“How do I get a waiver for unlawful presence?” is a great question that will be answered by this article. Not everyone who has stayed unlawfully in the U.S. will need a waiver. You must overstay for a certain number of days before you need a waiver. Unlawful presence starts to accrue after you have spent more than 180 days past your authorized period of stay. Minors do not start to accrue unlawful presence until after their 18th birthday. Your authorized period of stay is stated on form I-94.

There are two types of waivers available for unlawful presence: I-601A Provisional Waiver and I-601 Waiver of Inadmissibility. You apply for an I-601A waiver when you are still physically located in the U.S., before you depart for your consular interview. You apply for an I-601 waiver when you are physically located outside the U.S. and your application for an immigrant visa was denied.

To be eligible for an I-601A provisional unlawful presence waiver, you must be:

• At least 17 years of age;
• Physically present in the U.S. to file your application and provide biometrics;
• In the process of obtaining your immigrant visa and have an immigrant visa case pending with the Department of State;
• Able to prove that refusal of your admission to the U.S. will cause extreme hardship to your US. citizen or lawful permanent resident spouse or parent; and
• Inadmissible only because of a period of unlawful presence in the U.S.

If you are in removal proceedings, your case must be administratively closed for you to be eligible. If you have a final order of removal, exclusion or deportation, your form 212, Application for Permission to Reapply must already be approved before you may file form I-601A.

Extreme hardship means hardship that is greater than what the U.S. relative would experience under normal circumstances, if you were denied entry to the United States. It doesn’t have to be the relative that filed for you that will experience extreme hardship. The applicant just has to be your U.S. citizen/LPR spouse or parent.

You must prove that you have enough favorable factors to support the approval of your application. Moreover, you must also convince the immigration officer that your case warrants a favorable exercise of discretion.

You may submit any evidence to prove extreme hardship, however, there are certain major categories that evidence typically fall into:

• Health;
• Financial;
• Education;
• Personal;
• Cultural; and
• Religious

In addition to proving that there would be extreme hardship in the U.S. you should also provide evidence to show that your relative will encounter extreme hardship if he or she had to relocate with you to a foreign country. Such evidence includes:

• Country reports issued by the U.S. Department of State;
• Country reports issued by other governmental or human rights organizations; and
• News articles on events in your home country that will cause extreme hardship to the U.S. citizen/LPR relative.

An I-601A application is processed by USCIS and should take about 43 months. Expedited processing is available for cases warranting faster processing.

The fees are as follows:

I-601A application fee- $630

Biometrics fee (for applicants younger than 79 years old) –$85

Attorney’s fees- $4,550

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An I-601 unlawful presence waiver  is filed in the United States, after your visa interview abroad and you were found inadmissible by a consular officer. The fees are as follows:

I-601 application fee-$930

Attorney’s fees- $4,950

Regular processing should take approximately 22 months.

I am attorney, Cheryl Fletcher and I have helped countless families, since 2015, get approved for an unlawful presence waiver. I would like the opportunity to help you too. We will take the time to review your circumstances thoroughly and put you in the best position possible to win your case.