Pereira v. Sessions

Wescley Pereira (defendant), a Brazilian national who overstayed his visa, was personally served in 2006 with a document labeled 'Notice to Appear' that omitted the date and time of his removal hearing; a follow-up notice mailed later with that specific information was returned as undeliverable, so Pereira never learned when to appear and was ordered removed in absentia without his knowledge. Years later, after being rearrested in 2013, Pereira sought cancellation of removal based on ten years of continuous physical presence, arguing that the incomplete initial notice never triggered the 'stop-time rule' that would otherwise cut off his accrual of continuous presence.