Maredia

MEMORANDUM *

The Board of Immigration Appeals declined to reopen Petitioner Samin Ramjan Maredia’s case to allow her to challenge her 1995 in absentia deportation order, concluding that Maredia had failed to exercise the reasonable diligence necessary to toll the 180-day limitations period for filing motions to reopen. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1105a(a) (repealed 1996), as amended by the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996, Pub. L. No. 104-208, div. C, § 309(c)(4), 110 Stat. 3009 , 3009-626, and we grant the petition.

Given the circumstances of this case, the BIA abused its discretion by failing to toll the statute of limitations applicable to Maredia’s motion to reopen. The 180-day statute of limitations for filing a motion to *200 reopen an order of deportation may be equitably tolled “where the alien’s late petition is the result of the deceptive actions by a notary posing as an attorney.” Lopez v. INS, 184 F.3d 1097, 1100 (9th Cir.1999). The limitations period should be tolled until the petitioner is actually aware of the harm resulting from such deceptive actions. See Fajardo v. INS, 300 F.3d 1018, 1022 (9th Cir.2002).…