In 2004, Heathcliffe Bradley was planning to return to his native New Zealand after eight years in the United States when he met Cheryl Losee, a New Jersey native, and his plans flew out the window. He stayed, they married, and then he turned his attention to a lingering problem: Mr. Bradley was an illegal immigrant.

 

But what seemed to them a straightforward process to make Mr. Bradley a legal resident soon turned into a bureaucratic and legal nightmare. Last month Mr. Bradley was hauled from his home in handcuffs and put in an immigration detention center in Elizabeth, N.J., and told he was going to be deported.

 

Mr. Bradley, 36, had been swept up in tougher enforcement of the Department of Homeland Security’s Visa Waiver Program, which allows citizens of certain countries to stay in the country for 90 days or less without obtaining a visa. The government admits millions of travelers on visa waivers every year, requiring them to sign a document waiving any right to challenge their removal, except under certain conditions.

 

Since 9/11, the Visa Waiver Program, which now includes 34 participating countries, has come under close scrutiny as a potential loophole for terrorists. In 2004, all visa waiver visitors were required for the first time to be photographed and fingerprinted when they arrived in the United States. In the 2008 fiscal year, 785 foreigners who entered the United States on visa waivers were deported, up from 750 the year before, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement figures.

 

As the spouse of an American citizen, Mr. Bradley was eligible to apply for an adjustment of his administrative status and seek a green card. Mr. Bradley applied for a green card interview and was granted one scheduled for March 24, 2008. He twice postponed the interview because of work conflicts, according to his lawyer, Harry Asatrian.

 

On June 5, however, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services denied Mr. Bradley’s second request for a postponement, saying he had failed to show “good cause”. Mr. Bradley filed an appeal with Citizenship and Immigration Services on June 24, his lawyer said.

 

Mr. Bradley heard nothing more about his case until 5 a.m. on Oct. 8, when immigration officers knocked on the couple’s door in West Milford, N.J. They said he was going to be deported, and they arrested him.

 

In his appeal to the deportation order, Mr. Bradley challenges the integrity and constitutionality of the visa waiver procedure itself.

 

On Nov. 10, the appeals court stayed the deportation. It has agreed to hear the case. Mr. Asatrian said it could take up to two years to complete. Mr. Bradley was released on Nov. 14 pending the outcome of the case.

 

“It’s still very surreal; I still haven’t quite adjusted fully,” he said in a telephone interview from his home. “I’m still worried when cars are driving by the house, and I’m still looking out the window. Hopefully that feeling will go away with time.”