The U.S. Supreme Court will hear the case of Humberto "Bert" Fernandez-Vargas, a former Ogden resident who is trying to return to Utah as a legal resident to be with his wife and 16-year-old son.

Rita Fernandez, Fernandez's wife, got the news that the case was heading to Washington on Monday, the day the high court decided to hear it. She called her husband, who was deported to Mexico more than a year ago, to tell him the news. He's living with friends in Chihuahua because he doesn't have any family, said Rita Fernandez.

"He was happy. He was clapping," she said of his reaction to the news. "He was thanking God that someone is finally going to listen."

J. Christopher Keen, Fernandez-Vargas' attorney in Provo, said that in a group of 350 cases, Fernandez-Vargas' case is one of only four that will be heard by the court. He said oral arguments in the case could be scheduled as early as mid-March and a decision could be handed down in fall 2006.

Keen said Fernandez-Vargas' case is important because the country's 11 circuit courts need some direction when it comes to immigration laws. He said the chances of being allowed to stay in the United States sometimes depend on where undocumented workers live.

"The law is not being applied equally," Keen said.

Fernandez-Vargas, 53, first came to the United States in 1969. He was deported several times, but has continuously lived in the country since 1981, according to court records. He applied to become a permanent legal resident after marrying his wife and got authorization to work while the application was pending.

But when he showed up at a Salt Lake City immigration office in November 2003 for an interview on the application, Fernandez was arrested. He spent about a year in a Spanish Fork jail before he was deported to Mexico in September 2004.