsel for ICE at the Department of Homeland Security in New York (2009–2014 and 2015–2016). She earned her B.B.A. from Baruch College, CUNY (2002) and her J.D. from St. John’s University School of Law (2007), where she received the CALI Excellence for the Future Award and trained in the Refugee and Immigrant Rights Litigation Clinic. She immigrated to the United States from Uzbekistan as a refugee. Now in private practice, she focuses on asylum, removal defense, and humanitarian immigration. She speaks English, Russian, and Spanish and is a regular CLE presenter at AILA conferences and law school clinics nationwide.
New York Federal Plaza Court
Practitioner · Prosecutor · Judge
by AG Loretta Lynch · DOJ/EOIR 2016
As Covered By