Inadmissibility Waiver

An Application for Waiver of Grounds of Inadmissibility is filed by an alien in the event that an alien has been denied admission to the United States. Different sections of INA § 212 allow for the application of a waiver of inadmissibility. Waivers must establish that a qualifying relative will suffer “extreme hardship” if the alien is not admitted. So who is the qualifying relative? It depends on the ground of inadmissibility.

A waiver for prior unlawful presence (INA 212(a)(9)(B)(v)) or misrepresentation (INA 212(i)) requires it to be established that “the refusal of admission to such immigrant alien would result in extreme hardship to the citizen or lawfully resident spouse or parent of such alien,” whereas a waiver for criminal history (INA 212(h)) requires it to be established “that the alien’s denial of admission would result in extreme hardship to the United States citizen or lawfully resident spouse, parent, son, or daughter of such alien.” A US citizen fiancé(e) may also be a qualifying relative [9 FAM 41.81 N9.3(a) and 8 CFR 212.7(a)(1)(i)]. For the purposes of this memo the Application for Waiver of Grounds of Inadmissibility will be referred to as an I-601.

All arguments for Applications for Waivers of Grounds of Inadmissibility are based on the precept that there is a qualifying relative who will suffer “extreme hardship” if the Alien’s admission is denied. “Extreme hardship” is very vaguely defined as greater than the normal hardship the qualifying relative can be expected to experience if the Alien is denied admission. It is important to prove both why the qualifying relative cannot move abroad and why the qualifying relative cannot simply live in the US without the Alien.

At Valencia & Associates we will analyze your case to determine whether a waiver is necessary and to discuss the possibility of obtaining the waiver.

For waivers needed because of a prior criminal record, we will analyze your situation to determine if post-conviction relief is a better option.