Musings on Immigration

Provisional Waivers of Unlawful Presence (Forms I-601A) are used by a foreign national who is the spouse, child, or parent of a U.S. citizen and who has been living unlawfully in the U.S. but could otherwise obtain a green card. The main requirement to get an application approved is to show that your U.S. citizen relative will suffer “extreme hardship” if your application is denied. The approval or denial of these waivers is done inside the U.S. (not outside, as it was generally the case).These waivers exist since 2013 but USCIS had not issued formal guidelines. This week, the agency issued draft guidelines for the determination of “extreme hardship” for these Provisional Waivers, but applicants will continue to struggle to get approved. Although meant for clarification, the guidelines describe—for the most part—what USCIS is already doing when adjudicating Provisional Waivers. The problem is not in the guidelines; the problem is in the execution. The guidelines seek to clar...

Los Perdones Provisionales por Presencia Ilegal (Formas I-601A) son usados por un extranjero quien es el esposo, hijo, o padre de un ciudadano Americano y quien ha vivido indocumentadamente en los Estados Unidos pero quien pudiera obtener una green card mediante su pariente. El requisito principal para aprobar esta aplicación es que uno tiene que demostrar que su pariente ciudadano sufriría extremadamente si el solicitante no estuviera en los Estados Unidos con su familia o si la familia tuviera que moverse al país extranjero con el solicitante. La aprobación o negación del perdón se hace dentro de los Estados Unidos (no afuera, como solía ser el caso). Estos perdones existen desde el 2013 pero Inmigración nunca publico regulaciones formales sobre ellos. Esta semana, Servicios de Inmigración dio a conocer sus regulaciones preliminares para la determinación de “sufrimiento extremo” en estos Perdones Provisionales, pero los solicitantes continuaran teniendo problemas para ser aproba...

One of the questions I'm most often asked by clients these days is, "What's going on with my I-130?" Up until about a month or two ago, I-130's (even those filed by US citizen spouses) were taking a year, or sometimes longer, for USCIS to process. Things are finally moving a little quicker now but we're still looking at 7-8 months processing time. The next question I'm inevitably asked is usually, "What will happen after the I-130 is approved?" Most, but not all, of my I-130 clients will be filing a Form I-601A Provisional Waiver and then Consular Processing.  It's important to know that USCIS focuses on certain types of hardship to the qualifying relative (US citizen spouse or parent) when considering whether a Form I-601A Provisional Waiver meets the extreme hardship requirement. The main types of hardship are financial, emotional, psychological, medical and physical. While the main focus is on direct hardship to the qualifying r...