Waivers for Unlawful Presence in the U.S., Crimes, and Lying to Immigration
Have you been living in the U.S. for over a year without legal status and want to get your green card?
Did the consulate deny your Marriage green card case because you lied to an Immigration Officer?
Did you commit a crime that is stopping you from obtaining a green card?
Your criminal past, entry history, and length of time you have been living in the United States can bar you from obtaining a green card even if you are married to a U.S. citizen. 1997, Congress put in place new bars to entry into the U.S. in place that have harsh consequences unless you can somehow qualify for a waiver.
The three and ten year bars due to past unlawful presence in the U.S. may be waived if you have a U.S. citizen parent or spouse or a permanent resident parent or spouse with suffer extreme hardship if you are not allowed to return to the United States to be with them during that three year or ten year period. A provisional waiver program currently exists for certain immigrants, allowing them to file waivers in the U.S. in limited circumstances if no other ground barring them from a green card applies. The provisional waiver only waives unlawful presence, not misrepresentation, crimes, or other green card barriers. But it may be possible to waive a criminal act, misrepresentation, and unlawful presence and even come back to the U.S. early following a removal order those applications are filed when the immigrant is already outside of the U.S. in most circumstances.
Check out these pages on our site to learn more about specific types of waivers:
Warning About Traveling Abroad to Your Consulate Interview:
Knowing that you qualify for a waiver in the first place is the first step. Proving the hardship and that the immigrant deserves to be granted the waiver is the next. Sometimes there is no waiver available and you need to find some other route to obtain status in the U.S.
Be smart and find out before you travel whether you have a chance to return. We hear from families torn apart because of immigration barriers they never knew of only to be informed at the consulate interview that the immigrant must stay abroad for ten years because of his past entry history or deportation. Always consult with a competent waiver attorney before traveling to what you believe is a simple immigrant visa interview abroad. There are even some immigration attorneys and many notarios who tell families that they will have no problem at the consulate and then the family is torn apart because who they listened to did not know the law. It is heartbreaking when we encounter the U.S. citizen spouse stuck in the U.S. with her kids wanting to help her spouse stuck in Mexico, for instance, when there is nothing we can do because he was given the wrong advice. Don’t let that happen to you. Find out now if the waiver is the right choice and it is even available to you. Our firm specializes in evaluating your situation thoroughly and determining what, if any, immigration options are available to you.
Why SGG to File Your I-601 Waiver case or I-212 case?
If you know you qualify for a waiver or have a case to come back within your ten year removal period, work with SGG on your case. Our Managing Partner of SGG’s Family & Removal Group, Heather L. Poole, is internationally known as an expert on inadmissibility waivers and regularly teaches other lawyers how to present strong, compelling cases to the government. She works one-on-one with clients on helping them frame their arguments, recommending documentation to provide, and how to tell their stories to CIS to increase their chances of approval. SGG’s Family and Removal team of 601 waiver and I-212 attorneys regularly work on the complicated and difficult cases. We do all types of waivers, unlike most attorneys who focus only on unlawful presence. A high percentage of our caseload are misrepresentation waivers, criminal waivers, and prostitution waiver. We know these cases can be difficult to document that the immigrant deserves CIS discretion, that the immigrant is a good person, and deserves that the waiver be granted because of the conduct involved.
We give it to you straight. You will know after a Case Evaluation with us, what your options are, and if we don’t think we can win your case, we won’t take it. No getting your hopes up or wasting your time or money. We get that you have a lot on the line, immigration is a very emotional process, and you need lawyers who deal with these issues every day. That’s us.