Fairfax Waiver of Inadmissibility Forms
The waiver of inadmissibility form is found on USCIS, Form I-601. It is filed at the same time someone applies for adjustment of status or admission from abroad. If a person is applying for admission from abroad, their case will ultimately be adjudicated by the consular officer abroad, but they will actually submit the I-601 waiver with USCIS directly, which is the in the United States.
To determine the specifics associated with your case and to best understand and complete the proper waiver of inadmissibility forms in Fairfax, it is crucial that you contact a Fairfax waivers of inadmissibility lawyer to ensure that your immigration proceedings are handled effectively.
Procedure Abroad
If a person is coming to the US from abroad, they will file the waiver of inadmissibility forms with USCIS, USCIS will issue a decision in the United States, and then will forward the information to the consular officer. However, the consular officer can make an independent determination based on the decision if they find other grounds of inadmissibility at the point of the interview. The consular office makes the final decision, but a person needs to have it approved. If the waiver is required in their case, the waiver application needs to be initially approved by USCIS.
Each individual has their own deadline for their waiver of inadmissibility forms in Fairfax. When applying with the immigration court, a judge sets a deadline. The person must have all necessary information in prior to the hearing. If a person is applying for admission from abroad, then the consular officers may state that a waiver is needed in order to move forward. They may set a deadline for submission of paperwork.
Granting Access
Completing a Fairfax waiver of inadmissibility form does not automatically grant someone access. It needs to be adjudicated, and depending on which grounds of inadmissibility a person is claiming, there are different legal requirements that they have to meet in order to qualify. An example is that for a criminal waiver, the person needs to prove that they have a qualifying relative in the United States who could be a spouse or a parent, or they need to be the spouse, parent, or child of the US citizen or a green card holder.
The US citizen or green card holder needs to prove that their qualifying relative will suffer extreme hardship if not admitted to the United States. This is a high bar, and it is not simply that the person in the US misses their family member. Rather, the person needs to show that their family will suffer something more serious.
Following Completion of Forms
After the waiver package, which is an extensive application, is completed, it is filed on Form I-601 with the USCIS office’s adjudicating application. It can also be submitted with the immigration court if a person is in a removal proceeding.
The immigration judge or the USCIS will accept a person’s file and adjudicate it, which can take months. It depends on where it is being adjudicated. For USCIS, it can take several months for it to be adjudicated, and if the case is in immigration court, it could take years because the person has to wait for an individual hearing.
If a person is in immigration court proceedings, they are basically legally in the US during that time. Assuming a person is not subject to mandatory detention, they may be detained for a period of time while waiting for their individual hearing. But if a person is not detained then it could just be a long wait, and they will be waiting for that final hearing to adjudicate the waiver. If a person is waiting abroad for the decision to be made, then they have to wait for the decision to be made before they can enter.
Process
The form is pretty straightforward. It involves filling out a person’s biographical information and then explicitly stating the reasons they are not inadmissible. What takes longer is submitting declarations, including supporting documents, medical records, letters from therapists, and other documents that could support a person’s claim or hardship., That is the bulk of the application, and how long it takes can depend on the circumstances. There is no time limit for filling out this form, but a significant fee increase recently happened in 2016, where the I-601 filing fee increased from $585 to $930, so it is important to take consideration into filling out the form the first time in a timely manner as well.
If someone is still denied admission after sending in the form, they are going to be barred from entering the country. A person can re-file the application, but if a thorough and well-documented application was initially submitted, it is unlikely that they are going to get an altered decision. It can be advisable to re-file if a person gets an immigration attorney in the meantime who can do a more thorough application.
Working with an Attorney
The most important thing to know about waivers of inadmissibility is that this is a very complex area of immigration law, and it is highly advisable to have an immigration attorney. When a person has hardship issues to prove, the way that the hardship is documented and the story is set forth to the adjudicating officer is very important. The USCIS website and all the department state information about these waivers is really limited. Filling out the forms is not as easy as it seems, and it is important to know that the forms must be extremely thoroughly documented.