Visa Waivers — Inadmissibility

The most common waivers

Who needs an I-601 waiver?

Someone who qualifies for a green card or immigrant visa but is inadmissible on a ground the law allows USCIS to forgive files Form I-601. The common grounds are unlawful presence under INA 212(a)(9)(B), fraud or willful misrepresentation under INA 212(i), and certain criminal convictions. Most of these waivers depend on extreme hardship to a U.S. citizen or permanent resident spouse or parent.

What is the difference between the I-601 and the I-601A provisional waiver?

Form I-601A waives only unlawful presence, and USCIS decides it while the applicant is still in the United States, before the immigrant visa interview abroad. Form I-601 covers more grounds, but a consular applicant usually files it after the consulate finds them inadmissible, which can mean waiting outside the country for the decision.

With an approved I-601A, the unlawful-presence bar is already waived when the applicant leaves for the interview, so the family is not facing years apart. This matters most for spouses of U.S. citizens who entered without inspection. Without the waiver, leaving for the visa interview after more than a year of unlawful presence triggers the 10-year bar. To see which bar your own dates would trigger, count them with our unlawful presence calculator.

What if I was deported before?

A person who was removed or deported needs permission to reapply, filed on Form I-212, before returning lawfully, and it is often filed together with an I-601. USCIS weighs the reasons for the removal, the time that has passed, family ties in the United States and evidence of rehabilitation.

What counts as extreme hardship?

Extreme hardship is more than the ordinary pain of a family living apart, which courts have repeatedly held is not enough on its own. USCIS looks at the combined effect on the qualifying relative across health, finances, education, family ties and conditions in the other country. Strong cases document hardship in several of these areas:

• Health — medical conditions, ongoing care, language barriers in the foreign country, ability to receive care abroad.
• Financial — inability to find equivalent work abroad, unique financial dependence on the qualifying relative.
• Education — interrupted schooling for children, especially with disabilities or special needs.
• Personal considerations — proximity to elderly or disabled family members in the U.S., cultural and religious ties.
• Country conditions — political instability, violence, or human-rights concerns in the country of relocation.

How we build the case

We document hardship with medical records, country-condition reports, expert evaluations from psychologists and country experts, financial declarations, school records, and detailed declarations from the qualifying relative and the applicant. The strongest waivers feel inevitable on paper — every category of hardship is present and corroborated.

How long does a waiver take, and what does it cost?

Processing times change from month to month, so check the current figure for Form I-601 or I-601A on the USCIS processing times page before planning travel. Fees change too. To add up the USCIS filing fees for a waiver case, including the waiver itself and the petition that goes with it, use our USCIS fee calculator, which reads the current USCIS fee schedule.